Suddenly, everything brightened, as though two great lamps were illuminating what lay ahead of him.
Lu Chen slowly raised his head and looked up.
Those were-those were Nidhogg's two eyes!
Beneath Nidhogg stood a towering tree that reached the heavens, half withered and half flourishing, its branches seeming to hold open the entire world.
This was a vast wasteland strewn with bones-those of animals, dragons, and humans alike.
At the foot of the tree, there seemed to be a stone tablet inscribed with words he could not understand.
Lu Chen moved a little closer, hoping to see more clearly, when the stone tablet suddenly became a blur and sank into his body.
He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, only to discover, to his horror, that the stone tablet was still before him, unchanged.
Only now, he could understand the words on it. They read: fusion progress 5%, Power of Earth and Mountain acquired.
Lu Chen suddenly felt as though his body had been filled with some kind of energy, as though he might burst at any moment. Every inch of his muscles ached with a tearing pain.
His vision blurred once more, and he returned to the awakening chamber.
A dragon's roar rang throughout the spirit transmission chamber. The spirit transmitter's eyes lit up, thinking an exceptionally powerful Martial Soul had awakened.
Just as the awakener had expected, an immensely majestic earth-attribute dragon Martial Soul appeared the next moment.
Of course, in Lu Chen's eyes, the dragon looked a little dim-witted. Was this Fenrir?
That silly dragon who loved potato chips?
And the silly dragon seemed delighted, dancing around him nonstop.
The spirit transmitter excitedly handed Lu Chen the Soul Power tester.
Lu Chen took a deep breath and accepted the tester. The number on it jumped instantly. Level 5?
"How is that possible? How could it be? Only level five? With such a powerful Martial Soul, how could his Innate Soul Power be so low?" The spirit transmitter's face was filled with disbelief and indescribable disappointment.
But he quickly realized his behavior was inappropriate, immediately composed his expression, and gave Lu Chen a somewhat apologetic smile.
Then he gently comforted Lu Chen. "Don't be upset, little one. Although your Innate Soul Power is only level five, with such a powerful Martial Soul, you might become a Soul Emperor someday and make quite a good life for yourself."
Lu Chen nodded and smiled. "I understand. Thank you, Uncle."
In truth, Lu Chen had not been disappointed just now. He had been thinking about something else.
Earth and Mountain seemed to concern mastery over strength. If that percentage reached its maximum, could I become the Black King?
No, not just the Black King. Perhaps I could even gain the World Tree's authority in the end.
Would I have a chance to go home?
Lu Chen thought as he walked outside.
With this golden finger, what did Buddha Tang or Huo Gua matter? As long as I could lie low through the early stages, I could slaughter any god or Buddha who stood in my way!
Perhaps I could carry on Nidhogg's will and usher in the twilight of the gods for the Douluo Divine Realm.
When he reached the school gates, Lin Mengxi noticed that he looked somewhat distracted and asked, "How did it go? How was your Martial Soul Awakening?"
Lu Chen looked up and smiled. "It's an Earth Dragon Martial Soul, but my Innate Soul Power is only level five."
"Good, good, good. That's quite good Innate Soul Power. You'll be my student from now on, then. Call me Teacher," Lin Mengxi said with a cheerful smile.
"Teacher," Lu Chen said obediently.
Seeing how well-behaved he was, Lin Mengxi even rubbed his cheeks.
Lu Chen looked exactly the same in this life as he had in his previous one. He closely resembled his mother, Su Xiaoyan, and at six years old, he was as exquisitely carved as jade.
He made people want to cherish him.
All the orphanage's children had awakened their Martial Souls. Unfortunately, Lu Chen was the only one with Soul Power.
"Son, you're one in ten thousand!"
Lu Chen suddenly heard a gentle voice speaking to a child.
It was Tang Wulin and Tang Ziran from earlier.
At that moment, he felt it even more strongly. His bloodline seemed to be unconsciously absorbing something from within Tang Wulin.
And how did that bloodline thing grow?
Lu Chen's head ached a little. His Martial Soul had not told him everything, and at present, he did not know whether he would have another chance to enter that other-dimensional space.
The children boarded the vehicle together and set off for the orphanage.
Ji Shi, who had mocked him as a freak earlier, no longer dared provoke him.
He even apologized to him very respectfully.
The teacher arranged a room of his own for him, allowing him to make some preparations while waiting for the first year of Red Mountain Academy's Soul Master classes to begin.
Lu Chen lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
In his dream, he came to the place he had visited during his awakening that afternoon.
It was still a barren wasteland. The difference was that a big, silly dragon seemed to have appeared and was playing there.
"Hello, my name is Lu Chen. Do you know where this is?" Lu Chen walked over to Fenrir and asked.
Fenrir tilted his enormous dragon head and said happily, "Do you have anything to eat? I'm hungry."
Lu Chen felt rather helpless. Where was he supposed to get potato chips for him? There was nothing here.
Just as he was thinking this, a large bag of potato chips fell from the sky.
Without a second thought, Lu Chen pushed the chips toward Fenrir.
Fenrir said excitedly, "Thank you, kind person. All I know is that this is Nibelungen."
Lu Chen nodded. After watching Fenrir carefully open the bag of chips and begin eating with relish, he sighed helplessly, knowing he probably would not get any answers out of Fenrir.
He walked over to the stone tablet, trying to find useful information.
He reached out and knocked on the stone tablet. Unfortunately, it gave him no response, as though it were merely an information panel that could only function offline.
He tried to circle the tree, only to discover that no matter what he did, he could not leave the front of the World Tree.
Lu Chen suddenly felt his vision change. He seemed to see the elevated highway on that rainy night again, and once more felt the pain of Gungnir piercing his heart.
The feeling of being enveloped by death descended upon him again.
But it did not bring him the slightest fear. Instead, it left him incredibly excited.
Yet the next moment, the world returned to darkness, and he felt as though a glimmer of light flashed before his eyes.
He opened his eyes to find the sun already hanging high outside. It was morning.
He took a deep breath.
"Lu Chen, have you packed your things? It's time to get ready for class." Lin Mengxi knocked on his door with a cheerful smile.
Clearly, Lin Mengxi had come specifically to take him to school.
Outside Red Mountain Academy, parents were everywhere, seeing their children off.
Lin Mengxi patted Lu Chen's head and smiled. "Let's go."
Holding Lu Chen's hand, Lin Mengxi led him toward the classroom. When they reached the door, she smiled and said, "Go play with your classmates first. Big Sister needs to stop by the office."
Lu Chen said nothing more. He simply nodded and walked into the classroom with his worn schoolbag on his back.