Deep within the core of Star Dou Forest, at the bottom of Lake of Life.
Endless darkness and dense life energy intertwined here.
Suddenly, a pair of enormous eyes, like silver moons, opened without warning. A trace of confusion and long-lost excitement stirred in their depths as they pierced through layers of water and space, gazing toward the distant Far North.
"...Was that an illusion? Or...?"
A low, ancient murmur echoed across the lakebed, then slowly faded into silence, leaving only a trace of searching in those silver eyes.
Far North, inside Ice Crystal Palace.
"Chen, neither of your Martial Souls is one we recognize. Why don't you come up with names for them?" Ice Empress said to Xue Chen.
Snow Empress, standing beside her, nodded and spoke. "Ice Empress is right. We really haven't seen them before, so you should name them yourself."
"Well..." Xue Chen pondered for a moment. He truly couldn't recall what kind of Martial Souls they were, so he came up with two names on the spot:
"Let's call them Thunder Dragon Emperor and Radiant Thunder Dragon Spear!"
"Thunder... Dragon Emperor? A good name. It's imposing, and it suits your Martial Soul." Ice Empress nodded.
Suddenly, the thunder and lightning outside the palace not only failed to subside, but grew even more violent.
"CRASH!!!"
A massive bolt of thick blue lightning tore through the gloomy sky and struck the dome of Ice Crystal Palace, built from Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice, dead on!
The deafening boom made the entire palace shudder violently, and a few ice crystals pattered down from the ceiling.
The sudden, precise strike startled Xue Chen, who had been basking in his happiness. He nearly lost his grip on the dragon spear in his hand.
"Hm?" Everyone looked up.
Ice Empress knitted her brows, her voice tinged with surprise and displeasure.
"What's with this lightning? It struck Ice Crystal Palace directly!"
Ice Crystal Palace was reinforced by Snow Empress's power. Ordinary lightning could never shake it, let alone strike the roof so precisely. This was far from normal.
Snow Empress's delicate brows furrowed slightly. A faint trace of doubt flashed in her clear, ice-blue eyes. She sensed that the power within the lightning was not simply the might of nature. It seemed to carry a certain... pull and will?
But she said nothing just yet.
Ice Empress, ever impatient, spoke up.
"Snow Maiden, test Xiao Chen's Soul Power first. This storm outside is strange. I'm going out to take a look."
With a flash of green light, Ice Empress's figure turned into a streak of light and shot out of Ice Crystal Palace. She was going to see for herself what was behind this strange heavenly lightning.
Snow Empress turned her gaze away from the ceiling and back to Xue Chen, her eyes once more warm and calm.
She opened her palm, and a perfectly round golden crystal sphere appeared in it, radiating a gentle yet profound glow. It was nothing like the transparent crystal spheres ordinarily used to test Soul Masters.
"Chen'er, come. Place your hand on this crystal sphere, then slowly channel the Soul Power within you into it," Snow Empress gently instructed.
Xue Chen did as he was told, placing his small right hand on the golden crystal sphere. He steadied his mind, tried to stir the lively, surging Soul Power within him, and carefully guided it toward the sphere.
At first, the crystal sphere merely glimmered with a faint golden light.
But the next moment—"Hummm—!"
As if something had stirred it, the golden crystal sphere suddenly burst into an incomparably brilliant, dazzling golden radiance!
The light instantly illuminated the entire Ice Crystal Palace, even bathing the surrounding ice walls in a golden gleam!
The brilliance far surpassed anything a Soul Power test should produce. The energy fluctuations it contained made the air tremble faintly.
Snow Empress stared at the golden pillar of light, which seemed ready to burst free of the crystal sphere. For the first time, her peerlessly beautiful face showed open astonishment. She murmured under her breath, her words filled with disbelief as she sought confirmation:
"This light... Soul Power so abundant it's like liquid, golden radiance reaching the crown... This, this is... Innate Level 20 Soul Power?!"
"Level 20?!"
Xue Chen was stunned too.
As someone who had crossed over from another world, he knew all too well what this meant!
As far as he knew, Innate Full Soul Power on Douluo Continent was Level 10. Only Martial Souls inheriting the bloodline of a deity could possibly reach Innate Level 20 Soul Power, or so legend said. For example... Qian Renxue, the Angelic God!
He blurted out, "Mother, could there have been a mistake?
How could Innate Soul Power possibly be Level 20?"
This shattered everything he thought he knew about the world.
Snow Empress slowly recovered from her shock and shook her head. Her voice was certain, yet carried a deeper meaning.
"There's no mistake.
The Soul Power crystal sphere I have is different from the ordinary testing crystals used in the human world.
It tests not only the amount of Soul Power, but also its quality and its potential at the source."
She gazed at Xue Chen, her expression complicated. "Ordinary Innate Full Soul Power can make it shine with a steady golden light.
"But only Martial Souls and Soul Power at the source that touch the potential of the divine realm can make it erupt in such brilliant, almost liquid golden radiance. That is what Innate Level 20 Soul Power represents: the starting point of the mortal limit, and... the entry pass to a higher level."
Her words struck Xue Chen's heart like a heavy hammer, and the dragon spear in his hand seemed to grow heavier still.
Thunder Dragon Emperor, Twin Martial Souls, the heavenly lightning phenomenon—and now this Innate Level 20 Soul Power... It all pointed toward a possibility far beyond anything he had first imagined.
His crossing into this world, his origins, these powerful Martial Souls... What secrets lay hidden behind it all?
"Divine-level Martial Souls?"
The thought that flashed through Xue Chen's mind startled him.
But then he felt a pang of absurdity and confusion.
Divine-level Martial Souls were said to approach the level of deities. How could one possibly awaken in an otherworldly transmigrator of unknown origins like him?
He didn't even know who his parents were, let alone whether he had the bloodline of a deity.
This sudden, top-tier setup filled him with enormous doubt, as if he were lost in a sea of fog.
But that doubt was soon swept aside by a much stronger surge of excitement.
Who cared where he came from? This immense power truly belonged to him!
"Innate Level 20 Soul Power, Twin Martial Souls..."
Xue Chen was over the moon. He couldn't help cheering to himself. "That's gotta be a full stack of buffs, right? This is the perfect setup for taking off!
"Who cares about Tang San or Spirit Hall? Looks like my transmigrator's script isn't so bad after all!"
Just as Xue Chen was lost in his excitement, daydreaming about a bright future—"Whoosh!"
A streak of green light shot in from outside the palace, revealing Ice Empress.
But the languor and curiosity from before had vanished from her face, replaced by a rare gravity and urgency.
She didn't even have time to steady herself before speaking in a rush, her voice carrying a faint tremor that was hard to detect.
"Snow Maiden! Hurry! Come outside and take a look! Something's wrong with the Far North..."
Snow Empress's delicate brows instantly furrowed.
Before you continue