Who Told You That White Bones Make an Evil Soul Master?

Heavenly Soul Empire, outskirts of Heaven Dou City, Guler Village.

The old village chief, Mike, stood at the entrance to the village, hunched and gray-haired. He paced back and forth from time to time, but his gaze remained fixed ahead, as though eagerly awaiting something.

Watching the old chief's actions, Ye An sighed softly to himself.

He had been in this world for exactly six years. On the day he was born, his father had gone into the mountains to hunt and died to a wolf's jaws, while his mother had died in childbirth. He had thus become an orphan. The childless old village chief had taken pity on him, brought him home, and named him Ye An.

Over the past six years, Ye An had gained a general understanding of this world.

The world he had transmigrated into was the Douluo World, specifically the era of the Peerless Tang Clan under the watchful eye of Tang God-King.

And today was Guler Village's annual Martial Soul awakening day—ten thousand years ago, the Battle of the Two Gods had destroyed Spirit Hall entirely. From then on, no Spirit Hall Soul Masters remained to awaken Martial Souls for commoners free of charge.

If commoners wanted to awaken their Martial Souls, they had to travel to the main cities of the major empires and pay ten Gold Soul Coins to hire a Soul Master to awaken the children's Martial Souls.

And ten Gold Soul Coins were enough for an ordinary family to live frugally for several years.

Guler Village was a poor little village whose income relied mostly on crop harvests. The ten Gold Soul Coins had only been scraped together after the old village chief spent a long time going door to door.

"Xiao An, your eyesight is good. Quickly help Grandpa see—is that the Soul Master from Heaven Dou City?"

Spotting a faint figure in the distance, the old village chief immediately grew excited and hurriedly called to Ye An.

Following the direction of his finger, Ye An saw a young man in white robes. The golden patterns embroidered on those robes were the symbol of a Heaven Dou City Soul Master.

Soon, the young Soul Master arrived before the old village chief and Ye An. His expression was rather arrogant, and when his gaze fell upon their clothes, it revealed a trace of disdain.

"This should be Guler Village, right?"

"Sir Soul Master, you've arrived."

Though the other man's attitude was far from pleasant, the old village chief bent his already hunched body even lower and forced a smile onto his face. "This is indeed Guler Village."

"Enough nonsense. Take me to awaken the Martial Souls already."

With that, the young Soul Master headed into the village on his own.

The old village chief showed no displeasure. Taking Ye An's hand, he hurried after him, nervously pulling a somewhat tattered little cloth pouch from his robes. "Sir Soul Master, if there are any promising children this year, could I trouble you to recommend them and bring them to Heaven Dou City?"

As he spoke, the old village chief directly stuffed the pouch into the Soul Master's hand.

The Soul Master weighed the pouch in his hand, and only then did his expression improve. His tone also became much friendlier. "Easy, easy. But I advise you to prepare yourselves mentally. In a small village like yours, the chances of producing promising talents are far too low."

Though he said that, he was not slow to tuck the little pouch into his robes.

Ye An unconsciously clenched his fists.

"I know the hope is slim, but if there truly is a good seed, we can't let them be buried here!"

The old village chief smiled bitterly.

The same thing had happened the year before last.

Their village had finally produced a child with level-four Innate Soul Power and a Beast Martial Soul, a promising cultivator. Yet because they had not given the Soul Master any benefits, that Soul Master had refused to bring the child to Heaven Dou City no matter what.

In the end, the old village chief had gone to great lengths to send that child to a junior Soul Master academy in another nearby town.

Now, he did not know how that child was doing.

The old village chief sighed inwardly, but his steps did not slow. Before long, he led the Soul Master to a tile-roofed house.

In the courtyard, ten six-year-old children stood in two rows, while their parents waited outside the courtyard.

The young Soul Master swept them a casual glance and spoke flatly. "Next, enter the tile-roofed house when I call your name. Once your Martial Soul has awakened, leave immediately. Do not waste my time."

"And there's no need for you to be too nervous. After all, there's a high chance none of you will awaken a good Martial Soul, much less possess Innate Soul Power."

"You, start first."

He casually pointed at a chubby boy among the two rows, then turned and entered the tile-roofed house.

A crude awakening formation was engraved upon the floor inside. It was more than sufficient to awaken the Martial Souls of a dozen or so children.

As the Soul Master injected his soul power into it, the awakening formation activated at once, and a faint golden light rose up.

The chubby boy standing in the formation looked at the Soul Master in confusion, completely unaware that the golden light had already fallen over him and that the phantom of a grass chicken had appeared behind him.

"Put your hand on the crystal ball."

The chubby boy obediently placed his hand on it. As expected, the crystal ball showed no reaction.

"Martial Soul: grass chicken. No Innate Soul Power. Next!"

"Martial Soul: hammer. No Innate Soul Power!"

"Martial Soul: sickle. Half-level Innate Soul Power. Not enough to become a Soul Master. Next!"

Just as the young Soul Master had said, none of the ten children possessed the talent to become Soul Masters. Among them, the highest Innate Soul Power was only level one, and that child's Martial Soul was the useless Blue Silver Grass.

Seeing that the first ten children had no Soul Master talent whatsoever, disappointment surfaced in the old village chief's eyes. Still, he patted Ye An on the shoulder and urged him, "Go on. Don't be nervous. It's all right if you don't awaken any soul power."

Ye An nodded and walked into the tile-roofed house.

"You're the last one, right? Good. Once I awaken yours, I can go back and rest."

A rare smile appeared on the Soul Master's face as he directed Ye An to stand in the center of the formation.

The next instant, an intense golden light abruptly surged up, then nearly crazily rushed toward Ye An's body!

The Soul Master's pupils suddenly contracted.

This only happened when a powerful Martial Soul was awakened!

Could it be... that this trip had brought him an unexpected gain?

If children awakened with level three or four Innate Soul Power, these Soul Masters could simply choose not to report them to Heaven Dou City. If the villages knew what was good for them and were willing to pay, they would not mind bringing such children to Heaven Dou City and placing them in a junior academy.

But if a little genius awakened with a powerful Martial Soul and Innate Soul Power above level six, then even if they received no benefits, they had to bring them back to Heaven Dou City!

Moreover, as long as they discovered one such little genius, they could receive a substantial reward!

A hint of barely concealed delight immediately appeared on the young Soul Master's face. He had never imagined that this trip would yield such a reward!

Before leaving, some crow-mouthed fool had said this journey would likely bring him a bloody disaster... bloody disaster, my ass!

At that thought, he could not help sneering inwardly.

Bathed in golden light, a scarlet-red heart appeared before Ye An's chest, its veins flowing with a golden radiance. Yet in the next instant, the heart fused against Ye An's chest and vanished.

Immediately afterward, an extremely subtle change occurred in Ye An's body—ashen-white bone patterns slowly emerged across him. The vague outlines of white bones appeared around his limbs, spine, and skull, while bone spikes extended from his fingertips!

As the golden light gradually faded, Ye An lowered his head to examine the changes in his body, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.

If he had not felt wrong... had he awakened Twin Martial Souls?

One Martial Soul was the Body Martial Soul heart, which had appeared first. The second was the bone pattern now covering his body, which also seemed to be a Body Martial Soul: White Bone.

Feeling the seemingly altered heartbeat within his chest, Ye An could not help taking a deep breath.

Twin Martial Souls, and both were top-tier Body Martial Souls!

Ye An remembered that the more vital a part of the human body was, the stronger it became as a Body Martial Soul.

The heart and White Bone were both undoubtedly important components of the human body. The heart was even the core of the body!

Even if he did not possess full Innate Soul Power, with top-tier Twin Martial Souls, he could still make something of himself in this era!

"E-Evil Martial Soul! He actually awakened an Evil Martial Soul!"

Before Ye An could react, the young Soul Master cried out in a trembling voice.

That shout also sparked discussion among the villagers outside.

"What? Xiao An actually awakened an Evil Martial Soul?"

"This is terrible! Does that mean Xiao An will become an Evil Soul Master in the future?"

The old village chief looked even more anxious. He could not help stepping forward twice and shouted through the door, "Sir Soul Master, could there be some mistake? Xiao An is always so polite and often helps with chores at home. He's a good child! How could he awaken an Evil Martial Soul?"

"This is definitely an Evil Martial Soul! I have never seen any respectable Soul Master awaken a Martial Soul with such grim white bones!"

The young Soul Master rushed out of the tile-roofed house in a fluster. Just as he was about to call for someone to seize Ye An, he suddenly remembered that he was the only capable one present.

That was right!

He belatedly realized that—even if Ye An had awakened an Evil Martial Soul, he had only just awakened it and was not even a Soul Master yet. Meanwhile, he was a Grand Soul Master with level twenty-seven soul power and two hundred-year Soul Rings!

If he captured this boy with the Evil Martial Soul and brought him back to Heaven Dou City, he could receive a reward as well!

At that thought, the young Soul Master's expression immediately changed.

Inside the tile-roofed house, Ye An's face was filled with speechlessness.

Come on, man, did some theoretical master teach you that?

You mistook my Body Martial Soul, White Bone, for an Evil Martial Soul?

Who told you that having white bones makes someone an Evil Soul Master?