Six years later, Holy Soul Village, Spirit Hall.
Because Qian Chongling had vigorously developed Spirit Hall's economy, its halls in the vast majority of villages across the continent had been renovated. Thus, the Spirit Hall in Holy Soul Village was no longer the ramshackle wooden hut from the original story. Built from jade-white stone, it actually had something of a "hall" about it.
Jack's grandfather, Jie Shi, stood outside the village with a group of children.
First, he patted six-year-old Xiao Yan, the son of the village's rank twenty-seven Soul Grandmaster, Xiao Huo, and said kindly, "Child, don't worry. Both your parents are Soul Masters, so you're very likely to inherit their talent."
"Grandpa, I'm not nervous." Though Xiao Yan said that aloud, his heart was still beating like a drum. After all, he was only six years old.
"Hehe, Brother Xiao Yan, your mom and dad both have martial souls, so you'll definitely have one too. Don't worry."
But thinking it over, Xiao Yan felt that made sense. Martial souls were generally determined by one's biological parents and were mostly inherited. In other words, dragons begot dragons, phoenixes begot phoenixes, and a mouse's son knew how to dig holes.
So, fellow travelers from two doors over, if only your soul transmigrated, you would most likely inherit the martial souls of your "parents" in the world of the Douluo Continent.
If you transmigrated with your body, however, you would inherit your original-world parents' martial souls-which meant no martial soul at all!
If you wanted to awaken something like the Chaos Green Lotus, the Pangu Axe, or the Taiji Diagram, you might as well turn in early and dream.
Of course, if you relied on your own tremendous power to blast straight through the world barrier, that was another matter entirely!
"All right, come inside with me. When you meet the Battle Soul Master, don't be afraid, but don't talk too much either. Don't try his patience."
Besides Village Chief Jie Shi and the eight children who had all arrived, there was an old man inside Spirit Hall. He looked to be in his nineties, with white hair and beard, yet a youthful face beneath his crane-white hair. Dressed in a long black robe, he looked exceedingly kindly.
Unlike those previously in charge of the awakenings, this old man wore no insignia that could indicate his Soul Master rank.
People like Jie Shi, who knew a fair amount about Soul Masters, understood that they generally wore a badge on their left chest. The number of interlocking marks on the badge represented their rank. If the marks were longswords, that meant the deacon from the Spirit Hall branch was a Battle Soul Master.
But Jie Shi raised no questions about this, because this old man had handled the martial soul awakenings for the past few years and also possessed credentials from the Spirit Hall branch.
Perhaps he was a relatively high-ranking Soul Master and therefore did not need to wear a badge. That was what Jie Shi thought.
"Greetings, honored Lord Soul Master. Sorry for troubling you again." Old Jie Shi bowed respectfully to the old man.
The old man smiled faintly. "No trouble! Let's begin as soon as possible."
Old Jie Shi told the children, "Children, this Lord Soul Master will guide you in awakening your martial souls. Cooperate with him properly. Grandpa hopes you can become Soul Masters and bring honor to our Holy Soul Village."
After saying this, Old Jie Shi went straight out of Spirit Hall. It was this old man's rule: no one was allowed to watch.
The old man gazed calmly at the eight children before him. With little to occupy him these past few years, he had gone to the Spirit Hall Branch in Nuoding City and asked for a job like this. Having done it for several years, he was naturally familiar with every step. He told the eight children, "Children, form a line."
The nine children lined up before the old man, with Xiao Yan taking the last position, because he was not only taller but also more sturdily built than the other children his age.
The old man said calmly, "I am Qian Chongling. You may call me Grandpa Qian. Now, I will awaken your martial souls one by one."
After speaking, Qian Chongling brushed his left hand over the ring-shaped soul tool on his right index finger. The soul tool gave off a faint glow, and two sets of objects appeared on the table: six jet-black round stones and a gleaming blue crystal ball.
Qian Chongling arranged the six black stones in a hexagon on the floor, then motioned for the first child on the right to stand inside it.
"Don't be afraid. Close your eyes first! Feel carefully with your heart."
As he spoke, Qian Chongling's eyes suddenly lit up. Under the children's astonished gazes, he gave a low shout: "Chaos Angel, possess me!"
Black-purple light enveloped Qian Chongling in an instant.
Qian Chongling's hair had originally been white, but beneath the purple light, it instantly turned purple. Eight milky-white and eight pitch-black wings of light extended from his back. His black pupils turned a pale purple, and nine soul rings-black, black, black, black, red, red, red, red, red-floated up and down around him.
The boy standing amid the six black stones watched Qian Chongling's transformation and immediately exclaimed in wonder, "Are you an angel, Grandpa?"
Qian Chongling smiled faintly. "This is a martial soul. If any of you become Soul Masters in the future, you'll be able to use the same kind of ability."
With a gentle tap of Qian Chongling's finger, a beam of pale-purple light flowed from his fingertip into the black stones on the floor. Then a dome formed from golden light emerged from the stones, enveloping the boy.
Golden light streamed continuously from the black stones on the floor and entered the boy's body. Perhaps because of the light entering him, his body trembled slightly.
"Hold out your right hand," Qian Chongling told the boy calmly, a trace of scarlet light flashing through his pale-purple eyes.
As though Qian Chongling's words carried some mysterious power, the boy's eyes grew somewhat vacant, and he instinctively extended his right hand. Golden light surged wildly over it, and then a sickle appeared in his palm.
As the golden light gradually faded, the boy came to his senses and stared in surprise at the little sickle in his hand, feeling somewhat at a loss.
Qian Chongling said calmly, "Your martial soul is a sickle. It barely qualifies as a tool martial soul. Let's test your soul power. If you have soul power, you can become a Soul Master."
"G-Grandpa Qian, what should I do?" the boy asked timidly.
Qian Chongling said evenly, "Withdraw your martial soul with your thoughts. When you want to use it in the future, summon it with your thoughts as well."
Perhaps because his martial soul had only just awakened and he lacked practice, the child had to try for quite some time before he finally withdrew the sickle in his hand.
At the same time, Qian Chongling held the blue crystal ball out before him and said, "Place your hand on the crystal ball!"
The boy nodded and placed his fair, tender palm on the crystal ball. After a moment, the crystal ball still showed no reaction.
Seeing this, Qian Chongling said calmly, "No soul power. You cannot become a Soul Master. Go rest to the side for now."
Before you continue