Is This the Sanctuary or the Underworld?

"Ding. The host has opened the Novice Gift Pack. Opening complete. Congratulations, host, you have obtained one martial soul selection chance, 666 Diamonds, one copy of the 'Advanced Meditation Technique,' and one Purple-level Summoning Card."

"Advanced Meditation Technique!"

Without further thought, Xiao Yu took the meditation manual into his hands and began reading it.

"This Meditation Method was developed by the system based on the Cosmo, combined with Soul Power cultivation methods from Douluo Continent."

As Xiao Yu read through it, the system explained it to him.

"Not bad, not bad!"

After skimming through it, Xiao Yu nodded in satisfaction. "With this Meditation Method, my cultivation speed will be who knows how many times faster than just running every day."

Carefully putting away the Meditation Method, Xiao Yu steadied himself and took a deep breath before giving the order. "System, prepare to draw a martial soul."

"Ding. Randomly selecting a martial soul for the host."

The system's voice rang out in Xiao Yu's mind once more. A flash of golden light appeared before his eyes, and a circular roulette wheel abruptly emerged. Its pointer spun at high speed before slowly stopping on a gray section.

In an instant, a humanoid figure clad in black armor and wielding a longsword slowly appeared. His long black hair fell straight to his waist, his eyes were pale green, and an aura of death radiated from his entire body.

"Ding. Congratulations, host, you have obtained the Underworld Apostle martial soul."

Xiao Yu was speechless. "What Underworld Apostle? Isn't this Hades?"

Having watched Saint Seiya anime for years on Blue Star, how could Xiao Yu fail to recognize the greatest boss of the SS storyline?

"Wrong!"

The system replied decisively, "The host's current body absolutely cannot withstand one hundred percent of Hades's power. This martial soul is, at most, a trace of Hades's projection. However, if the host can reach Level 100 in the future, the Underworld Apostle martial soul may truly evolve into Hades."

Xiao Yu instantly understood. "So it's a weakened version, but it can evolve!"

"Yes."

"Use the remaining Purple-level Character Summoning Card as well."

"Ding. Purple-level character selection complete. Congratulations, host, you have obtained Underworld Fighter Earthly Star Mu, whose martial soul is the Demon Butterfly. Innate Soul Power: Level 7. Current Soul Power Level: 72."

"Good grief, is this a Sanctuary System or an Underworld Domain System?"

Xiao Yu was rather speechless. His martial soul was a projected incarnation of Hades, and his first enforcer was also one of the most formidable Underworld Fighters. Shouldn't the normal opening draw have been one of the Five Bronze Saints? That had always been his usual strategy when playing games.

Still, although this differed somewhat from what he had expected, Miao himself was a powerful figure. Among the Earthly Star Underworld Fighters, he was unquestionably among the best. With his strange telekinesis and Underworld Demon Butterflies, he had once forced Mu, the Aries Gold Saint, into a difficult battle.

Level 72 Soul Power was a decent bodyguard in the early stages of the Douluo One world. As long as he did not go to major cities teeming with hidden experts, such as Spirit City or Heaven Dou City, his safety would basically be assured.

When Shrek Academy was in Suotuo City, it had clearly offended the upper ranks of the Balak Kingdom. Yet it could still advertise openly, recruit students normally, and charge such high registration and tuition fees. Wasn't that because Flender, Zhao Wuji, and the other Soul Saints were there to hold the fort? Even Canghui Academy, an advanced Soul Master Academy, only had its headmaster, Shi Nian, as a Soul Saint.

"Miao greets my lord!"

While Xiao Yu was deep in thought, Miao had already appeared before him. Dressed in a dark green and black robe, with dark hair spreading outward like an afro, he dropped to one knee and respectfully saluted Xiao Yu.

Time flowed on like an arrow.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a year had passed.

During this time, after gaining the guidance of the "Advanced Meditation Technique," Xiao Yu no longer relied solely on running to improve himself as he had in the past. Of course, the necessary physical training could not be abandoned, but Xiao Yu devoted more of his time and energy to circulating his Soul Power through his body and condensing his Cosmo.

As for Miao, in order to avoid attracting too much attention, Xiao Yu ordered him to hide and guard him in secret. He only appeared occasionally when Xiao Yu encountered problems in his cultivation.

"Whew!"

Having finished a day of training, Xiao Yu slowly exhaled.

At that moment, the system's notification suddenly sounded in the depths of his mind. "Ding. It has been detected that the host has reached the age for martial soul awakening. The martial soul will awaken automatically within the next three days."

"Looks like it's time to leave."

Hearing the notification, Xiao Yu slowly opened his eyes. The age of martial soul awakening was indeed as he had expected—it was not necessary to wait until he was six.

Thinking about it, that made sense. Although Soul Masters from Spirit Hall helped children awaken their martial souls for free in remote villages, the martial soul awakening ceremony was only held once a year. If a child happened to be one or two months short of six, they could hardly be made to wait another year until they were nearly seven before undergoing their martial soul awakening.

"Miao!"

Xiao Yu called softly. As soon as his voice fell, Miao silently appeared before him and asked in a low voice, "What are your orders, Young Master?"

Xiao Yu had specifically instructed Miao to change the form of address to Young Master. On one hand, it would be too unreasonable for a Soul Saint in his seventies to call a five- or six-year-old child his lord. Young Master was more plausible and would not arouse suspicion from others. On the other hand, it was a small scheme of Xiao Yu's. Most people would assume that if Xiao Yu was the Young Master, Miao's true master had to be Xiao Yu's father. A man capable of assigning a Soul Saint-level guard to protect his child would be at least a high-ranking Soul Douluo, even if he was not a Titled Douluo. This gave Xiao Yu the perfect chance to borrow a tiger's might and make a grand display.

"My martial soul is about to awaken. If I remain here and the people at the Orphanage discover that my martial soul awakened automatically, word will surely spread everywhere. That could bring unnecessary trouble."

An automatically awakened martial soul would be major news in any faction. Xiao Yu, whose wings had not yet fully grown, only wanted to lie low and develop his strength. He did not want to expose himself to the world so early. Especially since his martial soul was not some useless one—if even one of the continent's top powers or empires, such as Spirit Hall, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the Heaven Dou Empire, or the Star Luo Empire, took an interest in him, Miao alone, as a Soul Saint, would find it difficult to protect him. "We cannot delay. Take me away from here tonight."

"As you command!"

Miao was also a clever man and immediately understood Xiao Yu's concerns. Black light flickered several times, and Xiao Yu and Miao vanished from where they stood.

The next day, the Orphanage staff discovered that Xiao Yu was missing. However, a child who had not even awakened his martial soul did not draw much attention. After several workers searched for days without results, the matter was quietly dropped.