Lord of Tides

"Roar—!"

The instant Jiang Lan's Martial Soul awakened, an azure light burst from within him. The phantom of the Lord of Tides · Starlight Ruth King appeared behind him, letting out a clear, resounding dragon's roar.

"Th-this... what Martial Soul is this?! My Martial Soul is trembling. It's afraid!" Upon hearing that dragon's roar, the young woman presiding over the Martial Soul awakening ceremony could no longer maintain her Martial Soul Possession. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the ground, her face drained of color.

"M-mine too."

Several young women turned pale. The waves of fear and trembling transmitted by their Martial Souls made their hearts quiver. The way they looked at Jiang Lan was as though they were looking at a natural predator.

As his Martial Soul awakened, Jiang Lan's body underwent tremendous changes as well. He grew noticeably taller, and his build became far more muscular, stretching his ill-fitting T-shirt taut.

Jiang Lan's black hair instantly turned an almost white icy blue. His once-pitch-black eyes were tinged with red, but the crimson in them was not murky. Instead, they were clear and lustrous, like a pair of blood-red gemstones.

Indigo dragon scales covered both of his fleshy palms from wrist to palm. The scales on his ten fingers gradually shifted from indigo to icy blue, while his nails became thick, sharp, and curved into lethal dragon claws that glinted with a chilling light beneath the sun.

A layer of translucent, azure webbing had also grown between Jiang Lan's fingers.

A winding icy-blue horn slowly emerged from Jiang Lan's brow. Pure water elements swirled around him, while a long dragon tail covered in numerous tail fins silently formed behind him, swaying gently and unconsciously at his back.

"So this was the power of a Martial Soul?" Jiang Lan looked at the changes in his body, his heart surging with excitement.

"This little brother's Martial Soul is actually a Water Attribute Dragon Martial Soul?!" The young woman called Lian'er could not help but be somewhat surprised upon seeing Jiang Lan's awakened Water Attribute Dragon Martial Soul.

"So it was a Dragon Martial Soul. No wonder our Martial Souls were afraid."

"What a pity. He's a boy."

The other young women looked at Jiang Lan with eyes full of regret.

Though a Water Attribute Dragon Martial Soul was powerful and rare, it was not enough for Skywater Academy to make an exception and admit a male student. (Note 1)

As for their Martial Souls being frightened by Jiang Lan's, they did not pay it much mind.

After all, their Martial Souls were either waterfowl or fish. It was only natural for them to feel fear when facing a powerful Martial Soul like a water dragon, practically their natural predator.

"Enough, stop talking. Hurry up and test this little brother's Innate Soul Power. There are still people waiting behind him." The leading young woman interrupted their discussion and urged them on.

By then, quite a few residents of Skywater City had gathered along Tianshui Lake, all of them having brought their children to awaken their Martial Souls.

"Little brother, use your mind to withdraw your Martial Soul, then place your hand here and test your Soul Power." Another young woman holding a Soul Power crystal ball said with a smile.

"Alright." Jiang Lan nodded. With a thought, he drew his Martial Soul back into his body, then placed his hand on the blue crystal ball.

The moment his palm touched the blue crystal ball, he felt an immensely powerful suction force drawing some sort of power from within his body.

The blue crystal ball slowly lit up. In the blink of an eye, it gleamed like a brilliant gemstone, with a faint blue halo spilling from it in an indescribably captivating sight.

"I-Innate Full Soul Power!" Several young women watching from nearby cried out in shock.

Jiang Lan was not surprised in the slightest. His Martial Soul was the Lord of Tides · Starlight Ruth King—how could his Innate Soul Power possibly be below level ten?

"Sister Kehan, what should we do?" The young women all turned toward the leading woman and asked.

Skywater Academy only recruited female water-attributed Soul Masters, but this was a Water Attribute Dragon Martial Soul with Innate Full Soul Power!

"Lian'er, return to the academy immediately and find the dean. The dean must decide this matter." After a brief moment of thought, the leading young woman gave the order.

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, Lian'er immediately turned and rushed toward Skywater Academy, located on the island in the center of Tianshui Lake.

"Little brother, what is your name?" Xu Kehan bent down slightly, meeting Jiang Lan's gaze as she asked.

"Jiang Lan," Jiang Lan said.

"Little brother Jiang Lan, can you tell your sister what your Martial Soul is called?" Xu Kehan asked again.

"Lord of Tides." Jiang Lan thought for a moment before answering.

"What?!" Xu Kehan froze.

"My Martial Soul told me that its name is Lord of Tides."

"Lord of Tides..."

Lord of Tides?!

Wow, wasn't that Martial Soul name a little too exaggerated?

Although the name of a Martial Soul did not necessarily mean anything, one could still gauge a Martial Soul's strength from its name.

For example, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, Ice Phoenix, Sacred Angel, and so on.

Xu Kehan steadied herself and smiled as she invited him. "Little brother, would you be willing to join Skywater Academy? Skywater Academy is the Soul Master Academy most skilled at nurturing water-attributed Soul Masters. If you join us, you will definitely receive the best training. Reaching Title Rank will be within your grasp."

As for Skywater Academy's enrollment restriction of only accepting female Soul Masters?

What a joke!

With Innate Full Soul Power and a top-tier Water Attribute Dragon Martial Soul, as long as Jiang Lan did not die prematurely, becoming a Titled Douluo was all but certain. The only question was how soon he would become one and how far he could progress within the Title Rank realm.

Only an idiot would let such a promising talent slip away.

Rules?

What the hell were petty rules worth before talent like this?

"But doesn't Skywater Academy only accept female Soul Masters?" Jiang Lan asked curiously.

"There are always exceptions. Your talent is enough for the academy to make one." Xu Kehan smiled.

"I'll join." Jiang Lan nodded.

Just as Xu Kehan had said, Skywater Academy was the unquestionable authority when it came to experience in nurturing ice- and water-attributed Soul Masters.

"Alright, little brother Jiang Lan, stand beside your sisters for now. Once we finish awakening the Martial Souls of Skywater City's residents, we'll take you to enroll." Xu Kehan said with a smile.

"Okay~" Jiang Lan obediently stepped out of the ritual formation and waited quietly to the side.

However, Jiang Lan did not have to wait long before a beautiful mature woman dressed in an icy-blue palace gown descended directly from the sky. She landed gracefully on the shore of Tianshui Lake. Her temperament was cool and exceptional, her figure curvaceous, and her features exquisitely beautiful as she asked:

"Where is the child with Innate Full Soul Power and a Water Attribute Dragon Martial Soul?"

"Dean, it's this child." Xu Kehan hurriedly pushed Jiang Lan before the beautiful woman.

"Greetings, Dean," Jiang Lan said respectfully.

"Good child, release your Martial Soul and let Auntie have a look." The beautiful woman looked at Jiang Lan gently and spoke in a soft voice.

"Mm, alright!" Jiang Lan immediately released his Martial Soul.

The instant Jiang Lan released his Martial Soul, the beautiful woman's expression changed dramatically, her exquisite face filled with disbelief.

Her Martial Soul had actually sensed powerful suppression and fear!

How was that possible?!

She was an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo!

Not to mention that her Water-Congealing Flying Luan Martial Soul was a top-tier Martial Soul no weaker than the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.

Yet even so, before this child's Martial Soul, her own Martial Soul still instinctively felt fear and suppression from its bloodline.

That meant Jiang Lan's Martial Soul possessed an exceptionally noble bloodline, one that far surpassed her Water-Congealing Flying Luan Martial Soul. The gap between their bloodlines had reached the point where it could ignore the difference in cultivation and impose bloodline suppression upon her Martial Soul.

(Note 1: A Dragon Martial Soul represents Martial Soul strength, while Innate Soul Power represents aptitude. Shui Bing'er's Water-Congealing Flying Luan Martial Soul was no inferior in quality to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Moreover, even Dragon Martial Souls varied in aptitude. One could only say that, as long as a Dragon Martial Soul had not undergone a malignant mutation, it generally guaranteed Innate Soul Power of level seven or eight. However, for Skywater Academy, a Dragon Martial Soul with level seven or eight Innate Soul Power was not enough for them to make an exception and recruit a male student. Innate Full Soul Power was different.)