Watching Tang Hao flying through the sky and Tang San scattering flowers like a heavenly maiden from afar, Tang Mo felt that Holy Soul Village's fields were truly blessed to receive Tang Buddha's personal fertilization. It just wasn't very friendly to passersby.
Three months passed in a flash, and the top martial soul connoisseur, Su Yuntao, arrived at Holy Soul Village.
"Little Mo." Old Jack stood outside Tang Mo's door, calling to Tang Mo, who was drying herbs.
"Grandpa Jack, it's been a while. Have you been well?" Tang Mo greeted Old Jack.
"Same as always." Old Jack waved a hand, then got down to business. "An important person from Spirit Hall came today to awaken the martial souls of our village's children. I reckon you're old enough too. Why not give it a try?"
Tang Mo opened the door and followed Old Jack all the way to Su Yuntao.
Quite a few people had already gathered around Su Yuntao, all children of the appropriate age from the village. Only Tang San was nowhere to be seen.
Soon, the children of Holy Soul Village formed a line, waiting for Su Yuntao to awaken their martial souls.
"Lone Wolf, possess!" Su Yuntao shouted in a low voice, then transformed into a werewolf, two soul rings-one white and one yellow-flickering around him.
As the children awakened their martial souls one after another, yet none tested positive for any soul power, the enthusiasm on his face gradually faded.
Just as he thought he would return empty-handed today, Tang Mo stepped into the Awakening Array, and golden light blazed forth.
Su Yuntao's weary expression changed drastically. Immediately afterward, an indescribable suction came from the Awakening Array, devouring his soul power.
In an instant, his face went from red to white. A little under half his soul power vanished in the blink of an eye, and it was still draining at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Just as he thought his soul power would be sucked dry, Tang Mo spread his hands. His right hand was empty, a figure appeared behind him, and a short sword appeared in his left hand.
"Twin martial souls?" Su Yuntao cried out in shock, but soon frowned. "A person? A dagger?"
Tang Mo's martial souls were something Su Yuntao had never heard of or seen before.
Still, judging a martial soul's strength wasn't difficult. Right before him was the simplest and clearest way to measure one: testing Tang Mo's innate soul power.
Suppressing his shock and uncertainty, he said to Tang Mo, "Come test your innate soul power. If you have soul power, even the slightest trace, you have a chance of becoming a soul master. If you don't..."
At this point, he couldn't help giving a wry laugh, feeling that his brain had gone haywire. How could a martial soul that had only awakened after absorbing so much of his soul power be useless? Tang Mo most likely had soul power; the only question was how many levels.
If Tang Mo had level-five soul power, then as long as he could recruit Tang Mo into Spirit Hall, he could at least leave Nuoding City and move to a position at another city's Spirit Hall.
After all, the difference between cities could often be as vast as heaven and earth. Could a remote city compare to the Heaven Dou Empire's capital?
Hearing this, Tang Mo withdrew his martial souls and pressed his hand against the Soul Power Testing Crystal Ball.
Seeing Tang Mo withdraw his martial souls without being taught, Su Yuntao couldn't help showing a trace of admiration in his eyes. Ordinary children couldn't do that.
"Hum!"
The instant Tang Mo's hand touched the crystal ball, he felt a suction burst from within it, constantly tugging at his soul power. He didn't resist, instead allowing the crystal ball to pull at it.
As the crystal ball absorbed his soul power, a dazzling radiance suddenly erupted from it.
Innate full soul power! I, the great Su, have made it! The white light dazzled Su Yuntao's eyes, but he wasn't displeased in the slightest. Instead, he nearly cried out in shock.
"Crack, crack..."
The white light radiating from the crystal ball didn't subside after reaching the ball's limit. Instead, it showed signs of growing ever more intense.
Accompanied by a series of cracking sounds, barely perceptible fissures actually appeared across the crystal ball.
The instant the light faded, the crystal ball was on the verge of shattering without quite breaking, as though Tang Mo's soul power had exceeded its testing limit, but not by very much.
At this sight, Tang Mo began to form a vague guess. His soul power should have exceeded level ten, but not level twenty.
In theory, a person's innate soul power could only reach level ten at most, but there were exceptions to everything. A god-level martial soul's innate soul power could reach level twenty.
For instance, the Qian Family of Spirit Hall had level-twenty soul power as soon as their Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul awakened.
Thus, he boldly conjectured that his innate soul power had very likely reached level fifteen.
Su Yuntao stared at the nearly shattered crystal ball, lost in thought. He had never encountered anything so bizarre.
Seeing Su Yuntao remain silent, Old Jack couldn't help feeling a little worried. He walked over to Su Yuntao and asked in a lowered voice, "Master Su, has our little village failed to receive you properly?"
"Not at all." Su Yuntao froze briefly, then waved a hand. "The last child to awaken is a very special case. I'm afraid he'll need to go to Spirit Hall in Nuoding City for further testing."
"Would this be enough?" Hearing this, Old Jack thought Su Yuntao wanted a little something for his trouble, so he took a money pouch from inside his clothes and offered it to him.
"What are you doing?" Su Yuntao looked at the money pouch and discreetly swallowed before pushing it back, his expression turning righteous and stern. "This is a wonderful thing. This child might even get to go to Spirit City for an audience with His Holiness the Pope."
Hearing this, Old Jack understood. So it wasn't that Su Yuntao didn't want any benefits, but that greater benefits awaited him. He didn't want to pick up a sesame seed only to lose a watermelon.
"Child, what's your name? Do you have any family left?" Su Yuntao gave Tang Mo what he considered a sufficiently kindly smile.
"Tang Mo. An orphan. I can go to Spirit Hall anytime." Tang Mo shrugged at Su Yuntao, ignoring his somewhat ferocious smile while under martial soul possession.
With nothing standing in their way, Su Yuntao took Tang Mo to the nearest Spirit Hall Branch in Nuoding City.
At the Spirit Hall Branch, Ma Xiunuo, who had just awakened Tang San's martial soul and registered his information, was muttering to himself, "Blue Silver Grass? Innate full soul power? Is that right?"
Although Tang San hadn't had his martial soul awakened by Su Yuntao, Tang Hao couldn't possibly let him miss the chance to awaken it.
His wish for Tang San to live an ordinary life had been predicated on Ah Yin's request and Spirit Hall's overwhelming power, so he had no choice but to follow Ah Yin's wishes and avoid their edge for the time being.
But the hidden weapons Tang San displayed and his maturity beyond his appearance had shown Tang Hao some hope. He, Tang Hao, could be called the continent's greatest genius, and the child he had with Ah Yin wouldn't be poor either. If Tang San showed enough potential after awakening his martial soul, perhaps there would be hope for revenge.
Taking a step back, even if Tang San's talent proved incomparably poor, he could completely abandon the idea of setting Tang San on the road to revenge and let him live out his life in peace and safety.
He had an idea in mind, but even the cleverest cook couldn't make a meal without rice. Tang Hao had neither the materials to lay out a Martial Soul Awakening Array nor a Soul Power Testing Crystal Ball, so he could only take Tang San to the nearest Spirit Hall Branch to participate in the awakening ceremony.
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