Chapter 2: Martial Spirit Awakening

"What are we going to do..."

"Hmm, of course we're going to awaken our martial spirits!" Lu Feng'er said, looking at Lu Renshu with some dissatisfaction.

"B-but what if father's words are true?"

"So what? What's the use of being safe if we're weak." Lu Feng'er said and raised her neck.

"Huh, the emperor won't die for another twenty years! With our father's teachings and our mother's bloodline; I don't believe that I can't become the next empress!"

"Sister, that's enough." Lu Fin said, finally speaking.

Lu Feng'er pouted but stopped speaking.

"Renshu, although you have a point, have you thought of the consequences once our identity gets found one day and we have no strength to protect ourselves? Or what if we have a family in the future, can you promise them that they won't be implicated?"

"I-I" Lu Renshu said, but didn't finish her sentence and hung her head down.

"So, let's awaken our martial spirits and become strong."

"And when the time comes, I'll become empress!"

"That's only possible if you beat me, sister." Lu Fin said, keeping a cool and cold demeanor, obviously trying to copy his father.

Lu Renshu didn't say anything else but sighed lightly.

'I just want to live a peaceful life.' She thought as she looked up at the sky.

Lu Xiaofeng actually didn't leave to go find his wife as she's currently in the palace, and breaking into the palace is a death sentence, let alone actually achieving it.

He's currently sitting on top of the roof laying down and listening to his kids as his spiritual power allowed him to see everything.

He was very happy to see his kids rely on one of another. This has been a good chunk of his training, hoping that they'd always have a backbone to have, but looking at the eldest daughter, Lu Renshu, he couldn't help but frown.

'It seems she doesn't really like the whole fighting ordeal. Perhaps being a healer isn't bad, but she'd need a strong husband in the future.' Lu Xiaofeng thought, his thoughts becoming increasingly more complex.

'Well, if that happens, I'll just have to find a husband for her. But the question is who...'

'Who is actually worthy of being a husband to my children?' Lu Xiaofeng wondered and the thought of marrying his daughter made his teeth creek.

'That's something for later though. For now, let's check in on that.'

Lu Xiaofeng closed his eyes and entered his sea of spirits. Sea of spirits, also known as the sea of conciseness, but was changed down the line as the user's spirit lives in the user's conciseness. The stronger the spiritual power, the easier it was to establish a connection with it.

Entering his Sea of Spirits, the world around him changed.

He was on a small island with red water coming from the distant sea. The air here was cool and had a vague smell of gold and fish.

In the middle of the island had a pool of golden water in it and his Golden Shark Trident stood tall, hovering over the pool. 

This trident looked very different from what he showed his kids. This one had a blinding golden light coming from it with various different formations inscribed into it. It gave a feeling of seeing a king, but also a shark.

Around the pool were four different formations. One formation was glowing black while the others were transparent with no color.

'Tomorrow the formation should change.' Lu Xiaofeng muttered as he looked at the three transparent formations.

'These formations act like spirit halos. Although spirit halos are connections with the user and the spirit, they shouldn't be able to create a formation like this.' He thought to himself and stretched his hand out into the golden water.

A strong feeling of Qi hit his body, and he kept on reaching his hand further down into the water. Eventually he started to manipulate the water and tried to feel how far down he could go.

"Eight meters still." He muttered.

The deeper the water got, the more control he gained over the water element and allowed him to control the Qi in the air more freely which allowed him to become a sixth ranking formation master at a young age. It also made the golden color on the Golden Shark Trident more prominent and could even be used as a light.

'Well, it should be that my martial spirit is evolving which is allowing me to have better control.' Lu Xiaofeng concluded and then looked at the three different transparent formations.

'I wonder what'll happen once they awaken.'

'I hope it's something good.'

He didn't stay in his sea of spirits for long and soon left.

The next day, Lu Xiaofeng sat in a room with his three children in front of him. Their faces were all calm and collected, but he could see the slight excitement in their eyes. Even Lu Renshu had a bit of excitement instead of worry this time.

"Come, sit on the three pillows I have laid on the floor and perform the meditation I have taught you all for the past six years."

The three nodded and sat on their respective pillows. They closed their eyes and started to take deep breaths. Lu Xiaofeng simply stood up and walked behind them and started to observe them.

Seeing that they all had a standard posture, he didn't hesitate anymore and summoned his Golden Shark Trident out and gently put the butt end on the ground.

Suddenly a blue halo formation appeared on the ground and the three children's bodies gradually started to heat up.

"Follow my words. You feel a stream of Qi, yes? Try to move the flow of it to your chest."

The three started to sweat profusely, their bodies feeling like they were on fire, but they didn't complain and continued to follow his words.

"Now, guide it to the middle of your chest and circulate it through your body."

This was easier said than done, and the three struggled.

Lu Xiaofeng raised his left hand and three small blue halos appeared on his hand and each halo flew towards one child. The blue halo hit their backs and started to circulate with their flow of Qi.

"Now, the last step. Concentrate that Qi in your mind and try to sense another presence." Lu Xiaofeng said.

This was the step that would determine who would awaken their martial spirits and who wouldn't. Awakening a martial spirit meant that you would awaken an otherworldly presence within your mind, and with it, a power that would grant you power beyond your imagination.

Some people could go as far as to say that a martial spirit was a personification of your blood and soul.

If a weak blooded person awakened a martial spirit, they'd naturally have a weak martial spirit; but if the user has a strong spirit, one could mutate their martial spirit into something stronger. Of course, the reverse is true as well. If you're strong blooded but have a weak soul... Well, Xiaofeng can only say tough luck.

After five minutes, Lu Renshu suddenly opened her eyes and a vague spirit of jellyfish appeared.

"Immortal Jellyfish..." Lu Renshu muttered.

A white light came from her and an nine tentacle jellyfish appeared above her head and a white spirit halo formed below her. This was her martial spirit, the Immortal Jellyfish, the royal spirit of the Heavenly Dipped Empire.

Lu Xiaofeng sighed. He knew that his peaceful days were now over.