Twin Martial Souls: Xuanyuan Sword

Yan Zu's eyes sharpened.

He knew his father had begun to have doubts.

How could "Grandpa Whitebeard" possibly explain a five-year-old child producing a hundred Gold Soul Coins, a potion that altered one's very essence, and an unparalleled cultivation method...?

But Yan Hu did not press him.

He merely rested his rough, broad hand gently on his son's shoulder. "A-Zu, I don't care what secrets you have. I just want you to know that no matter what they are, your mother and I support you."

Yan Zu's eyes grew warm.

"Dad..." He opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say.

Yan Hu smiled and tousled his son's hair. "Go cultivate."

He rose, turned, and went back inside.

In the moonlight, Yan Hu's retreating figure looked especially tall.

Yan Zu stood in the courtyard, motionless for a long time.

He knew he had underestimated his parents after all. They might be simple folk, but they were not stupid. They knew perfectly well whether there was anything unusual about their own child.

They had simply chosen to believe him, to support him, and to protect their son's secret with their silence.

Dad, Mom, Yan Zu said silently, I won't let you down.

He returned to his little room and said inwardly, System, check my consecutive sign-in days.

[Consecutive sign-ins: 729 days.]

[Notification: Tomorrow is day 730. The annual critical-hit reward is ready.]

Yan Zu's eyes sharpened.

Two years.

Tomorrow would mark two full years of consecutive sign-ins.

At midnight, the system notification sounded right on time.

[Ding! Two full years of consecutive sign-ins! Annual critical-hit reward triggered!]

[Congratulations, host! You have unlocked your Second Martial Soul: Xuanyuan Sword (unawakened, adapted for Innate Full Soul Power)!]

[Martial Soul traits: The sword of civilization's heritage, evil-breaking, oppressive might, and destiny.]

[Additional reward: "Martial Soul Synchronization Cultivation Method"]

[Cultivation method description: Perfectly resolves conflicts between the Soul Power cycles of Twin Martial Souls. It can circulate automatically after Martial Soul Awakening, or be comprehended beforehand.]

Boom-!

Yan Zu felt an earth-shaking crash deep within his soul, as though something had been forcibly split apart, only to reassemble in an instant.

In his spiritual world, an ancient-looking longsword had appeared alongside the jade-colored phantom of a qilin.

The sword was about five feet long and black all over, its blade devoid of ornamentation, yet it radiated an oppressive might that made his heart tremble. It carried a weightiness from the very origins of civilization, as though the sword had witnessed seas turn into mulberry fields and borne the passage of countless ages.

Faint golden patterns flickered in and out of sight around the blade, and each flash sent a tremor through Yan Zu's soul.

"So powerful..." Yan Zu murmured, struggling to suppress the trembling of his soul.

He could feel that, although the sword was only a phantom for now, its essence was unimaginably exalted. Even the so-called god-level Martial Souls from the original story would pale before it.

He immediately checked his panel:

[First Martial Soul: Auspicious Beast Qilin (unawakened)]

[Second Martial Soul: Xuanyuan Sword (unawakened)]

Understanding dawned on Yan Zu, and he began comprehending the Martial Soul Synchronization Cultivation Method.

The method was far more profound and mysterious than he had imagined. At its core, it transformed the Soul Power cycles of Twin Martial Souls into a pattern of Yin-Yang Complementarity: one primary and one supplementary, one attacking and one defending, each complementing the other.

The more Yan Zu read, the more astonished he became.

He discovered that the method was not only suited to Twin Martial Souls, but also immensely valuable as a reference for Soul Masters with a single Martial Soul. If it could be spread, the cultivation system of the entire Douluo Continent would undergo a revolutionary change!

But he quickly suppressed the thought.

As he was now, he was not yet qualified to think about such things.

Take care of myself first.

He silently recited the method's formulas and tried to simulate the Soul Power cycles of Twin Martial Souls within his body.

With the foundation laid by the Nine Yin Manual, the simulation was not particularly difficult. Before long, he had constructed two virtual "Soul Power cores" in his dantian, one primarily yin and yielding, the other primarily yang and vigorous. They entwined and complemented each other.

"I did it!"

Yan Zu opened his eyes. Deep in his pupils, the phantoms of a tiny sword and a qilin flashed past.

He could feel the phantoms of the two great Martial Souls slowly revolving around the "vortex" formed by Nine Yin Soul Power in his spiritual world, their resonance growing stronger and stronger.

That resonance increased his cultivation speed once again!

If it had been a trickling stream before, it was now two streams converging and surging onward without end.

In June, heat steamed at the edge of the Soul Hunting Forest.

Only one year remained until Yan Zu's Martial Soul Awakening, but a practical problem lay before him: how was he to awaken it?

By convention on the Douluo Continent, the Spirit Hall dispatched deacons to oversee the Martial Soul Awakening of six-year-old children, awakening commoners' Martial Souls for free. It was both a way to identify potential Soul Masters and a means for the Spirit Hall to consolidate its rule.

But Yan Zu knew full well that he carried two super-god-level Martial Souls within him, the Qilin and the Xuanyuan Sword. If they were exposed, endless trouble was certain to follow.

Only by awakening them at home could he keep the secret.

"Dad, Mom." Yan Zu stood and walked over to Su Qing, who was laying medicinal herbs out to dry.

Su Qing turned and smiled gently. "What is it, A-Zu? Are you thirsty? I've cooled some sour plum drink for you."

"No." Yan Zu shook his head. His gaze swept over his parents as he spoke earnestly. "In another year, I'll be six. It'll be time for my Martial Soul Awakening."

Yan Hu stopped what he was doing and straightened up. "That's right. In another year, our A-Zu will be a Soul Master. People from the Spirit Hall will come to the village to perform the awakening. I've already asked around."

But Yan Zu shook his head. "I don't want the Spirit Hall's people to awaken my Martial Soul."

Yan Hu and Su Qing both froze.

"Why?" Su Qing asked at once, her voice full of confusion. "The Spirit Hall's awakening ceremony is the most official. They have special Awakening Stones and methods. How could you awaken it at home? Besides... it's free."

The word "free" pricked Yan Hu like a fine needle. The brows of the iron-tower-like man instantly knotted together, and the muscles in his face twitched almost imperceptibly. Su Qing seemed to realize something too. Her face went slightly pale, and she instinctively gripped her husband's arm.

Yan Zu took in that fleeting change in his parents. It was more than surprise; it was a stiffness that seemed to come from an old scar being touched, mingled with anger and lingering fear. His heart tightened, and his question about the "subsidy" surfaced once more.

"Dad? Mom?" Yan Zu called tentatively.

Yan Hu came back to himself and forced a smile. "It's nothing. I was thinking about what to eat tonight..."

"That's not it." Yan Zu cut him off, his dark eyes fixed directly on his parents. "Dad, Mom, you're hiding something from me."

His tone was too steady, too steady for a five-year-old child. Yan Hu and Su Qing both froze.

Su Qing's eyes suddenly reddened. She turned her head away and said nothing.

Yan Hu was silent for a long time.

The air inside the house seemed to congeal.

At last, Yan Hu sighed, a deep sigh that seemed to release years' worth of things. He crouched down in front of Yan Zu and rested a rough, broad hand on his son's small, thin shoulder.

"A-Zu," he said, his voice somewhat hoarse, "tell me, why do you insist on awakening it at home?"

Thoughts raced through Yan Zu's mind. He gave the reason he had prepared. "Grandpa Whitebeard warned me that my Martial Soul might be rather special. If the Spirit Hall awakened it and too many people saw, there might be unknown risks. He said that as long as we have Awakening Stones, I can complete the awakening at home."

The explanation was vague, but Yan Hu and Su Qing both gave a slight start.

Yan Hu was silent for a moment, then suddenly gave a bitter smile.

"You, child..." He shook his head, his voice carrying an indescribable feeling.

He stood and walked to the doorway, gazing at the heavy darkness beyond the courtyard. Moonlight traced the outline of his broad back. The man who was usually so carefree and laughed without a worry in the world now stood there with his shoulders and back drawn tight.

"A-Zu, you need to know that the Spirit Hall is good, but the people in it... aren't all good people." Yan Hu's muffled voice came from the doorway. "Your mother and I never went to the Spirit Hall to collect the subsidy."

Yan Zu's heart stirred, but he put on just the right amount of confusion. "Why? Isn't there a subsidy every month? A Soul Grandmaster gets ten Gold Soul Coins a month. Together, you and Mom could get twenty."

"You know quite a lot." Yan Hu glanced back at him, surprise and relief in his eyes.

He walked back and crouched in front of his son. Moonlight slanted in through the doorway, casting alternating light and shadow across his face.

"A-Zu," Yan Hu said in a low voice, as though he didn't want the wind to hear, "let me tell you something."

"A few years ago, your mother had just broken through to level twenty, and I'd been stuck at level twenty-four for a long time. We thought we'd go to the Spirit Hall Branch in Nuoding City to update your mother's level and, while we were there... collect the subsidy. You'd only just been born, and the family needed money." Yan Zu listened quietly, his heart beginning to beat faster.

"Your mother went alone that day. I had to go Soul Hunting in the mountains and couldn't get away." Yan Hu's fists slowly clenched, his knuckles turning white. "When your mother came back... her face was as pale as paper. She sat alone in the room all afternoon without saying a word."

Beside him, Su Qing lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Yan Hu took a deep breath, filled with suppressed anger and humiliation:

"Only later did I find out that a deacon at the Spirit Hall Branch in Nuoding City was named Ma Xiunuo. That old bastard... saw how young your mother was that day, and... and had improper thoughts."