Dark Sacred Dragon in the Left Hand, Coiling Dragon Staff in the Right Hand

Buzz—

The entire hexagram stone formation suddenly erupted with violent fluctuations. Su Yuntao, who was presiding over the formation nearby, had his pupils shake violently!

"What's going on with these martial soul fluctuations?"

"Is it because two people are awakening their martial souls at the same time?"

Su Yuntao's face turned ashen. His teacher had told him that awakening martial souls for two people at once could easily disrupt the formation. But his workload had been far too heavy before, so he had often done this to save time and improve efficiency—yet nothing had ever gone wrong.

Crack!

Bang! Bang! Bang—

The six formation stones shattered outright. The awakening formation instantly collapsed, and the entire Spirit Hall branch trembled violently!

"Lone Wolf, possess!"

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Su Yuntao possessed his martial soul and protected himself.

The hall was now in complete disarray, with dust and smoke filling the air...

Damn it! I was too careless. Did the awakening fail?

Su Yuntao frowned deeply and looked toward where Ao Yin and Tang San stood. Yet the smoke obscured his vision, making them impossible to see clearly. If anything had happened to them, it would count as negligence on his part, and Spirit Hall would inevitably punish him!

Suddenly, two violent waves of soul power burst out from within the dust.

Buzz—

The dust was completely blown away, revealing two figures inside. Ao Yin and Tang San stood on opposite sides, and a glow flashed briefly in each of their palms!

Seeing this, Su Yuntao let out a sigh of relief. The fleeting glows had been manifestations of their martial souls, but the two had deliberately withdrawn them.

He laughed. "Hahaha, such intense soul power fluctuations! It looks like the awakening succeeded after all. I wonder what martial souls you awakened?"

As he spoke, Su Yuntao walked curiously over to the two of them, then looked first at Tang San on the right.

"Child, may I see the martial soul you just awakened?"

Tang San raised his brows slightly. He had no idea what had happened just now, but his awakening had nearly failed.

Fortunately, he had cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill since childhood and had a solid foundation. His martial soul awakening seemed to be related to that; otherwise, all his efforts would have gone to waste.

However, unlike others, who awakened only one martial soul, he had awakened two.

This was absolutely unusual. Faced with Su Yuntao's inspection, Tang San immediately recalled the first rule of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record's general principles: never let anyone you cannot fully trust know the extent of your true strength.

Thus, he secretly hid his left hand and extended his right hand to Su Yuntao.

Ao Yin happened to catch this scene. How could he not know that within Tang San's left hand was one of his twin martial souls—the Clear Sky Hammer!

Ao Yin could not help but sneer. "What a schemer, Tang San!"

But Su Yuntao clearly had not considered such a possibility. He looked expectantly at the martial soul in Tang San's hand, only to see a stalk of Blue Silver Grass emerge within the glow.

"Damn it! It's Blue Silver Grass again, a useless martial soul!"

Su Yuntao took one look and shook his head in disappointment, preparing to turn toward Ao Yin.

But Tang San called out to stop him. "Uncle, you haven't tested my soul power yet."

Hearing this, Su Yuntao said indifferently, "There's no need to waste time. A useless martial soul like Blue Silver Grass has little chance of producing innate soul power..."

But halfway through his sentence, Su Yuntao suddenly remembered the intense fluctuation from before that had disrupted the formation. Its strength had been unprecedented. It did not seem to have been caused by the formation at all; rather, it was more like a soul power fluctuation triggered by the martial soul awakening.

He could not help looking at Ao Yin beside him, inwardly guessing, Could this child have awakened some rare martial soul?

At that moment, Su Yuntao wanted to inspect Ao Yin's martial soul immediately. But Tang San clung to him like a stubborn burr. Though somewhat impatient, he still turned back kindly, intending to put an end to the child's hopes.

"Fine, it won't take much time anyway. Let me put an end to that wishful thinking of yours!"

As he spoke, Su Yuntao took out a blue crystal ball and held it before Tang San.

Tang San took a deep breath and slowly placed his palm upon it.

Sizzle—sizzle sizzle—

Nine streaks of bright, electric light flashed, and the crystal ball emitted nine layers of radiance!

While Tang San was still unsure what it meant, Su Yuntao beside him sucked in a sharp breath and cried out, "This is... innate soul power!"

He swallowed and said in shock, "And it's rank-nine innate soul power!"

Rank-nine soul power!?

Tang San and Ao Yin both looked bewildered. Tang San wondered what level rank-nine innate soul power actually represented, while Ao Yin wondered why Tang San had only rank nine when he was supposed to have full innate soul power.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Su Yuntao had become excited, repeatedly exclaiming how Blue Silver Grass could possibly produce rank-nine innate soul power.

"Uncle, is rank-nine innate soul power very high?" Tang San asked with a sincere expression.

Su Yuntao's voice trembled slightly. "Most people have no soul power when their martial souls awaken. The strength of one's innate soul power represents the strength of that person's potential!"

"Rank-zero soul power means trash. Ranks one through five are the talent level of the vast majority of people on the continent. Ranks six and seven make one a prodigy, while rank-eight and rank-nine innate soul power can be called top-tier prodigies—even among the major sects, they are exceedingly rare!"

At this, Tang San could not help but feel delighted. He murmured inwardly, "So that means I, Tang San, am a top-tier prodigy? Of the three million prodigies under heaven, all must lower their brows when they meet me... a top-tier prodigy?"

Just as Tang San was basking in self-satisfaction, Su Yuntao sighed. "But you're still nothing but trash. Your Blue Silver Grass martial soul is a useless martial soul with no path of evolution whatsoever. If it cannot evolve, then you cannot become a Soul Master!"

"Moreover, the highest innate soul power isn't level nine, but level ten—also known as full innate soul power!"

Those words were like a heavy hammer, smashing fiercely into Tang San's mind.

"Still, as I recall, Holy Soul Village has one work-study student spot at Notting Academy every year. If you're interested, you can discuss it with the village chief and have him send you there to study and give it a try!"

Su Yuntao was feeling low at the moment. The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment. That intense soul power fluctuation just now had actually come from a useless martial soul like Blue Silver Grass, making his excitement entirely wasted.

However, he had seen far too many useless martial souls. Though it was regrettable, he quickly calmed down.

Still, he did not forget to comfort Tang San, even pointing out a path for him.

"A work-study student?"

Tang San murmured thoughtfully. His Dao heart was steadfast, and he did not collapse. Instead, he felt that this was an opportunity.

Yet Ao Yin, standing nearby, said without the slightest courtesy, "A work-study student? This year's spot probably won't be yours, Tang San!"

"You!"

Tang San was angered by his words, but quickly realized that the other party was merely a six-year-old child. What was the point of arguing with him?

Su Yuntao paid it no mind and looked at the last child. "No more wasting time. Hurry up. Once I'm done here, I still have to rush to the next village!"

He then walked over to Ao Yin and said gently, "Child, hold out your palm!"

At that moment, Ao Yin had [Dark Sacred Dragon] in his left hand and [Coiling Dragon Staff] in his right, but he had learned a trick from Tang San—playing the pig to eat the tiger!

Ao Yin clenched his left hand and extended only his right. Within the glowing haze above his right palm, a black staff covered in carved patterns floated quietly. It faintly exuded an ancient, primordial aura, as if dragon roars echoed from within.

Su Yuntao frowned slightly and bent down to examine it carefully.

After a long while, he exclaimed, "A black iron staff martial soul!"

"There's no mistake. It's merely undergone a slight mutation!"

Pointing at the snake-like carvings on it, he sighed. "What a pity. Most mutated martial souls only make the martial soul weaker. Although it's a tool martial soul, it might not even be as good as an ordinary sickle or iron hoe martial soul."

Ao Yin glanced sideways, laughing inwardly. "Su Yuntao, you misjudged again, didn't you? I can feel that my Coiling Dragon Staff isn't weak at all. It may even be terrifyingly powerful!"

However, Su Yuntao was utterly certain that he had not misjudged it. With a hint of concern, he said, "If a mutated tool martial soul has no innate soul power, then it is no different from a useless martial soul like Blue Silver Grass!"

Hearing this, Tang San felt a little better. Even if Ao Yin had soul power, his potential definitely could not compare to Tang San's. After all, Tang San possessed level-nine innate soul power, something ordinary people found difficult to surpass!

With that thought, Tang San crossed his arms, watching with an amused expression.

At this moment, Su Yuntao casually handed the blue crystal ball in his hand to Ao Yin.

Ao Yin took a deep breath and placed his right hand on it.