Outside, on a wooden boat on the river.
"Glug, glug, glug..."
Chen Zhuo pulled the wooden stopper from the vial of Transforming Serpent bloodline gene potion and drained it in one gulp.
Within a few breaths, his body began reacting abnormally.
Chen Zhuo's face turned as red as a boiled prawn.
Impurities were continuously expelled from his body along with his sweat.
The stench was foul and fishy.
Chen Zhuo was no stranger to this painful, grueling process. He had already experienced it in his previous life.
Now, he was merely going through it again.
With this vial of Transforming Serpent bloodline gene potion, the hidden, unused, and degenerated fragments of ancient evolutionary genes within his body were initially activated.
This was the cultivation system of the Main God Space.
No cultivating divine abilities, no refining magical treasures!
It was a path to transcendence that looked inward, focused purely on unlocking the human body's own potential.
First-stage gene lock, unlocked!
The Transforming Serpent potion greatly enhanced his physical abilities and reactions.
This body's combat instincts awakened, and its sensitivity to danger approached that of a wild beast.
"That did it!"
Feeling the changes in himself, Chen Zhuo's face lit up with delight.
In his previous life, he had been a powerhouse with a fourth-stage gene lock.
In this life, he also had the martial soul system available to him.
Every time soul masters advanced ten levels, they could add a soul ring and acquire a soul skill.
The configuration of the first four soul rings was closely tied to physical constitution.
Of all the supernatural systems he had encountered, the gene lock system placed the greatest emphasis on improving physical abilities, making it a natural match for this world's martial soul system.
That meant he possessed an innate advantage over native soul masters.
He could absorb soul rings beyond the age limit for his level with a one hundred percent success rate.
By cultivating both systems, he would surely climb to the highest peak!
In Black Snake Village, the villagers had just finished offering a sacrifice to the River God and were discussing arrangements for tomorrow's fishing.
With food scarce and too few able-bodied young workers, the entire village lived under precarious, crushing pressure.
As the village's Battle Soul Master, Su Yuntao naturally had no need to participate in physical labor.
Food, fresh water-everything was supplied to him first.
Yet he remained deeply worried, unable to eat or sleep in peace.
Su Yuntao knew perfectly well that without outside intervention, Black Snake Village was trapped in a dead end.
Today they sacrificed Chen Zhuo, tomorrow Zheng Qingqing-but what about the day after?
None of the villagers dared touch him, nor could any of them do anything to him.
But once the villagers of Black Snake Village could no longer provide sacrifices, utter destruction would await them all.
He would not escape either.
Yet aside from praying to the Angel God, Su Yuntao had no idea what else he could do.
On the river, the boats met.
"Young Chen, you... how did you come back?"
Chen Zhuo's appearance left the group staring, their jaws hanging open.
"The River God is dead."
To the villagers of Black Snake Village, Chen Zhuo's words were a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
One after another, their faces took on all sorts of expressions.
Some even opened their mouths to angrily accuse Chen Zhuo of spreading lies to mislead everyone, with no fear of offending a deity.
Seeing this, Chen Zhuo wasted no words and directly revealed his martial soul.
A soul ring of the deepest black slowly revolved, its soul power pressure silencing everyone at once.
"A ten-thousand-year... first soul ring?"
"How could anyone possibly have a ten-thousand-year ring as their first soul ring?"
The few villagers of Black Snake Village with some knowledge were all utterly stunned.
Su Yuntao, who had hurried over upon hearing the commotion, froze as well.
He had only ever seen a soul ring of this age on his own teacher.
Now, one had actually appeared on a One-Ring Soul Master.
The Soul Master World universally recognized the ideal soul ring combination as yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black-a total of nine soul rings.
White represented a ten-year soul ring, yellow a hundred-year soul ring, purple a thousand-year soul ring, and black a ten thousand year soul ring.
Generally, a soul master with decent talent would add a ten thousand year soul ring as their fifth soul ring.
"What exactly happened?" Su Yuntao asked urgently.
Chen Zhuo withdrew his martial soul, and the soul ring vanished.
He recounted the explanation he had come up with on the way.
Then he pointed to the evidence he had brought back aboard his wooden boat.
A snake's eye as large as a melon.
"You're saying a ten-thousand-year soul beast sacrificed itself to you before it died?"
Su Yuntao was skeptical, finding the whole thing outrageous and bizarre.
Yet after turning it over in his mind, it seemed to be the most reasonable explanation.
After questioning him for a while, he stopped dwelling on it.
Instead, he asked, "Young Chen Zhuo, would you be willing to join the Spirit Hall?"
Innate full soul power, and a ten thousand year soul ring as his first ring-"genius" was not enough to describe such aptitude.
Once he reported this, he would surely receive a generous reward for his recommendation.
Who could have imagined that tiny Black Snake Village would produce two young, gifted soul masters with such enormous potential?
Truly, just when the mountains and rivers seemed to leave no way forward, beyond the shaded willows and bright blossoms lay another village.
"I'm willing to join the Spirit Hall!"
Chen Zhuo agreed without hesitation.
He knew the matter of the River God would not be wrapped up so casually.
At most, Su Yuntao's questioning was only a preliminary inquiry.
Others would inevitably come to investigate and question him later.
Overall, joining the Spirit Hall offered more benefits than drawbacks.
He needed time to grow, and the bloodline gene potion required soul beasts over a hundred years old as its main ingredient. Having a major power's protection and assistance was certainly better than struggling alone.
Once he made it through this beginner phase, there would still be time to consider whether to stay or leave.
"Good! Excellent!" Su Yuntao was overjoyed.
That evening, the villagers of Black Snake Village returned safely with a boat loaded with fish, each of them nearly mad with joy.
With their hearts in their throats, they had crossed the boundary the River God had set for them years ago, yet no retaliation came even after a long wait.
It seemed the River God really had disappeared.
Only after others had tested it did Su Yuntao finally feel at ease.
"Little Zhuo, I've wronged you."
"I'm truly happy you were able to return safely."
Zheng Xiu took out a small bag sewn from animal hide, containing twenty Gold Soul Coins.
Now both his daughter and Chen Zhuo would follow Battle Soul Master Su Yuntao out of the village to study in the outside world.
This was the only thing he could do.
Ignoring Mother Zheng's sour expression and Zheng Qingqing pouting with her head turned away beside her, Chen Zhuo readily accepted the money pouch.
He really did need money.
He was a grown man; there was no need to be precious about it.
Once he had the means, he could simply repay it twofold.
Soul masters and ordinary people were in completely different leagues when it came to earning money.
It would not take him long to repay this sum.
Chen Zhuo, Zheng Qingqing, and Su Yuntao set off together by boat.
Nuoding City.
As soon as he returned to the city, Su Yuntao went to see his teacher, Ma Xiunuo, the supervisor of the Spirit Hall's Nuoding City branch.
Promising talents like Chen Zhuo and Zheng Qingqing were very likely to be sent to the Imperial Capital or Spirit City.
A small place like theirs could not keep them.
Informing his teacher was absolutely the best way to handle this, even if it meant sharing some of the credit.
Ma Xiunuo soon received the three of them and was astounded by the talent Chen Zhuo and Zheng Qingqing displayed.
He marveled inwardly that two golden phoenixes could fly out of a mountain hollow in tiny Black Snake Village.
Indeed, sometimes a person truly had no idea who would bring them good fortune.
"You two can stay at my residence for now. If you need anything, just ask!"
Ma Xiunuo smiled warmly, looking dignified and splendid in his purple robes.
Naturally, this matter had to be reported, and goodwill had to be cultivated too.
In private, Ma Xiunuo took a platinum ring from his finger and gave it to Chen Zhuo.
It was a storage Soul Tool Ring, with a thousand Gold Soul Coins piled within its twenty-square-meter space.
Zheng Qingqing received a tourmaline pendant, likewise a soul tool, but hers contained a full three thousand Gold Soul Coins.
For an ordinary person, one Gold Soul Coin a month was enough to cover daily expenses.
Even counting every last coin, a low-level soul master earned only ten to fifty Gold Soul Coins a month.
This investment was a major expense even for Ma Xiunuo.
But in Ma Xiunuo's eyes, when it came to forging goodwill, one should either not bother or make a substantial effort.
It had to reach the other person's heart!
If talents like Chen Zhuo and Zheng Qingqing grew up without mishap, becoming high-level soul masters would only be a matter of time.
As long as even one of them remembered his kindness and repaid it, he would not lose out.
He was especially optimistic about Zheng Qingqing.
Although this girl's innate soul power was inferior to Chen Zhuo's, the quality of her martial soul was extremely high. It was even a top-tier beast martial soul with a sacred attribute.
Chen Zhuo's eye martial soul, on the other hand, was difficult to judge...
A body martial soul.
Even the Spirit Hall, whose influence spanned the great empires, had few records of them.
Past awakenings had mostly produced trash martial souls that either could not be cultivated or possessed limited potential.
Someone like Chen Zhuo, with innate full soul power, had never appeared in history.
That meant it would be difficult to find a teacher capable of guiding such a martial soul. Its development would essentially depend on his own exploration.
No one could say how far he would ultimately go.
Chen Zhuo and Zheng Qingqing stayed in Nuoding City for half a month before a reply from the Spirit Hall's higher-ups finally arrived.
Ma Xiunuo's hand trembled as he held the encrypted letter.
He had originally thought that...
At most, the matter would reach Salas, the Platinum Bishop in the Imperial Capital.
He had never expected...
It had instead drawn the attention of Bibi Dong, the Pope presiding over headquarters in Spirit City.
The most authoritative female Pope on the continent today had specifically requested to see Zheng Qingqing and Chen Zhuo.
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