Awakening Martial Souls, a Toy?

"What the hell are you guys doing? What are you arguing about?"

Xiao Ran pushed open the room door and cursed loudly.

"A bunch of weirdos, you guys must be asking for a beating!" He rushed forward and delivered a flying kick to that group of brats.

"Run! This bastard is awake."

"If you guys keep making a fuss, I'll deal with you. In my past life, I had an eight-pack abs!" Xiao Ran muttered to himself.

Speaking of his past life, Xiao Ran wore a look of desolation. He had been in this world for some time, yet he still felt unlucky about his encounters in his former life.

His past self had just graduated from college and was full of longing for the future, but reality was cruel. After starting work, he worked overtime until midnight every day, his boss squeezed his wages, and he could not even stretch his legs when sleeping in his rented room. Every day dragged on like a year, and he could see the end of his life at a glance.

In the end, the boss ran away, and he was driven out by the landlord because he could not afford the rent. Sleeping on the streets, he met a drowning girl by the river. He went into the water to rescue her, but instead, he was pulled down into the water by the girl and choked to death.

Thus he came here. The original owner of this body was named Xiao Ran, and he had been an orphan since childhood, growing up eating meals provided by a hundred families.

"Damn it, that woman was a water ghost! She caused me to be bullied by a bunch of snot-nosed kids after coming to this continent. How could dignified top college student like me suffer this kind of humiliation!"

Fortunately, however, he was particularly familiar with the stories of this world.

"Xiao Ran, hurry up and come out. The Spirit Hall soul master lord is coming."

Xiao Ran immediately realized that today seemed to be a big day.

"If I guessed right, today is the Martial Soul Awakening day. Since I've transmigrated, that's practically the protagonist's script!"

"Grandpa Village Chief, I'm coming out."

Xiao Ran hurried out.

"Let's go, Grandpa Village Chief. Don't let the soul master lord wait too long." With that, Old Jack took Xiao Ran's hand and went to another child's house.

A moment later, they arrived at a blacksmith shop.

"Little San, Grandpa has come to pick you up. Hurry out."

Immediately afterward, a blue-haired child walked up to them.

"Oh my, incredible, isn't this the legendary Tang San, the man who is going to become a god."

Seeing Tang San come out, Xiao Ran took the lead to greet him politely, and Tang San nodded in response.

A moment later, Old Jack pulled the two children he cherished most to the Holy Soul Village Spirit Hall Branch.

Present was not just other children, but also a dashing young man.

"This should be Su Yuntao. His bearing is not bad, but his strength is a bit weak."

Xiao Ran thought to himself.

Old Jack looked at Su Yuntao respectfully, "Respected soul master lord, I will have to trouble you for this awakening ceremony."

"Hey, alright, alright, Old Jack. It's not like I don't know you; I come here every year to awaken martial souls."

"Without further ado, let's start."

"Good." The village chief turned to face the crowd.

"This one is a soul master lord from Spirit Hall. In a moment, he will help you awaken your own martial souls. Children, you must cooperate with him well and awaken powerful martial souls."

"Forget it, Old Jack, where is it that easy? We should thank the heavens and earth just to awaken a martial soul."

The village chief sighed and left the hall.

The rest followed Su Yuntao into the hall.

The light dimmed, and a smell of many years of staleness rushed into their nostrils. In the very center was placed a crude black stone platform, carved all over with mysterious patterns, emitting a faint glow.

All the children stood in a row, and Xiao Ran and Tang San stood on the far right. Su Yuntao stood directly in front of all the children.

He put his hands on his hips and said, "My name is Su Yuntao, and I am a level 26 Soul Grandmaster. I am about to awaken your martial souls. Remember, no matter what happens later, don't be afraid."

Immediately afterward, he stepped forward to activate the stone platform and let the child on the far left step up.

"Put your hands on this crystal ball, children. Don't be afraid, and let's see who comes out."

Then, under the astonished gazes of the children, Su Yuntao released his Lone Wolf Spirit.

Behind him appeared a tall, illusory figure of a Lone Wolf.

"Hee hee hee, this martial soul is not bad. I wonder what my martial soul will be."

Xiao Ran rubbed his hands in anticipation.

The boy who was undergoing awakening saw this scene and was frightened into screaming repeatedly.

"Don't be afraid, this is my martial soul. If you can become soul masters, you will also be able to wield this ability just like me."

Suddenly, a burst of golden light flashed toward that boy.

"It's actually a Wild Dog Spirit, but... no soul power." Su Yuntao shook his head in disappointment.

"You have no soul power and cannot become a soul master. Step down first, next."

The boy walked off the platform dejectedly. Just like him, the children behind him failed one after the other, either having a trash martial soul or having no soul power.

Finally, it was Tang San's turn.

Su Yuntao spoke, "Step up."

Tang San looked calm and walked onto the stone platform expressionlessly, as steady as Mount Tai.

As expected of the God King Tang San, Xiao Ran muttered inwardly, his heart isn't causing even a ripple.

Tang San placed his hand on the crystal ball, and a golden light lit up once more. This time, the radiance was even more dazzling than anything he had ever seen before. Su Yuntao rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

But the light quickly dimmed.

Tang San raised his right hand, and a blue blade of grass materialized in his palm.

"Blue Silver Grass, a trash martial soul." Su Yuntao wore a helpless expression, but the very next second, light shone brilliantly once again.

"Innate Full Soul Power!" Su Yuntao looked shocked. "What a pity! If you had any other martial soul, you could... sigh."

Xiao Ran held back his laughter. What's a pity? This is the most powerful Blue Silver... Grass on the mainland! Su Yuntao, you're the one who's really missing out.

"Next!"

After stepping down, Tang San was about to extend his left hand to ask Su Yuntao a question, but the next second, Xiao Ran skipped up onto the stone platform.

Looking at the crystal ball before him, Xiao Ran was still panicking like crazy. Although he had fortunately transmigrated here, he had always had terrible luck in his previous life. He was terrified of awakening a trash martial soul, which would mean spending his whole life as a beast of burden in the village again.

He took a deep breath and stood inside the Martial Soul Awakening formation.

A warm current smoothly crept over his body, clearing his entire meridians. Slowly, it felt as though there was an uncontrollable power rapidly surging out within his hand.

Su Yuntao watched as the light of the crystal ball before him grew brighter and brighter, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Yet right at that moment, Xiao Ran's entire body's energy dissipated.

The light faded.

A martial soul with a bizarre shape appeared in his hand.

One half flowed with silvery-blue starlight, gentle and brilliant—the outline of the Ginga Spark.

The other half was pitch-black and profound, entwined with faint purplish-black flowing light and covered in eerie patterns—belonging to the Dark Spark.

The surrounding children first looked over with curiosity, then immediately couldn't help bursting into low, mocking laughter.

What on earth is that? Half black and half bright, looking all weird.

Su Yuntao frowned, examining the martial soul repeatedly with a face full of astonishment.

He shook his head and said in a flat tone, "The shape is bizarre, and I can't make out any clues. It should be a short club, but it doesn't look like it has any offensive capability at all."

Xiao Ran's heart gave a fierce thump.

"Come on, let's test your soul power." Su Yuntao lowered his head in thought.

After placing his hand on it, the light of the crystal ball flashed once and then slowly faded away.

"Innate rank-three soul power!" Su Yuntao smiled. "Alright, rank-three soul power is already enough to become a Soul Master."

Why does this thing look like the head of the Sea God Trident, yet it isn't that long? It actually looks more like a toy...

Looking at the martial soul in front of him, Xiao Ran felt a deep sense of familiarity, but he just couldn't put his finger on what it was.