Martial Soul Awakening: Shennong Cauldron

After Jiang Zheng left, Jiang Baiyu was still excited. Adult or child, this was his first encounter with supernatural power. How could he not be?

Seeing Jiang Baiyu so excited, the old man finally saw the boyish enthusiasm he had been waiting for and smiled. "All right, all right. Finish practicing your Herb-Gathering Steps, then get some rest."

Herb-Gathering Steps had an unassuming name, but it was a genuine family secret. It was how the old man had escaped when two Power Attack System Soul Douluos and a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast surrounded him.

"Got it!" Jiang Baiyu hurried off to practice, brimming with excitement.

The next morning, Jiang Baiyu sprang up with dark circles under his eyes. "Grandpa, I'm going to awaken my martial soul!"

The old man had been awake for some time, waiting for the little fellow to lose patience. Sure enough, he had.

"All right, all right. It's nothing to make such a fuss over. Eat first, then we'll go together," the old man chided.

Jiang Baiyu noticed the shadows beneath the old man's eyes but said nothing.

The two hurried to the Spirit Hall outpost at the center of the village. Despite its name, it was only a plain, weathered stone hut: Jiangshui Village's designated martial soul awakening site. Rough blocks of blue-gray stone formed its walls. Inside, the cramped space held only an old hexagonal awakening array, and faint motes of Soul Power drifted through the air.

When Jiang Baiyu and the old man arrived, the village chief and Uncle Zheng were already waiting.

"Awakenings are usually held together in autumn, but since you've reached the right age, we decided to awaken yours now. Come here, Baiyu," Jiang Zheng said.

He had already activated Martial Soul Possession. Thick, rough brown hide covered his skin, and diamond-shaped scales spread in layers along his arms and shoulders. His body had swelled, his shoulders and back bulging high. His arms were as thick as trees two men could barely encircle, and his fingers had lengthened into five black claws over ten centimeters long. Their tips gleamed coldly, sharp enough to look as though they could tear through steel.

Even his black hair had become coarse brown bear fur. His eyes were a murky dark gold, fangs jutted from the corners of his mouth, and each breath carried a hot, heavy earth-element aura.

Two ocher Soul Rings and two purple Soul Rings hovered around him. A weighty pressure radiated from Jiang Zheng, whose hard armor perfectly protected every vital point. Raw strength rolled off him. This was his unique martial soul, the Cracked Armor Bear.

As if afraid of frightening Jiang Baiyu, Jiang Zheng patiently explained, "Don't be scared. This is what I look like when I possess my beast martial soul. As you can see, I'm a Power Attack System soul master, a level forty-seven Soul Ancestor. The other kind is a tool martial soul.

"Now step into the center of the array, close your eyes, and feel the call of your bloodline."

Jiang Baiyu did as he was told and stepped into the hexagonal array. White light slowly enveloped him. As the officiant channeled Soul Power into it, the array suddenly blazed brighter, wrapping Jiang Baiyu in a faint golden glow.

The boy closed his eyes and focused. A power long dormant deep within his soul awakened with a roar. In an instant, Jiang Baiyu felt himself pulled into a pitch-black space, empty as the cosmos.

"Oh?" A warm, resonant voice sounded, and the world instantly brightened.

Jiang Baiyu opened his eyes and instinctively looked up. A towering figure stood before him, with a broad face, full lips, and a long, flowing beard. He wore simple robes woven from leaves and coarse hemp, and his feet were bare.

In one hand, he held a verdant Spirit Herb. His other hand hovered over an ancient Shennong Cauldron.

Faint crimson fire and green mist from plants swirled around him, the power of fire mingling with the vitality of countless herbs.

Most wondrous of all, two ox horns rose from the old man's forehead, while his abdomen was clear as crystal.

"You're...?" Jiang Baiyu stared at the figure, uncertain. "Lord Flame Emperor?" As a descendant of Yanhuang, he was looking at a true ancestor!

And his surname was Jiang—the Flame Emperor's own surname!

In Records of the Emperors, a book from his previous life, the Flame Emperor was described as having a human body and an ox's head. He grew up by the Jiang River and possessed sacred virtue. Fire succeeded wood; he held dominion over the south and presided over summer, hence his name. Legend also said his chest and abdomen were transparent, letting him see his own organs as he tasted countless herbs to discern their properties.

"Oh." The man acknowledged him. "So one of my descendants still recognizes me instead of that Xiao Yan." The old man smiled.

"I don't know how you ended up in that world, but this world's barriers are too fragile. Pulling you back would affect it, so I'll have to settle for giving you some help." The old man sounded regretful as a faint wisp of mist drifted toward Jiang Baiyu.

"All right, that's as far as I can go. Boy, once you elevate this world, we may meet again. Farewell for now, my descendant!" The old man gave a gentle wave of his hand, stirring up a mighty gale.

Hummm—!

The ancient, sonorous toll of a cauldron exploded from deep within the boy's soul!

An intense blue-green and golden radiance shot skyward. The image of a bronze cauldron with three legs and two handles hovered silently before Jiang Baiyu, its entire surface carved with ancient tiger, leopard, and divine-beast motifs.

Wisps of emerald medicinal mist poured endlessly from its mouth. Vast, pure vitality from plants swept through the entire stone hut.

Jiang Zheng's pupils contracted. He leaned forward sharply, his eyes wide with shock. He had seen plenty in his life, but never a phenomenon like this.

"A tool martial soul! This is a top-tier support martial soul!" Jiang Zheng could not help crying out.

The moment the martial soul appeared, an unseen force drew in every faint trace of Soul Power in the air and the essence of the wild plants outside, gathering it all around the cauldron. And the Life Essence it gave off carried a fresh herbal fragrance. Just one breath made the bottleneck in his martial soul cultivation, which had troubled him for years, begin to loosen.

Looking at the ancient cauldron beside Jiang Baiyu, he could not help thinking of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, renowned across the continent. Perhaps the title of the continent's greatest support martial soul was about to change hands.

He swallowed, took out a crystal sphere, and held it out.

"Come on, Xiao Baiyu. Let's test your Soul Power."

Jiang Baiyu obeyed, raising his hand to press it against the Soul Power crystal sphere.

Blinding white light instantly filled the entire crystal. It burst beyond the sphere's surface, too dazzling to look at directly.

"Innate... Innate Full Soul Power!!"

Jiang Zheng completely lost his composure. A top-tier tool martial soul paired with Innate Full Soul Power! A talent like this might not appear even once in decades across the whole of Nofas Province. He had never imagined he would encounter it here.

Then something occurred to him. He spun toward Medicine Old Man, who looked just as stunned. As an elder of Spirit Hall, Jiang Zheng was no fool. Everyone knew martial souls were closely tied to bloodlines. Even his Cracked Armor Bear came from a bear-type martial soul among his ancestors.

If so, as Jiang Baiyu's grandfather, the old man should have considerable strength himself!

Jiang Zheng's expression darkened as another thought struck him. The old man had brought Jiang Baiyu to the village six years ago. What did this sudden revelation mean? Jiang Zheng did not even know the man's name.

Thinking of the villagers, he gathered his courage and looked at Medicine Old Man. "May I ask who you are? Why did you bring Xiao Baiyu to Jiangshui Village?" He circulated his Soul Power, and his Soul Rings flashed. Whoever this man was, however strong he might be, Jiang Zheng was prepared to sacrifice himself for the village.

At the doorway, the old man holding a bamboo staff stared fixedly at Jiang Baiyu's martial soul. Shock and hope, feelings he had not known in years, churned in his eyes.

As a Soul Douluo and a plant-type soul master himself, he sensed far more from Jiang Baiyu's martial soul than Jiang Zheng did. Through its image, he could touch the fundamental power behind it. This was no ordinary support martial soul.

The blue-green energy spilling from the cauldron flowed toward him like a gentle stream. Wisps of spirit mist entered every part of his body, first reaching the legs that had been gravely injured by a Clear Sky Hammer years ago and had remained blocked ever since.

For decades, the violent force and lingering poison of that hammer blow had festered in his bones and meridians. Now the ceaseless vitality from plants enveloped and consumed them, gently washing through channels blocked for years. A tingling warmth spread through his once stiff, aching knees. The murderous energy lodged between his bones was gradually neutralized and dissolved. In mere moments, more than half the dull pain buried deep in his bones had faded.

No simple healing support ability could do this. This was a higher order of power. Jiang Baiyu's martial soul was the supreme martial soul of the Medicine Dao.

Lost in thought, he heard Jiang Zheng's question and immediately understood what he meant.

Soul Power surged around him, and Soul Rings appeared one by one: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black. By the time the fifth ring emerged, Jiang Zheng's face had turned ashen. Then three more black rings appeared. Cold sweat covered Jiang Zheng's body.

A Soul Douluo! Apart from the elusive Title Douluos, Soul Douluos stood at the pinnacle of the continent.

"You... You are...?" Jiang Zheng's voice cracked. There was no one of Soul Douluo rank in Nofas Province—or even in the entire Balak Kingdom.

"I am Su Wu," Su Wu said calmly as his Nine-Jointed Bamboo martial soul slowly appeared.

"You're the renowned Medicine King, Your Eminence!" Jiang Zheng was stunned. Medicine King Su Wu had been famous ten years ago. His reputation had been at its height when Jiang Zheng was still a student, and among those who made their living hunting Soul Beasts, he was practically a saint.

If they happened to encounter him, he would casually cure their poisoning and tend their wounds.

He had suddenly vanished a few years ago. Everyone had thought he was dead and mourned him for a long time.

"Lord Medicine King, so Jiang Baiyu is your grandson. That explains it." Hearing Su Wu's name, Jiang Zheng relaxed somewhat.

The man was famous for his compassion as a healer. Their village should be safe enough.

"Mm." Su Wu's attention was entirely on Jiang Baiyu. He hardly cared about Jiang Zheng's attitude.

He took Jiang Baiyu by the hand and was about to leave when he stopped to warn Jiang Zheng, "Don't tell anyone where I am." Remembering how Jiang Zheng had looked after them, he added, "It's for your own good. I've made enemies. If word gets out, you'll be in danger."

With that, he led Jiang Baiyu back toward their courtyard.