Soul Power Five Stages

Only after a long while did Tang Wulin barely recover from the heart-rending agony, panting rapidly as he steadied his breathing.

Meanwhile, the two Spirit Transmitters, who had been blinded by the golden light, finally regained their vision. Alarmed, they hurried into the center of the awakening formation and bent down to ask anxiously, "Child, how are you? Does anything feel wrong?"

"I... I'm fine," Tang Wulin replied softly, his breathing still somewhat unsteady.

Both Spirit Transmitters had witnessed the terrifying phenomenon that had shaken the entire awakening chamber. It was common knowledge in the soul master world that the grander the phenomenon during a martial soul awakening, the higher the martial soul's quality and the greater its innate soul power.

Intense excitement instantly flared in the middle-aged Spirit Transmitter's eyes, and wild delight surged through his heart. He could barely contain himself. With an earth-shaking awakening like that, this child must be a genius seen only once in ten thousand years! If I personally test a top-tier genius, I'll surely get a promotion and a raise. My future will be bright, and my whole life will rise to new heights!

Suppressing his anticipation, he hurriedly looked at Tang Wulin's open right hand. But the moment he saw the martial soul in the boy's palm, his words caught in his throat. His pupils contracted sharply, and disbelief covered his face.

"Blue... Blue Silver Grass?"

The Spirit Transmitter spoke dazedly, his voice full of disbelief. The wild delight on his face froze, then rapidly faded, replaced by bewilderment and disappointment.

How could this be?

After such a terrifying martial soul awakening, all he got was Blue Silver Grass—the lowest of the low on the continent, a universally acknowledged trash martial soul with no value for cultivation?

The dream of promotions, raises, and a meteoric rise that had just blossomed in his heart shattered completely at that moment. His eyes dimmed, filled with crushing disappointment.

After all, across the entire Douluo Continent, Blue Silver Grass was recognized as the number-one trash martial soul. Its innate soul power was low, its soul power growth abysmal, and almost no soul master could rely on it to become a powerhouse.

The supervising teachers nearby also looked regretful and shook their heads, dismissing the earlier golden phenomenon as nothing more than an unexpected disturbance.

Yet no one noticed that Tang Wulin, standing at the center of the formation, showed not the slightest disappointment. Instead, irrepressible joy and excitement lay hidden in his eyes.

He had already known that his right hand was destined to awaken Blue Silver Grass, so this came as no surprise. What truly rocked him to his core was his left hand, which he had kept tightly clenched all along.

At that moment, a tingling, aching pressure spread through his left palm. A savage, domineering force, carrying the boundless oppressive might of thunder, rampaged within it, trying to break free of its restraints and reveal its true form.

Tang Wulin clenched his left fist tightly, using every ounce of strength to suppress that restless power. His heart hammered wildly in his chest, and his emotions refused to settle for a long time.

Twin martial souls!

He had actually awakened twin martial souls!

He understood perfectly well that the Golden Dragon King bloodline within him was rooted in the very source of his own bloodline. It was an inborn power of his physique, not an independent martial soul. It stood entirely apart from his martial soul system and could not count as a second martial soul.

But the savage, domineering force in his left hand, wrapped in the boundless pressure of thunder and lightning, was completely independent of Blue Silver Grass. It was his own second martial soul!

Roaring thunder, domineering ferocity, power both weighty and frenzied...

Tang Wulin's pupils trembled slightly as an incredibly familiar yet shocking answer surfaced in his heart.

Could this... be the Clear Sky Lineage's supreme Tool Martial Soul, passed down for ten thousand years—the Clear Sky Hammer?

The two Spirit Transmitters examined the Blue Silver Grass in Tang Wulin's palm over and over. Whether its leaf shape, color, or aura, everything pointed to a perfectly ordinary stalk of Blue Silver Grass without a single remarkable feature or unusual sign.

They had no way of detecting the fine, mysterious patterns covering the backs of its slender roots and stems, almost impossible to distinguish with the naked eye. Those were bloodline markings belonging exclusively to the Blue Silver Emperor, completely concealed beneath the appearance of ordinary Blue Silver Grass, fooling everyone flawlessly.

The disappointment in the two Spirit Transmitters' hearts grew stronger.

They had thought they had encountered an unparalleled genius seen only once in ten thousand years, only for it all to come to nothing. How could there be so many Sea God Tang Sans in the world? Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor bloodline had come from his mother, a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor who had taken human form. It was a unique, supreme bloodline.

Ever since Sea God Tang San had ascended to the Divine Realm with the other gods, no Blue Silver Emperor martial soul had appeared on the continent again. All the Blue Silver Grass that remained in the world was, without exception, the trash martial soul everyone knew.

Tang Wulin lowered his eyes to the pale blue grass gently swaying in his palm, his expression utterly calm.

Everyone else considered Blue Silver Grass the continent's worst trash martial soul, but he felt no discouragement whatsoever.

What was worthless was ordinary Blue Silver Grass, not the Blue Silver Emperor sleeping within him. The two could never be spoken of in the same breath.

Beside him, the middle-aged Spirit Transmitter suppressed his disappointment and maintained a gentle expression as he looked at the quiet little boy. The awakening ceremony had produced a towering phenomenon, and the soul power throughout the chamber had stirred violently. With such a powerful resonance, soul power must have emerged within this child.

But his martial soul was Blue Silver Grass. Even with soul power, every step along his future cultivation path was destined to be difficult.

Seeing Tang Wulin silently staring at the martial soul in his palm, the Spirit Transmitter mistakenly assumed he could not accept the blow of having a trash martial soul. He hurriedly comforted him in a gentle voice. "Child, don't be sad. The soul power around you stirred tremendously when your martial soul awakened. You do have soul power, which already makes you far luckier than the half of the continent's children who can't awaken it."

Tang Wulin paused briefly, then came back to his senses. He quickly raised his head toward the Spirit Transmitter, a trace of urgency flashing through his sapphire-blue eyes, and asked directly, "Uncle, I have soul power? Then what level is my innate soul power?"

His emotions churned, and his heart was full of apprehension.

By now, he was already completely different from his original-story counterpart. Not only did he harbor the Golden Dragon King's seals, but he had unexpectedly awakened an unknown second martial soul. The savage lightning power in his left hand was almost certainly the Clear Sky Hammer.

According to an ironclad law of the Douluo Continent, almost everyone with twin martial souls also possessed innate full soul power.

Could he escape the predicament of having level-three innate soul power in the original story, rewrite his starting fate completely, and leap into the ranks of geniuses with innate full soul power who drew everyone's attention?

Stage-three innate soul power had always been the greatest sore point of Tang Wulin's early life in the original story. His initial cultivation had been slow, and restrictions had hemmed him in at every turn. He sincerely wanted to break free of that fate.

Looking into the boy's clear, hopeful eyes, the Spirit Transmitter hid nothing and slowly revealed the test result. "I just used the awakening formation to perform a preliminary test for you. Your innate soul power is level five."

"Level-five innate soul power..."

Tang Wulin murmured the words, a faint trace of disappointment passing through his eyes before quickly fading entirely.

Disappointment was inevitable, but he was not discouraged in the slightest. If he remembered correctly, his innate soul power in the original story had been level three. His current circumstances were already far better.

Level five it is, then. It only means the cultivation road ahead will be a little harder. At worst, I'll put in ten times, even a hundred times, the effort of ordinary people. Step by step, I'll catch up to everyone eventually.

Seeing that his emotions remained steady, the Spirit Transmitter offered reassurance, hoping to give this child with a trash martial soul a little hope. "You must have heard the legend of Sea God Tang San, right? He was the Tang Sect's first sect master, and his primary martial soul back then was also Blue Silver Grass. Yet with what the world called a trash martial soul, he rose against the odds, swept aside mighty enemies, destroyed the evil Spirit Hall, and finally attained godhood, becoming a legend passed down through the ages."

Tang Wulin blinked his clear sapphire-blue eyes, his thoughts quietly churning.

Destroyed the evil Spirit Hall?

In his heart, he did not agree with such a black-and-white description.

There had never been absolute justice or evil in this world, only different positions and conflicting interests.

From the perspective of the continent's people, Spirit Hall's desire to unify the continent made it a fiend sowing chaos throughout the world. But from Bibi Dong's and Qian Renxue's perspective, what had long been divided must unite, and what had long been united must divide. Was that not the inevitable course of history?

Nor had he ever thought his father was wrong to shatter the Angel Godhood and kill Rakshasa God Bibi Dong. They had been enemies locked in a struggle to the death. The victor became king, the loser a defeated outlaw; that was only natural. If Tang San had lost back then, he would not exist today.

At that thought, he stopped digging into the countless controversies and scandals surrounding Tang San's past. The Tang family's grudges and entanglements were already so tangled that simple notions of right and wrong could never judge them.

Still, he had to admit that Sea God Tang San's fame on this continent had long since reached the point where everyone knew his name.

In the world of his previous life, even timeless sovereigns such as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors or Qin Shi Huang remained unfamiliar to some children and elderly people. But on the Douluo Continent, from hundred-year-old elders to little children with their hair hanging in tufts, not a single person failed to know Sea God Tang San.

Never heard of Tang San? Now that would be absolutely impossible.

A meme from his previous life silently surfaced in Tang Wulin's mind, prompting an inward quip.

Then he lifted his little face and looked earnestly at the Spirit Transmitter with clear eyes, speaking each word distinctly. "But Uncle, I remember the history books saying Sea God Tang San's martial soul wasn't ordinary Blue Silver Grass. It was the Blue Silver Emperor. His mother was a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor who had taken human form, so he was born with a supreme Blue Silver Emperor bloodline. There was a world of difference between him and ordinary Blue Silver Grass."

The middle-aged Spirit Transmitter immediately choked on his words, embarrassment flashing across his face.

He had intended to encourage the child with the Sea God's story. He had never expected a six-year-old to know the continent's history so thoroughly that he could see straight through those comforting words.

The Spirit Transmitter awkwardly adjusted his sleeves and coughed twice to ease his embarrassment. He could only steel himself and add, "The Blue Silver Emperor evolved from Blue Silver Grass in the first place. They share the same origin. If you work hard enough, you may still forge your own path as a soul master."

"I understand. Thank you, Spirit Transmitter Uncle."

Tang Wulin obediently nodded and thanked him politely, though his mind remained perfectly clear.

Unless its bloodline completely evolved and awakened, ordinary Blue Silver Grass could never become a Blue Silver Emperor.

But for him, the innate essence of the Blue Silver Emperor was engraved in his bloodline.

After bidding the Spirit Transmitters farewell, Tang Wulin slowly left Awakening Chamber Five, passed through the bustling corridor, and finally stepped out through the gates of the Red Mountain Junior Soul Master Academy.

The martial soul awakening ceremony was over. He had successfully awakened his martial soul and developed innate soul power, so under the academy's rules, he was naturally assigned to the specialized soul master class.

While reading through books in Aolai City's library, Tang Wulin had already gained a thorough understanding of the Douluo Continent's entire soul master education system.

Children on this continent were carefully raised by their families from ages one to six, during their preschool years. The day of their martial soul awakening at six marked the first great watershed in their lives. Those who successfully awakened a martial soul and possessed soul power could enter a junior soul master academy, systematically study specialized subjects such as soul power cultivation, soul ring knowledge, and soul skill application, and set foot on the soul master's path. Those who awakened a martial soul but had no soul power could only be assigned to ordinary civilian classes, even if they entered a soul master academy. They would never become soul masters and could only end up as ordinary people at the bottom of society.

It was cruel, and utterly realistic.

The subsequent educational path was equally clear. Junior soul master academies corresponded to primary schools in his previous life, Intermediate Soul Master Academy was equivalent to secondary schools, and advanced soul master academies were this continent's universities. Students advanced through successive assessments, each layer screening for true soul master talent.

Tang Wulin sighed helplessly to himself and inwardly grumbled.

So even after transmigrating and being reborn on the Douluo Continent, I still can't escape going to school and studying.

Fortunately, the subjects here were no longer dull academic lessons. Instead, they covered fantastical soul master knowledge—Martial souls, soul power, soul beasts, and soul tools—which actually sparked some interest in him.

In his previous life, he had been a top student among his peers, always the exemplary child other parents held up to their own. Even if he had not been an astonishing genius, his ability to learn had far surpassed ordinary people's.

At that thought, a sly gleam flashed through Tang Wulin's sapphire-blue eyes, and he quietly began making plans.

Since I can't avoid school, I might as well take the grind all the way.

Now, let me show you what it means when the true king of the grind arrives.

Walking home, Tang Wulin felt waves of swelling heaviness in his head.

The agony from the Golden Dragon King's power running wild during his martial soul awakening still lingered. At the time, his skull had felt ready to split, every bone in his body had creaked, and his consciousness had grown so muddled that he could sense nothing around him. Yet just before his endurance gave out and his consciousness scattered completely, a gentle warmth had suddenly flowed from between his brows. In an instant, it had soothed the rampaging Golden Dragon bloodline within him and pulled him back from the brink of collapse.

That power had come without a sound, gentle yet domineering, suppressing the savage Golden Dragon King Origin perfectly.

Tang Wulin grew inwardly wary, faintly sensing that something was wrong.

With his current small, six-year-old body, he had absolutely no ability to resist the Golden Dragon King's world-destroying remnant power. By all rights, he could never have endured that backlash. At best, he would have been gravely injured; at worst, he would have died outright.

Who had secretly helped him?

The answer surfaced in his heart almost without thought.

Who else could it be but his ready-made father, whom he had never met—Sea God Tang San, far away in the Divine Realm?

A jumble of emotions filled Tang Wulin's heart, leaving a taste he could not describe.

He knew his origins and knew that he was Tang San's own flesh and blood, with the genuine blood of the Tang family flowing through his veins. Yet he had been cast down to the Douluo Continent from birth and separated from his biological parents throughout his childhood. Their blood connected them, but in terms of familial affection, honestly, there was very little—or perhaps none at all.

Inside, he had an adult's soul and had seen through the warmth and coldness of human relationships. He would not yearn for illusory fatherly love like an ordinary child. To him, his adoptive father Tang Ziran and adoptive mother Lang Yue, who had raised him and carefully cherished him for six years, were his true family, the bonds of affection he could never sever.

His thoughts remained tangled throughout the journey as Tang Wulin quietly followed beside Tang Ziran, walking in silence.

Just then, Tang Ziran suddenly turned his head. His eyes brimmed with tender affection as he said with a smile, "My son is a one-in-ten-thousand genius."

Tang Wulin froze on the spot and looked up at his father in bewilderment.

Level-five innate soul power and the universally acknowledged trash martial soul, Blue Silver Grass—those were completely unremarkable among soul masters. When had the Douluo Continent's standards for genius become so lenient?

He opened his mouth, intending to object. But when he met his father's gaze, filled with sincere love and not a trace of empty reassurance, every word lodged in his throat. He could not utter a single one.

He could not say it.

He could not tell his father that his Blue Silver Grass was merely a disguise, and its true form was the supreme Blue Silver Emperor. He could not say that he had also awakened a second martial soul, whose domineering thunderous power was very likely the Clear Sky Hammer. Much less could he reveal that the terrifying Golden Dragon King was sealed within him, leaving his future fraught with danger.

Once spoken aloud, these earth-shaking secrets would bring utter ruin upon the ordinary, happy little family before him. That was something Tang Wulin would never allow.

Seeing him stare blankly, Tang Ziran let his smile fade. With a serious expression, he stroked the boy's little head and patiently guided him. "So what if Blue Silver Grass is a trash martial soul? So what if your innate soul power is level five? You need to understand that across the entire Douluo Continent, only around thirty percent of six-year-olds can awaken soul power. You're already one in a thousand. And those who can develop soul power even with a trash martial soul are rarer still—one in ten thousand."

"So my Wulin has always been a unique little genius."

Tang Ziran spoke softly, then brought up a story he had told before. "Do you remember Sea God Tang San, whom Daddy told you about? The martial soul he first showed the world was also Blue Silver Grass, yet he still reached the summit and became a god. A martial soul can never determine everything. Hard work can."

Tang Wulin listened in a daze, and the disappointment in his heart vanished at once. He nodded gently.

That... did seem to make sense.

Father and son chatted along the way and arrived home before they knew it.

They lived in an ordinary civilian residential district in Aolai City. Their house was small and simple, and their lives were quiet and poor.