"Those whose inheritances are still being passed down are the Six-Winged Angel of the Qian Family in Spirit Hall and the Sea God Martial Soul of Sea God Island."
"Sea God Island?"
"Mm. It lies in the sea northwest of the continent and is the god of faith for Sea Soul Masters and Sea Soul Beasts."
"Are there only two?"
Chen Yu said with a serious expression, "That may not be the case. God-Level Martial Souls were passed down by gods."
"Over the past several thousand years, only the Angel God and Sea God have become gods."
"But according to ancient records, there were more than a dozen gods on this continent in the past."
"In fact, a long, long time ago, there were more than a dozen churches that served only deities. They should have been able to pass down God-Level Martial Souls back then. Maybe one will still pop out of some obscure corner in the future."
Chen Xiaojun was a little stunned. This was different from Douluo I, and even from the entire Douluo series. He couldn't help asking, "Then where did those churches go?"
Chen Yu's lips curved slightly. "History is always full of twists and turns. Anyway, they disappeared into history. You can look through these history books; maybe you'll find the answer."
"Now there are only Spirit Hall, which serves the Angel God, and Sea God Island, which serves the Sea God, along with some Evil Cult Societies."
Chen Xiaojun was secretly startled. Spirit Hall went from being an organization of the Angel God's followers to the Angel Church, and then to Spirit Hall. It seems a lot of indescribable things happened.
He then asked, "Evil Cult Societies?"
Chen Yu's expression shifted, and he said harshly, "There are some organizations on the continent made up of Evil Soul Masters who serve and worship evil deities. Most of their followers are Evil Soul Masters."
"These people commit every manner of evil, slaughtering commoners and Soul Masters for power."
"The powerful ones often unleash calamities across the continent. The most notorious is the Crimson Church."
Chen Xiaojun's heart stirred, and he asked in confusion, "The Crimson Church? The one that comes out every few hundred years to create massacres and wreak havoc in the Soul Master World, continuing without end for thousands of years, no matter how often it's destroyed?"
He had read about this church in those books, but it hadn't appeared in Douluo I. He didn't know whether it had already been destroyed by the time of Tang San, a hundred years later.
Chen Yu nodded. "That's right. According to information from many sources, the Crimson Church serves several evil gods, with the Rakshasa God as its chief deity."
"Oh, right. The Rakshasa God also passed down a God-Level Martial Soul: the Rakshasa Luo Family."
"Grandpa will tell you more about these things later."
Chen Xiaojun thought to himself, The Rakshasa Luo Family? Where did that clan come from? It wasn't around in Douluo I.
Seeing that his grandfather didn't seem to want to talk about it, he changed the subject and asked the question he'd been keeping to himself for a long time. "Grandpa, what is Martial Soul Awakening? How does it work?"
Chen Yu was taken aback. Few people had ever thought of this question. Still, since his grandson was interested, he was naturally happy to answer.
So he explained at length, "According to the research of our clan's theoretical genius, our seventeenth-generation ancestor Chen Qianhua, before the age of six, Martial Souls remain inside the Soul Nest, with its entrance completely shut and hidden within the Acupoints."
"Because a person's body doesn't settle into its final form until the day they turn six, only then can the Awakening Stone stimulate their innate energy throughout their body and awaken their Martial Soul."
"Our ancestor Chen Qianhua defined the human body as possessing a kind of innate energy, which he called Innate Qi. After a person is born, it drains away due to the contamination of their postnatal environment. Even without external influences, it gradually drains away."
"Innate Soul Power is part of the Innate Qi that the Martial Soul locks away, slowing its loss. This portion of Innate Qi nourishes the body's affinity for Soul Power and is released when the Martial Soul awakens."
"That's why the quality of the Martial Soul matters at this point. The higher its quality, the faster it absorbs Innate Qi, and the higher the person's affinity for Soul Power. At the same time, the Innate Qi also nourishes the Martial Soul."
"According to our ancestor Chen Qianhua's speculation, Martial Soul Mutations are also related to Innate Qi."
"Of course, a person's constitution matters too. A strong physique helps them absorb and bear a greater amount of Innate Soul Power. That's why the children of our Chen Clan have been taking Medicinal Baths and eating medicinal meals from the age of three."
Chen Xiaojun couldn't help admiring the wisdom of the ancients. "Truly... impressive!"
Chen Yu glanced at the moon and said, "All right, get a good night's rest. Grandpa will go with you to the Ancestral Hall tomorrow."
Chen Xiaojun nodded. "All right, Grandpa. I'll go to bed now."
After Chen Xiaojun left, Chen Yu's expression turned serious. "Xun, what's the situation with the Xili Family and Soul Fighting City?"
Chen Xun said, "There's no major problem with the Xili Family. Some people have their eye on them, but they're just petty crooks. There's no real issue; Uncle Dao Gao and Jun Yi can handle it themselves."
"Things are a little turbulent in Soul Fighting City. There are quite a few people watching us, but we can handle it for now."
Chen Yu said, "Mm, understood."
The father and son chatted in the study for quite a while...
The next day, June 20, at five in the morning, the sky was just beginning to brighten.
Chen Xiaojun woke from his sleep and suddenly felt something was different. His body had a feeling that was Mystical Mystery, as if it had grown, with a somewhat weighty quality to it.
He had asked his father, Chen Xun, about it. Chen Xun had said that on the day everyone turned six, their bones settled into their final form, their Meridians became Steadfast, and their Martial Souls fully took shape. Anyone with keen senses would have this kind of intuition.
After morning exercises, he burned incense, bathed, dressed in his finest clothes, and went out.
Nine o'clock.
Chen Yu led Chen Xiaojun, with Chen Xun, Ye Xiuxin, and Chen Jianjun following behind, toward the Ancestral Hall on the hill south of the village.
After they went out, Zhu Tianhao, Aunt Ding Dang, and Little Wuneng joined them as well. Zhu Tianhao was Chen Xun's Personal Attendant.
According to the customs of ancient Blue Star in his Previous Life, it was similar to a child born into the household, and people of that standing were allowed to attend the awakening ceremony.
Ever since his father had died saving Chen Yu, Chen Yu had raised him from childhood.
Ding Dang likewise came from a family that had served the Chen Clan for generations.
Little Wuneng was very likely to become Chen Xiaojun's Follower in the future. As long as nothing unexpected happened, the two of them would be confirmed as each other's master and follower once both had awakened their Martial Souls. So he had been specially permitted to come; after all, Chen Xiaojun would be his future master.
Wuneng's older brother and older sister didn't have this qualification.
Also accompanying them were his Second Aunt, Ximen Shaoping, and his cousin, Chen Feng, who had come from the side courtyard.
An Ancestral Hall was a shrine that every clan established to worship its distant ancestors, high ancestors, great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents.
The Ancestral Hall was the clan's Holy Hall. It recorded the clan's traditions and former glories, and was a place that united the clan. It symbolized and represented every clan's long history and culture. Compared to Blue Star, it held an unparalleled influence in this Soul Master World, where bloodline inheritance was paramount.
The Chen Clan's ancestral shrine was a building consisting of a front hall, a main hall, and a rear hall, arranged along a north-south axis.
The front hall was the entrance to the ancestral shrine and also where the clan held large and important meetings. The main hall was the principal place for worshipping the ancestors, while the rear hall was where non-family figures of importance were worshipped.
The main hall was the heart of the ancestral shrine. It was divided into the Main Hall and the left and right Side Halls.
The Main Hall held just three ancestral tablets and statues: Chen Ling, the founding ancestor; Chen Xili, the ancestor who carried on the clan's legacy; and Chen Feiyi, the ancestor who brought the clan to new heights.
"Carrying on the clan's legacy" meant continuing the past and opening up the future, turning danger into safety. "Bringing the clan to new heights" expressed the revival of the clan midway through its history, turning decline into prosperity. Their positions alongside the founding ancestor as the principal ancestors showed that these two ancestors held pivotal and extraordinary places in the Chen Clan.
At the time, the first and second generation ancestors, Chen Qian, had considered themselves unworthy of being worshipped alongside the founding ancestor, their father. They established an ancestral rule that only those who had made an exceptionally great contribution to the clan or become Peerless Douluo could be worshipped as principal ancestors.
Besides these, there were other auxiliary buildings, such as Side Halls, gardens, stele pavilions, a rear garden, and the Martial Hall.
Chen Xiaojun had visited the ancestral shrine before, but he had only been inside the auxiliary buildings. Before the age of six, he wasn't qualified to enter the ancestral shrine itself.
In fact, there were also some special buildings that people generally couldn't enter, such as the Clan Treasury and the Sword Pavilion.
In summary, the layout of the Chen Clan's ancestral shrine placed great emphasis on its ritual function and cultural significance, reflecting the Chen Clan's rich and varied traditional culture and the principles of "passing on the family through learning, establishing the clan through martial strength, honoring merit and achievement, uniting in earnest, and keeping a low profile."
Before you continue