Level Three Soul Power, Double Pupils' Frightening Might

Warm Soul Power circulated through Chu Jin's body before finally flowing into his Dantian.

The faint Soul Power that had originally been only level one rapidly grew.

Level two.

Level three.

The entire process was exceptionally smooth, not even causing fluctuations in the surrounding Soul Power.

The two levels of Soul Power granted by [Level Up!] weren't a temporary infusion. It was more like filling in the power he should have gained through cultivation ahead of time. His meridians didn't ache from swelling, nor did his Dantian feel hollow. It was no different from Soul Power obtained through his own cultivation.

Chu Jin quickly reached a conclusion.

He didn't leave immediately.

"Steward Ma."

Steward Ma, who was preparing to put away the awakening formation, looked up.

"What is it?"

Holding the little beast, Chu Jin said calmly, "I'd like to test my Soul Power again."

The crowd that hadn't yet dispersed fell quiet once more.

Steward Ma frowned.

He had encountered similar situations before.

Some children couldn't accept having no Soul Power or having Soul Power that was too low. They always felt there was something wrong with the awakening crystal and cried or made a fuss about being tested again.

Most of the time, the second result didn't change at all.

Chu Jin's parents had died during a Spirit Hall mission, after all. Steward Ma didn't want to embarrass him too badly, so he patiently explained, "The testing crystal is inspected every day. Your Soul Power fluctuation was very stable just now, so the chance of an error is very low."

"I know."

Chu Jin glanced at the little beast in his arms.

"My Martial Soul is an External Beast Martial Soul. It was still outside during the previous test. I want to confirm whether my Soul Power was affected because my Martial Soul hadn't been withdrawn."

Steward Ma froze slightly.

That reason did sound somewhat plausible.

External Beast Martial Souls were extremely rare on Douluo Continent, and the available records were limited. No one could guarantee that a Martial Soul being outside the body wouldn't affect a Soul Power test.

"Then try again."

Steward Ma placed the crystal ball back in position.

With a thought from Chu Jin—

The little beast in his arms transformed into a streak of golden light and entered his chest.

After the External Beast Martial Soul returned, there was no obvious change in his body. Only a faint yet intimate connection appeared deep within his chest.

Chu Jin placed his hand on the crystal ball.

Buzz.

Blue light flared up instantly.

This time, the light no longer remained at the bottom of the crystal ball. It rapidly spread upward before stabilizing at the level-three Soul Power mark.

The surroundings fell silent.

Steward Ma's expression changed as well.

"Level three?"

He strode forward and placed his palm on the crystal ball's surface, carefully examining it with Soul Power.

The crystal ball was functioning normally.

The Soul Power fluctuations within Chu Jin's body were equally stable.

Innate level-three Soul Power wasn't exceptional, but it was enough for normal cultivation. As long as he worked hard afterward and received some resource support, he would have a chance of breaking through to Soul Elder or even Soul Ancestor.

The richly dressed boy who had been secretly laughing now looked awful.

He, too, had innate level-three Soul Power.

No matter how poor Chu Jin's Martial Soul looked, at least their starting points in Soul Power were now the same.

"How could this happen?"

Steward Ma muttered.

He had personally overseen hundreds of Martial Soul awakenings, yet he had never encountered a case where the Soul Power test differed by two levels before and after.

Following the explanation he had prepared in advance, Chu Jin said, "Perhaps my Martial Soul possesses some independent Soul Power. When it was outside, the crystal ball only measured my body's Soul Power. Once it returned, the Martial Soul's Soul Power returned to my body as well, so the result became complete."

There was no evidence for that explanation.

Yet Steward Ma couldn't find a more reasonable one.

He had Chu Jin summon the little beast again and tested him once more.

The crystal ball still showed level three.

Then he had him withdraw it.

The result was still level three.

Steward Ma's frown deepened.

"Looks like it isn't simply a separation of Soul Power."

He circled Chu Jin, his gaze shifting repeatedly between the little beast and Chu Jin.

"After a Martial Soul awakens, the connection between a Soul Master and their Martial Soul gradually stabilizes. Perhaps the awakening hadn't fully finished just now, and the remaining Soul Power only truly merged into your body when you were about to leave."

That could only be considered speculation.

Regardless, Chu Jin's true Soul Power Level had been confirmed.

Level three.

The direction of the surrounding discussions swiftly changed.

"So the test was simply done too early."

"Innate level three isn't bad."

"That little beast may look strange, but it does carry dragon attributes. It might not truly be without cultivation value in the future."

Chu Lie stood nearby, unable to stop the smile from appearing on his face.

He didn't care whether Chu Jin could become a Titled Douluo in the future. As long as he wasn't innate level one and his path of cultivation could be smoother, that was enough for him.

Steward Ma didn't immediately declare the ceremony over.

When Chu Jin had tested himself just now, he had sensed what seemed to be a brief mental fluctuation from him.

That fluctuation had been extremely faint and vanished in an instant, but his Hound Martial Soul had still caught it.

"Chu Jin, look at me."

Steward Ma suddenly spoke.

Chu Jin raised his head and met his gaze.

A faint glow of Soul Power appeared in Steward Ma's eyes.

His Martial Soul didn't excel at mental attacks, but it possessed a certain degree of perception. Through close-range Soul Power probing, he could determine whether Chu Jin had a second source of power or any other hidden changes.

A wisp of mental Soul Power followed their eye contact.

A burning heat immediately surged from deep within Chu Jin's eyes.

His Double Pupils Martial Soul had only just awakened, and he hadn't fully mastered it yet. Stimulated by the foreign mental Soul Power, it reacted almost instinctively.

A dark golden glint flashed through Chu Jin's eyes.

His double pupils completely emerged.

Steward Ma suddenly froze.

The hall, the awakening formation, and the onlookers all vanished from before his eyes.

A deep war drum sounded beside his ears.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Each strike felt as though it were hammering against his heart.

Steward Ma found himself standing on a battlefield that stretched beyond sight.

The ground was soaked in blood, broken weapons stood among corpses and bones, and countless armored soldiers formed military ranks in the distance. No one spoke, yet the oppressive silence pressed in from every direction like mountains.

At the end of the battlefield, a figure held a Heavy Halberd, his back facing the setting sun that filled the sky.

He slowly turned around.

Just one glance.

Steward Ma felt the Soul Power within his body instantly freeze, while his legs seemed to be pinned down by some terrifying existence.

That feeling was completely different from facing a high-level Soul Master.

The pressure of high-level Soul Masters came from the gap in Soul Power.

But the gaze before him was like that of a true commander who had emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, looking down upon a weakling who had intruded upon his battlefield.

"Retreat!"

A voice exploded between heaven and earth.

Steward Ma's face abruptly turned pale, and he staggered backward.

Bang.

His lower back struck the testing table, making the crystal ball roll several times.

Everyone around them was startled.

The dark golden light in Chu Jin's eyes swiftly faded, returning them to ordinary black.

The illusion vanished with it.

Steward Ma panted heavily, cold sweat already beading across his forehead.

"Steward Ma?"

The branch hall assistant beside him hurriedly supported him.

"What happened to you?"

Steward Ma didn't answer.

He stared fixedly at Chu Jin's eyes, unable to conceal the shock and uncertainty on his face.

Everything just now had lasted only an instant.

Yet he was certain it hadn't been an ordinary illusion.

A six-year-old child who had just completed his awakening had thrown a level-twenty-seven Soul Grandmaster off balance with nothing more than a glance.

This Martial Soul ability had already far exceeded the scope of ordinary mental-type Martial Souls.

"Your eyes..."

Steward Ma's voice sank.

"What happened just now?"

Chu Jin didn't hide the existence of his Double Pupils.

His first Martial Soul had already displayed abnormal changes, so completely concealing his second Martial Soul would be difficult. Displaying a portion of his talent appropriately would instead allow him to obtain better resources and protection from Spirit Hall.

He raised his right hand and tried once more to activate the Double Pupils.

Two pupils appeared within each of his eyes again, but this time, they released no mental pressure.

After seeing them clearly, everyone around them sucked in a breath.

"Two pupils?"

"His eyes are a Martial Soul too?"

"Twin Martial Souls?"

Steward Ma's breath caught.

Twin Martial Souls were exceptionally rare on Douluo Continent.

Anyone possessing Twin Martial Souls, so long as they could grow normally, had the potential to become a top-tier powerhouse in the future.

"Can you sense its name?"

Chu Jin nodded.

"Double Pupils."

"What abilities does it have?"

"At present, I can see the flow of Soul Power clearly, and I can also influence the mind to a certain degree. That situation just now was the first time I'd encountered it too."

That statement was half true and half false.

Chu Jin truly had only just awakened his Double Pupils, and there were many abilities he had yet to understand.

Steward Ma didn't doubt him.

If a six-year-old child could completely master mental pressure the moment his Martial Soul awakened, that would be truly terrifying.

He quickly regained his composure, his expression more serious than ever.

"No one is to spread what happened today without permission."

"Chu Jin's Martial Soul situation is internal Spirit Hall information. If anyone leaks it and brings unnecessary trouble, the branch hall will pursue the matter to the end."

The onlookers hurriedly nodded.

Bluestone Town was merely a small town.

Spirit Hall held absolute authority here. No one wished to offend the branch hall over a few idle remarks.

Steward Ma picked up the register and wrote several lines of notes after Chu Jin's name. Then he took out a separate communication paper with red edges.

This kind of communication paper was only used when special Martial Souls, Innate Full Soul Power, or major incidents were encountered.

Chu Jin's Innate Soul Power wasn't high.

But his Twin Martial Souls and the abilities of his Double Pupils were enough to meet the standards for an emergency report.

"You may go back first."

Steward Ma said to Chu Lie, "The branch hall needs to organize the information. Further testing may be arranged afterward."

Chu Lie nodded.

He led Chu Jin out of the Spirit Hall branch, and the smile never left his face along the way.

When he reached the blacksmith shop's entrance, he finally couldn't help squatting down and placing both hands on Chu Jin's shoulders.

"You're something else, kid!"

"You nearly scared your uncle to death just now, and then you turned out to have Twin Martial Souls. If your parents knew, they'd be so happy they wouldn't sleep all night."

At the mention of his parents, Chu Lie's eyes dimmed briefly before quickly recovering.

He raised a hand and patted Chu Jin on the head.

"Tell me, what exactly is going on with those eyes of yours?"

Chu Jin blinked.

Under normal circumstances, his eyes were no different from before.

Only after Soul Power was poured into them did the dark-gold Double Pupils reappear.

"My second Martial Soul: Double Pupils."

Chu Lie leaned in and studied them for a long while, then held up two rough fingers and waved them in front of him.

"How many is this?"

"Two."

"What about this?"

"Five."

"Looks like the awakening didn't ruin your eyes."

Chu Jin was speechless.

"Uncle, a Martial Soul awakening won't awaken someone into a blind man."

"You never know. Your eyes don't look anything like anyone else's."

Though Chu Lie was talking nonsense, the worry in his eyes finally faded completely.

He stood and pushed open the blacksmith shop's door.

"No work today. Your uncle's going to stew some meat for you."

Chu Jin summoned his External Beast Martial Soul again.

A flash of golden light passed, and the little beast landed on the ground, wobbling as it followed Chu Lie into the house.

Watching its foolishly adorable appearance, then recalling the words Twelve-Winged Holy Dragon Hatchling from the vision of his Double Pupils, Chu Jin felt strangely conflicted.

This little thing seemed rather far from becoming a Twelve-Winged Sacred Dragon.