Chapter 20: Your Martial Soul Is the Body

In this era, the influence of the Spirit Hall had spread to every corner of the empire. Even remote mountain villages had Spirit Hall deacons responsible for awakening martial souls in the local children.

In Dihun Village, it was time once again for the annual martial soul awakening ceremony. From a distance, Huo Qiqiang observed as the village elder, Old Tom, waited outside the local Spirit Hall with a group of children, anticipating the arrival of the deacon.

Finally, a deacon arrived. He took out a key, opened the Spirit Hall doors, and ushered the children inside.

"Children, my name is Su Haitao. I'm 24 years old and a deacon of the Spirit Hall. Today, I'll be in charge of awakening your martial souls. Watch closely—this is my martial soul: Lone Wolf, possessed!" Su Haitao extended his arms. A fierce howl echoed behind him as a majestic wolf's shadow appeared. Two soul rings, one white and one yellow, floated beneath him.

A level-24 soul master. Martial soul: Lone Wolf. Soul ring configuration: one white, one yellow.

The children gazed in awe. Some hid timidly behind others, while a few stared wide-eyed at the powerful spirit.

"Master Deacon, can I awaken a powerful spirit like that too?" a timid child asked.

Su Haitao shook his head. "It's hard to say. It depends entirely on your martial soul awakening. Now, line up, and I'll begin."

The children quickly formed a line. Su Haitao prepared the tools of the Spirit Hall and began awakening the martial souls, one child at a time.

"Martial soul: Sickle. Innate spirit power: 0. What a pity. With one or two levels of power, you might've become a good weapon-type soul master."

"Blue Silver Grass. Useless martial soul. Innate spirit power: 0."

"Wind Bell Grass. Useless. Innate spirit power: 0."

"Hoe. Useless. Innate spirit power: 0."

...

Huo Qiqiang silently observed the entire ceremony. Most children awakened without spirit power, which was expected. In Douluo Continent, this was the norm. In a world driven by bloodline inheritance, the strong produced the strong. Families with powerful martial souls never worried about weak awakenings. But for commoners, with no strong bloodline, awakening a powerful martial soul was rare.

Mutation was the only variable. Sometimes, a civilian might rise due to a mutation—like Ma Hongjun from Caoji Village. Other times, a noble might fall due to an unfortunate mutation—like Yu Xiaogang.

But the common people had the advantage of numbers. A larger base meant more chances for mutation. Whoever controlled the awakening of this massive group could harness great power—and potentially counterbalance the noble clans.

Spirit Hall understood this. They penetrated deeply into rural areas, collecting data from awakenings across the land. Top soul master families like the Angel Clan, Golden Crocodile Clan, and Eternal Clan formed the foundation of the Hall. And civilian soul masters, empowered by awakening, became the army of Spirit Hall—helping it dominate the continent.

...

Su Haitao remained expressionless as one useless martial soul after another appeared. This was nothing new. He had visited many villages, and the results were always the same.

Finally, a child awakened a Wild Boar martial soul, and the crystal glowed with a faint second-level light. Su Haitao smiled.

"Martial soul: Wild Boar. Innate spirit power: Level 2. Child, you qualify to become a soul master. Would you like to join Spirit Hall?"

The child beamed. "I can be a soul master? Yes! I want to join!"

"Good. Stand behind me. I'll take you with me once the ceremony is over."

Then another child stepped forward. This one looked unusually mature for his age—wrinkled, almost shifty. He walked into the awakening circle, and Su Haitao activated the array.

But nothing happened. No weapon spirit. No beast spirit. No glow.

"Where is the martial soul?" Su Haitao frowned and tried again. Still, nothing.

"This is strange," he muttered.

"Deacon, what's wrong with me?" the boy asked nervously.

Su Haitao paused, then sighed with some regret. "Your case is rare, but not unheard of. According to Spirit Hall records, every year a few children fail to awaken any martial soul at all. I'm sorry, child—your awakening failed."

The boy's face turned pale, and he slumped to the ground, hopeless. In this world, having no martial soul meant having no future.

After the ceremony ended, Su Haitao left with the level-2 spirit power child. The others, having awakened useless martial souls, returned to their homes. Only the boy who failed to awaken anything remained, sitting on the steps of the Spirit Hall, lost in thought.

Suddenly, a hand rested gently on his shoulder. The boy looked up to see a stranger.

Huo Qiqiang smiled. "What's your name?"

"Uncle, my name is Lu Yuan," the boy replied.

"I watched your awakening just now. It seems you didn't get a martial soul. Want to try again? Maybe the deacon made a mistake."

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up. "Can we really try again? Please help me!"

Huo Qiqiang nodded and brought out a special martial soul awakening array. Lu Yuan stepped inside eagerly. Huo Qiqiang activated the array, guiding the flow of soul power.

Still, nothing.

Lu Yuan lowered his head again. "Still no martial soul..."

"Let's test your innate soul power," Huo Qiqiang said, noticing a faint glow of light elements on Lu Yuan's skin. He handed him a crystal ball.

Lu Yuan pressed his hand to it. Instantly, the ball burst into dazzling light—brighter than even the Wild Boar child's.

"Innate soul power: Level 7," Huo Qiqiang said calmly.

Lu Yuan gasped. "But I don't have a martial soul. How can I have soul power?"

"Because your martial soul isn't beast or weapon," Huo Qiqiang said. "Your martial soul... is your body."

"My body?"

"Yes. A rare class of martial souls—Body Martial Souls. They can manifest through your hands, hair, torso, eyes, mouth—any part of your body. And yours is the rarest of all: the Original Body. The highest form among body-type martial souls."

---end of this chapter...