Instructor

"Innate twentieth-level soul power, a Black Dragon King martial soul... Tsk, that really was an impressive setup.

But here, an impressive setup didn't mean you could pass.

Spirit Hall accepted hundreds, if not thousands, of geniuses every year, yet no more than twenty percent remained in the end. Do you know where the rest went?"

Lu Mingfei shook his head.

"Eliminated."

Zhou Dashan spoke blandly. "Spirit Hall had no place for trash. Today, your talent might make His Holiness the Pope inquire about you personally, but if your rate of progress failed to keep up tomorrow, your name would be struck from Spirit Hall's roster—cleanly and completely, without a trace left behind. Do you understand?"

Lu Mingfei nodded. "I understand."

"Good."

Zhou Dashan removed an iron chain as thick as a thumb from his waist and flicked it casually.

The chain rang crisply through the air, wrapping around a nearby stone pillar like a living snake with a muffled bang.

Lu Mingfei noticed that the instant the chain touched the pillar, it had left a deep indentation in it.

"This is your first task."

Zhou Dashan retracted the chain and pointed at a stone platform in the center of the open space. "Attack this platform with all your strength. Let me see exactly how much soul power you have."

Lu Mingfei walked up to the platform and took a deep breath.

The platform was around a meter tall and half a meter wide, its surface smooth as a mirror. There was no telling what material it was made of.

But since it was a testing device, it certainly wasn't some shoddily built piece of junk.

He raised his right hand and, with a thought, drove the soul power within him toward it.

That surging power awakened once more. The Black Dragon King tattoo grew faintly warm, and a stream of heated energy flowed out from it, spreading along his arm to his fingertips.

Black light gathered in his palm, growing denser and brighter until it formed a black sphere the size of a fist, hovering above his hand.

Zhou Dashan's eyes narrowed slightly.

The expressions of the boys and girls nearby changed as well.

Some sucked in a breath, some unconsciously took a step back, and some tried to appear calm, but the tremor in their pupils betrayed their inner shock.

Lu Mingfei raised his hand, and the black sphere shot out, smashing solidly into the stone platform.

Boom...

A thunderous crash rang out, and fragments of stone flew everywhere.

A fist-sized crater appeared on the platform's surface. Cracks spread outward from it like a shattered spiderweb.

When the dust settled and everyone saw the depth of that crater, silence fell for a moment.

Even Lu Mingfei was stunned.

He knew his soul power was strong after awakening, but he hadn't expected it to be this strong.

The material of this platform was clearly extraordinary.

Putting such a crater in it meant that the power of his attack had reached at least the level of a two-ring Grand Soul Master, even though he hadn't attached a single soul ring.

Zhou Dashan approached the platform and touched the edge of the crater. After a moment of silence, he turned around and looked at Lu Mingfei with an almost appraising gaze.

"Your soul power output is approximately between level nineteen and twenty," he said slowly. "Considering that you haven't attached any soul rings yet, this figure is normal.

But the characteristics of your martial soul are interesting. That soul power attack just now contained a powerful corrosive attribute.

Like a dragon's breath, it can erode a target's defenses.

Combined with your soul power output, that corrosive property gives it actual destructive power close to that of a level twenty-five Grand Soul Master."

He paused, and a trace of emotion entered his voice—something even he himself had not noticed. "Lu Mingfei, your martial soul isn't an ordinary dragon-type martial soul.

Even an ordinary dragon-type martial soul at the level of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon could not produce such a degree of corrosive power during the awakening stage.

Your Black Dragon King martial soul... is even stronger than I imagined."

Zhou Dashan's words changed the way everyone present looked at him.

The contempt in those boys' and girls' eyes had vanished completely, replaced by wariness, apprehension, and a faint hint of... fear.

Lu Mingfei did not notice any of that. He was staring blankly at his right hand.

When he had activated his soul power just now, he had vaguely sensed a strange force stirring within him.

It was completely different from the Black Dragon King's savagery—gentle as jade, soft as the wind.

But just as he was about to release his attack, that force had suddenly drawn back, as though deliberately hiding its existence.

At the time, he had assumed it was an illusion. But thinking back on it now, the feeling had been far too real.

Could there be something else inside me...?

The thought flashed through Lu Mingfei's mind, but before he could consider it further, Zhou Dashan's voice interrupted him.

"The test is over." Zhou Dashan clapped his hands. "Lu Mingfei, your preliminary assessment results are as follows: your soul power level is preliminarily determined to be level twenty; your martial soul is the Black Dragon King; your attributes are darkness and corrosion; and you currently have no attached soul rings.

Starting today, you will officially enter Spirit Hall's basic training system.

Your courses will include soul power control training, martial soul application techniques, basic combat, soul beast knowledge, wilderness survival, and Soul Master etiquette.

You will rise at dawn every day and rest at nightfall. Apart from meals and the midday break, you will have no free time."

Lu Mingfei's mouth twitched. It gave him an eerie sense of having returned to the final sprint class of his senior year in high school.

"Do you have any other questions?" Zhou Dashan asked.

Lu Mingfei raised his hand. "Yes, Instructor Zhou. I want to ask, if I'm looking for someone, can Spirit Hall help me investigate?"

Zhou Dashan froze for a moment, clearly not expecting that question.

He frowned. "Who are you looking for?"

"A girl. Red hair, a red dress, around my age."

Lu Mingfei spoke slowly and earnestly, one word at a time. "I don't know where she is in this world, and I'm not sure whether she has awakened her martial soul yet.

But I'd like to ask Spirit Hall to keep an eye out. If anyone has seen a girl like that, could you tell me?"

Zhou Dashan looked into Lu Mingfei's eyes and fell silent for several seconds.

In those eyes, he saw a seriousness and persistence that a six-year-old child should not possess.

That persistence was not a child's willfulness, but the conviction that only an adult could possess after enduring immense grief and pain.

"I'll report this request for you."

Zhou Dashan finally said, "But Spirit Hall's search resources are limited. We cannot make a massive effort over a child's personal request.

If your talent is enough to draw the attention of Spirit Hall's higher-ups, then perhaps one day, Spirit Hall will be willing to use those resources for you."

Lu Mingfei understood the implication behind Zhou Dashan's words.