Martial Soul Awakening Conference (Please invest! Please bookmark! Please vote!)

Martial Soul Square, East District, Yongdu City.

This square had been built specifically for the Martial Soul Awakening Conference and was one of the Martial Soul Bureau's four branches in Yongdu City. Calling it a square was only half right, however, because the square was merely where people lined up. The actual martial soul awakenings took place in the Martial Soul Bureau Awakening Hall in front of it.

Qin Xu and Qin Tianji entered the awakening hall without drawing anyone's attention.

"Your Highness! My lord!" Zhang Lexuan, who was stationed here on behalf of the Ducal Office, was somewhat surprised to see Qin Xu and Qin Tianji.

"Sister Xuan, I'm already a One-Ring Soul Master," Qin Xu said with a grin. "I happened to have some free time this afternoon, so I came to see how many people were awakening their martial souls this year."

"Lexuan, how did this morning's awakenings go?" Qin Tianji asked.

Zhang Lexuan first smiled and nodded at Qin Xu, then answered Qin Tianji's question. "This morning, 3,343 commoners came to awaken their martial souls in the East District. Of those, 2,026 were children within the recommended age range, and 1,317 were overage. A total of 3,342 successfully awakened their martial souls. Only one failed because they were too old."

Martial soul awakening had a lower age limit, but no upper one.

The recommended age range was between six and twelve, the best time to awaken a martial soul. Awakening too early could damage the soul's foundation, while awakening too late made it difficult to retain innate soul power. Having no upper limit meant that even elderly people in their seventies or eighties could awaken their martial souls. The older they were, however, the less likely they were to possess innate soul power.

Thus, the children within the recommended age range whom Zhang Lexuan mentioned were those between six and twelve, while the overage participants were anyone older than twelve.

As she spoke, Zhang Lexuan took out the records and handed them to Qin Tianji. "There were 333 people with soul power. Of those, 305 had innate soul power below rank five, twenty-six had rank-five soul power, one had rank-six soul power, and one had rank-seven soul power. There were none at ranks eight, nine, or ten."

"Mm." Qin Tianji leafed through the records and nodded. "Good. Nearly one in ten possessed soul power. Hopefully, we'll see equally high rates over the next two days."

Qin Xu silently worked through the numbers. The first awakening day usually drew the largest crowd, mostly children within the recommended age range. Three thousand people had come to the East District that morning, and the other three districts should have seen similar numbers. In other words, around twelve thousand people had participated in martial soul awakenings across Yongdu City in a single morning.

Based on the East District's ratio of people with soul power to those who awakened martial souls, Yongdu City had gained around a thousand soul masters that morning. An optimistic estimate put the city's gains over the three awakening days at six thousand soul masters!

Ahem. That was impossible, of course. Attendance over the next two days would certainly be lower than on the first, and the proportion of overage participants would keep growing. The ratio of people with soul power to those awakening their martial souls would only fall, not rise.

Thus, Yongdu City would gain fewer than six thousand soul masters during this year's awakening days. Judging by previous years, the number would likely settle around four thousand, which was already very high.

"Xu'er, what do you think?" Qin Tianji asked.

Qin Xu looked up and said, "I think this is a good thing. It proves that the duchy's policy of establishing martial soul awakening days was the right decision.

"Even if few of these new commoner soul masters become high-level soul masters in the future, they're still soul masters. When they marry and have children, their descendants will be far more likely to become soul masters than those of ordinary families. For our Qin Family and the duchy, this brings a hundred benefits and not a single harm."

"Hahaha!" Qin Tianji laughed heartily. "Exactly."

While major cities in the Black Dragon Duchy, such as Yongdu City and Yaolong City, held their Martial Soul Awakening Conferences, another form of martial soul awakening ceremony was taking place as scheduled in the duchy's rural villages.

Xuebian Village.

This small village lay at the northernmost edge of the Black Dragon Duchy, close to the Far North Ice Plains. Led by the adults, the village children stood nervously and excitedly before a house with red brick walls and black roof tiles.

They were waiting to awaken their martial souls.

A man in his thirties or forties emerged from the house, revealing a rough smile under the villagers' respectful, fearful gazes.

"Adults, stand to the side. Children, stand in front of me in a single line," the man said, his voice loud and full of vigor.

None of the villagers dared disobey. The adults moved aside, leaving the few children to stand bewilderedly before the man, their young eyes brimming with longing, anticipation, and nervousness.

The man's name was Wu Haichao. He was a Soul Grandmaster of the Martial Soul Bureau in Mohe Town, Icefield City, Snowfield Prefecture, Black Dragon Duchy. He was also a Village Patrol Soul Master specifically responsible for awakening martial souls in several villages under Mohe Town's jurisdiction.

This was his third year patrolling the villages, and also his last. Once he completed this year's martial soul awakenings, his accumulated merits would be enough to earn him a promotion within the Martial Soul Bureau and exchange for a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Then, as long as he had enough soul power, he, Wu Haichao, could become a Soul Elder with a Thousand-Year Soul Ring!

The Village Patrol Soul Master program operated alongside the Martial Soul Awakening Conference. The conference targeted commoners in cities and their surrounding areas, while Village Patrol Soul Masters primarily served farmers in remote villages. Only by employing both measures could the duchy ensure that as many commoners as possible under its rule had a chance to awaken their martial souls.

The Village Patrol Soul Master system was modeled on Spirit Hall's former grassroots soul master system, but there were differences. Spirit Hall's grassroots deacons washed their hands of commoners after awakening their martial souls. By contrast, when the Martial Soul Bureau's Village Patrol Soul Masters awakened children who possessed soul power, they also had to take those children to a Soul Master Academy in town to enroll. This was mandatory.

If a Village Patrol Soul Master awakened a child with exceptional talent, not only would their local Martial Soul Bureau receive commendations from its superiors, but the soul master would also receive rewards from the grand duke. These ranged from medicinal pills, spirit herbs, and soul tools to official posts, noble titles, and even soul rings and soul bones. Such rewards were also what kept the Village Patrol Soul Master system running.

"All right, children, follow me inside." With that, Wu Haichao turned and entered the specially built Martial Soul Awakening Room.

The five children from Xuebian Village followed closely on his heels into the house.

"A Liang, quick, hurry after them."

Just then, an old woman came trotting over, pulling a little girl along. Seeing that the ceremony was about to begin, she hurriedly nudged the girl beside her and spoke anxiously.

"Granny Dou, why are you so late? Luckily, you made it in time," an adult nearby said, their voice carrying a hint of concern and puzzlement.

"Hehe, I'm old. My legs aren't as quick as they used to be." Granny Dou smiled as she pushed the little girl toward the back of the children's line. "I told A Liang to run ahead on her own, but the girl insisted on waiting for me. Thank goodness we made it. Otherwise, this old woman would have been beside herself."

The newly arrived girl said nothing and simply followed at the back of the line. Her appearance was striking, so Wu Haichao noticed her immediately. A child with a full head of white hair would attract attention anywhere.

Moreover, the little girl was exceptionally good-looking. Her pretty face betrayed no emotion, and her pale blue eyes were as still as an ancient well. Although her clothes were patched, they were very clean, lending her a fresh, almost otherworldly air.

A faint hope stirred in Wu Haichao's heart. This little girl looks unusual. Could my luck have turned? Could I awaken a peerless genius today? With that thought, he could not help beckoning to A Liang.

"The child who arrived last, come to the front."

The five children ahead of her turned to look at A Liang, various emotions rising on their faces: fear, fondness, jealousy, and more. Yet none dared speak, both because this was the Lord Soul Master's decision and because of A Liang's past tyranny.

A Liang walked unhurriedly to the front and looked at Wu Haichao. Her gaze was unlike the other children's. It held no reverence, longing, or curiosity, only a cold stare, as though she were looking at someone utterly inconsequential.

"Come, child. Stand inside this array." Wu Haichao chose to ignore A Liang's gaze. As a dignified rank-twenty-eight Soul Grandmaster, how could he take offense at a child who had yet to awaken her martial soul?

A Liang lowered her head to look at the Six-Pointed Star Array on the floor. An inscrutable glint crossed her eyes, and then she stepped inside.

As Wu Haichao channeled his soul power into it, the awakening array immediately released a beam of light that enveloped A Liang. A moment later, the light dispersed, revealing her within. She seemed even more beautiful, cold, and aloof. Her white hair had grown longer, her pale blue eyes had turned sky blue, and she had grown somewhat taller.

With her appearance, even the surrounding air seemed to grow several degrees colder.

"Huh?" Confusion crossed Wu Haichao's face as he murmured, "What is this child's martial soul? Could it be a pure elemental martial soul? It looks like the ice element. Child, can you tell me what your martial soul is?"

"Snow woman," A Liang said coldly.

"So it's a snow woman martial soul!" Wu Haichao's expression instantly brightened with excitement. This was an extremely rare ice-attribute martial soul unique to the continent's Far North. Whenever it appeared, it was a powerful martial soul with innate soul power of at least rank five. Had he really struck gold this time?

He hurriedly said, "Come, child, quickly! Let me test your soul power!"

A Liang walked over.

"Innate full soul power!"

Wu Haichao's voice was so loud that even the adults waiting anxiously outside could hear him.