Martial Soul Awakening

Inside the Spirit Hall at Holy Soul Village, nine children were preparing for their martial soul awakening.

On this land known as Douluo Continent, this was an immensely important event for everyone. If one successfully awakened a "useful" martial soul and possessed a certain amount of innate soul power, one could become a soul master—a chance for those born into poverty to change their lives.

Thus, every child was both nervous and excited, save for two.

One was naturally Douluo Continent's "Chosen One": the possessor of twin martial souls, son of the youngest titled Douluo in history so far, sole descendant of the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor, rightful wielder of the Clear Sky Hammer, outer disciple of the Tang Sect, born amid lightning—the transmigrator Tang San.

The other was a white-haired, black-eyed child who should not have been here. Under the normal progression of the timeline, only eight children should have participated in this awakening. The extra one was named Mo Lin. Like Tang San, he was also a transmigrator—a proper model citizen of the twenty-first century. His current identity was that of an orphan from Holy Soul Village, raised on the "meals of a hundred households" in the literal sense.

However, he had not transmigrated by jumping off a cliff like Tang San, nor through the standard transmigration tool known as a "truck." Instead, he had tragically contracted a terminal illness in his twenties and ultimately died without a cure.

Yet now, he seemed very "fortunate." He had transmigrated into this world where everyone was "harmonious and loving," where nations and organizations often "helped each other," and where the people were simple and honest, gaining another chance at life.

As a transmigrator, it would have been abnormal not to have some kind of cheat. When he was still an infant, he had discovered that his mind seemed to contain many profound texts and books. At first, because an infant's brain was not fully developed, he had not realized what they were. Until one day, he silently recited one of them in his mind.

"Heaven and Earth's Mysterious Sect, the root of all qi... Golden light, swiftly manifest; envelop and protect the true person."

At once, he felt an energy flowing through his body like gas. His body also seemed to emit a faint golden glow. He immediately thought of something and scanned through all the other contents in his mind.

"Yang Five Thunders, Yin Five Thunders, Triple Inverse Life... and the energy within my body—could these be...?"

Although Mo Lin had dabbled in many fields in his previous life, he had never been able to determine exactly which world these cultivation methods and texts came from. He had merely assumed they were something like martial arts manuals from special worlds. After all, judging by their names alone, they did not belong exclusively to any one world. So long as a world had a culture called Huaxia and Daoist culture, it would generally have such things, though the specific contents might differ.

Still, uncertainty had not stopped Mo Lin from cultivating the things he knew from his mind for six years. He valued these things left to him by his ancestors, and besides, with a cheat handed to him for free, not cultivating it would simply be a waste of resources!

Just look at Tang San next door—how well he used the things he had stolen from the Tang Sect!

"Mo Lin, are you all right?"

Tang San glanced at Mo Lin, feeling that he seemed somewhat absentminded. He and Mo Lin had known each other since childhood in this world. Though they had never become particularly close, Tang San's mild nature still prompted him to ask.

Mo Lin smiled, deliberately allowing a trace of unease to show on his face.

"It's nothing. I'm just a little nervous."

As mentioned before, the two were not close, at most mere acquaintances who nodded when they met. Over the years, Mo Lin had also been like Zhang Chunan, the "Shameless One, Invisible Great Scoundrel," always hiding himself and never forming deep connections with others. Even Tang San had failed to notice that he possessed cultivation techniques, likely because Tang San had never imagined there might be another transmigrator besides himself.

"Ahem!"

Su Yuntao, the "great master of soul master aptitude appraisal," coughed a few times. Seeing Mo Lin and Tang San whispering to each other, he used this to draw the children's attention over before smiling.

"My name is Su Yuntao. I am a twenty-sixth-rank Grand Soul Master, and I will be your guide. I will now awaken your martial souls one by one. Remember, no matter what happens, do not be afraid."

What followed proceeded as usual. Everyone watched Su Yuntao "show off" his white soul ring, then stepped one by one into the circle of six stones. Without any surprises, the first seven possessed no talent for becoming soul masters. Then Tang San placed his hand on the crystal ball, and it shone with a dazzling light.

"Heavens! Innate full soul power!" Su Yuntao said.

"Uncle, what does innate..."

"Everyone..."

As Mo Lin watched the two people ahead of him discuss something he already understood perfectly through their questions and answers, he thought to himself:

"Can you two stop talking already?! Could you hurry it up?!"

After the curious Tang San had finished asking his questions, Su Yuntao seemed to be in much better spirits. He looked at Mo Lin with considerable anticipation, seemingly hoping that Mo Lin would also be a genius.

Mo Lin stepped into the circle of six stones and began silently reciting the Golden Light Incantation.

Only a second later, Mo Lin raised his right hand. A golden vortex appeared in his palm and began to expand continuously as if beyond his control!

Looking at this scene, Su Yuntao was too shocked to speak. He had never seen such a strange martial soul before. Moreover, as a twenty-sixth-rank Grand Soul Master, he actually felt fear toward this newly awakened martial soul!

Tang San felt something similar. He continuously circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill to calm himself, because he felt as though he was about to lose control of his left hand!

Mo Lin caught Tang San's reaction from the corner of his eye. Since the two came from similar cultural systems, he withdrew his martial soul.

Su Yuntao swallowed as he looked at the white-haired child before him.

"Does your martial soul have a name?"

Mo Lin rolled his eyes.

"It told me that its name is 'Primordial Qi.'"

"Primordial Qi?"

Tang San was somewhat surprised by this name, which carried a strong Daoist flavor, but only somewhat. Mo Lin had acted very ordinary over the years and seemed more like someone incapable of keeping secrets.

Seeing that Su Yuntao was somewhat stunned, Mo Lin simply walked up to the crystal ball himself, placed his hand on it, and began pouring soul power into it.

Without any surprise, the crystal ball once again emitted a brilliant light that caught everyone's eye. It even appeared slightly brighter than when Tang San had done it, and its brightness continued to rise.

After several seconds, Mo Lin sensed that the crystal ball seemed close to reaching its limit, so he stopped supplying soul power.

Because Mo Lin's martial soul had affected both Su Yuntao and Tang San earlier—one was wondering why he had been afraid of a newly awakened martial soul, while the other was struggling to suppress his left hand—neither noticed the subtle difference between the two flashes of light.

But the light was already so bright that even a blind man could see it. Naturally, Su Yuntao realized that this was another case of innate full soul power, and an exceptionally special mutated martial soul at that. He hurriedly asked:

"Little friend, are you willing to join Spirit Hall?"