Martial Soul Awakening

Eastsea City, orphanage.

Today was the annual Martial Soul Awakening Day, an age-old tradition of Douluo Continent.

In the spacious awakening chamber, Xiling stood out among the children waiting to awaken, with his white hair and azure-blue eyes.

In his previous life, both of his parents had died. Before even finishing elementary school, he had shouldered the burden of caring for his younger siblings.

After finally raising his brother and sister to adulthood, he had succumbed to illness brought on by years of overwork.

Then, when he opened his eyes again, he had transmigrated to the era of The Legend of the Dragon King.

Sealed memories quietly surged forth, leaving him with an unavoidable trace of melancholy. Six years already. I wonder how those two are doing over there.

Do they have enough to eat? Are they warm enough? Is anyone bullying them?

As his thoughts drifted, a clear call suddenly pulled him back to reality.

"Xiling!"

Hearing his name, Xiling snapped back to his senses. Is it my turn?

He could not help but feel expectant. What kind of Martial Soul would he awaken?

In this era, the Golden and Silver Dragon bloodlines suppressed all races. If he awakened an ordinary beast Martial Soul, he would most likely be finished.

Compared to that, a tool Martial Soul was what he hoped for most right now.

As Xiling walked to the center of the awakening chamber, the Spirit Master activated the awakening formation. Strands of white light lit up one after another along the formation lines, the patterns spreading and winding until they all converged beneath Xiling's feet.

Xiling only felt a long-dormant power within him awaken, as though something had stirred it.

An ancient, restrained dark-gold gemstone slowly appeared in the palm of his right hand.

At the same moment, a layer of gold instantly covered his pure azure-blue eyes, making them unfathomably deep.

Centered on him, the surrounding air twisted. The invisible space rippled with fine waves and trembled faintly.

Inside the awakening chamber, the formation shook violently. Every hair on the Spirit Master's body stood on end, his face turning pale as paper. An extreme chill originating from the depths of his soul swept through his entire body, making his legs tremble uncontrollably.

The other children awaiting their awakenings cried out in terror, instinctively curling up and backing away, not daring to approach even half a step.

Outside, in an instant, the entire sky above Eastsea City abruptly lost its color. Daylight faded as thick, heavy purple mist churned layer upon layer, staining the sky for thousands of miles.

The void shook. Visible cracks crisscrossed through the air as space shattered inch by inch, while fine yet razor-sharp golden spatial rifts spread across the heavens.

A bleak, icy pressure from the void descended heavily, as though the nine heavens had collapsed, enveloping all of Eastsea City.

With a resounding dragon's roar, the clouds rolled and tore apart. A towering, majestic dragon phantom appeared and disappeared amid them, its draconic might vast enough to shake the heavens.

The terrifying phenomenon swept across tens of thousands of miles, even affecting the entirety of Douluo Continent.

Across the continent, every peak expert, no matter how far away they were, felt their minds quake at the exact same instant and abruptly looked toward Eastsea City.

At the heart of Star Dou Forest, the newly awakened Silver Dragon King, Gu Yuena, had been about to make a domineering declaration to conquer the world.

As if sensing something, her purple vertical pupils pierced through the layers of forest toward Eastsea City, her eyes filled with disbelief.

At Spirit Pagoda Headquarters, Shrek Academy, and the Federation Military Headquarters, several Title Douluo rose to their feet at once, their expressions incomparably grave.

Even the barrier of the Abyssal Plane trembled faintly under this spatial power, its black corrosive force instinctively shrinking back.

In Eastsea City, countless civilians looked up at the strange sky, every face filled with terror.

"It was clear just a moment ago. How did the sky suddenly become like this?!"

"What is that phantom in the sky? Is it a soul beast? It's terrifying!"

"Is the world ending?"

Fear, unease, and panic spread through the crowd.

The same scene was also unfolding within the plane space controlled by the Lord of the Plane. The difference was that the origin power here was being continuously drawn away by those spatial rifts.

Sensing the loss of his own power, the sleeping Tang Hao was instantly jolted awake.

"Damn it! Who is causing trouble? You have invited your own death!"

Just as he was about to mobilize his divine power to resist, an extreme spatial confinement suddenly locked down everything around him.

The space around him completely solidified. His limbs and bones could not move in the slightest, and every connection he had with the Douluo Plane was forcibly severed.

A dignified second-class god, possessing heaven-reaching divine power, was actually suppressed until he could not move at all.

He could only watch helplessly as his power was devoured, like an impotent husband, utterly unable to do anything.

Just as Tang Hao's heart and spirit were about to collapse and he believed that he was bound to perish, the rampant spatial rifts suddenly stopped plundering. They slowly contracted before finally vanishing completely into nothingness.

Meanwhile, the plane consciousness, which Tang Hao had originally completely suppressed and which had been on the verge of perishing, gained a brief chance to catch its breath and regained partial authority over the Douluo Plane.

Although those sudden spatial rifts had absorbed the spatial authority of the Douluo Plane, which made the plane consciousness deeply uncomfortable,

they had also prevented It from perishing entirely.

Compared to that, it was merely the loss of spatial authority. That was not something It found hard to accept.

Eastsea City, orphanage.

Xiling raised his head slightly. His golden eyes, devoid of the slightest emotion, seemed to pierce through countless barriers and fall upon the giant dragon soaring through the sky.

All the information about that dragon suddenly surfaced in his mind.

As the dark-gold gemstone in his hand fully solidified, the phenomenon receded like a tide, as though it had never existed.

From beginning to end, it had lasted less than ten seconds.

Xiling's eyes returned to azure blue, and the indifference in them vanished without a trace.

He lowered his head to look at the dark-gold gemstone quietly floating in his right palm, unable to suppress the curve of his lips.

"Void Core!"

This was the Herrscher Core of Sirin, the Second Herrscher, the Herrscher of the Void, from the world of Honkai Impact 3rd. It controlled the authority of space!

And the dragon phantom that had appeared over Eastsea City moments ago was Benares, the Judgment-class Honkai Beast that accompanied the Herrscher of the Void.

It possessed the three elemental powers of fire, ice, and lightning. Perhaps because the planes were different, its strength could only reach the level of an Ultimate Douluo.

Xiling could not help but sigh inwardly. Sure enough, having cheats makes all the difference!

Seeing the Spirit Master still standing there in a daze, unable to recover, Xiling reminded him, "Uncle, I haven't tested my innate soul power yet."

Hearing Xiling's voice, the Spirit Master jolted and looked at the Void Core, his eyes burning with excitement.

"Right, right, right! Test your soul power!" He hurriedly took out a crystal ball and held it before Xiling. "Little friend, just place your hand on it."

He had never seen such a Martial Soul before, and merely the pressure emitted during its awakening had made him, a three-ring Soul Elder, feel so oppressed. This child was undoubtedly a genius!

If he could recruit him into the Spirit Pagoda, a promotion and raise would be within reach! A bright future seemed to be beckoning to him.

Sure enough, just as the Spirit Master had expected,

the instant Xiling lightly pressed his hand onto the soul power testing crystal ball, dazzling light immediately filled it completely!

"Innate full soul power! A genius indeed! This child and I are fated!"

Overjoyed, the Spirit Master crouched down and revealed what he believed was a very friendly smile. "Little Xiling, are you interested in joining the Spirit Pagoda?"

Looking at the excitement in the Spirit Master's eyes, Xiling smiled and shook his head, politely declining the invitation.

After registering the Void Core as his Martial Soul, he left.

Watching his performance evaluation and bonus drift away from him, the Spirit Master felt a pang of heartache. Still, he knew that such things could not be forced.

Only after watching Xiling leave did he take out his soul-guided communicator and report Xiling's information to his superiors.

After finishing all that, he continued awakening the Martial Souls of the remaining children.