Awakening of Martial Soul, Image Contract!

Spirit City, orphanage.

The morning sun rose, and the warm sunlight poured over the front door of the orphanage. Inside the orphanage, more than ten children who had reached the age of six stood in two rows, waiting for the arrival of the Holy Daughter of Spirit Hall.

They uniformly wore the gray orphanage uniforms, their youthful faces full of tension and expectation.

Most of these children were orphans of Spirit Hall soul masters, or children rescued by Spirit Hall from fallen soul masters or Wolf Bandits. They were sent uniformly to the orphanage and raised with funding from Spirit Hall.

Age six was the turning point for this group of children.

If they could awaken an extraordinary martial soul during the martial soul awakening ceremony and awaken Innate Soul Power capable of cultivation, Spirit Hall would take them away and train them uniformly. If they failed to awaken a good martial soul or decent Innate Soul Power, Spirit Hall would still support them until the age of twelve. Using six years to learn a trade until they could live independently, they would then leave the orphanage.

And today was the day of their martial soul awakening.

At the very back of the line stood a small boy with a head of silver hair, his pupils also tinged with silver-white, making his difference from the other children obvious at a glance.

And he was also the only child in the line who did not show any tension. He appeared extremely calm, not at all like a six-year-old child.

His name was Ling Jing, a transmigrator from Blue Star who had transmigrated to this world for exactly six years.

As for the reason for his transmigration... it was still the universally beloved Truck-kun segment, where he was directly run over and mashed into a pulp by Truck-kun acting as a speed bump.

When he opened his eyes again, he had arrived in this world. His parents were soul masters of Spirit Hall, and their cultivation was not high, possessing merely the strength of a three-ring Soul Elder. They both perished during a mission to hunt down Wolf Bandits, and he, at only one year old, became an orphan and was sent to this orphanage.

In the span of six years, Ling Jing had long since grown accustomed to life in this world—in that original world, he had no attachments and was completely alone.

So, for him, which world it was made no difference.

Only... the timeline of his transmigration seemed somewhat advanced.

Spirit Hall at present was still ruled by Qian Xunji, and Bibi Dong had not yet been sealed in the secret room; in fact, she had only just been conferred the title of Holy Daughter of Spirit Hall by Qian Xunji half a year ago.

However... the Douluo Continent world should be one of those rare worlds where even an advanced timeline was of little use.

Initial talent determined everything.

If the initial talent was poor, even if one could become a decent soul master and gain a foothold in this world by virtue of acquired hard work and the advantage of foresight, one basically stopped right there.

Of course, if one could awaken a powerful martial soul, that was another matter entirely.

Therefore, today was the important day that would decide everything...

Ling Jing took a deep breath, his mood clearly not as calm as he appeared.

"The Holy Daughter has arrived!"

Accompanied by a commotion outside the door, the gates of the orphanage were pushed open on cue. A pretty figure walked prominently at the very front of the crowd, wearing the moon-white and silver-embroidered long dress exclusive to the Holy Daughter of Spirit Hall, her figure slender and graceful. Although she still retained the greenness of a youth, what emanated even more from her body was still a holy and noble temperament.

The Holy Daughter of Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong.

Following closely behind Bibi Dong were two cardinal bishops and a number of Spirit Hall attendants, but among these people, only one person was closest to Bibi Dong, lagging behind her by merely a single stride.

Although this person's appearance was thoroughly mediocre and his build was also thoroughly mediocre, his face nevertheless exuded a hint of confident radiance, and his gaze cast toward Bibi Dong inadvertently carried a trace of an unusual gleam.

A... suitor enamored with Bibi Dong?

No, not quite.

From the expressions of those cardinal bishops and Spirit Hall attendants behind, it could be seen that they seemed quite displeased with this person, as if they were holding back only for Bibi Dong's face, and the gazes of those two cardinal bishops even revealed undisguised disdain.

Viewed this way, this person's identity was practically self-evident.

Not long after Bibi Dong became the Holy Daughter of Spirit Hall, she met "Master" Yu Xiaogang, and the two immediately began a romance, until it completely infuriated Qian Xunji, causing the latter to transform into the renowned Room-Closing Douluo.

He just wondered whether Yu Xiaogang and Bibi Dong were together during this current period.

Bibi Dong did not notice the look Yu Xiaogang was giving her; at this moment, her attention was entirely focused on the group of children before her, and a trace of reminiscing expression flashed across her eyes.

Ten and a half years ago, she was the one who walked out from this very orphanage.

Her village was invaded by fallen soul masters, and her entire family died at the hands of the fallen soul masters. Fortunately, she was saved by Spirit Hall soul masters and brought to this orphanage. At the awakening ceremony in her sixth year, she awakened Twin Martial Souls and was accepted on the spot as a disciple by the Supreme Pontiff Qian Xunji.

And more than a decade later, she appeared here in place of her teacher, doing the exact same thing her teacher had done back then.

This was also her first time doing such a thing—clearly, Qian Xunji valued Bibi Dong immensely, and even after conferring upon her the title of Holy Daughter of Spirit Hall, he was still sparing no effort to build momentum for her.

If nothing unexpected happened, by the day Bibi Dong attained the realm of Titled Douluo, she would gain the support of millions of citizens and then smoothly succeed Qian Xunji to the position of Supreme Pontiff, while Qian Xunji would head to the Worship Hall to spend his twilight years.

Everyone would be happy.

But now, the unexpected had already appeared.

Even after seeing Yu Xiaogang with his own eyes, Ling Jing still could not understand why Bibi Dong would fall in love with the utterly ordinary Yu Xiaogang.

A level-29 trash Soul Grandmaster who could never break through to level thirty, looked like nothing more than an ordinary person, possessed no talent, no strength, and no looks; even in terms of family background, Yu Xiaogang was merely an abandoned son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

If the genders were reversed, this would completely be the plot of a wealthy heir falling in love with a good-for-nothing me.

What was even more absurd was that Yu Xiaogang not only managed to win Bibi Dong's favor, but after parting ways with Bibi Dong, he could even make his own cousin Liu Erlong fall in love with him.

A wealthy heir falling in love with a good-for-nothing me, and it even featured a second male lead arc!

How utterly absurd!

"Your Holiness the Holy Daughter, the awakening ceremony may begin."

One of the cardinal bishops behind Bibi Dong stepped forward and bowed slightly, lowering his voice to speak softly, not even sparing a glance at Yu Xiaogang beside him.

This action instantly caused Yu Xiaogang to subconsciously clench his fists, but given the present occasion, he could not say much and had no choice but to take a step back, silently carving the matter into his heart.

Bibi Dong wore the faint trace of a slight smile at the corners of her lips, nodding slightly.

She likewise stepped back a few paces, withdrawing to Yu Xiaogang's side, and said with a measure of anticipation in her voice: "I hope there are a few children with outstanding talent."

At those words, Yu Xiaogang pressed his lips together and offered no reply.

As if noticing Yu Xiaogang's mood, Bibi Dong glanced at Yu Xiaogang, a trace of apology flashing across her face: "Forgive me, Xiao Gang, I didn't mean anything else."

"It's fine, you're also doing this for the good of Spirit Hall." Yu Xiaogang forced a slight smile onto his face, simultaneously extending his hand in an attempt to hold Bibi Dong's hand.

Yet the very next second, Bibi Dong's body shuddered slightly, and she simultaneously shifted a short distance to the other side.

"Xiao Gang, I... I am not ready yet."

Yu Xiaogang could not help but sigh in his heart.

Yet before Yu Xiaogang could open his mouth to say anything, the cardinal's voice abruptly arrived:

"First one, step forward."

Among those children standing in two rows at the orphanage, a somewhat slender child immediately walked out rather nervously, his body even trembling slightly.

"Don't be nervous, relax."

The cardinal offered a simple word of comfort, then immediately released his martial soul—a feline-type beast martial soul, with seven optimally configured soul rings rising impressively beneath his feet.

Accompanied by the infusion of his soul power, the array for the martial soul awakening ceremony was impressively activated, and motes of golden light slowly rose from the array, slowly sinking into the boy's body as if guided by some force.

Very soon, a small hammer appeared in the boy's hand.

A mediocre hammer martial soul...

The cardinal's expression remained unchanged, patiently guiding the boy to retrieve his martial soul and proceed with the awakening of his Innate Soul Power.

A moment later, his voice rang out abruptly: "Tool martial soul hammer, Innate Soul Power, level two!"

"Next!"

"Tool martial soul sickle, Innate Soul Power, level three!"

"Beast martial soul Ironclad Earth Dragon, Innate Soul Power level five!"

The martial soul awakening ceremony overseen by the cardinal progressed extremely quickly, these children walking toward the cardinal in turn and returning to their original positions in turn.

What made Ling Jing somewhat awkward was that among all the children who awakened their martial souls, the ones with the lowest Innate Soul Power still had level one.

Level-one Innate Soul Power, although basically holding no hope for cultivation either, was at least higher than the innate half-level soul power of Yu Xiaogang, who stood beside Her Ladyship the Holy Maiden.

Yu Xiaogang seemed to realize this as well, and so his expression also turned rather unsightly.

Typically, the children of those ordinary villagers rarely managed to awaken Innate Soul Power; people like Bibi Dong and Ma Hongjun, who awakened Twin Martial Souls and mutated martial souls, were ultimately a small minority.

Yet this batch of orphanage children appeared to be overwhelmingly the descendants of Spirit Hall soul masters, which thus created the awkward spectacle where everyone possessed a higher Innate Soul Power than Yu Xiaogang.

That being said...

Could he possibly be the only one whose Innate Soul Power fell short of Yu Xiaogang's?

Everyone else's Innate Soul Power was higher than Yu Xiaogang's, only for him to stand below laughing for half the day, and end up failing to awaken any Innate Soul Power?

If things truly turned out like that, the situation seemed as though it would become even more awkward...

Yet that should not be the case.

His parents had both formerly been Spirit Hall soul masters; although their specific martial souls remained unclear, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he ought to awaken a martial soul related to one of his parents, and his Innate Soul Power shouldn't prove quite so pathetic.

"Next."

"Tool martial soul mattock, no Innate Soul Power!"

"Last one, come up."

The cardinal took a deep breath, and a trace of a smile forced its way onto his somewhat aged face.

This round of martial soul awakening had already exceeded initial expectations. Although not a single genius with supreme talent was present, supreme geniuses were rare to begin with, and managing to awaken several more individuals with around level-five Innate Soul Power was already a very good outcome.

Whether for Spirit Hall or the entire soul master world, low-level soul masters ultimately accounted for the vast majority.

As for that final silver-haired child, the cardinal held no expectations of striking a grand jackpot.

Ling Jing stood right at the center of the awakening array, unable to keep from drawing a deep breath.

The time to determine his fate had arrived!

Very soon, motes of golden light rose up from the awakening array, surging rapidly into Ling Jing's body.

Ling Jing only felt a remarkably gentle energy appear within his body, followed immediately by a slight pulling sensation that ensued, as if something were about to well up from within him.

The very next instant, an indistinct shadow impressively materialized behind Ling Jing.

Could this be... a phantom of a beast martial soul?

Only, the outline of this beast martial soul made it impossible to tell which category of beast martial soul it actually belonged to.

Even the knowledgeable cardinal failed to recognize what this martial soul actually was for a fleeting moment.

Right at that moment, a chilling prompt rang out abruptly in Ling Jing's mind.

[Soul awakening detected, Mirror Contract System is now active.]

Mirror Contract System?

Was this... the golden finger that was six years late?

Ling Jing had prayed and called out for his own system golden finger more times than he could count, yet he had never received any response. He had already prepared himself to make it on his own without a golden finger, and yet the system arrived right after he awakened his martial soul?

If you were going to say you had to wait until the martial soul awakened to show up, did I need to pray for so long?

Ling Jing gained a rough understanding of the system's function—the Mirror Contract System was not at all intelligent and lacked any ability for dialogue or communication, simply displaying its concise functions very straightforwardly in his mind.

Mirror Contract System, as the name implied, allowed him to form contracts with other soul masters. For every ten ranks of soul power he gained, he could contract one soul master. The contract took effect immediately; when it was established, he could copy that soul master's martial soul and obtain all of their strength at his current stage, while permanently gaining fifty percent of the characteristics of their martial soul.

For instance, the Blue Silver Emperor's self-healing ability and exuberant vitality, or the Clear Sky Hammer's strength.

The contracted soul master would share a linked heart and mind, emotional resonance, shared perception, mental sympathetic vibration, soul power feedback, synchronized injuries, and even a bound life.

Of course, these effects would be gradually acquired as his strength increased.

So... who should he choose for his very first contract?

That question hardly needed asking.

Ling Jing's gaze instantly landed on Bibi Dong—without a doubt, Bibi Dong was the most suitable candidate, and no one was more fitting than her.

Twin martial souls, innate full soul power, two top-tier martial souls; no matter the angle, Bibi Dong was the optimal choice!

Just as Ling Jing was pondering, the cardinal's slightly shrill voice abruptly rang out:

"Unknown beast martial soul... innate full soul power!"