Starting school

Tang Ziran and Lang Yue were both somewhat dazed throughout the meal.

Nearly all the food on the table ended up in Tang Wulin's stomach. He had missed lunch, admittedly, but even so, a six-year-old child should not have been able to eat this much. Yet after several large bowls, Tang Wulin still looked hungry for more. Only when Lang Yue sternly stopped him did he reluctantly put down his bowl.

"Son," Tang Ziran said with a helpless laugh as he surveyed the nearly emptied dishes, "is this the legendary art of turning stress into appetite?"

Tang Wulin was holding his soup bowl, sipping the last of the vegetable broth. At those words, he looked up, his eyes full of confusion.

"Why would I be stressed, Dad?"

Tang Ziran and Lang Yue exchanged a glance, and both of them laughed.

Indeed, their child was clearly delighted.

He had Soul Power, level five, and had made it into the Soul Master class. For a six-year-old who had grown up listening to stories about Soul Masters, that was already enough to make him forget half the world.

Tang Ziran's smile faded, and his expression grew more serious.

"Son, what I wanted to tell you is that the Soul Master class is different from the regular classes. Now that you've been assigned to it, once you officially start school tomorrow, you'll begin learning to cultivate Soul Power and studying what it means to be a Soul Master. This won't be an easy road. Have you really decided that you want to follow it all the way?"

Tang Wulin nodded immediately, almost without thinking.

"Of course!" His little face tightened with earnestness. "I want to become a Soul Master."

He paused, then added:

"Besides, I already have Soul Power now. Even the Spirit Transmitter said I could cultivate."

Warmth filled Tang Ziran's heart as he looked into his son's sparkling eyes, but he still said slowly:

"Being able to cultivate doesn't mean it will be easy. Your Martial Soul is a hammer-type Tool Martial Soul, which isn't bad in itself, but it looks a little different from other people's Martial Souls. In the future, you might meet people who don't understand you, who look down on you, or even think your Martial Soul isn't good enough. Will you still be able to keep going then?"

Tang Wulin blinked.

He was still young, after all, and had no real, concrete understanding of "contempt" or "stress." But he understood what his father meant, so he thought about it earnestly before nodding hard.

"Yes!"

"Why?"

Tang Wulin puffed out his little chest.

"Because I want to become a Soul Master," he said slowly but firmly. "Once I become one, I'll be really strong. Then I can protect you and Mom, and earn lots of money to buy our family all kinds of delicious food."

At those words, Lang Yue's eyes reddened slightly.

He had always been an exceptionally thoughtful child, so thoughtful it made her heart ache. Most children wanted to become Soul Masters for the prestige, the strength, and the admiration of others. But his first thought was to protect his family and buy them food.

Tang Ziran fell silent for a moment, then raised his hand and gently ruffled his son's hair.

"All right," he said softly. "Since you've made up your mind, your mom and I will support you."

He paused, then added:

"But remember, whether things go smoothly or not, your mom and I will never blame you. As long as you're happy and safe, that matters more than anything."

Tang Wulin grinned.

"I'm happy right now!"

After that meal, Tang Wulin grew sleepy much more easily than usual.

Although he had only just woken up a little while earlier, once he had eaten his fill, he began yawning repeatedly, his eyelids battling to stay open. Lang Yue hurried him through washing up, and before long, he tumbled into his little bed and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, just as dawn began to break, Tang Ziran woke Tang Wulin.

Today was his first official day of school.

Starting today, he would be a student in Red Mountain Academy's Soul Master class, formally beginning at least nine years of schooling.

Under the Sun Moon Federation's regulations, both elementary and intermediate academies were part of compulsory education. Elementary academy lasted three years, and intermediate academy six. Admission to higher-level academies required either academic results or the support of family connections and wealth. For most ordinary families, whether their children could continue beyond intermediate academy was already a very practical concern.

Tang Wulin did not really understand any of that yet.

He only knew that today, he would attend lessons in the Soul Master class.

The Soul Master class!

Just thinking of those words filled him with energy.

Red Mountain Academy was not far from home. Tang Ziran took him to the academy gates, repeated a few reminders, then hurried off to work.

At the entrance, students from the regular classes went into school on their own. Only the Soul Master class had a teacher specifically waiting to welcome the new students. That alone made the difference in treatment clear.

After all, regular classes focused mainly on academic subjects, while the Soul Master class also taught fundamental Soul Master knowledge, cultivation methods, and possible paths of future development. Even if only a few of these children ultimately became full-fledged Soul Masters, they would still have taken a step further than ordinary students.

This year's Soul Master class had only fifteen students in total.

In a small place like Aolai City, having fifteen children awaken with accompanying Soul Power in the same year was already a respectable number.

They were all the same age, and the atmosphere quickly grew lively once they gathered.

"Hey, what's your Martial Soul?"

A chubby little boy came up beside Tang Wulin and asked curiously.

Tang Wulin had never been shy around strangers, and immediately answered:

"A hammer."

As he spoke, he turned his right hand over. A dark gleam flashed, and the little Xiao Hei hammer appeared in his palm.

The chubby boy froze for a moment, then his expression immediately turned rather odd.

"That's your Martial Soul?" He gestured at it. "Why's it so small? And so black, like a lump of iron."

Tang Wulin immediately felt indignant.

"It's really heavy!"

"What good is being heavy?" The chubby boy snorted and waved his right hand. A cold gleam flashed, and a short blade appeared in his palm. Its blade was narrow and straight. Although it was not large, it looked much sharper than Tang Wulin's chunky, blunt Xiao Hei hammer.

"See? My Martial Soul is a blade. Level-five Innate Soul Power," the chubby boy said, raising his chin. "If you actually got into a fight with that hammer, could you even swing it?"

Tang Wulin opened his mouth, but for a moment, he did not know how to argue.

Because... his hammer really was heavy.

And not just heavy, but far heavier than its appearance suggested. If he actually had to fight with it now, even he had little confidence that he could wield it smoothly.

Just then, several other children around them also revealed their Martial Souls.

Some had Beast Martial Souls, others Tool Martial Souls. There was a fire fox, a wind sparrow, a wooden staff, a long cudgel... Though they were not necessarily particularly powerful, at least every Martial Soul looked "the part," unlike his hammer, which was neither imposing nor sharp, and did not even have any special luster.

For a moment, an indescribable feeling rose in Tang Wulin's heart.

His Martial Soul clearly was not a Trash Martial Soul, yet compared to his classmates' Martial Souls, it still seemed a little too ordinary.

The children soon began chatting among themselves again. No one deliberately excluded him, but no one went out of their way to crowd around him with questions either. After all, to children who had just awakened their Martial Souls, Tang Wulin's Xiao Hei hammer offered very little to discuss excitedly.

Tang Wulin pressed his lips together without speaking and quietly withdrew his Martial Soul.

Just then, a gentle female voice rang out.

"Everyone, quiet down for a moment."

They looked up to see a young woman in an academy teacher's uniform standing before them.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Lin Ximeng, your homeroom teacher for the next three years," she said with a smile. "Starting today, I'll be responsible for your Soul Master class's basic lessons and introductory cultivation training. Now, let's introduce ourselves. Tell us your name, your Martial Soul, and your Innate Soul Power level."

The fifteen students went to the front one after another to introduce themselves.

Some spoke loudly, while others were still a little timid. When Tang Wulin's turn came, he took a deep breath, walked to the front, and said earnestly:

"My name is Tang Wulin. My Martial Soul is a hammer, and my Innate Soul Power is level five."

As he spoke, he turned his right hand over, and the Xiao Hei hammer appeared in his palm again.

A few poorly stifled chuckles immediately rose around the class.

It was not outright malicious mockery, but more the instinctive disappointment and disdain children showed when they saw a Martial Soul that did not meet their expectations.

Lin Ximeng, however, did not laugh.

Her gaze lingered on the Xiao Hei hammer for a moment, a thoughtful glimmer passing through her eyes.

The hammer really did look far too ordinary.

But that was precisely the issue—level-five Innate Soul Power would not be unusual for an ordinary hammer-type Martial Soul, yet it should never give off such an inexplicable sense of weight. Although she had only glanced at it briefly, she distinctly felt that the way this child held his hammer differed from how others held their Martial Souls, as though he were bearing a weight far beyond what its appearance suggested.

Still, she did not question him further in front of everyone, merely nodding slightly.

"Go back to your seat."

Only after all the students had finished introducing themselves did Lin Ximeng speak again:

"Today is your first day of lessons. I'll begin by explaining the basic classifications of Martial Souls and the most fundamental methods of Soul Master cultivation. This afternoon, I'll guide you through introductory meditation. To become a true Soul Master, cultivating Soul Power is the indispensable first step."

The lessons that followed were Tang Wulin's favorite part.

Lin Ximeng began with Martial Soul classifications, discussing Tool Martial Souls and Beast Martial Souls. Then she moved from Battle Soul Masters to Tool Soul Masters, covering Soul Spirits, Soul Rings, cultivation realms, and paths of development. The world that had previously existed only in his father's stories was now unfolding before him, little by little.

Tang Wulin listened with rapt attention.

The gloom brought on by that morning's comparisons gradually slipped from his mind.

That afternoon, Lin Ximeng began teaching them the most basic form of meditation.

"Feel the Soul Power within your bodies. Don't rush to seize it. First, familiarize yourselves with it," she said gently. "Everyone's Martial Soul is different, so what you feel will differ too. Cultivation is never accomplished overnight. The more impatient you are, the more easily you'll make mistakes."

The fifteen children sat cross-legged in the classroom, each doing their best to close their eyes.

Tang Wulin followed their example, sitting down and slowly closing his eyes.

Before long, however, his brows furrowed.

Whenever he calmed his mind, he felt that strange heat rise within his body again. Along with it came a heaviness so intense it was almost oppressive, as though an invisible hammer hung silently deep inside him, pressing down with tremendous weight. It left him completely unable to "feel his Soul Power" with the ease his teacher had described.

For others, meditation meant stillness.

For him, it meant struggling to find a balance between surging heat and crushing pressure.

By the time Lin Ximeng reached his side, a fine sheen of sweat had already formed on Tang Wulin's forehead.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

Tang Wulin opened his eyes and whispered, "Teacher, whenever I close my eyes, I feel really hot inside, and a little weighed down. I can't settle my mind."

Lin Ximeng was slightly taken aback.

It was uncommon, but not unheard of. After all, everyone adapted differently after awakening their Martial Soul. Children with strength-oriented Tool Martial Souls, in particular, often had more trouble getting a feel for meditation at first.

After thinking for a moment, she said softly, "Then don't rush to delve deeper. Just focus on your breathing. Slow down and relax your body first."

Tang Wulin obediently nodded and closed his eyes again.

This time, he did not rush to grasp the Soul Power inside him. Instead, he clumsily followed his teacher's instructions, easing his breathing little by little. Though it was still difficult, that sense of heaviness really did seem to ease slightly.

By the time the day's lessons ended, the sun was already sinking in the west.

Tang Wulin was not smiling much when he walked out of Red Mountain Academy.

It was not because he had suffered some terrible blow, but because this day had made him truly understand something for the first time—

The path of a Soul Master was nowhere near as simple as he had imagined.

His Martial Soul did not look impressive enough, and it had failed to earn his classmates' approval on their first meeting. During afternoon meditation, he had also found it harder than the others to settle his mind. His Innate Soul Power was level five, and he had already entered the Soul Master class, yet only after lessons actually began did he discover that many things did not automatically become easy just because he "had talent."

"But..."

Walking home, Tang Wulin pressed his lips together, but determination gradually returned to his eyes.

"It doesn't matter if it's a little harder."

"I never came here expecting to become a Soul Master without any effort."

He murmured to himself, as though trying to bolster his spirits.

"If other people have better Martial Souls, I'll just work harder. My hammer might not look good now, but it'll become powerful someday."

At that thought, the gloom in his heart slowly began to lift.

But immediately afterward, another sensation emerged.

Hunger.

Terrible hunger.

The Soul Master class's lunch had been quite good, and portions were unlimited. Today, Tang Wulin alone had eaten almost as much as several classmates combined. Yet it was only afternoon, and his stomach already felt empty again.

"Why am I hungry again..." He rubbed his stomach, a little worried and a little hopeful. "I'll see if there's anything left to eat at home."

The thought of food immediately brought the sparkle back to Tang Wulin's eyes.

Just then, a small figure by the roadside caught his attention.