On Luo An'an's second attempt, she still failed to awaken her Martial Soul.
After the light of the formation faded, Luo An'an's palm was empty. Nothing had appeared.
She stood before the stone platform, her lips puckering as she burst into tears.
"Brother, where's my Martial Soul?" she asked, sounding terribly aggrieved.
Luo Chen didn't answer. His spiritual power was still inside Luo An'an, probing her dantian inch by inch.
It wasn't that she had no Martial Soul. Her Martial Soul had devoured the formation's power!
When the formation activated just now, Luo An'an's dantian had seemed like a bottomless pit, greedily absorbing the Soul Power contained in the awakening formation. The white, yellow, purple, black, and red lights weren't coming from the awakening crystal. They were the different phenomena produced as her Martial Soul absorbed Soul Power!
The Martial Soul in her dantian was a spherical object! But it definitely wasn't a Gulu Ball. It looked more like the egg of some kind of creature.
Luo Chen opened his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Mr. Hasen," he said calmly, turning to Bishop Hasen. "My sister isn't without a Martial Soul. Her Martial Soul just needs more energy to awaken."
Hasen was taken aback. "More energy? The Soul Power provided by the awakening formation should be enough..."
"It isn't enough, Mr. Hasen." Luo Chen cut him off. "Her Martial Soul is special. An ordinary awakening formation can't feed it enough."
Hasen furrowed his brow. He had been a deacon for more than twenty years and a bishop for six. He had presided over awakening ceremonies for thousands of children, but had never seen anything like this.
"How can you be sure?" Hasen asked, puzzled. Even now, he still didn't know Luo Chen's true strength.
Luo Chen raised his right hand, where a faint silver-white glow of temporal power flickered at his fingertips. "Because I used my spiritual power to examine her dantian. Her Martial Soul has already taken shape, but it still needs one last thing: enough energy to awaken it!"
Hasen stared at the silver-white light at Luo Chen's fingertips for two seconds, then suddenly realized that the young man before him was no longer the little boy who had awakened his Martial Soul ten years ago. It seemed he had plenty of secrets, too!
He couldn't make out Luo Chen's Soul Power Level, but the faint pressure he gave off suggested that he was at least a Soul Ancestor. Though his rank was lower than Hasen's, Hasen could still sense a trace of danger.
Experience told him that he might not be able to beat the young man before him.
If Luo Chen had known Hasen thought he had the strength of a Soul Ancestor, he would have had to explain that, in fact, he hadn't even obtained his third ring.
"What do you plan to do, then?" Hasen asked.
"My teacher is Chief Meng Shenji of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. I'll take her to Heaven Dou City. My teacher should have a way to help."
"So you're already that gentleman's student. No wonder you have such insight at such a young age."
Then he continued, "Going to Heaven Dou City is indeed a good choice."
After bidding Hasen farewell, Luo Chen took Luo An'an home. On the way, she couldn't help shedding tears.
"Brother, does An'an really not have a Martial Soul? Does that mean An'an can't catch lots and lots of cute Soul Beasts?"
Seeing his little sister's tear-filled eyes, Luo Chen's heart ached.
"How could An'an not have a Martial Soul?"
Luo Chen crouched down and cupped her face in both hands, looking into her eyes.
"An'an, listen to your brother. It's not that you don't have a Martial Soul. Your Martial Soul is just so powerful that the formation in Hailun City can't feed it enough. I'll take you to Heaven Dou City and use a bigger formation to help you awaken it, all right?"
Luo An'an blinked. "Really?"
"Of course! When has your brother ever lied to you?"
Luo An'an thought for a moment, then broke into a smile through her tears. "Then you have to keep your promise, okay?"
"Of course I will!"
Luo Chen picked up Luo An'an and settled her on his shoulders. "Come on, ride the big horse!"
"Hehehe, ride the big horse! Brother, I want to ride the big doggy too!"
The "big doggy" was the Blazing Wolf. It had been thoroughly put through the wringer lately, serving as both an ox and a horse!
"All right. I'll call it out right now! Come on out, Little Wolf Cub!"
The Blazing Wolf appeared. It actually liked little Luo An'an quite a bit; no matter how much she teased it, it never got annoyed.
When they got home, the family sat together in the courtyard. As Luo Chen looked at his parents, Lin Xiaomei said, "It's all right. If An'an hasn't awakened a Martial Soul, she can just live her whole life as an ordinary person, safe and sound. There's no need to put her through any more of this."
Luo Dashan chimed in, "That's right, that's right."
But Luo Chen shook his head. "We can't leave things as they are now. From what I've observed, An'an's Martial Soul has to absorb enough energy. If we don't do anything, the next thing it absorbs will be her Bloodline Power. That will leave An'an weaker and weaker."
"What! How could there be such an evil Martial Soul?" Luo Dashan sprang to his feet.
Luo Chen said, "Dad, don't worry. I'm here, and I won't let An'an get hurt. I plan to ask my teacher in Heaven Dou City. With him keeping watch, it'll be safer."
What Luo Chen was actually thinking of was the great "treasure trove" in Sunset Forest—the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!
It was a natural storehouse of energy! But first, he needed to return to Heaven Dou and find Su Heng and Prince Xue Xing. He didn't know whether Prince Xue Xing and Dugu Bo had met yet. If that path didn't work out...
For his little sister's sake, he would have to brave the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!
"But you've only just come back..." The couple were worried Luo Chen would leave again for another ten years.
Just then, Luo Chen suddenly had a great idea. He looked seriously at his parents and said, "Mom, Dad, why don't we move to Heaven Dou City?"
At his words, Luo Dashan and his wife first froze, then furrowed their brows, and finally brightened up.
Luo Dashan spoke first. "That's right! Why didn't I think of that? Xiaomei, what do you think about buying a house in Heaven Dou City?"
Lin Xiaomei caught on, too. They didn't have many relatives or friends here anyway. They might as well follow their child to Heaven Dou City, so their family wouldn't have to be apart for so long again!
"Good! I agree, too. Let's move to Heaven Dou City and leave the shop here to A-Tian!"
The whole family happily settled on the plan. But Luo Chen said, "Before that, we need to get ready to welcome a guest!"
"What guest?" Luo Dashan asked in confusion. His son didn't have any friends.
"It's Uncle Fule. I saw him at the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony and invited him over for dinner. Let's hurry up and make something to serve him!"
Luo Dashan and Lin Xiaomei looked a little embarrassed.
Luo Dashan said awkwardly, "Xiao Chen, weren't you missing that year? We were worried sick, and we didn't treat your Uncle Fule very well..."
"Ah, Brother Luo! What on earth are you talking about?" The voice arrived before its owner. It could only be Fule!
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