Snowclaw Vulture

Before the iron pot, the line crept forward bit by bit. It took nearly fifteen minutes before Lin Wan's turn came.

Looking at old Drus's face, Lin Wan raised his chipped clay bowl and forced out a pitiful yet adorable smile, hoping old Drus would take pity on him and give him a little more porridge.

Old Jack's cloudy eyes glanced at Lin Wan, but he said nothing.

He merely repeated what he had done dozens of times before, lifting the wooden ladle and tilting it to pour a stream of warm, thin liquid into the bowl.

Lin Wan looked at the amount in his bowl and silently sighed.

There was clearly a third less than usual. Only a shallow layer at the bottom had any thickness; the rest was little different from clear water, almost enough to reflect his pale, anxious face.

"Brother Wan, there's so little today."

Holding an equally pitiful half-bowl of porridge, Doggie squeezed over to Lin Wan's side. His voice was on the verge of tears, and his little face was scrunched into a ball.

Lin Wan said nothing. He glanced at Doggie's bowl, and his heart immediately felt much more balanced. Doggie had only half of his usual portion.

Happiness came from comparison. In an instant, Lin Wan felt a little happier.

Lin Wan carefully shielded the mouth of the bowl with both hands, refusing to let the wind and snow carry away even a trace of warmth.

Then he lowered his head and took small sips along the rough inner wall of the clay bowl. He even licked the bowl clean, wasting not a single drop.

The warm porridge slid down Lin Wan's dry throat, bringing him a brief moment of comfort.

But there was too little porridge, and Lin Wan's stomach was like a bottomless pit. Instead, stimulated by the food, it rumbled even more loudly, reminding him that this was not even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

Not only did the hunger fail to ease, it became even fiercer, like countless tiny teeth gnawing at his insides.

Lin Wan sighed. He had long grown used to this feeling.

He raised his head, his gaze unconsciously drifting toward the lead-gray sky.

The blizzard still raged, but among the gaps in the rolling clouds, several gray-black shadows moved through the snowstorm, occasionally letting out cries that pierced the wind and snow.

"Screech—!"

Those were Snowclaw Vultures, the most common Soul Beasts in the Far North.

They possessed claws as sharp as iron hooks and keen eyesight capable of locking onto prey in a blizzard.

They were the scavengers of this bitterly cold land, circling high above each day in search of corpses frozen to death by the cold.

Then they would dive down like lightning, seize the frozen bodies with their talons, and carry them back to their nests as food to survive the harsh winter.

Of course, besides corpses, they also liked the flesh of children, because children were the easiest prey for them to obtain.

Watching the Snowclaw Vultures circling through the blizzard, Lin Wan suddenly felt a surge of urgency.

He abruptly withdrew his gaze and clutched the empty bowl tightly to his chest. It was his tool for eating; he could not lose it.

He tugged at Doggie, who was still staring blankly at the gray shadows in the sky with a curious look on his face.

"Go! Hurry back! Don't stay outside!"

The two children stumbled through the snow, one deep step and one shallow step, rushing back toward their respective shack areas.

The blizzard seemed to have grown even stronger, and every step Lin Wan took was incomparably difficult.

Lin Wan staggered back to his ramshackle shelter and tightly tucked in the tattered cloth curtain.

He curled up again in the pile of rotten grass, burying his icy toes inside to draw what little warmth it offered.

Lin Wan took out the empty bowl from his chest. There seemed to still be a trace of porridge and faint residual warmth on its inner wall.

He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he could not resist the urge of instinct. He stuck out his tongue again and carefully licked the bowl over once more, until he could no longer sense even the slightest trace of porridge.

The cold wind howled outside the shack, but warmth surged endlessly through Lin Wan's heart.

Because in two more days, people from Spirit Hall would come to Cold North Village to conduct Martial Soul Awakening for the six-year-old children.

In the darkness, Lin Wan hugged his small knees tightly and buried his face deep within them.

Douluo Continent.

He silently recited the name of this world, a world of wondrous Martial Souls and Soul Masters.

Lin Wan had once read this novel as well. Back then, he had been captivated by its thrilling plot and marvelous Martial Souls. He had even fantasized about transmigrating into that world, awakening a powerful Martial Soul, and soaring to greatness.

But now, he realized that the wondrous world in those novels was as distant as the stars at the edge of the sky to a six-year-old orphan curled up in a pile of rotten grass, struggling for half a bowl of vegetable porridge.

Martial Soul Awakening was the only hope for an ordinary person, the only ladder Lin Wan had to escape the mire.

He had to hold on and endure these final two days.

He could not be erased by the wind, snow, and birds of prey like an insignificant speck of dust, without a sound.

The blizzard that had raged for days finally stopped on the third day.

Several cracks opened in the heavy lead-gray clouds, refracting golden sunlight.

Lin Wan curled up in the pile of rotten grass, his arms wrapped around his knees.

Days of continuous hunger had left him dizzy and extremely weak.

"Clang—! Clang—!"

Just as Lin Wan was about to pass out, several incredibly piercing sounds suddenly reached his ears, bringing him back to consciousness.

Lin Wan abruptly opened his eyes. A thought instantly rose in his heart. Could Spirit Hall's Soul Masters have arrived?

Sure enough, village chief old Drus's hoarse voice soon carried over.

"All children who have reached the age of six, immediately! At once! Gather at the Martial Soul Branch Hall in the center of the village! The Lord Soul Master has arrived. The Martial Soul Awakening ceremony is about to begin."

A faint smile appeared on Lin Wan's pale little face.

"Martial Soul Awakening... I've finally waited for it."

His voice was weak, yet full of hope for the future.

Lin Wan shakily climbed out of the pile of rotten grass, and the freezing air instantly made him shiver.

He casually brushed the grass scraps from his body, then picked up his porcelain bowl from the corner of the shack.

Today, the grain supply team would return together with Spirit Hall's Soul Master. Lin Wan guessed that food would surely be handed out later, since the people in the village had gone hungry for several days.

"Brother Wan! Brother Wan!"

Doggie stumbled over, his little face frozen bluish-green and snot hanging from his nose again, but his eyes shone brightly.

"The Lord Soul Master is here. Does that mean we'll have food to eat?"

Lin Wan helplessly glanced at Doggie.

He knew Doggie was foolish, but he had not expected that all Doggie cared about was whether there would be food.

"Mm."

Lin Wan helplessly took Doggie's icy little hand and stumbled out of the shack, hurrying toward the Martial Soul Branch Hall in the center of the village.

The blizzard had continued for several days, leaving the village buried under deep snow. Every step Lin Wan took was exceptionally difficult.

But when he thought of how he would soon awaken his Martial Soul, his heart instantly grew firm.

He gritted his teeth and once again pulled Doggie forward.