Douluo Continent.
Heaven Dou Empire, Fasinuo Province, Nuoding City, inside the awakening chamber of the Spirit Hall Branch.
Su Yuntao, the god-king wholesaler, had welcomed another future god-king.
Su Yuntao led two boys of about five, both so thin they were nothing but skin and bones, into the Martial Soul Awakening chamber. He brought them before the awakening array, then turned and looked kindly at the two boys.
"Which of you wants to awaken your Martial Soul first?"
Lu Yu and Lu Fei exchanged a glance. Although Lu Yu's fists were clenched, there was no fear in his eyes, only curiosity and eagerness to try. Lu Fei, on the other hand, instinctively took a step back.
Seeing the apprehension in his newfound little brother's eyes, Lu Yu took a deep breath and looked up at the Blind Douluo before him-Su Yuntao, Grandmaster Su.
He spoke firmly. "Grandmaster Su, I'll go first!"
"Mm, very good. Just walk to the center of the array, and we can begin awakening your Martial Soul." Su Yuntao pointed to the awakening array on the floor, indicating that Lu Yu should step into it.
Lu Yu nodded and walked slowly into the array. His palms were slick with sweat. He was curious about the strange thing known as a Martial Soul, but he was also afraid he might have no Soul Power.
Lu Yu was originally from Blue Star. An orphan, he had been obsessed with traditional martial arts since childhood. At seventeen, he had traveled everywhere seeking masters and learning their skills, with a particular fondness for staff techniques.
Later, a chance encounter led him to join the Flowing Cloud Martial Arts Hall. The hall had a signature martial art, one passed down through its masters, called the Flowing Cloud Seven Tremors. It was a staff technique in which each successive strike could build on the force of the one before it.
Lu Yu spent three years as an apprentice at the Flowing Cloud Martial Arts Hall before he finally learned the Flowing Cloud Seven Tremors he had dreamed of mastering, but heaven did not grant his wish.
Half a year after Lu Yu learned the Flowing Cloud Seven Tremors, three people came to challenge the hall. Relying on the fact that he had learned the hall's signature martial art, Lu Yu fought one of them.
Who could have known that his opponent had actually cultivated hidden force? During the match, Lu Yu let his guard down for a moment, and his opponent found an opening and struck him in the chest with a palm. The hidden force passed through his flesh and struck his internal organs.
Lu Yu's heart meridians were severed inch by inch, and he died at the age of twenty-four! When he woke again, he discovered that he had transmigrated into the anime Douluo Continent, which he had watched the night before.
"Hold out your right hand..."
Before Su Yuntao could finish speaking, a mass of golden light appeared in front of Lu Yu. When it faded, a golden-furred monkey the size of a volleyball appeared on the floor.
The golden monkey scratched its head and looked around. Its gaze finally settled on Lu Yu's gaunt face. It squeaked twice and affectionately rubbed against his calf.
"This... is a Martial Soul?" Su Yuntao murmured, looking at Lu Yu.
Lu Yu nodded blankly. He didn't know whether it was a Martial Soul either. As someone from Blue Star, this was his first time experiencing it.
But according to an indistinct sense, this should indeed be his Martial Soul. Looking at the golden-furred monkey by his feet, however, Lu Yu found the image of a strange creature coming to mind for some reason: purple and round, neither quite pig nor dog.
"Ah, what a pity. Just like that one's, it's a Trash Martial Soul..." Su Yuntao rubbed his eyes and murmured to himself. He had also recalled a certain Grandmaster's Martial Soul. It was like this child's, only a different breed: one was a pig, the other a monkey.
Lu Yu paid no mind to the astonishment and regret in Su Yuntao's eyes. He had heard it: Su Yuntao's "god-king buff"-"What a pity, it's a Trash Martial Soul!"
Su Yuntao took a deep breath and looked at Lu Yu in the center of the awakening array with a complicated expression. "Your name is Lu Yu, right? Let's test your Soul Power first." With that, Su Yuntao turned, picked up the crystal ball for testing Soul Power from the table, and held it out to Lu Yu.
Su Yuntao glanced down at the golden-furred monkey rubbing against Lu Yu's calf and spoke with a hint of regret in his voice.
"...Just put your right hand on it."
Lu Yu did as he was told. He knew that whether he would become a dragon or a worm, whether he would beat down Tang San or be beaten down by him, all depended on this.
The instant his palm touched the crystal ball, Lu Yu felt something inside his body surge toward his arm and finally enter the ball.
A glimmer appeared at the very bottom of the crystal ball. It was tiny and faint, but fortunately, he did have Innate Soul Power.
Su Yuntao nodded, then shook his head. "Not bad. Innate Soul Power at rank one. If you cultivate diligently, you can still become a distinguished Soul Master like me, and life will be a little easier for you in the future."
As he spoke, Su Yuntao looked at Lu Yu's chest. What Lu Yu wore on his upper body could hardly be called clothing; at most, it was a few scraps of cloth. Through them, his breastbone was clearly visible, without a scrap of flesh on it.
"Thank you, Grandmaster Su!" Lu Yu nodded his thanks, then bent down and picked up the External Beast Martial Soul from the floor-the golden-furred monkey.
The monkey looked much like a golden snub-nosed monkey, except its face wasn't blue. Its skin was yellow, like a human's.
After turning around, Lu Yu looked down at his left palm. There seemed to be another Martial Soul there!
He certainly couldn't reveal the secret of his Twin Martial Souls now, especially not in the Spirit Hall. Even with Innate Soul Power at rank one, Twin Martial Souls were still Twin Martial Souls.
Lu Yu had no desire to attract the attention of that crazy woman Bibi Dong so soon.
Twin Martial Souls, one of them an external Martial Soul. If their Martial Souls weren't different, outsiders might even believe that Lu Yu was Bibi Dong and Yu Xiaogang's child.
Lu Yu was a man who had both Twin Martial Souls and an External Beast Martial Soul. If Bibi Dong found out, she would surely slice him up for study to find a way to help Yu Xiaogang break through rank thirty.
Suppressing the tangle of thoughts in his mind, Lu Yu looked up at his newfound little brother, who was also the original owner's biological younger brother.
Lu Fei was looking at Lu Yu with excitement written all over his face, unable to hide his joy. If he hadn't spent years going hungry, he probably could have jumped three meters high right then.
"Go on. Your big brother believes in you. You can do it!" Lu Yu stepped forward and patted Lu Fei's shoulder in encouragement.
"Mm, Brother, I'll definitely awaken Soul Power too." Lu Fei nodded firmly and took small steps toward Su Yuntao.
Hearing the two children's conversation, Su Yuntao shook his head with a wry smile. Innate Soul Power wasn't so easy to awaken! For even one of the brothers to have Soul Power, their ancestors' graves were already billowing smoke.
But Su Yuntao kept those thoughts to himself and said nothing, proceeding to awaken Lu Fei's Martial Soul as usual.
Su Yuntao poured Soul Power into the awakening array, and sparks of fire merged into Lu Fei's body. Feeling the air around him grow hot, Su Yuntao's face showed surprise. He increased the flow of Soul Power, thinking to himself, Impossible!
"Roar!"
A monkey appeared behind Lu Fei, its entire body covered in red fur. It stood one and a half meters tall, with flames burning at the end of its tail, and threw back its head in a long roar.
"This... this is a Fire Monkey Martial Soul, a fire-attribute Beast Martial Soul." Su Yuntao cried out in surprise and immediately held the Soul Power crystal ball out to Lu Fei.
"Child, quick, put your hand on it!"
Startled by Su Yuntao's excited expression, Lu Fei drew in his neck and turned to look at Lu Yu. There was a trace of astonishment in Lu Yu's eyes as well, but when he saw Lu Fei looking at him, he nodded firmly.
Lu Fei turned back and carefully placed his right hand on the crystal ball.
In an instant, the crystal ball lit up with a dazzling pale blue light.
"Five... rank five, Innate Soul Power at rank five! Good, good, good... Hahaha..."
Looking at the Soul Power crystal ball, half of it illuminated, Su Yuntao couldn't contain his wild joy. Like a starving wolf that had spotted food, he stared fixedly at Lu Fei, his eyes glowing green.