Awakening Martial Soul

In a courtyard near the foot of the mountain, three children from the village stood in a line. Their expressions made it clear that they were extremely nervous.

"Children, don't be nervous. There won't be any danger during the martial soul awakening process," Lin Yueyao said with a smile.

Seeing her gentle, kind smile, the children seemed comforted and finally calmed down considerably.

After soothing the three children, Lin Yueyao took six black stones from her storage Soul Tool under Lin Yan's watchful gaze. She arranged them into an array on the ground, then said, "Xiaosong, you go first."

Among the three, the boy named Li Song stood at the front.

Hearing Lin Yueyao call his name, Li Song nervously glanced at his parents.

Only after receiving their encouragement did he walk toward the array on the ground.

"Xiaosong, don't be nervous. You can do it!"

Lin Yan cheered Li Song on from the side. They were the same age and lived in the same village. Lin Yan and the three of them had been playmates since childhood.

"Mm!" Li Song nodded, then stood in the center of the array.

Lin Yueyao raised her hand and sent a stream of Soul Power into each of the six stones.

The six originally black stones abruptly turned golden. The next moment, countless golden motes drifted from them and merged into Li Song's body.

"Xiaosong's father's inherited martial soul is a sickle, while his mother's martial soul is a plate. Unless a mutation occurs, his martial soul should be one of those two."

After dying suddenly in his previous life, Lin Yan had arrived on Douluo Continent with his memories intact, so he was extremely curious about the martial souls unique to this world.

There were not many people in the village, and he had long since figured out what martial soul every family possessed. Li Song's family was no exception.

A moment later, under Lin Yan's gaze, an utterly ordinary sickle appeared in Li Song's hand.

Seeing this, Lin Yan thought to himself, Just as expected!

It was a perfectly standard, ordinary sickle. Clearly, there had been no mutation.

Everyone in this world possessed a martial soul. Martial souls were divided into beast martial souls and tool martial souls. Beast martial souls were animals, while tool martial souls were objects; plants were also considered tool martial souls.

Martial souls varied in strength.

The stronger one's martial soul, the stronger a Soul Master could become.

A sickle martial soul was among the relatively weak tool martial souls.

That was hardly surprising. Ninety-nine percent of the people in this world possessed very weak martial souls. Only the less than one percent had the qualifications to cultivate as Soul Masters!

After a martial soul awakened, the next step was to test Innate Soul Power.

Martial souls were something everyone in this world possessed.

Innate Soul Power, however, was not.

Innate Soul Power ranged from level one to level ten. Level one was the lowest, while level ten was the highest.

The higher one's Innate Soul Power, the better a Soul Master's talent. Level ten was called Innate Full Soul Power and allowed one to directly obtain their first Spirit Ring. If one was level zero, it meant they could not cultivate and could only remain an ordinary person for life.

Lin Yueyao took out a crystal ball.

After Li Song withdrew his martial soul under Lin Yueyao's guidance, he immediately placed his hand on the crystal ball.

No light appeared on the crystal ball. Lin Yueyao glanced at Li Song, shook her head regretfully, and said, "Xiaosong, you have no Innate Soul Power. You cannot cultivate or become a Soul Master!"

At those words, Li Song, his parents, and his family all revealed dejected expressions.

From anticipation to disappointment.

That was the emotional journey most people in this world had to experience.

Lin Yan watched quietly from the side. Without Innate Soul Power, one could not cultivate, which meant the martial soul was useless. It could only serve as an everyday tool, for cutting grass and such.

The second to step forward was a girl named Wang Chuner. Her martial soul was a rolling pin, and her Innate Soul Power was also zero.

Only the final boy, Sun Shaoqiang, tested at level-one Innate Soul Power. His martial soul was a kitchen knife. Though it was ordinary as well, the existence of that level-one Innate Soul Power meant he could at least cultivate. In this life, he had hope of becoming a Soul Master.

After seeing everyone off, Lin Yueyao did not put away the Spirit Stones needed for awakening martial souls. Looking at Lin Yan, she said, "Xiaoyan, you're six years old too. Let's awaken your martial soul today."

"Alright!" Lin Yan nodded excitedly.

Every six-year-old child in this world looked forward to the day they awakened their martial soul.

Lin Yan was naturally no exception. Moreover, as someone who had transmigrated, he looked forward to this kind of supernatural power even more.

Lin Yan walked confidently into the center of the Awakening Array.

Witnessing Li Song and the others fail with his own eyes had not shaken his confidence.

Because he knew very well that things like martial souls and Innate Soul Power depended on bloodline—or rather, one's parents.

To put it in an old saying, dragons gave birth to dragons, phoenixes gave birth to phoenixes, and rats' children dug holes.

As long as one's parents were talented and outstanding Soul Masters, their descendants' talent generally would not be too poor.

Of course, mutations occasionally occurred. For instance, Tang San's teacher, Yu Xiaogang from Douluo Continent I, was a typical example.

As the young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, his father was a Titled Douluo standing at the peak of the Soul Master world. Yet because of a mutation, he had only half a level of Innate Soul Power. He was practically crippled, and despite his age, he was still merely a level-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster.

Lin Yan did not know who his father was, but his mother was undoubtedly exceptional—perhaps even monstrously so.

Three years ago, when she had only just passed twenty, she had already displayed the cultivation of a Six-Ring Soul Emperor.

Within the Soul Master world, she was absolutely a peerless genius, one in ten million.

For this reason, he often felt puzzled.

In terms of talent, his mother had become a Soul Emperor in her early twenties.

In terms of appearance, she was worthy of being called breathtakingly beautiful. A woman like her was unquestionably a goddess-like figure in the Soul Master world. Why would she bring him to live in seclusion alone in such a small mountain village?

And for as long as six years!

There had to be some hidden reason behind it!

"Mother's martial soul is a short-handled Spiked Club, a power-attack tool martial soul. I wonder what martial soul I'll awaken? Will it be the same Spiked Club as Mother's, or will I inherit a martial soul from the bloodline of the father I've never met?"

Thinking this, Lin Yan felt somewhat uncertain.

As a descendant, he could inherit either parent's martial soul.

It depended on whose martial soul was stronger. The stronger it was, the higher the chance of inheriting it.

"Xiaoyan, Mommy is starting now!" Lin Yueyao said seriously.

"Mm, I'm ready." Lin Yan nodded seriously.

Lin Yueyao once again raised her hand and released a stream of Soul Power. Glimmering motes gathered around him, and Lin Yan immediately felt as though he had fallen into a hot spring, his entire body growing warm. The next moment, a mysterious power suddenly erupted from the depths of his body.

The next moment, a black short-handled Spiked Club appeared in Lin Yan's hand.

The club was thick at one end and thin at the other.

The thicker section was neatly covered with inch-long conical spikes, occupying one-third of the club's length.

(For reference, Kaido's Spiked Club from One Piece.)

A closer look immediately revealed faint purple currents flickering around the spike-covered striking section of the club, crackling softly.

Clearly, this Spiked Club also possessed lightning-element attack properties.

"So heavy!" Before Lin Yan could carefully inspect his martial soul, he felt astonishing weight press down from his palm.

Bang—

Unable to hold it steady, one end of the Spiked Club naturally fell and slammed into the ground. The stone-slab-covered floor shook violently, and several square meters of it immediately cracked and caved in!

Hiss—

Seeing that power, Lin Yan could not help sucking in a sharp breath.

This Spiked Club weighed at least a hundred jin.

Moreover, its destructive power was astonishing. It had merely fallen naturally from a height of seventy centimeters, yet it had caused such incredible damage to the ground!

If an ordinary hundred-jin weapon had fallen from the same height, it certainly could not have caused such destruction. Clearly, it was not as simple as it appeared.