Soul Master Badge

Early the next morning, An Chen left the academy gates.

Tieyan City's mornings were like a different world from Qingshi Village.

The bluestone streets had been splashed wet by early risers carrying water. Cart wheels rolled over them, scattering fine sprays of water.

An Chen walked along the roadside, watching the endless stream of people in the streets.

Peddlers selling vegetables, fruit, and cooked food shouted loudly, calling out to hurried passersby...

An Chen recalled something he had read yesterday in the Meditation Method, an explanation of Spirit Vision.

The auras seen through Spirit Vision had two layers:

The outer layer was the Ether Body, which reflected one's physical condition. The head appeared purple, the limbs red, and the digestive system yellow. If those colors became dim or thin, it meant there was a problem with the corresponding part of the body.

The inner layer was the surface of the Astral Body, which reflected one's emotional state.

Red meant excitement, blue meant calmness, yellow meant happiness, and dark colors meant low spirits... An Chen had never imagined that a person's mood could actually be seen.

Both kinds of information appeared simultaneously through Spirit Vision. With a single glance, he could see where someone's body felt unwell and sense their current emotions.

Comparing the two could reveal even more. For instance, if someone's body was healthy but their emotions were gray and gloomy, they might be hiding something in their heart. If their emotions were abnormally excited but their physical colors were dim, they were most likely forcing themselves to endure.

This was especially important for The Reader. The Reader was particularly sensitive to filth and secrets, and changes in the colors of an aura were often signs that something was drawing near.

An Chen activated Spirit Vision and saw the colors on the people in the street like walking lamps.

The vegetable vendor's Ether Body was fairly healthy. The red of his limbs was bright and lively, but his lungs were veiled by a faint gray haze.

Tieyan City's coal smoke was too heavy. Over the years, nearly every city dweller had accumulated something in their lungs.

His emotional color was an excited orange-red mixed with a trace of anxious yellow. He was anxious to sell out his vegetables.

A craftsman squatting by the wall and chewing on black bread had an especially intense red in his hands. Fine dark-red spots even showed around the webbing of his thumbs and his knuckles, marks left by gripping a hammer year after year.

Yet his overall aura carried a layer of murky darkness, like glass covered in dust. He was clearly somewhat sad.

As An Chen stood in the street, sweeping his gaze back and forth, several passersby avoided him upon seeing him. To ordinary people, a boy in an academy robe suddenly standing by the road and staring at who knew what looked rather strange.

An Chen felt his head swelling slightly. He shut off Spirit Vision and hurried toward the Spirit Hall Branch.

In any city throughout the Heaven Dou Empire, even across the entire Continent of Douluo, Spirit Hall was a landmark building.

After asking a fruit seller nearby, An Chen easily found the direction of Spirit Hall.

Tieyan City's Spirit Hall Branch stood on the widest street in the northern part of the city. It was a two-story blue-gray building, with an emblem formed by a longsword hanging above the entrance.

An Chen knew this was the symbol of the God of Angels, worshipped by Spirit Hall for generations.

At the entrance, the iron-gray gates stood half-open. The guard was a man in his thirties, leaning against the doorframe in the sunlight. Seeing a half-grown boy approach, he straightened and called out, "Stop. This is Spirit Hall. Unauthorized people are not allowed inside."

"I'm from Tieyan Junior Soul Master Academy. Elder Chen from Spirit Hall Academy told me to come register." An Chen handed over the note Elder Chen had given him.

The guard took it and glanced at it twice. His expression relaxed somewhat, and he pointed inside. "Reception hall on the first floor. Don't wander around."

"Thank you." An Chen walked inside.

The moment he entered, An Chen spotted someone he knew. A man in his forties sat at a desk, writing something down.

That man was Wang Gang, who had awakened his Wuhun and then handed him over to Elder Chen.

"Deacon Wang," An Chen called.

Hearing him, Wang Gang looked up. His expression turned surprised, and he hurriedly rose to his feet before asking anxiously, "An kid! It's only been a few days. What are you doing here? Did someone at the academy bully you? Or did the academy mistreat you? With Elder Chen there, that shouldn't have happened, right?"

Seeing how worried Wang Gang was that he might have been bullied the moment they met, An Chen could not help feeling touched.

"Nothing like that." An Chen shook his head. "The academy is very good, and Elder Chen is very good too."

"Then what are you here for?" Wang Gang asked, relieved.

"Oh, I came to register as a Soul Master."

Wang Gang froze for a moment, then laughed. "Register? It's only been a few days. Elder Chen already took you to hunt a Soul Beast?"

"Yes, we got back yesterday. We were lucky. It was a hundred-year one." An Chen nodded.

Wang Gang looked him over twice, his gaze turning serious.

An Chen casually activated Spirit Vision.

A Soul Master's aura was far heavier than those of ordinary people on the streets. Wang Gang's Ether Body was solid, and his limbs glowed bright red. Only his shoulders and back were somewhat dim, likely from the strain of traveling between villages for years.

A warm orange-red floated in the inner layer of his emotional colors, with a faint darkness hidden beneath it. An Chen guessed that darkness was worry—worry that a village boy like him might have suffered grievances at the academy.

Warmth rose in An Chen's heart, and he shut off Spirit Vision.

Wang Gang put down his pen, took a crystal ball from a cabinet, and handed it to An Chen. "Test your Soul Power first."

An Chen placed his hand on it, and a number appeared on the crystal ball:

Thirteen.

Wang Gang stared at it in surprise, then nodded. "That'll do. I already have your information here, so I can record it directly."

He immediately took out a badge and handed it to An Chen. "This is your Soul Master Badge. With it, you can collect one Gold Soul Coin from Spirit Hall every month. This one is for this month." As he spoke, he handed An Chen a Gold Soul Coin as well.

An Chen took the badge. It was a round, iron-black badge, with a longsword on the front and his name engraved on the back.

He tucked the Gold Soul Coin into his pocket and secretly weighed it in his hand.

"Thank you, Deacon Wang," An Chen said gratefully.

"Quit calling me Deacon this and Deacon that. Just call me Uncle Wang." Wang Gang waved his hand.

He hesitated, then added, "Elder Chen is no ordinary man. The fact that he is willing to teach you is your good fortune. Study well. Don't let him down."

"Got it, Uncle Wang." An Chen nodded.

Wang Gang sat back down and continued his work. An Chen turned and left as well.

The sunlight outside was just right. The streets were even more crowded than before, filled with vegetable sellers, water carriers, and cart drivers, bustling with activity.

An Chen weighed the badge in his hand. It had some heft to it. From this day onward, he was a formally registered Soul Master.

One Gold Soul Coin a month, twelve coins a year. To commoners, that was a windfall, but to a Soul Master, it was merely a beginning.

An Chen took a deep breath and hurried back toward the academy.

When he returned to the academy, before he had even reached the dormitory, a student ran over and called to him, "An Chen, Elder Chen wants you to come over."

An Chen paused. He hurried to Elder Chen's residence, where Elder Chen was sitting in the courtyard drinking tea. Seeing him arrive, he tipped his chin toward the stone stool opposite him. "Sit."

"Did you finish registering?"

"Yes, I just went." An Chen sat down.

Elder Chen nodded, then changed the subject. "I called you here today because there's something I need to discuss."

He took a yellowed scroll of silk from his robes and pushed it before An Chen. "This is the Body Forging Method. It was passed down by Spirit Hall long ago, specifically for Soul Masters with Tool Wuhuns to strengthen their muscles and bones."

An Chen's eyes lit up.

"And those too, for weighted training." Elder Chen pointed to a pile of iron blocks in the courtyard.

An Chen's face fell.

"From now on, you'll eat with me. You're too thin right now. Your body can't support this kind of training." Elder Chen noticed An Chen's expression, and his white beard trembled.