"Innate Soul Power: half a rank."
"Martial Soul: one large iron rod."
"Boo!"
As waves of boos reached his ears, endless mockery rose around him, and everyone's eyes were filled with contempt.
Xu Zhengyang stared at the Martial Soul before him, utterly stunned, his eyes even filled with dejection.
Even his parents wore extremely grim expressions. They had never imagined that the son in whom they had placed such high hopes would perform so poorly. The word "trash" could no longer describe him; he was simply a disgrace to the clan.
Even Xu Zhengyang himself had eyes full of dejection, and his left hand clenched into a fist, trembling uncontrollably.
Before this, Xu Zhengyang had been the most diligent of all the children, as well as the most talented. He had begun training his body at a young age, and at only six years old, he already stood 1.4 meters tall, considerably stronger than other children his age. He was also well-read, and in everyone's eyes, he was like a favored son of heaven.
Yet the Martial Soul he had awakened now was actually a large iron rod, leaving everyone bitterly disappointed, though even more of them gloated over his misfortune.
In a daze, Xu Zhengyang returned home and went back to his room in unusual silence.
Seeing Xu Zhengyang like this, his parents could not help sighing, but said nothing more.
Only after returning to his room did Xu Zhengyang unclench his fist. A purple object appeared on his palm, resembling a small snake, yet also a lizard. In short, no matter how he looked at it, it did not resemble a dragon.
Xu Zhengyang gradually regained his composure, and his heart slowly settled.
I actually awakened Twin Martial Souls, yet my Innate Soul Power is only half a rank, and both Martial Souls even look like neither one thing nor the other.
No one knew that Xu Zhengyang was not actually from the Douluo World. He had originally been a genius student at a college of traditional Chinese medicine on Blue Star. An explosion had suddenly occurred while he was researching various Chinese medicinal herbs, and when he woke again, he had already arrived in this world.
As a child, he had initially been full of questions about everything, as well as curiosity.
His father, Xu Haoyang, was an ordinary Soul King and an ordinary steward of the clan. His Martial Soul was the Sun, and he had been born into a collateral branch of the Sun Radiance Clan, the imperial clan of the Sun Moon Empire. He was stationed in Dongyang City with the entire clan.
His mother, Yang Miaowen, was also a Soul Master, though she had only reached the Soul Ancestor realm. Her Martial Soul was a long spear.
Even so, the Yang Clan counted as minor nobility, holding a certain standing in Dongyang City and enjoying very comfortable circumstances.
Only then did Xu Zhengyang realize that he had transmigrated into the Douluo World. More precisely, it should have been the Douluo World during the era of Peerless Tang Sect.
Xu Zhengyang had read the novel Douluo World in his previous life. This was a distorted world, where everyone was born with a Martial Soul and would awaken Innate Soul Power, and it was their Innate Soul Power that determined their prospects.
All Soul Masters with high Innate Soul Power needed only the slightest effort to cultivate into high-level Soul Masters and become true experts. But if their Innate Soul Power was low or their Martial Soul was too poor, they could only sink to the bottom of the world, become ordinary people, and even be slaughtered at others' whims.
The entire Douluo Continent, in particular, could be called the Romance Continent. The original story contained nothing but all manner of romantic entanglements. No one seriously cultivated or worked hard to grow stronger; instead, they wallowed in romance.
As for the so-called Sun Moon Empire, its people were all a bunch whose intelligence had been nerfed. Otherwise, with such an enormous advantage, how could they have lost so miserably, ultimately losing their country and having their clan exterminated? It was simply unimaginable.
In the original story, the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tools had been unrivaled throughout the world, capable of killing even Ultimate Douluos. The empire had even cooperated with Ultimate Douluos such as Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui. Yet it had not only severed one of its own arms, but also failed to capitalize on any of its advantages in Soul Tools. Instead, it had allowed the Douluo Continent to rise gradually, and had even nurtured Huo Yuhao, its greatest enemy.
As for the so-called Evil Soul Masters, if one were to name their true progenitor, it would be the lofty Tang San, Asura God. Judging by Tang San's experiences in the Douluo World, his actions could occasionally be quite extreme, particularly where Xiao Wu was concerned. Whenever Xiao Wu was hurt, he would act as though he had gone mad, exactly like an Evil Soul Master.
Not to mention Tang San's rise: he had not only devoured Soul Beasts through the Eight Spider Lances, but had even devoured Soul Masters' energy. How was that any different from an Evil Soul Master? Even Slaughter City, which kept Evil Soul Masters in check, had been destroyed by Tang San.
In Xu Zhengyang's view, the nature of the so-called power of Evil Soul Masters depended mainly on whose hands held it and how it was wielded. There was no absolute justice or evil in this world. If Evil Soul Masters opposed the Douluo Continent and went there to carry out sabotage and assassinations, that was another way they could be put to use.
To actually cripple such a powerful force for use against external enemies with one's own hands was simply too wasteful.
Of course, Evil Soul Masters needed a certain degree of management and restraint. Slaughter City in Douluo I had been the best place for that, but unfortunately, Tang San had destroyed it with his own hands. In Xu Zhengyang's view, Evil Soul Masters could be used, but effective means of restraint were necessary. The Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul in Douluo I, for example, had been the nemesis of all Evil Soul Masters, and it was not as though Douluo II had no Angel Martial Soul.
Ever since arriving in this world, Xu Zhengyang had wanted to confirm which era he was in, but he had never managed to obtain specific information. He lived in Dongyang City, which was not only extremely far from the capital, Mingdu, but even farther from Shrek Academy on the Douluo Continent. He had no idea what stage things had reached.
It was precisely for this reason that Xu Zhengyang had spent these years reading all kinds of books while training his body.
He knew very well that the Sun Moon Empire and the Douluo Continent were bound to fight a war in the future. If the Sun Moon Empire lost, not only would the entire empire be destroyed, but disaster would also befall the entire Xu Clan. Moreover, Dongyang City was a strategically important location; even Huo Yuhao had once used Dongyang City to threaten the entire Sun Moon Empire.
Because Xu Zhengyang had been precocious from childhood, trained his body from a young age, enjoyed reading, and possessed some understanding of Martial Souls and the development of Soul Masters, everyone saw these as unmistakable signs of genius. Even his parents had placed high hopes in him.
Unfortunately, Xu Zhengyang did not possess Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Technique. He could only do ordinary physical exercises and work hard to strengthen his body. Apart from the Mysterious Heaven Technique, the Douluo World had no method whatsoever for increasing Innate Soul Power.
Yet the Martial Souls he had now awakened were actually a large iron rod and a mysterious second Martial Soul.
This situation was somewhat similar to Yu Xiaogang's in the original story: Yu Xiaogang's bloodline and inheritance had been powerful enough, but his Martial Soul had been unable to awaken fully. In the end, he had barely awakened half a rank of Innate Soul Power, and his Martial Soul had been neither one thing nor the other.
At this moment, Xu Zhengyang felt as though he had suffered a blow. After working hard for so long, I still fall so far short in talent. What use are my lofty ambitions, then? Even if I've long known the plot inside out, I have no ability whatsoever to change any of this.
In the original story, no one with only half a rank of Innate Soul Power had ultimately cultivated into a top expert. Even Huo Yuhao could not have done it.
As for Yu Xiaogang, it was only after consuming the Ninth Grade Purple Ganoderma Tang San had given him that he had fully awakened his bloodline and allowed his Martial Soul, Luo Sanpao, to evolve into the Golden Holy Dragon.
But the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is already different from how it was ten thousand years ago, and there is no Ninth Grade Purple Ganoderma either. What other way do I have to grow stronger? Do I really have to become a Soul Engineer?