As one of the continent's foremost powers, the Spirit Pagoda had helped countless millions of Soul Masters awaken for free, so naturally, it had dedicated awakening rooms.
Thanks to Leng Yaozhu's position as deputy pagoda master,
Li Zha was assigned a spacious, brightly lit awakening room. There was no one else inside; today, it was open exclusively for him.
Da Bai and Xiao Bai led Li Zha into the awakening room, visibly impatient.
"Hehe... Li Zha's cheeks just keep getting smoother."
Da Bai rubbed Li Zha's cheeks like a big sister from next door.
After spending more than half a year together, Da Bai, Xiao Bai, and Li Zha had clearly grown much closer.
"Li Zha, Her Excellency Heavenly Phoenix said when you first came back that your Martial Soul could actually rival the legendary Spirit Ice Douluo's..."
"So hurry up and awaken it. We're both waiting to feast our eyes."
Bai Zhicen wore a mischievous expression.
Li Zha caught the mischief in her words. Putting him on the same pedestal as Spirit Ice Douluo was a classic case of praising someone to death.
Li Zha waved a hand and chuckled.
"The emperor isn't worried, but his eunuchs are... Big Sis Xiao Bai, how could I possibly compare to Spirit Ice Douluo?"
Bai Zhicen put on an insincere smile. "Hehe, have some confidence in yourself. I believe in you."
Still,
although he said that aloud,
Li Zha really was curious now.
What would my Martial Soul be?
If it really was connected to that Great Deity of the Three Altars and Seas, that deity had far too many Divine Powers.
The Three Heads and Six Arms Form, the Fire-Tipped Spear, the Yin-Yang Twin Swords, the Nine Dragon Fire Cover, the Heaven-and-Earth Silk, the Universe Ring, the Golden Brick, Water Release, and Earth Release...
As Taiyi Zhenren's disciple, Nezha possessed a vast array of magical treasures and Divine Powers.
Li Zha had no idea which one would awaken as his Martial Soul.
Then another thought struck Li Zha.
Actually, it didn't matter which one it was.
As long as I killed those Evil Soul Masters and evil Soul Beasts, I could exchange for Divine Powers and magical treasures.
When it came down to it,
it was just a question of which came first.
There would be bread, and there would be milk too!
Just then,
Leng Yaozhu entered the awakening room.
Unlike before, Leng Yaozhu wore a casual long dress today. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall, softening the distance created by her coldly beautiful, unapproachable face.
"Your Excellency Heavenly Phoenix!"
Da Bai and Xiao Bai bowed in unison.
Neither of them was a fool. Leng Yaozhu's warmth today was clearly meant for Li Zha.
"Mm."
Sure enough, Leng Yaozhu merely gave Da Bai and Xiao Bai a faint nod before immediately walking over to Li Zha.
"It's been so long. Zha'er, you've grown this tall already?"
Leng Yaozhu beamed with delight. She measured Li Zha's height with her hand and realized that he already reached her chest.
Li Zha stood a meter and a half tall at six years old. Even on the Douluo Continent, where extraordinary beings ran rampant, that was enough to shock the world.
Anyone who saw him would surely exclaim in disbelief:
This kid was fucking six?!
"Teacher, we just saw each other a week ago."
Leng Yaozhu smiled. "Your teacher's been too busy and forgot. All right, are you ready? Your Martial Soul Awakening is about to begin."
Li Zha nodded.
"Mm."
The ritual for awakening a Martial Soul was neither complicated nor dangerous.
Leng Yaozhu extended a hand and infused Soul Power into the area around Li Zha.
Soon,
the Soul Power connected and resonated with something inside Li Zha. He felt an immense force within his body being awakened little by little.
At that moment,
Leng Yaozhu and the sisters, Da Bai and Xiao Bai, fixed their eyes on Li Zha.
Before today,
Da Bai and Xiao Bai had asked Leng Yaozhu more than once what Li Zha's Martial Soul might be.
After all,
Li Zha's records merely stated that he came from a coastal fishing village. His parents had zero innate Soul Power; they were not even Soul Masters.
Leng Yaozhu guessed that it would have something to do with the fire attribute.
She had seen the flames on Li Zha's fingertips. Those flames had given even Leng Yaolai a heart-pounding sense of alarm.
One could well imagine,
Leng Yaozhu's conservative estimate was that Li Zha's Martial Soul would be either ultimate fire or a physical manifestation of ultimate fire.
Soon,
the power inside Li Zha surged as though a floodgate had opened, and an enormous phantom Dharma body in his likeness appeared inside the awakening room.
The Dharma body sat cross-legged on a Lotus Platform, propping its head up with one hand. From high above, it lowered its gaze toward Leng Yaolai and the other two.
Its eyes held contempt. No, not contempt-it simply disregarded them altogether.
"What a huge... what a huge commotion!"
Da Bai and Xiao Bai looked up. They were clearly Titled Douluos, yet seeing this phantom lotus Dharma body felt like beholding a true god.
Leng Yaozhu felt it even more keenly. As a level-99 Limit Douluo, she sensed that although the Dharma body's aura was not powerful, its standing actually surpassed that of a demigod!
One had to remember,
Li Zha was only just awakening his Martial Soul!
If someone claimed that a child who had just awakened possessed a god's aura, Leng Yaozhu reckoned most people would refuse to believe it even if they were beaten to death.
"Oh! Excellent! My disciple has what it takes to become a god!"
The corners of Leng Yaozhu's pink lips curled upward, her pride impossible to suppress.
Strange. Where was the ultimate fire?
Leng Yaozhu wondered why Li Zha's ultimate fire had not manifested.
The lotus Dharma body soon dispersed, as though Li Zha could not yet sustain it for long.
"Your Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, what kind of Martial Soul is that?"
Bai Haoze could not help asking curiously. He had never seen a Martial Soul like that in the Spirit Pagoda-a giant phantom Dharma body of oneself.
Leng Yaozhu was just about to answer when she saw that the Martial Soul Awakening ritual, which she had thought was over, was actually continuing!
The next moment,
throughout the awakening room,
fire lotuses bloomed one after another, instantly transforming it into something like a lotus pond.
"This is..."
Leng Yaozhu's phoenix eyes widened.
As the fire lotuses unfolded, a long spear slowly took shape in Li Zha's hand.
The spear was three meters long and had no fewer than three points. Most astonishingly, its tips were not solid objects, but three red-and-white flames!
Leng Yaozhu stared at the Fire-Tipped Spear. As the wielder of the ultimate-fire Heavenly Phoenix Martial Soul, she actually felt a trace of suppression!
"Twin Martial Souls?!"
Da Bai and Xiao Bai spoke in unison.
The lotus Dharma body and this Fire-Tipped Spear.
These were unmistakably twin Martial Souls!
Li Zha opened his eyes. With a thought, he swiftly withdrew the spear in his hand.
"Your Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, just what are Li Zha's two Martial Souls?"
Leng Yaozhu considered for a moment before offering her judgment.
"This Fire-Tipped Spear is clearly a physical manifestation of ultimate fire. These flames far surpass any I've ever seen, including our Leng family's Heavenly Phoenix Martial Soul."
"I even suspect that these flames have already surpassed ultimate fire and stand above the ultimate."
Bai Haoze's eyes widened. "Your Excellency, but 'ultimate' is the term for an attribute that has reached its pinnacle. How could there be a Martial Soul attribute that surpasses the ultimate?"
Leng Yaozhu said, "I'm not sure either. It's just a feeling."
Leng Yaozhu left something unsaid. These flames gave her an incongruous feeling, as though they did not belong to this plane.
The ultimate was only the ultimate within the Douluo Plane...
Anything beyond the ultimate could naturally only come from another plane.
Even so,
Da Bai and Xiao Bai were deeply shocked.
Leng Yaozhu had judged it to surpass the ultimate. Even if she was wrong, the Fire-Tipped Spear possessing ultimate fire was still a fact nailed firmly to the board.
And by this era, Soul Masters' understanding of Martial Souls had already grown considerably deeper.
Da Bai and Xiao Bai clearly knew the principle that the disparity between twin Martial Souls could not be too great.
If the Fire-Tipped Spear possessed ultimate fire, then the lotus Dharma body had to be an existence on the same level!
Leng Yaozhu mused:
"This lotus Dharma body closely resembles Li Zha himself. It should be a type of body Martial Soul."
"In other words, Li Zha's other Martial Soul is himself."
Before you continue