In this era, the influence of the Spirit Hall had penetrated every corner of the empire. Even in remote mountain villages, deacons from the Spirit Hall were responsible for awakening the martial souls of the populace.
In the village of Di Hun, the annual martial soul awakening ceremony had once again arrived. From a distance, Huo Qiqiang watched as the village elder, Old Tom, stood with a group of children outside the local Spirit Hall, waiting for the deacon to arrive.
At last, a deacon walked into the village. He took out a key, unlocked the doors of the Spirit Hall, and led the children inside.
"Children, my name is Su Haitao. I'm 24 years old and a deacon of the Spirit Hall. Today, I'm here to awaken your martial souls. Watch—this is my martial soul: Lone Wolf, possess me!" Su Haitao spread his arms. A howl rang out as a majestic wolf spirit materialized behind him, followed by the appearance of two soul rings—one white and one yellow.
Level 24, martial soul: Lone Wolf. Soul ring configuration: one white, one yellow.
The children who were there to awaken their martial souls stared in awe at the powerful manifestation behind Su Haitao. Some were frightened and hid behind others, while a few stared at the wolf with shining eyes.
"Deacon sir, can I awaken a martial soul that powerful too?" a child asked timidly.
Su Haitao shook his head and replied, "That depends on the results of your awakening. Now, line up everyone. I'll awaken your martial souls one by one."
The children quickly formed a line. Su Haitao prepared the awakening tools used by the Spirit Hall and began the ceremony.
"Martial soul: Scythe. Innate soul power: 0. What a pity. With a level or two of soul power, this could've made for a decent tool soul master."
"Martial soul: Blue Silver Grass. Useless martial soul. Innate soul power: 0."
"Martial soul: Bell Grass. Useless martial soul. Innate soul power: 0."
"Martial soul: Hoe. Useless martial soul. Innate soul power: 0."
…
Huo Qiqiang observed the entire process through his spiritual sense. Most of the children awakened without any soul power—standard for martial soul awakenings on the Douluo Continent. In this world where bloodline inheritance mattered deeply, dragons gave birth to dragons, phoenixes to phoenixes. Powerful martial soul families formed sects of their own. Their offspring had little to fear when it came to awakening a useless martial soul. But for commoners without any strong heritage, it was rare to awaken anything worthwhile.
The only real variable was martial soul mutation. This could allow a commoner to soar to greatness—like Ma Hongjun from Caiji Village—or cause a noble to fall from grace—like Yu Xiaogang.
The advantage for commoners lay in their numbers. A large base meant more chances for rare mutations. Whoever could harness the martial soul potential of the masses would possess the strength to counterbalance the power held by noble sects.
At this time, the Spirit Hall controlled it all. They extended their reach into the countryside and possessed the most direct and accurate data on soul awakenings. Top soul master clans like the Angel Clan, Golden Crocodile Clan, and Qian Clan formed the backbone of the Spirit Hall. Meanwhile, soul masters from humble backgrounds who benefited from the awakening ceremonies made up the bulk of the Spirit Hall's powerful army. It was this foundation that allowed the Spirit Hall to dominate the era.
…
One by one, children awakened useless martial souls. Su Haitao remained unfazed; he had visited many villages, and the results were always similar.
Finally, one child awakened a Wild Boar martial soul, and the soul power crystal lit up with the glow of level 2 soul power. Upon seeing this, Su Haitao finally smiled.
"Martial soul: Wild Boar. Innate soul power: level 2. Child, you have the qualifications to become a soul master. Would you like to join the Spirit Hall?"
The child replied excitedly, "I can really become a soul master? Yes, I'm willing!"
"Good. Stand behind me. Once we're done, I'll take you back." The deacon turned to the rest of the children. "Next."
A child with a wrinkled, mature-looking face stepped into the awakening array. He appeared a bit sly and old for his age. Su Haitao activated his soul power to initiate the awakening ritual.
A flash of light passed—but there was no manifestation. No tool soul, no beast soul—nothing had changed.
"Where is your martial soul?" Su Haitao stared at the boy, puzzled, and reactivated the array.
Still nothing happened.
"How can this be?" Su Haitao was stunned.
"Deacon, what's happening to me?" The boy's face showed panic.
Su Haitao thought for a moment and then sighed. "While rare, this isn't unheard of. According to Spirit Hall records, we encounter a few children like you each year who fail to awaken any martial soul. I'm sorry, child. You didn't awaken a martial soul."
Upon hearing this, the boy's face turned pale. He lowered his head in despair. In this world, a martial soul was everything. Even a useless martial soul was better than having none.
After the ceremony ended, Su Haitao bid farewell to Elder Tom and left with the child who had awakened soul power. The others went home—except the boy who failed to awaken anything. He remained sitting on the steps of the Spirit Hall, dazed.
Suddenly, a hand patted his shoulder. The boy looked up to see an unfamiliar man.
"What's your name?" Huo Qiqiang asked.
"Uncle, my name is Lu Yuan," the boy replied.
"I watched the whole awakening ceremony. It looked like you didn't awaken a martial soul. Want me to try awakening it for you again? Maybe the deacon made a mistake." Huo Qiqiang took out a soul awakening artifact.
Lu Yuan's eyes lit up with hope. "Please, try again! I'm begging you."
Huo Qiqiang nodded and activated the awakening array. Lu Yuan stepped inside eagerly. Under Huo Qiqiang's soul power guidance—still, nothing appeared.
"No martial soul again…" Lu Yuan looked down in disappointment.
"Let's test your innate soul power," Huo Qiqiang said. A faint layer of light element shimmered on Lu Yuan's skin as he handed him a soul power testing crystal.
Lu Yuan placed his hand on the crystal. In an instant, it erupted with a blinding light—brighter than the child who had awakened the Wild Boar.
"Innate soul power: level 7," Huo Qiqiang declared.
"But I don't have a martial soul. How can I have soul power?" Lu Yuan asked in disbelief.
Huo Qiqiang shook his head. "You do have a martial soul. Your martial soul is your body."
"My body?"
"Yes, a Body Martial Soul. It's a separate category from tool or beast-type martial souls. A Body Martial Soul can be a hand, hair, torso, eyes, nose, or mouth—any part of the body. And your martial soul is the rarest and strongest of them all: the True Body Martial Soul."
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