Awakening a Martial Soul

Su Yuntao still had several villages left to visit, so he got off the carriage when they reached the next crossroads.

By evening, the carriage arrived in Notting City and reached their new home.

Their new home was not large, merely a small courtyard in the western part of the city.

But it had everything they needed.

It had not only a master bedroom, side rooms, a kitchen, and a separate well.

There was also a small vegetable garden, along with a storefront.

It could be used for Mother to open a medicinal herb shop.

The young couple had planned this long ago.

Back in the village, Mother would occasionally purchase medicinal herbs.

When Father returned next time, he would take them into the city to resell.

That helped supplement the family income.

Now that they were opening a medicinal herb shop, it counted as a fairly decent business.

Lin Yuan's room was naturally the separate side room.

After getting settled in, Lin Yuan officially began training.

So that he could have a stronger physique when he awakened his martial soul.

One hundred push-ups, one hundred squats, one hundred sit-ups, and a ten-kilometer run every day.

For a child not yet six years old, this was undoubtedly an arduous task.

Lin Yuan did not expect himself to manage it from the start.

He only needed to complete it before awakening his martial soul.

When two and a half months had passed, Lin Yuan's body had undergone tremendous changes. He was not monstrously strong, but he had built a solid set of muscles.

He was no longer as soft and weak as before.

On this day, Lin Yuan unusually did not train. Lin Kun had also taken the day off and did not report for duty at the City Lord's Mansion.

Mother Lin had risen early as well and prepared a table full of steaming dishes.

For no other reason!

Lin Yuan had finally turned six.

It was time to awaken his martial soul.

Accompanied by Father Lin, Lin Yuan left home after celebrating his birthday and headed to the Spirit Branch Hall in Notting City to awaken his martial soul.

The Notting City Spirit Branch Hall was a massive domed structure, one hundred meters wide and twenty meters tall, with three floors in total.

"Master Lin Kun, you brought your child here to awaken his martial soul, didn't you? Hurry inside. Master Su Yuntao is already waiting."

The moment Lin Yuan arrived at Spirit Hall, he saw two guards greeting his father.

Lin Kun nodded. He was already thoroughly familiar with the Notting City Spirit Branch Hall.

When father and son entered the hall on the second floor of the branch, they happened to see Su Yuntao, already transformed into a humanoid gray wolf, standing before a martial soul awakening formation made of six black stones, preparing to awaken the martial souls of four children of the right age.

There were less than half a month left until Nording Academy opened.

Clearly, like Lin Yuan, these children had just turned six and had come right on time to awaken their martial souls.

Seeing Su Yuntao in that form, Lin Yuan pretended to be frightened and hid behind Lin Kun, displaying the natural fear of the unknown that a rural child his age should have had.

Lin Kun rubbed his head to reassure him, then nodded to Su Yuntao in greeting.

Seeing Lin Kun enter with Lin Yuan, Su Yuntao, still transformed into a humanoid gray wolf, said nothing. He merely raised a hand and motioned for Lin Yuan to stand at the back.

Then he began awakening the martial souls of the children one by one.

"Ni Dali, martial soul: Iron Hammer. What a pity, no Soul Power."

"Chen Ergou, martial soul: Dog. Half-rank Innate Soul Power."

"Zhu Sanpao, martial soul: Pig. Half-rank Innate Soul Power."

After awakening the martial souls of three children in a row, two of them did possess Soul Power, but their martial souls were either pigs or dogs, and their Innate Soul Power was only half a rank.

Su Yuntao could not help feeling disappointed.

The last boy was exceptionally handsome.

Although he wore plain clothes, and his body was thin and his skin sallow due to malnutrition.

His face was full of confidence, and he exuded an incredibly smug air.

The other children were all more or less afraid upon seeing Su Yuntao's wolfman appearance. Only he acted as though it were nothing unusual.

He was absolutely the spitting image of a transmigrator.

That was precisely why Lin Yuan had been secretly observing him ever since entering.

When it was finally his turn, he did not enter the martial soul awakening formation. Instead, like a little adult, he spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Master Su Yuntao, I did not come to awaken my martial soul. I came to ask you to issue me a martial soul certificate. The last time you went to our village to awaken martial souls, you saw that mine was Blue Silver Grass and did not test my Soul Power."

"Not long ago, a Lord Soul Master passed through our village and saw that I had Soul Power. He asked why I was not attending school, then told me to come here."

"Which village are you from?" Su Yuntao asked in surprise.

"Emperor Soul Village, next to Holy Soul Village," the youth replied.

"That can't be right. After Holy Soul Village, I tested everyone's Soul Power... Forget it, forget it. Go ahead and try." Somewhat helplessly, Su Yuntao handed over the Soul Power testing crystal ball.

Lin Yuan noticed that the instant Su Yuntao handed him the crystal ball, the youth's lips curled up slightly.

The next moment, as the youth raised his hand and lightly touched the crystal ball, it emitted a glow that was not particularly bright.

"Rank-one Innate Soul Power. No, it is already rank one and a half, nearly rank two. You actually do have Soul Power. Could I have remembered wrong?" Su Yuntao said in considerable surprise.

"All right, Master Su Yuntao. My name is Yan Beifei. Please issue me a martial soul certificate. I still need to attend Nording Academy in half a month," Yan Beifei said as though it were only natural.

"What a rude little brat." Su Yuntao was somewhat angry, but he did not make things difficult for him. After issuing Yan Beifei his martial soul certificate, Yan Beifei left without looking back.

Watching Yan Beifei depart, Lin Yuan fell into thought.

The three children who had already awakened their martial souls saw Yan Beifei leave, bid Su Yuntao farewell as well, and then departed.

A moment later, only Lin Yuan, Su Yuntao, and Father Lin remained in the awakening room.

"A-Yuan, come in."

At Su Yuntao's signal, Lin Yuan stepped into the martial soul awakening formation.

As Su Yuntao injected six streams of Soul Power, golden specks of light floated out from the awakening stones on the ground.

Lin Yuan felt as if something inside him had shattered, and he extended his right hand.

The next moment, an ordinary-looking stalk of green bamboo appeared in his hand.

"Hurry and test your Soul Power," Su Yuntao said.

Lin Yuan's heart instantly rose to his throat. The key difference between ordinary bamboo and Lone Bamboo was whether it possessed Soul Power.

If he had no Soul Power and could not awaken a martial soul, many of his plans for the future would be affected.

Father Lin was sweating nervously for Lin Yuan as well, his gaze fixed firmly on the crystal ball in Su Yuntao's hand.

Fortunately, the result did not disappoint either father or son.

Several seconds later, when Lin Yuan's palm lightly touched the crystal ball, it lit up with a glow even more dazzling than Yan Beifei's.

Father Lin exclaimed excitedly, "Rank-three Innate Soul Power! Good, good! A-Yuan, now you can become a Soul Master just like me. Yuntao, let's go to the old tavern tonight. Call a few old friends, and we'll have a proper drink together."

In Bamboo Ridge, the martial souls awakened by villagers were generally ordinary bamboo. Only a very small number could awaken Lone Bamboo. Now that Lin Yuan had awakened Lone Bamboo with rank-three Innate Soul Power, his talent was even several points better than Father's had been.

How could he not be delighted?