The Heaven Dou Empire,
Five hundred li from Heaven Dou City at the center of the Heaven Dou Plain, magnificent, beautiful mountain ranges stretched on and on, wreathed in clouds and mist like an immortal paradise cut off from the world.
Amid those mountains, hundreds of simple yet elegant houses stood in orderly tiers along the slopes, their grandeur soaring like a rainbow, resembling a coiled, wandering dragon.
This was the home of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, one of the Upper Three Sects, renowned for possessing the world's foremost beast martial soul.
At that moment, the annual martial soul awakening ceremony was being held in the great hall atop the clan leader's peak. More than eighty core disciples stood in orderly lines.
"The awakening ceremony will now begin."
At the very end of the line stood a thin, six-year-old boy with a sallow face, half a head shorter than the other disciples his age.
The boy's name was Long Qianming, though he could also be called Yu Qianming. He was a transmigrator from another world and had once been the youngest practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine. Perhaps Heaven had been jealous of his talent.
While heading out to see a patient, he had been struck and sent flying by an out-of-control truck, dying and ultimately arriving in this familiar yet unfamiliar world.
Unfortunately, Long Qianming was the illegitimate son born to a maidservant after the current leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Yu Yuanzhen, had drunkenly erred. He was also his eldest son.
Yu Yuanzhen had despised him from the day he was born. He had not even deserved a name or a place in the family's generational hierarchy.
Despite knowing that his mother suffered from a severe illness brought on by childbirth, Yu Yuanzhen had not only refused to give her medicine but had also allowed his wife to beat and berate both her and him viciously.
Finally, when Long Qianming was two, his mother had let go of this world after enduring far too much suffering.
With no one to rely on, no cultivation resources, and old injuries still burdening him, Long Qianming had performed manual labor in exchange for his daily food, barely keeping himself fed and clothed.
Though life was hard, Long Qianming had refused to resign himself to it. Relying on the only thing he had-his disreputable status as an illegitimate son-
He had thickened his skin and managed to secure the opportunity to enter a side hall of the clan library once every three days and spend two hours reading books about martial souls and soul beasts.
Had Yu Yuanzhen not suddenly remembered today that he had such a son, this awakening ceremony would probably have had nothing to do with him.
"Young master, you may go first!"
As soon as the clan elder overseeing the awakening finished speaking gently, the refined, noble-looking Yu Xiaogang walked into the center of the awakening formation.
"Young master, put yourself at ease. Don't be nervous."
"Martial Soul Possession."
The phantom of a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon appeared behind him, majestic and lifelike. Six soul rings in the standard configuration-yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black-emerged one after another, and the clan elder injected a stream of pale blue soul power into the awakening formation.
In an instant, the awakening formation blazed with dazzling golden light. A wholly purple martial soul with a fat head and large ears, resembling both a pig and a dog, took solid form from an illusion and circled Yu Xiaogang madly.
"Luo, luoluo-"
Piglike cries echoed through the great hall, and the children present began laughing.
"It's a stupid pig! That mutated martial soul is ridiculously weak."
"Silence."
The voice echoed through the great hall, and the noisy hall immediately fell silent. Seated in the clan leader's seat, Yu Yuanzhen had never before seen a beast martial soul that could exist outside its owner's body. Although his son had not awakened the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, this external martial soul was truly unusual.
Perhaps it could bring him a different sort of surprise?
At Yu Yuanzhen's signal, the clan elder continued with the unfinished soul power test. However, the crystal ball used to test soul power gave off only a faint glimmer.
"Innate soul power, h-half a rank."
Yu Xiaogang, the one undergoing the test, broke down. Why? Why had this happened? He was clearly the most doted-on disciple in the entire clan, the one with the most cultivation resources, and the future young clan leader, yet he had awakened a trash martial soul.
He lowered his head to look at Luo Sanpao wagging its tail, filled with disgust.
Yu Yuanzhen had never imagined either that his own son's unusual mutated martial soul would be such garbage, not even possessing rank-five innate soul power.
Wasn't this slapping him in the face, saying he was incapable?
"Xiaogang, stand aside for now."
Yu Yuanzhen's eyes were filled with disappointment. It seemed he would have to have another child to inherit the position of clan leader.
Still, no matter what, Xiaogang was his first son, and he had shown a great love of learning since childhood. If he could not become a soul master in the future, he could manage the family's businesses.
Afterward, the martial soul awakening ceremony continued, and the core disciples awakened their martial souls one after another.
"Yu Xiaolie, martial soul: Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Innate soul power: rank six."
"Yu Xiaotian, martial soul: Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Innate soul power: rank five."
"Yu Xiaokong, martial soul: Thunder Spider. Innate soul power: rank six."
As time slipped by, all eighty disciples completed their awakenings in succession. More than half the children awakened the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul with soul power no lower than rank five. Even among the five children who awakened mutated martial souls, the lowest soul power was rank three.
To Yu Xiaogang and Yu Yuanzhen, all of this was like a massive boulder pressing firmly against their chests. Yu Xiaogang in particular clenched both fists and gritted his teeth, feeling as though thousands of terrifying eyes were staring at his body. It was deeply uncomfortable.
Yet the very next moment, the clan elder frowned, looked at the final entry on the list, and called out,
"Yu Qianming."
"Yu Qianming? Who's that? Do we have someone like that in the clan?" The children who had completed their awakenings looked at one another. Only when their gazes all swept toward Long Qianming, standing at the very back in the center of the great hall, did they register his presence.
Long Qianming walked forward. He looked at his peers, whose eyes were filled with mockery for him, and the clan elders seated at the very front, who all regarded him with disdain. He felt neither joy nor anger.
I only want Mother's bat martial soul. Even a single rank of soul power would do. As for this clan's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul, I'd rather not have it.
Long Qianming prayed frantically in his heart. Only when he stepped into the formation and relaxed his entire body and mind did he feel a moment of warmth.
Yu Yuanzhen looked at the bastard before him. Although he very much wished that this unfilial son would not awaken the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul and thereby sully the Yu family's bloodline, only he could now win him back some face.
If he could awaken the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul, then, as his father, he would reluctantly agree to acknowledge him as his son and allow him to return to his ancestral clan.
At that moment, as soul power was injected into the awakening formation, dazzling golden light bloomed once more.
A pitch-black martial soul appeared before Long Qianming. It had black eyes with golden pupils, a fat head, and large ears, and resembled both a pig and a dog. His martial soul, however, gave off black vapor and lay on the ground as though ill, looking particularly uncomfortable.
"Luo Sanpao?"
"No, it's Luo Heipao!!!"
At the sight, Long Qianming could only smile bitterly.
"Kekeke-"
His laughter held both bitterness and endless joy. At that moment, he did not know what to say. He then withdrew his martial soul into his body.
Seeing this from the clan leader's seat, Yu Yuanzhen crushed the stone on the right side of his seat with an audible crack and rose furiously.
"There's no need to test his soul power. This bas-"
Just as he was about to say "bastard son," Yu Yuanzhen paused, afraid that the juniors present would learn he had such an illegitimate son, then continued angrily,
"This child is nothing but trash. Have him-"
Before Yu Yuanzhen could finish, the utterly terrified Yu Xiaogang plucked up his courage and stepped forward.
"Father, all disciples within the clan should be treated equally. Although Yu Qianming's martial soul is weaker than mine, what if his innate soul power is higher? Wouldn't we be overlooking a talented genius with potential?"
Yu Xiaogang smiled at Long Qianming. He hoped that this unwelcome elder brother would awaken innate soul power even lower than his own.
That way, his elder brother could draw all their father's fury and everyone else's mocking gazes onto himself, indirectly proving that he, Yu Xiaogang, was not the weakest person in the clan.
According to the basic theories he had read over the past two years, innate soul power was directly proportional to martial soul quality. Both of them had external beast martial souls, and his own pig martial soul was clearly far stronger than that black pig, so his innate soul power was definitely higher than Long Qianming's.