Spirit Hall Stood There Like a Buddha

"This is our duty at Spirit Hall in the first place. Why would we charge for it?"

Grandmaster Liu could not understand how Joander, a member of the Divine Realm Empire People, thought. He asked:

"Do you Divine Realm Empire People have to pay to awaken your martial souls?"

Yes, we do.

Joander thought to himself.

"Not only do you have to pay to awaken your martial soul, you even have to pay to obtain soul rings."

Long Yue grumbled quietly beside them.

Those bastards at the Spirit Pagoda had reaped so many benefits through their monopoly on soul spirits, and they even stood outside the empire's authority.

Compared with the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Hall stood there like a Buddha.

Unfortunately, Grandmaster Liu did not hear Long Yue's silent curses. Otherwise, he would surely have been even more shocked:

Soul masters actually have to pay the Spirit Pagoda just to obtain soul rings?

What kind of evil organization is this Spirit Pagoda?

Joander looked at Grandmaster Liu in a completely different light. Because of this one man, his impression of Spirit Hall had changed enormously.

In the history Joander knew, Spirit Hall was an evil organization guilty of every conceivable crime, one that had started a war before finally being destroyed by the righteous Sea God Tang San.

But why would Spirit Hall spend so much time and effort awakening children's martial souls for free?

Did that fit the image of an evil organization?

Could Spirit Hall be trying to discover children capable of cultivating before anyone else, preparing to recruit them into Spirit Hall later?

That's it. That must be it. Grandmaster Liu is a perfect example.

But even so, why doesn't Grandmaster Liu complain?

If all they wanted was to recruit new members, without any conviction behind it, wouldn't the grassroots workers doing such exhausting work feel resentful?

With these questions in mind, Joander followed Grandmaster Liu into the first village.

Endless fields stretched along both sides of the dirt road. Crops swayed gently in the breeze, and Long Yue could see several farmers working in the fields with hoes in hand.

When the village chief saw Grandmaster Liu arrive, he excitedly called on the villagers to welcome the Spirit Hall party.

"Grandmaster Liu, we're sorry for troubling you again this year."

The village chief, a man named Old Peter, led the villagers in bowing respectfully to Grandmaster Liu, Long Yue, and Joander.

Although Long Yue and Joander wore no Spirit Hall uniforms, they followed behind Grandmaster Liu with fair skin, imposing bearing, and clothes made from expensive fabrics. They were obviously important people.

No one takes offense at too much courtesy.

That was what Old Peter thought.

Joander offered a perfunctory bow in return, while Grandmaster Liu nodded warmly. Long Yue, who treated everyone like an old friend, went straight up and called him his buddy.

"Don't worry, buddy! Grandmaster Liu's an old acquaintance. He'll definitely get everything sorted out for you!" Long Yue patted Grandmaster Liu's shoulder. "Right, brother?"

"..." Grandmaster Liu was speechless.

Old Peter muttered inwardly:

Grandmaster Liu must be at least fifty, yet this strapping young man is calling him brother? Could this young man actually be in his forties too?

Tsk, tsk. Being a soul master really is wonderful. With high enough cultivation, you don't even look old.

Everyone followed the village chief to the center of the village, where a large wooden building stood. By local standards, it was fairly well built and had been maintained quite nicely.

This building was called "Spirit Hall."

The village's so-called "Spirit Hall" was merely a large wooden building. It could not remotely compare with the Spirit Hall Main Hall in Skyfrost City, and probably was not even officially registered with Spirit Hall.

Only eight children in the entire village were taking part in the martial soul awakening ceremony.

Long Yue blurted out, "Your village's birth rate isn't cutting it. In a society like the Douluo Continent's, if you don't have more kids and draw a soul master out of the lot, you'll be villagers all your lives. Produce one soul master, and your family's fate changes."

"Uh..." Old Peter found himself in a bind. Answering felt inappropriate, but so did saying nothing.

Fortunately, Grandmaster Liu had already grown accustomed to Long Yue's leaping thoughts and unfiltered mouth. Thinking that this man from the Spirit Ice Continent was far too frivolous, he helped Old Peter steer away from the awkward topic.

"Children, stand in a line."

Grandmaster Liu smiled kindly. "Now, I will awaken your martial souls one by one. Remember, no matter what happens, don't be afraid."

As he spoke, Grandmaster Liu took out six jet-black round stones and a gleaming blue crystal ball.

"Wait." Joander took out a Photography Soul Tool, then tossed a Video Soul Tool to Long Yue.

"What is it?" Grandmaster Liu asked.

The children also looked curiously at the two strangely dressed men.

"I'd like to record the martial soul awakening ceremony of the Douluo Continent's people." Joander raised the Photography Soul Tool in his hand. "To compare it with our Divine Realm Empire's awakening ceremony."

It never occurred to Grandmaster Liu that this might expose any information. As far as he knew, there was nothing particularly technical about the martial soul awakening ceremony. One only needed to gather the materials and have a soul master help the children awaken, so he readily agreed.

Long Yue smiled without saying anything and chose a wide-angle position from which to film the martial soul awakening ceremony.

Joander's behavior looked far too much like a spy's. No, he plainly was a spy.

But Long Yue had no reason to expose him. Long Yue was not from the Douluo Continent, after all.

Grandmaster Liu arranged the black stones into a hexagon on the floor, then beckoned the first child over.

"Close your eyes and feel carefully." Grandmaster Liu released his martial soul, a Tool Martial Soul in the form of a scythe. Two soul rings appeared around him, one white and one yellow.

At first, Joander thought Grandmaster Liu's family must be fairly well-off, since his second soul ring was already yellow.

A yellow, hundred-year soul spirit cost at least a million Star Luo Empire Coins (Divine Realm Credits).

Only afterward did Joander belatedly realize that he had fallen into a fixed way of thinking-the people of the Douluo Continent did not need to buy soul spirits from the Spirit Pagoda. They could obtain soul rings simply by hunting soul beasts.

Grandmaster Liu busied himself with the ceremony, while Joander changed positions several times to take close-up photographs. Only Long Yue kept his camera position as steady as Mount Tai.

The final result was,

Not one of the village's eight children possessed soul power.

"That's normal. The odds of having soul power are only one in a thousand to begin with."

Long Yue went over and patted a dejected child's head, speaking like an older brother,

"Live a good life, and don't be too sad. Maybe your descendants will have a chance to become soul masters."

At first, the children had feared Long Yue's brawny physique and his status as a soul master, but once they saw that he was good-natured, they crowded around him and cheered.

Enjoying the fun of being king of the kids, Long Yue merrily performed a backflip, then a handstand, drawing more exclamations of admiration and applause from the children.

"Grandmaster Liu?" Old Peter pointed at Long Yue, then at his own head.

"He... is just like that. It should be normal for Divine Realm Empire People... right?"

Grandmaster Liu forced out an explanation. When he saw Joander's expression, as though he could not bear to watch, he knew that Long Yue was certainly not normal even among Spirit Ice Continent People.

[History]

Through Grandmaster Liu, I came to know an actual member of Spirit Hall, rather than a fabricated image of an evil Spirit Hall. I was astonished by the selfless dedication of its members... Once I began to truly understand Spirit Hall's core ideals, I could not help admiring these people who quietly shouldered responsibility for the development of soul masters on the Douluo Continent.

-First Contact, Joander, diplomat of the Divine Realm Empire.