To celebrate Yang Ming's successful awakening of his Martial Soul, the moment village chief Old Jack returned home, he threw all his past principles of educating Yang Ming out the window. He spent a hefty sum at the market on a basketful of ingredients and made an entire table of delicious food.
Steamed crab, fried tofu, braised pork with preserved vegetables, sweet-and-sour pork tenderloin, braised pork ribs...
Yang Ming had taught Old Jack how to make these dishes based on his memories from his previous life.
After pouring himself a full bowl of rice wine, Old Jack downed it first. A joyous occasion lifted his spirits, leaving his face flushed red. He slapped his thigh hard, gave Yang Ming a thumbs-up, and laughed.
"Good grandson, you did brilliantly today! You should've seen Cao Mengyun's gloomy face when he left—it looked like his parents had died! Hahaha, that was satisfying! A drink is in order!"
Old Jack tipped back his head and guzzled the wine. The bowl was empty in the blink of an eye.
Perhaps because he had drunk too fast, Old Jack soon choked and began coughing softly.
"Grandpa, drink less." Yang Ming hurried behind Old Jack and gently patted his back to help him catch his breath. "Look at you choking. What if you choke yourself sick?"
"I'm not old yet. With this sturdy body of mine, I can still drink at least two jin of rice wine!"
"Grandpa! Drinking too much is bad for your health."
"Got it, got it." Unable to argue against Yang Ming's persuasion, Old Jack muttered, "You little monkey always have so many reasons. Grandpa can't outtalk you."
After much coaxing, Yang Ming finally managed to stop Old Jack, the old drunk.
Old Jack lowered his head and narrowed his eyes as his nimble hands peeled the crab shells. He picked all the meat into a bowl and handed it to Yang Ming, his brows and face full of smiles.
"There are still three months until enrollment at Nording Junior Academy. Our village only gets one spot every year, but this year, both you and Old Tang's third boy qualify to become Spirit Masters, and both of you have excellent talent. When the time comes, I may have to take you into the city and pull some strings, see if we can secure one extra spot this year."
Yang Ming did not interfere much with Old Jack's arrangements.
In his previous life, he had only been a middle school student. He did not know much about this sort of social networking and favors.
Yang Ming accepted the crab meat and dipped it in vinegar sauce.
The crab's distinctive fresh sweetness spread over his tongue. It was exceptionally delicious.
Then came a bite of fried tofu. Absolutely amazing!
After the meal, Yang Ming returned to his room and finally took a rare opportunity to rest on his bed.
With his hands folded beneath the back of his head, Yang Ming stared blankly at the snow-white ceiling.
Yang Ming was thinking about how the Martial Soul he had awakened during today's ceremony had become the Mysterious Sword. Did that mean that items obtained through future system lotteries could also become Martial Souls?
For a moment, countless famous pieces of equipment came to Yang Ming's mind.
Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet from the Marvel Universe, the Blazing Sun Judgment Light Flame Sword from Dungeon Fighter, the Fire Qilin from CrossFire, Black Cleaver from League of Legends, Ryujin Jakka from Bleach, Excalibur from Fate, Thor's Hammer from Honkai Academy, Frostmourne from World of Warcraft...
He might even obtain equipment belonging to mythological figures.
Eastern Emperor Bell, Xuanyuan Sword, Pangu Axe, Haotian Pagoda, Fuxi Zither, Nuwa Stone, Kunlun Mirror, Demon Refining Pot, Shennong Cauldron, Golden Cudgel, Cosmic Ring, Sky-Muddling Sash, Fire-Tip Spear, Exquisite Pagoda, Nine-Toothed Rake...
If that was the case, wouldn't he be rich?
Unfortunately, Yang Ming could not just casually shout a few lines and obtain all this powerful equipment.
The system had specifically explained it:
"As long as the host speaks the classic lines of a film, television drama, novel, anime, or game character before others at an opportune moment, the host will receive one lottery chance and may randomly draw that character's abilities/items. If lucky, the host may even summon the character to appear."
The key point here was the phrase "at an opportune moment."
In other words, he could only obtain a lottery chance by speaking a certain character's classic line in an appropriate setting.
If he simply said it casually, it would be completely useless.
To put it bluntly, it would only work if he used those lines to show off in front of others.
And...
Yang Ming had actually awakened Dual Martial Souls during the awakening ceremony!
Yang Ming raised both hands. The Mysterious Sword Martial Soul had already awakened in his right hand, but his left hand was only half-awakened.
He still needed an item to completely activate the Martial Soul in his left hand!
Or perhaps he needed something else?
Martial Souls were divided into two types: Weapon Martial Souls and Beast Martial Souls.
Yang Ming's Mysterious Sword belonged to the Weapon Martial Soul category.
However, the system lottery contained everything imaginable. What interested Yang Ming even more was that skins from League of Legends and Honor of Kings actually counted as lottery items.
Could it be that as long as he drew those skins, they could become a type of Beast Martial Soul?
Yang Ming shook his head and did not dwell on it.
One had to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time.
Take too big a step, and you'd tear your balls.
Yang Ming got up from the bed, sat cross-legged, clasped his hands before his abdomen, and closed his eyes. Not daring to slack off in the slightest, he tried to increase his Soul Power based on his understanding of the original work.
One of the many cultivation methods available to Spirit Masters was absorption.
Soul Power permeated heaven and earth. Spirit Masters relied on their talent and effort to absorb it. Its advantage was steady progress, while its disadvantage was its slow pace. Relying solely on this method, even cultivating for an entire lifetime would make it difficult to break through to the realm of a Titled Douluo.
For Spirit Masters with average aptitude, drawing Soul Power from the world into their bodies was no different from a construction worker hauling bricks. It took tremendous effort to move Soul Power into the body bit by bit, accumulating little by little until sand became a tower, slowly raising their level.
Of course, Yang Ming was somewhat special.
He possessed Innate Full Soul Power—Soul Power at level ten.
A Soul Scholar at level ten needed to hunt a Soul Beast and obtain a Soul Ring in order to successfully advance to a Spirit Master.
Yang Ming could feel that the Soul Power within his body had already accumulated to the limit. It was like a fish tank filled with water that needed to be replaced with a larger pond.
At that moment, the system's notification sounded beside Yang Ming's ear:
"Ding!" "Detected that the host has met the requirements to advance to Spirit Master. The host is now offered two options:" "1. Hunt a Soul Beast and obtain a Soul Ring." "2. Obtain a lottery chance and convert a prize compatible with becoming a Soul Ring into a Soul Ring."
Generally speaking, the most common way for Spirit Masters to obtain Soul Rings was by hunting Soul Beasts.
After a Soul Beast died, it would produce a Soul Ring. Based on the Soul Beast's age, these were divided into ten-year white, hundred-year yellow, Thousand-Year Level purple, Ten-Thousand-Year Level black, hundred-thousand-year red, and million-year-and-above gold.
There were also limits on the Soul Rings Spirit Masters could absorb after hunting Soul Beasts. Exceeding one's endurance limit would cause the body to explode and die. Furthermore, Soul Beasts died with resentment toward Spirit Masters, making the absorption process extremely painful.
Moreover, a Spirit Master's attribute had to match that of the Soul Beast they hunted in order to produce a powerful soul skill.
But now, the system had given Yang Ming another possibility!
Before you continue