Early in the morning, while the sun still slept in its dreams within the Dao Sea, the people of the Haibei Tribe had already gathered before the ancestral house. More than a thousand tribespeople-sturdy men, women and children, the elderly and the frail-waited in solemn silence for the children's soul awakening ceremony.
Twenty-three children knelt in a row before the totem of the Ancestor Spirit Divine Crow, opening their minds and spirits, barely able to contain their excitement and nervousness.
The soul was born of the spirit. Above the Divine Sea within every person's skull, a Mind-Spirit Pill floated from birth. When the mind and spirit nurtured a soul, a living life came into being.
Tribal Elder Hai Ya knelt before the ancestral spirit's totem, chanting under his breath. His hand moved like lightning as he struck the statue of the Three-Legged Divine Crow before him with a spirit talisman. The ancient, unadorned statue instantly blazed with light, and its suddenly opened eyes shone bright.
Through the Divine Crow statue, Hai Ya established a mental connection with the ancestral spirit. Drawing on his powerful Mental Power, he conjured a manifestation of the tribe's ancestral spirit. An ancient Three-Legged Divine Crow, bearing the desolation of ages, appeared before the tribespeople, lifelike and seemingly solid, its body radiant with golden light and exuding a powerful pressure.
Every one of the thousand-odd tribespeople prostrated themselves in worship.
The Divine Crow ancestral spirit rose through the air and stopped above the tribe. Turning east, it let out a ringing cry. As though summoned, the morning sun tore through the void at the far end of the Dao Sea and slowly rose above the water, radiating majestic light.
"Mu Bai, open your mind and spirit. Offer up your soul!"
Mu Bai obeyed. A moment later, a wisp of soul like smoke from a cooking fire drifted out through the crown of his head.
"How rare! Even among the children of the great tribes, few have a whole wisp of soul when they undergo their soul awakening!"
"When Hai Ang underwent his soul awakening back then, he only had a thread, didn't he..."
The tribe's elders had witnessed many soul awakenings and heard no shortage of accounts of those in other tribes, yet even their minds were shaken by Mu Bai's profound soul power.
"The hope of our Haibei Tribe! The ancestral spirit still watches over us!"
Overcome with excitement, the tribespeople kowtowed to the Divine Crow ancestral spirit standing in the air, murmuring with tears brimming in their eyes.
Hai Ya could not hide his excitement either. Swiftly pressing his palms together, he pointed at the Divine Crow statue. A streak of dark light instantly shot from the Divine Crow ancestral spirit toward Mu Bai's soul, attempting to merge with it. The tribespeople raised their heads and widened their eyes, holding their breath as they watched Mu Bai. To their minds, what followed would surely flow as naturally as water into a channel: the markings of the ancestral spirit's totem would be engraved upon Mu Bai's soul.
Yet as they merged, Mu Bai's soul began to tremble violently, flashing with blue-green light as it rejected fusion with the ancestral spirit.
"Mu Bai, keep your mind and spirit open!"
Hai Ya shouted through gritted teeth, increasing the Mental Power he poured into the Divine Crow statue. The Divine Crow ancestral spirit shone even brighter, but it still could not merge smoothly with Mu Bai's soul.
Success could crumble at the final instant. His expression grave, Hai Ya spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the Divine Crow statue without hesitation. The Divine Crow ancestral spirit standing in the air seemed suddenly to gain flesh and blood, to gain a soul. It raised its head and cried to the heavens, exuding an aura that looked down upon the world. In an instant, the Divine Crow ancestral spirit's markings were engraved upon Mu Bai's soul, and he collapsed limply to the ground, unconscious.
"Mu Bai!"
"Mu Bai..."
"He'll be all right. Hai Ang... carry him back to his room!"
Hai Ya spoke, but could not hold back another mouthful of blood, which splattered across his white robe.
The tribespeople were thrown into alarm.
"Continue! Hai Chen, open your mind and spirit. Offer up your soul..."
Awakening Mu Bai's soul had consumed a great deal of Hai Ya's Mental Power, as well as his essence blood. Afterward, Hai Ya had to spit out essence blood twice more to sustain the manifestation of the Divine Crow ancestral spirit and successfully complete the soul awakening for every child.
A powerful third-tier Divine Cultivator was now little more than skin and bones, devoid of vitality.
Trembling, Hai Ya smiled. For the tribe's legacy, for the children's growth, he willingly gave everything.
Three days later, Mu Bai slowly regained consciousness. Ignoring the pain that felt as though his soul were being torn apart, he sprang up and hurried to the Clan Patriarch's bedside. Since the soul awakening ceremony, Hai Ya had been bedridden.
"Grandfather, it was my fault you were hurt so badly!"
Mu Bai had always been strong and sensible, but seeing the Clan Patriarch's threadlike breath, he could not help throwing himself into the Clan Patriarch's arms, great tears rolling down his face.
"Don't worry about me. I still have to watch you grow."
Hai Ya held Mu Bai tenderly and looked ahead, as though he could see the future. His withered hands trembled as they stroked the child he loved.
"Your soul is different from other people's. Whether that brings fortune or calamity is hard to say. But remember, no matter what, the road lies beneath your feet. Go as far as you can!"
During the winter that followed, the children who had undergone soul awakening devoted themselves to seated meditation, striving to engrave the ancestral spirit's mark in full before the new year arrived and thus embark upon the path of cultivation.
Yet fewer than one in ten had ever reached this step. Those who could not would lose all hope of walking this path, their lives returning to the void within a hundred years.
Throughout the winter, the tribespeople watched these children, hoping for news of their success.
Beside the ancestral house, beneath a pear tree on the sea cliff, Mu Bai cast aside every thought and focused on seated meditation. Looking inward at his soul, he contemplated the ancestral spirit's totem markings and drove his Divine Sense, slowly copying and engraving that Three-Legged Divine Crow that looked down upon the world onto his soul, stroke by stroke, thread by thread. A single glance was enough to send ripples through the mind and spirit.
The biting cold wind lifted his long hair, and leaves drifted down from the pear tree.
A month later, Hai Chen awoke, his eyes shining brilliantly. His sturdy physique had visibly grown stronger, and the rippling contours of his muscles radiated tremendous power.
"It's Hai Chen! Hai Chen has formed his mark!"
News that Hai Chen had successfully engraved his Soul Mark spread throughout the tribe in moments, setting everyone abuzz.
Without question, Hai Chen was an outstanding child as well. Tough and steady by nature, he was already powerfully built at his young age, and when hunting in the mountains, he never fell behind the adults. The tribespeople were deeply fond of him. Hearing of his success, every one of them rejoiced.
After their celebration, the tribespeople turned their gazes toward Mu Bai again. Beneath the pear tree at the cliff's edge, his slender figure remained seated cross-legged, utterly motionless.
Another month passed. The pear tree's leaves fell until not a single one remained. During that time, there was no news of any other child's success, and the tribespeople could not help growing worried.
Mu Bai, you'll succeed. Hold on!
Not far away, Hai Chen watched Mu Bai sitting in meditation beneath the pear tree, silently cheering him on. The Divine Crow Soul Mark on his right arm had already taken shape.
By then, Mu Bai had long since reached the final stroke of his Soul Mark. It seemed that once he engraved that stroke, the Soul Mark he had drawn would come alive. Yet he could not bring himself to begin it, as though a force resisting heaven and earth left him unable to choose.
Flurries of snow had begun to fall. Mu Bai gritted his teeth, beads of sweat as large as beans covering his forehead. He had to engrave this stroke. He thought of the tribespeople's eyes, filled with earnest hope. He saw the Tribal Elder's withered, kindly face, saw him willingly spitting out essence blood to awaken his soul. He had to engrave this stroke.
In a daze, Mu Bai gave a great shout. His immense Mental Power gathered, engraving that stroke, whose pattern he had long known by heart, onto his soul. Heaven and earth thundered; all sound fell silent. Mu Bai's Divine Sea went blank, seemingly boundless. Snowflakes filled the sky, pear blossoms filled the sky, drifting and swirling down.
"We seem to have met somewhere before. I think it was spring, and you had just begun to bud...
We came into this life and could meet again, like a dream..."
It was as though he had passed through a thousand lifetimes of reincarnation. In every cycle of life, Mu Bai encountered a tree full of pear blossoms and a girl dressed in white.
Hand in hand, they walked through lifetime after lifetime. The experiences of every life were engraved deep within his heart.
The bitter winter was nearing its end. Mu Bai sat motionless, his body covered in a thick layer of snow. A pear blossom petal drifted down, as though hidden within fate before suddenly appearing. It settled on his arm, and his Soul Mark formed.
Opening his eyes, Mu Bai stared silently at the Pear Blossom Soul Mark on his arm, lost in thought. He knew he had succeeded, and he had also failed.
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