Chapter 2: Xu Shengqun: It’s Settled

Xu Shengqun couldn't tell the difference between the brush in Xu Yuan's hand and his mother's martial soul. However, recalling the rich, pale golden light during the awakening earlier, he began to feel uncertain.

"Xiao Yuan, test your soul power first."

Xu Yuan wasn't panicking at this moment.

He knew his soul power wasn't strong enough to reach the level of full innate soul power, but it was still within an acceptable range.

If one of his twin martial souls was the brain, since the body itself served as the martial soul—essentially a part of the soul master—the quality of the martial soul would naturally correspond to the strength of that specific part of the soul master's body. Therefore, not awakening with full innate soul power was perfectly normal.

After withdrawing the Tianyuan Brush from his hand, Xu Yuan stepped forward and placed his hand on the equipment in front of him.

His mother had named her martial soul the Tianyuan Brush.

"7!"

The number displayed in the center of the screen showed Xu Yuan's innate soul power.

"Not bad, innate soul power level seven, nearly reaching level eight. Perhaps there are no visible changes, but your brush martial soul has definitely mutated in some way," Xu Shengqun said with a smile.

The number displayed on the screen was "7," but the seventh box out of ten surrounding it was nearly full, indicating that it was approaching level eight.

This aptitude, while not extraordinary, couldn't be considered particularly remarkable either. However, it was certainly far from poor.

For someone like Xu Yuan, who had the support of a Spirit Emissary, this starting point was sufficient.

However, upon seeing the number on the screen, Xu Yuan's pupils contracted.

Innate soul power level seven, nearly reaching level eight!

Although he could sense that his soul power felt quite formidable, this was his first time feeling his own soul power directly, making it difficult for him to judge its exact level immediately.

From his perspective, perhaps his soul power simply felt very powerful, which made the sensation of that force seem even stronger.

His prediction for his innate soul power had been around level five, which he thought would already be good.

Seeing it now confirmed at level seven left Xu Yuan somewhat dazed.

A Body martial soul typically started off weak.

When a part of the body was awakened as a martial soul, that part became intrinsically tied to the soul master's physical condition. And how strong could a six-year-old child's body really be? Of course, looking at it another way, as cultivation progressed, the martial soul grew stronger alongside the soul master, eventually reaching a critical point where the martial soul might undergo a second awakening, allowing the soul master to keep up with their training.

Because of this, Body martial souls were among the few that were initially weak but could still catch up in the middle and later stages of cultivation, potentially becoming exceptionally powerful by that point.

Returning to the topic at hand.

With the brain as his martial soul and innate soul power at level seven, Xu Yuan finally understood.

"Uncle, help me test my spiritual power."

Hearing this, Xu Shengqun was momentarily stunned.

"You've figured out the direction of your martial soul's mutation?" Clearly, he believed that Xu Yuan's sudden request to have his spiritual power tested was to confirm the direction of the Tianyuan Brush's mutation.

Xu Yuan didn't intend to hide the fact that he possessed twin martial souls, at least not from this uncle of his. After testing his spiritual power, he planned to reveal everything to Xu Shengqun.

"Eighty-one!"

The moment the results came out, Xu Shengqun couldn't help but exclaim in shock.

Since spirit souls had replaced the original spirit rings, higher-level spirit souls required increasingly greater spiritual power. Thus, cultivating spiritual power had become more and more important for soul masters.

At birth, everyone started with spiritual power at the Lingyuan (Spiritual Origin) Realm—the origin that everyone starts from. This base level of spiritual power allowed one to carry yellow-grade or lower spirit souls. Once spiritual power reachs one hundred, it enters the second realm—the Lingtong (Spirit Connection) Realm—where mind and spirit became one, enabling the carrying of two yellow-grade spirit souls or one purple-grade spirit soul!

Xu Yuan had just awakened his martial soul, yet his spiritual power was already at eighty-one. From birth until now, over six years, he had naturally cultivated such a high level of spiritual power, meaning that even without deliberate cultivation, it was entirely possible for him to naturally break through to the Lingtong Realm within a year as his body developed.

Before awakening his martial soul, his spiritual power was already at eighty-one; after awakening it, the growth would only accelerate!

Looking at his spiritual power value, Xu Yuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

This spiritual power aptitude was extremely strong, but he wasn't an ordinary person.

An adult soul reborn into this world, re-conceived as an embryo and growing again along with the body—was eighty-one all he could muster in this world?

(Author's Note: These settings are just for fun. There are inconsistencies in Tang San's own rules, so we won't consider these details too deeply. Let's treat this as a fantasy world; otherwise, there wouldn't be much to write about.)

No, this value even accounted for the 'natural precociousness' that had developed his brain during childhood, further enhancing his spiritual power after his brain was awakened as a martial soul.

"The fact that my brain martial soul quality can reach innate level seven soul power might also be due to this."

Xu Shengqun didn't think too deeply about it. Seeing Xu Yuan's spiritual power, he was absolutely ecstatic.

Previously, he had thought that with his resources, Xu Yuan might have a chance to become a Title Douluo, paired with three-word battle armor, leading to a relatively bright future. Now, however, he was certain that Xu Yuan's path to becoming a Title Douluo was practically guaranteed, and even achieving Super Douluo status wasn't out of reach—especially when combined with three-word battle armor.

"Uncle, can you block the surveillance around here?" Xu Yuan asked.

Xu Shengqun was momentarily taken aback but quickly used his soul power to shield all nearby soul-guiding devices.

"Xiao Yuan, speak."

He knew that his nephew had always been mature for his age, and after the events of a year ago, had grown even more composed. Whatever he was about to say wouldn't be trivial—it must be something that couldn't be known by the Spirit Pagoda.

"Uncle, I actually have another martial soul."

"Twin martial souls?" Xu Shengqun was once again astonished.

Xu Yuan then explained to Xu Shengqun about his brain martial soul.

"The brain? A Body martial soul?"

Xu Shengqun was now utterly dumbfounded.

This...

This, this, THIS!

With these conditions, could achieving Super Douluo status also be described as 'guaranteed'?

Even reaching level ninety-seven or ninety-eight wasn't out of the question. If paired with a divine-grade mech suit and three-word battle armor, wielding power at the Limit Douluo level wasn't a dream...

Xu Shengqun snapped back to reality.

He now understood why Xu Yuan had asked him to block the surveillance.

"Xiao Yuan, don't tell anyone else about your second martial soul," Xu Shengqun said seriously.

Though he knew this warning was somewhat redundant given Xu Yuan's maturity, it was still necessary to issue it.

After registering 'Tianyuan Brush Martial Soul' and 'Innate Soul Power Level Seven' in Xu Yuan's file, Xu Shengqun took him back home.

"Xiao Yuan, have you thought about where you want to develop in the future?"

Xu Yuan wasn't sure what his uncle meant. Though he had already considered the state of the continent and his inclinations toward various factions, he shook his head.

Xu Shengqun sighed.

"With your talent, you can't serve in the Spirit Pagoda anymore."

Xu Yuan nodded.

Although the truth behind his father being labeled a defector hadn't been confirmed, the fact that Qiangu Dongfeng had personally intervened indicated that things weren't simple. If he displayed overwhelming talent within the Spirit Pagoda, complications were bound to arise.

And if he didn't display his talent, he wouldn't receive any substantial resources.

It was better to go to another faction.

Even if displaying his talent drew the Spirit Pagoda's attention and led to an investigation, being separated by two major factions would make hiding his identity easier.

Sending Xu Yuan to another faction was necessary. As a Spirit Emissary, Xu Shengqun understood the Spirit Pagoda well. He didn't know whether the saying "the darkest shadows are under the lamp" applied here, but he was certain that when the Spirit Pagoda's light shone on its own members, they would be scrutinized thoroughly.

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