On Douluo Continent, for commoners with no connections, entering the lofty ranks of Soul Masters was harder than climbing to heaven.
They had only ever had two paths.
They could get lucky enough for their ancestors to bless them and awaken a Martial Soul with Soul Power naturally at the age of six, without doing a thing.
Or they could spend every coin their family had saved over decades, scrape together ten Gold Soul Coins, and stake it all at the awakening array on the slim chance that their faint bloodline might mutate for the better.
But even if luck smiled on them and everything went as well as it possibly could, those gifted commoners still had to find a way past the steep tuition fees to enter a Soul Master Academy and gain knowledge of Martial Souls and Soul Beasts—knowledge the great powers kept under tight control.
Talent alone could not get anyone into a true advanced Soul Master Academy. The required letters of recommendation, personally issued by figures of at least a city lord's standing, formed an iron barrier before every commoner.
Junior Soul Master Academies might still have a few common-born students. Everyone trained and struggled together there, so the differences were not too obvious.
But step through the gates of an advanced Soul Master Academy, and all you saw were the children of royalty and nobility or the sons and daughters of great clans and sects.
They moved in the same circles and enjoyed resources far beyond anything ordinary people could imagine.
Even if one or two astonishingly talented commoners slipped in, it would not take long for that world of money and influence to beat reality into them. Soon enough, they would accept the patronage of some young noble.
Through layer after layer of near-impossible