Martial Soul Awakening

Heaven Dou City

Li Hanche stood at the entrance to a shabby little house, only thirty square meters in size, staring blankly at the rental ad pasted on the wall opposite.

The house had been left to him by his parents. To put it nicely, it was "a detached property in a central location in Heaven Dou City." To put it less nicely, it was one of the slightly less rundown houses in the slums.

His parents had left this world swiftly and without fuss, leaving him with a place to shelter from the wind and rain and a wrinkled bank slip that read, "Three hundred and twenty-seven Gold Soul Coins."

He was six years old, the age when children awakened their Martial Souls.

Li Hanche was wondering whether he should dig the bank slip out from under his bed when a beam of golden light suddenly exploded in his mind, nearly knocking him off the doorstep.

"Ding! The host has reached the age of six. The Martial Soul Awakening System has officially activated."

"Detected that the host is about to undergo the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony. The [Fate's Three-Way Crossroad] quest has now been triggered."

"Please make your choice within three days. If no choice is made by then, the system will default to option three."

Li Hanche steadied himself against the doorframe. Three options appeared in his mind, each followed by a line of glowing text.

[Option One: Awaken at Spirit Hall]

"Proceed to the Heaven Dou City Spirit Temple to awaken your Martial Soul. Awakening rewards: Innate Full Soul Power, Martial Soul quality guaranteed to be at least purple, Martial Soul type: spear."

"Awakening fee: Free."

"Note: Spirit Hall, the commoners' sanctuary. You deserve it."

[Option Two: Awaken at the Heaven Dou City Official Awakening Point]

"Proceed to the public awakening site established by Heaven Dou City to awaken your Martial Soul. Awakening rewards: Martial Soul type: sword, quality random."

"Awakening fee: thirty Gold Soul Coins."

"Note: The official awakening site: the nobles' choice, the commoners' nightmare. Friendly reminder: the reception staff there may look down their noses at you."

[Option Three: Do Not Awaken]

"Give up this Martial Soul Awakening ceremony. Reward: gain the permanent title [Coward]."

"Title effect: Hangs above the host's head, visible to all living beings on the Douluo Continent. No attribute bonuses, no hidden effects. It's just humiliating."

"Note: Are you serious?"

Li Hanche fell silent for a long time.

What the hell kind of bizarre system was this?

Was the third option supposed to be a joke?

If he had the title "Coward" hanging over his head for the rest of his life, how was he supposed to get by in Heaven Dou City?

Would people point at him in the street every time he went out to buy vegetables? Would he even be able to live like that?

As for the first two options, anyone with eyes could tell which one to choose.

Spirit Hall offered free awakening, a Martial Soul guaranteed to be at least purple, Innate Full Soul Power, and a spear-type Martial Soul. Just hearing that was enough to make anyone drool.

Then there was the Heaven Dou City Official Awakening Point. It charged Gold Soul Coins just to guarantee a sword-type Martial Soul, and even its quality was random. To top it off, the staff looked down their noses at people.

Was there even a choice?

All right, he admitted that Gold Soul Coins weren't exactly pocket change for him.

The bank slip his parents had left him held only three hundred and twenty-seven Gold Soul Coins. He wasn't about to spend fifty of them just to be treated like dirt. He wasn't crazy.

Spirit Hall offered free awakening and good service. He wasn't going to Spirit Hall because he was poor. Absolutely not.

He just thought Spirit Hall was the better deal.

Yes, that was all.

He locked the door, tucked his few coins into his pocket, and headed toward the Heaven Dou City Spirit Temple.

The Heaven Dou City Spirit Temple stood in the western part of the city, covering a vast area. Three main halls towered above it, their outer walls built entirely of white jade that glimmered with a gentle sheen in the sunlight.

A massive Angel Statue stood in the plaza before the temple.

By the time Li Hanche arrived, a moderately long line had already formed in the plaza. Parents had brought their children to undergo their awakenings.

Watching the well-dressed children ahead of him holding their parents' hands, he suddenly felt that coming alone did make him look a little pitiful.

But it was fine. He was an orphan. He was used to it.

When it was Li Hanche's turn, the guard at the entrance looked him up and down.

He wore old clothes washed until they had faded white, with a patch on one sleeve. He was dusty from head to toe, and there was no way he could compare to the pampered children ahead of him.

"Here for a Martial Soul awakening?"

The guard was a burly man in his thirties, with a standard-issue longsword at his waist. His tone wasn't bad.

"Yes."

Li Hanche nodded.

"Alone?"

"Mm."

The guard gave him a look but said nothing more, stepping aside to let him pass.

"Go on in. Keep walking, then take the third door on your left. Someone will help you."

Li Hanche thanked him and walked into the Spirit Temple.

The interior was even grander than the outside. Massive murals covered the vaulted ceiling, depicting the Angel God wielding a sacred sword to vanquish demons and monsters. The room was dazzlingly ornate, almost enough to make one's eyes swim.

The floor was polished marble, so reflective that he could see his own shadow in it.

Following the guard's directions, Li Hanche found the third door on the left and pushed it open. Inside was a small room with a table and several chairs. A blue crystal ball, roughly the size of a fist, rested on the table.

A young woman in a Spirit Hall uniform sat behind the desk, flipping through some files. When she saw him enter, she looked up with a professional smile.

"Hello. Are you here to awaken your Martial Soul?"

"Yes."

"Please sit down and fill in your basic information."

She slid over a form and a pen.

Li Hanche sat down and filled in the form: name, age, address, parental information... When he reached the section about his parents, he paused.

In the end, he wrote "deceased" honestly.

The young woman took the form and glanced at it. Her eyes lingered on the word "deceased" for a moment, but then she collected the form as though nothing had happened and stood up.

"Come with me. The awakening ceremony will take place in the quiet room inside."

She led Li Hanche down a corridor and into a more spacious room.

A complex magic array was carved into the floor at the center of the room. Its markings glowed a faint gold, giving off a subtle ripple of Soul Power.

"Stand in the center of the array."

The young woman gestured to me.

Li Hanche took a deep breath and stepped into the center of the array.

Just then, Li Hanche noticed faint footsteps and voices coming from the far end of the corridor. It sounded like someone was coming this way.

He instinctively turned to look, catching only a glimpse of a slender figure in a moon-white robe, surrounded by several people, passing around the corner of the corridor.

The person's profile was strikingly handsome, and there was an indescribable air of nobility between his brows. He was clearly no ordinary person.

The young woman noticed the commotion too. Her expression shifted slightly as she murmured under her breath,

"Didn't the Hall Master say His Highness the Crown Prince was going to the inner hall today? Why is he coming this way..."

His Highness the Crown Prince?

Only one person in Heaven Dou City could be called that: Xue Qinghe, the eldest son of the current emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire and heir to the throne.

He was at the Spirit Temple today?

Before Li Hanche could think any further, the young woman had resumed her professional expression and said to him,

"Stand still, don't move. Close your eyes and relax. I'll guide the awakening of your Martial Soul."

Li Hanche closed his eyes as instructed.

The array began to glow. Golden lines lit up across the floor and rapidly spread along its intricate pattern.

He felt a warm force rise from the soles of his feet and slowly flow through his entire body, like warm liquid being poured into his veins. Every cell trembled faintly.

The feeling was strange, as though something deep within him had been awakened. A force that had slumbered at the very bottom of his bloodline began to stir, swell, and surge, like a giant dragon that had lain dormant for a million years finally opening its eyes.

The young woman's voice sounded beside him.

"Relax. Don't resist. Let it emerge naturally..."

He felt the force grow stronger and denser, like boiling magma churning in his chest, desperately seeking an outlet to erupt through.

Li Hanche instinctively extended his right hand, palm up.

A blinding golden light burst from his palm.

It wasn't an ordinary gold, but a gold so rich it seemed almost tangible, carrying an edge so keen that it was as if solid blades were exploding through the air.

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped several degrees. An invisible pressure spread from me, and even Li Hanche himself was stunned.

Was it really that powerful?

The young woman was forced back two steps by the pressure, her face changing dramatically.

"This... This is..."

The golden light in his palm gradually gathered. Within its radiance, the outline of a long spear slowly emerged.