"Sir, I want to awaken my martial soul."
In Bluestone Town, a black-haired child arrived at the mayor's residence carrying a pouch containing twenty Silver Soul Coins and asked to awaken his martial soul.
The awakening master at the mayor's residence took the pouch, glanced inside to confirm the amount, then looked over the plainly dressed child and spoke in an indifferent tone.
"Follow me." With that, he entered a room.
Yao Shi hurried after him.
The two entered the awakening chamber. The awakening master pointed at the hexagonal awakening array ahead, motioning for Yao Shi to step inside.
"Listen carefully, kid. Whatever martial soul you awaken, these twenty Silver Soul Coins are nonrefundable."
The awakening master spoke to Yao Shi in the same indifferent tone. He had seen far too many commoners hoping to soar into the heavens through martial soul awakening. Every time they awakened a trash martial soul, he had to listen to them clamoring for a refund before throwing them out. He had lost count of how often it had happened, and it was truly irritating. Now, whenever he awakened someone's martial soul, he warned them beforehand to spare himself the trouble of throwing them out again.
"Yes, I understand."
Yao Shi answered calmly, though a hint of anticipation gleamed in his eyes.
The awakening master ignored his answer, took out six black stones, arranged them into a hexagonal array on the spot, then released his soul power to activate it.
Yao Shi stood at the center of the array with his eyes tightly shut. Golden light radiated from the array and enveloped his entire body, leaving him feeling warm all over.
Within the golden light, his martial soul slowly began to emerge. A mass of white light surrounded an object over a meter long and two fingers wide.
Watching the shape of the white light from the side, the awakening master murmured, "Hmm? Could this be a sword martial soul?"
Once all the golden light around Yao Shi dissipated, his martial soul was fully revealed. It was a branch over a meter long, with three or four slender twigs extending from its sides and a single green leaf hanging from its tip.
The awakening master said with a low sigh, "A branch martial soul. Tsk, I got my hopes up for nothing. You really can't expect a commoner to awaken anything worthwhile."
Judging by the shape of the white light earlier, he had guessed it was a sword-type martial soul. If a commoner could awaken a sword martial soul and had some talent, recruiting him into the mayor's residence would have been worth considering. Instead, this child had awakened a trash martial soul-a branch. His anticipation had come to nothing, and his tone began to turn cold.
"Now that your martial soul has awakened, come test your innate soul power." At the same time, he muttered a curse under his breath. "Hah, expecting to awaken soul power with a useless martial soul? Commoners really are just commoners."
Despite how quietly he spoke, Yao Shi still heard him. He paid it no mind, however, because once his martial soul awakened, he had learned that it was called Jianmu. He believed it was the sky-reaching divine tree from the ancient myths of his previous life. It certainly was no trash martial soul, and his soul power was bound to be high.
Sure enough, after putting away his branch martial soul, Yao Shi placed his hand on the blue crystal, and dazzling light instantly flooded the entire awakening chamber.
"H-how is this possible? Innate full soul power!"
"Why would a trash martial soul possess innate full soul power?"
The awakening master stared at the sight, dumbfounded. Yet he was merely shocked by Yao Shi's talent for soul power; he remained just as disdainful of his branch martial soul.
The light faded, and a smile appeared on Yao Shi's face.
Innate full soul power. Not bad.
Just as excitement surged through him, the awakening master's cold voice rang out again. "The test is over. What are you standing around for? Hurry over here and register." He was already seated at the table in the awakening chamber.
Yao Shi hurried over.
"Name."
"Yao Shi."
"Place of residence."
"Woodleaf Village, Bluestone Town."
As they exchanged questions and answers, the awakening master wrote Yao Shi's information on a sheet of paper: martial soul: branch. Innate soul power: level ten.
After registering Yao Shi's information, he issued him his Soul Master certificate and then dismissed him.
"All right, you can leave."
His tone remained cold. Even though Yao Shi possessed innate full soul power, he had no intention of recruiting him. He did not believe someone with a trash branch martial soul could amount to anything in the future. Wouldn't recruiting him only waste the mayor's resources?
Yao Shi did not linger either. Upon hearing that he could leave, he immediately opened the awakening chamber's door and ran out of the mayor's residence.
Watching Yao Shi run off, the awakening master grumbled from his chair, "Commoners really are just commoners. Not a scrap of manners. I helped awaken his martial soul, and he left without so much as a little token of appreciation. Serves him right to awaken a trash martial soul."
Yao Shi had already run far away and could no longer hear the awakening master's muttering.
It was afternoon when he left the mayor's residence, and a reddish glow had begun to stain the horizon. Woodleaf Village was some distance from Bluestone Town; even a round trip by carriage took nearly half a day. To save money, Yao Shi had run all the way from the village to town for his awakening, which had taken him almost six hours.
Now Yao Shi ran along the dirt road he had taken into town, his face beaming with a smile.
Ever since his martial soul awakened, his body had felt exceptionally light. Not only could he run faster now, but he also used very little stamina. He reckoned that at his current speed, the journey home would take half as long as the trip into town.
Time ticked by, and the sky gradually began to darken.
Finally, after running for over two hours, Yao Shi spotted that familiar low earthen house-the home where he had lived for nearly seven years.
He slowed as he approached the house, then stopped in front of it. Gently pushing open the creaking wooden door, he called softly inside.
"Grandpa, I'm home!"
Cough, cough, cough.
Several coughs came from inside, followed by an aged yet kindly voice.
"Little Pebble's back, is he? How did your martial soul awakening go today?"
Yao Shi entered the room the voice had come from and fumbled in the dark to light an oil lamp. Its glow revealed the scene inside: an elderly man lay on the bed, struggling to sit up.
Yao Shi set down the oil lamp and immediately hurried over in concern.
"Oh, Grandpa, let me help you. Don't move around on your own. You could fall off the bed."
Yao Shi reached the old man's side and gently helped him up, settling his back against the wall beside the bed so he could remain seated.
Once he was settled, the old man's kindly voice sounded again. "Hahaha, Little Pebble, can you tell me about your martial soul now?"
Yao Shi flashed his white teeth, his tone carrying a little pride. "Grandpa, my awakening was amazing. I have innate full soul power."
Hahahaha!
The old man laughed heartily. "That's my Little Pebble! You really do have the talent to become a Soul Master."
In truth, the old man did not know what innate full soul power meant. He only knew that his child had a chance of becoming a Soul Master, and that alone made him happy for him.
Seeing how happily the old man laughed, Yao Shi said softly, "Then wait here for me, Grandpa. I'll go boil some water and make dinner."
"All right, all right. Off you go."
With that, Yao Shi went outside and placed firewood in the stove.
Through the window, the old man watched the young child bustling about outside, and his thoughts drifted back to the past-to when he had found Yao Shi...
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