Martial Soul Awakening

For An Xi, as long as he sent Doggie, this genius, to Martial Soul Hall, he could gain enormous benefits. He might even be able to live in Martial Soul City.

The sudden surprise completely stunned Doggie's already limited mind.

He looked at the glowing golden crystal ball, then at the wildly excited Soul Master, and finally instinctively turned his gaze toward Lin Wan in the crowd.

He scratched his messy hair and said with a heavy nasal tone, stammering, "I... I... I need to ask Brother Wan first!"

"Brother Wan?"

An Xi froze slightly and followed Doggie's gaze toward Lin Wan.

He was another thin boy, but his eyes were unusually calm, unlike those of a six-year-old child.

A flicker of surprise passed through his heart, but he did not dwell on it. He merely nodded with a gentle tone.

"Alright, stand aside and think it over carefully first."

He gestured for Doggie to stand behind him near the formation, his attitude clearly extremely enthusiastic.

After all, Doggie was a genius who might become a Soul Sage in the future. Befriending him was the best choice.

After Doggie, it was Lin Wan's turn.

He took a deep breath, trying to use the cold air to suppress his wildly pounding heart.

Three years of waiting, more than a thousand days and nights of struggling through hunger and cold, every hope and despair—all of it had now converged in this moment.

Lin Wan stepped forward and entered the hexagram formation made of black stones.

When he stood still at the center of the formation, An Xi once more poured soul power into the six black stones.

Bzzzz—!

A faint golden glow lit up again, stronger and more dazzling than ever before.

Countless golden motes appeared, then surged into Lin Wan's body.

It's here!

He instinctively raised his right hand.

At that instant, Lin Wan felt as if something in his right palm was wildly surging outward.

The sensation was so intense that his entire right arm began to tremble slightly.

As An Xi watched Lin Wan surrounded by the faint light, uncontrollable delight appeared on his face.

The momentum of this martial soul awakening was no less impressive than that of the Ice Bear just now.

"Focus! Guide it!"

An Xi's voice came with a stern reminder.

Lin Wan closed his eyes and forced himself to focus all his attention on sensing and guiding the power galloping and roaring within his right hand.

Boom!

A beam of incomparably pure snow-white light erupted without warning from Lin Wan's raised right palm.

The light was so gentle, so sacred, that it instantly dispersed part of the formation's golden glow, like a bright moon rising from a golden sea.

The light gathered and took shape.

A creature floated gracefully above Lin Wan's palm.

Its entire body was covered in flawlessly pure, soft fur like freshly fallen snow, giving off a faint glow in the dim hall.

Its body was slender and sleek, its lines so perfect that they seemed like a masterpiece of creation.

Nine large, fluffy tails curled naturally behind it, their tips tinged with a dreamlike icy blue.

Most mesmerizing of all were its eyes. They were narrow and lively, as though they contained the secrets of an entire frozen forest. Their pupils were a deep icy blue, like the purest ten-thousand-year mystic ice. At this moment, they gazed quietly at the world with the innocence and curiosity of a newborn.

Exquisitely beautiful! Sacred and mysterious!

A chorus of uncontrollable gasps rose throughout the branch hall.

The children forgot the cold and hunger, all staring blankly at the Nine-Tailed Fox phantom floating amid the golden light.

Even the well-traveled An Xi had a strong look of amazement flash through his eyes.

The quality and spirituality of this martial soul were far beyond that Ice Bear from before.

He even held his breath unconsciously, and the faint expectation in his heart instantly grew countless times stronger.

Could Cold North Village produce a second genius with such a lively top-tier beast martial soul?

No, this might be innate full soul power!

"Quick! Put your hand on the crystal ball!"

With a trace of urgency in his voice, An Xi immediately held the crystal ball before Lin Wan.

Lin Wan leaned slightly forward, his icy blue eyes fixed firmly on the crystal ball.

Lin Wan was somewhat nervous as well. After all, this concerned his future.

He placed his right hand on the crystal ball and felt a suction force coming from within it.

The crystal ball instantly emitted an intense golden light.

However, Lin Wan's expression within the formation was somewhat strange.

[Ding! A small amount of high-purity medium-grade energy detected. It meets the system's minimum activation threshold. System activation in progress...]

[Progress 1%... 10%... 50%... 90%... 100%]

[System activation successful. Binding program initiated.]

[Binding successful. Character panel activated. Beginner gift pack delivered to system space.]

[Host: Lin Wan (6 years old)]

[Martial Soul: Nine-Heavens Beauty Fox]

[Innate Soul Power: Level 10]

[Reputation Points: 100 (initial activation reward)]

From the outside, however, the scene in the formation appeared to be that Lin Wan had just pressed his right hand onto the crystal ball, and it had indeed emitted a dazzling golden light.

Yet the light only flashed for an instant before vanishing, leaving only a thin layer of light within the crystal ball.

An Xi looked at the crystal ball again in disbelief. After confirming that there was only a thin layer of light, the expectation in his eyes instantly vanished.

He raised his head and looked at Lin Wan, his expression incomparably complicated.

He had not expected a martial soul that looked to be of such high quality to possess only level-one innate soul power.

He looked at Lin Wan's thin body and sighed, guessing that his body was too frail, which had damaged his innate foundation.

"Innate soul power, level one." An Xi's voice returned to calmness.

Looking at Lin Wan, who was still standing blankly in the formation, he spoke with rare kindness. "Little one, the awakening is over. You can become a Soul Master too."

Lin Wan suddenly came back to his senses and said calmly, "Thank you, Soul Master."

He walked out of the formation and stood to one side.

The children who had failed to awaken soul power all looked at Lin Wan with envy, and even some jealousy.

They would not be jealous of Doggie, because the gap between Doggie and them was too vast. It was so vast that they could only look up at him. Even the noble Soul Master from Martial Soul Hall treated Doggie with such gentleness.

But Lin Wan was different. Although he had awakened soul power as well, it was only level one. The respected Soul Master from Martial Soul Hall did not treat him any differently from them.

Therefore, aside from envy, they also felt intense jealousy.

Why could a frail orphan awaken soul power while they had none?

Lin Wan did not care about the jealousy and malice of these children. Now that he had awakened his martial soul, he would soon leave Cold North Village.

As for the few children awakened after Lin Wan, they basically all had useless martial souls. Not a single one possessed soul power.