Instructor

"Innate Level 20 Soul Power and the Black Dragon King Martial Soul. Not bad. That's quite a combination.

"But here, an impressive combination doesn't mean you'll pass.

"Spirit Hall takes in hundreds of talented children every year, if not a thousand. Fewer than twenty percent stay to the end. Do you know what happens to the rest?"

Lu Mingfei shook his head.

"They're eliminated."

Zhou Dashan spoke evenly. "Spirit Hall doesn't keep dead weight. Your talent may have earned you the personal attention of His Holiness the Pope today, but if you can't keep improving, tomorrow your name will be struck from Spirit Hall's rolls. Cleanly, without a trace. Do you understand?"

Lu Mingfei nodded. "I understand."

"Good."

Zhou Dashan unfastened a thumb-thick iron chain from his waist and flicked it outward.

The chain cracked through the air. It coiled around a nearby stone pillar like a living snake and struck with a dull bang.

Lu Mingfei noticed that the chain had left a deep dent the instant it touched the pillar.

"Here's your first task."

Zhou Dashan drew back the chain and pointed to a stone platform in the middle of the clearing. "Hit that platform with all your strength. Let me see how much Soul Power you really have."

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

It stood about a meter tall and half a meter across. Its surface was smooth as a mirror, and he couldn't tell what it was made of.

Still, anything used for a test like this was hardly going to be shoddy.

He extended his right hand and willed the Soul Power within him to gather there.

That surging power awakened again. The Black Dragon King tattoo grew faintly warm, and a current of heat flowed from it down his arm to his fingertips.

Black light gathered in his palm, growing denser and brighter until it became a fist-sized orb hovering above his hand.

Zhou Dashan narrowed his eyes.

The expressions of the boys and girls nearby changed too.

Some gasped. Some took an involuntary step back. Others tried to look calm, but their trembling pupils betrayed their shock.

Lu Mingfei thrust out his hand. The black orb shot forward and slammed squarely into the platform.

Boom...

A thunderous blast sent stone fragments flying.

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

When the dust cleared and everyone saw how deep the crater was, silence fell.

Lu Mingfei was stunned too.

He knew his Soul Power had grown strong after awakening, but he hadn't expected this.

The platform was clearly made of no ordinary material.

Leaving a crater like that meant his attack had reached at least the level of a two-ring Soul Grandmaster—and he hadn't even acquired a Soul Ring.

Zhou Dashan approached the platform and ran a hand along the crater's edge. After a moment of silence, he turned and studied Lu Mingfei.

"Your Soul Power output is roughly between level nineteen and twenty," he said slowly. "Considering you haven't acquired a Soul Ring yet, that figure is normal.

"But your Martial Soul has an interesting trait. That attack carried a powerful corrosive quality.

"Like the breath of the Dragon Clan, it can eat through a target's defenses.

"Combined with your Soul Power output, that corrosion brings the attack's actual destructive force close to that of a level twenty-five Soul Grandmaster."

He paused, a trace of wonder entering his voice before he realized it. "Lu Mingfei, yours isn't an ordinary dragon-type Martial Soul.

"Even a dragon-type Martial Soul on the level of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon couldn't produce corrosion this strong upon awakening.

"Your Black Dragon King Martial Soul... is stronger than I imagined."

Zhou Dashan's words changed the way everyone looked at Lu Mingfei.

The disdain in the other children's eyes had vanished. In its place were wariness, caution, and a faint hint of... fear.

Lu Mingfei didn't notice. He was staring blankly at his right hand.

When he had channeled his Soul Power, he had felt something strange stirring inside him.

It was nothing like the Black Dragon King's violent power. This force was gentle as jade, soft as a breeze.

But just as he was about to release his attack, it had drawn back, as though deliberately hiding itself.

He had thought he was imagining it. Now that he considered it, though, the sensation had been far too real.

Could there be something else inside me...?

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

"Test over." Zhou Dashan clapped his hands. "Lu Mingfei, here's your initial assessment: your Soul Power Level is provisionally set at twenty. Your Martial Soul is the Black Dragon King, with darkness and corrosion attributes. You have no Soul Rings yet.

"As of today, you officially enter Spirit Hall's basic training program.

"Your courses include Soul Power control, Martial Soul techniques, basic combat, Soul Beast studies, wilderness survival, and Soul Master etiquette.

"You'll rise at dawn and rest late at night. Apart from meals and a midday break, you'll have no free time."

Lu Mingfei's mouth twitched. It felt disturbingly like being back in an intensive exam-prep class.

"Any questions?" Zhou Dashan asked.

Lu Mingfei raised his hand. "Yes, Instructor Zhou. If I'm looking for someone, can Spirit Hall help me find her?"

Zhou Dashan paused, clearly not expecting that question.

He frowned. "Who are you looking for?"

"A girl. Red hair, red dress, about my age."

Lu Mingfei spoke slowly and deliberately, giving every word his full attention. "I don't know where she is in this world, or even whether her Martial Soul has awakened.

"But I'd like to ask Spirit Hall to keep an eye out. If someone sees a girl like that, could they tell me?"

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

He saw an earnestness and determination no six-year-old should have possessed.

It wasn't a child's stubborn whim. It was the resolve of an adult who had endured profound grief and pain.

"I'll pass your request up the chain,"

Zhou Dashan said at last. "But Spirit Hall's search resources are limited. We can't launch a major search for one child's personal request.

"If your talent draws enough attention from Spirit Hall's leadership, perhaps one day they'll be willing to use those resources for you."

Lu Mingfei understood what Zhou Dashan was really saying.