Within the Heavenly Court, the disciples and higher-ups still didn't know that their Master had disappeared. Everything continued to operate as usual.
Compared to other sects, however, the Heavenly Court was busier. First, many soul masters had come from all over to handle the formalities of joining the Court.
Second, the Court's Recruitment Hall also housed a more approachable branch—the Awakening Hall, as the name implies, a place dedicated to helping people awaken their Martial Souls.
Similar institutions were scattered across the continent, most controlled by the major empires. Commoners could perform their Martial Soul Awakening at these halls, but it came at a cost. The price for a single awakening ranged from five to ten gold soul coins.
A commoner's monthly income was only a few silver soul coins, so the cost of awakening a Martial Soul equaled several years of savings. Families with multiple children often couldn't afford to awaken their children's Martial Souls at age six.
The Heavenly Court's Awakening Hall, however, was free and open to the public. Anyone who came to the Court could enjoy a free Martial Soul Awakening.
Huo Yuhao planned to eventually separate the Awakening Hall from the Recruitment Hall, turning it into an independent hall, expanding it, and strengthening it to cultivate more talent for the Heavenly Court.
Long ago, over ten thousand years ago, the Martial Soul Hall had done something similar. Back then, with control over large numbers of commoner soul masters, they had even suppressed the two major empires. This demonstrated that while commoners were lowly, they were not to be underestimated.
Because of this, after the Martial Soul Hall was destroyed, the major empires suppressed commoners even more fiercely and were extremely sensitive to any attempts to win the hearts of the populace.
To avoid drawing the empires' suspicion, Huo Yuhao placed the Awakening Hall under the Recruitment Hall, creating the illusion that he wasn't paying much attention, thus calming the empires.
Even so, the goodwill of the free Martial Soul Awakening spread quickly in nearby regions. Commoners living nearby brought their children to the Heavenly Court in droves.
Today was just such a day. Outside the Awakening Hall beneath the Recruitment Hall, long lines of commoners had formed, waiting for their children to awaken their Martial Souls.
At this moment, Zhou Qi brought a six- or seven-year-old child to the Awakening Hall.
The disciple in charge of maintaining order recognized him and stepped forward with a bow: "Greetings, Hall Master."
The commoners in line also bowed and shouted in unison, "Greetings, Hall Master!" They knew that among the seven halls of the Heavenly Court, even the weakest Hall Master was a Soul Saint.
A Soul Saint was already a mid-to-upper-level rank in the Soul Master world, let alone for ordinary commoners.
"Everyone, rise. We don't need so many formalities in the Heavenly Court."
Zhou Qi gestured for everyone to rise, then looked at the disciple. "This is my son, Zhou Yang. He recently turned six. I've brought him to awaken his Martial Soul."
The disciple stepped aside and gestured, "Please, Hall Master, enter."
Zhou Qi smiled, nodded, and held his young son's hand as they walked past the others into the Awakening Hall.
No one minded Zhou Qi cutting in line. After all, this was the Heavenly Court—his own people having a little privilege was understandable.
In fact, they found this Hall Master remarkably approachable, with no airs at all.
Unknowingly, Zhou Qi's business-honed habits had earned him goodwill in the Court.
Inside the Awakening Hall, Zhou Yang stepped into the Awakening Array as instructed. At first, he felt a warm, pleasant energy enveloping him. But soon, it turned painful, with discomfort spreading throughout his body.
Zhou Qi grew anxious. With two older sons already crippled, all hope now rested on this youngest one. He prayed his innate soul power would be sufficient.
As for their Martial Soul, the Zhou family had passed down the Horse-Slaying Blade Martial Soul for nearly a thousand years without exception.
Under the staff's watchful eyes, a long blade suddenly appeared in Zhou Yang's hands—six feet long and slender.
Zhou Qi frowned. The blade looked identical to the family's traditional Horse-Slaying Blade, yet he felt something off, though he couldn't say exactly what.
Moreover, the appearance of the blade sent a shiver down his spine. Even the low-level staff felt an icy chill from head to toe.
"Ah!"
As everyone was stunned by the blade, Zhou Yang suddenly cried out in pain. His body arched on the ground like a giant shrimp. He let go of the blade, which clanged to the floor, cutting a groove into the stone.
"Zhou Yang!" Zhou Qi shouted and rushed forward to check on his son.
Others were confused. Was this some kind of abnormal reaction? They had never heard of anyone suffering like this during Martial Soul Awakening.
Zhou Qi probed his son's body with soul power and felt a violent energy surging through him. He didn't know what to do—awakening a Martial Soul was a crucial moment in life, and forcibly suppressing it could harm his son.
But if the process continued, the energy might explode his body.
Zhou Qi was helpless, and so were the others.
At that moment, everything blurred, and a white-clothed youth appeared in the hall.
"Greetings, Supreme One!" everyone bowed.
"Supreme One, Supreme One, you…"
Before Zhou Qi could finish, Huo Yuhao waved him off.
Huo Yuhao's gaze immediately fell on the Horse-Slaying Blade. His pupils contracted.
Such intense killing intent—he had been drawn here by this pure murderous aura, and it came from a six-year-old child's Martial Soul.
This was a ferocious blade, seemingly born for slaughter, like the legendary God-Slaying Spear or Immortal-Slaying Sword.
Of course, the blade's nature was similar, but its rank was far lower.
Huo Yuhao's gaze shifted again as he studied Zhou Yang. This kid might be a transmigrator with a system. If so, his system surely wouldn't let his host die. Huo Yuhao held back, wanting to observe first.
"Supreme One."
Seeing no action from Huo Yuhao, Zhou Qi became frantic, like an ant on a hot pan.
It seemed a pure talent. After waiting a moment and seeing Zhou Yang's condition worsen, Huo Yuhao dismissed his doubts about the child being a transmigrator.
Delaying any longer might truly kill the boy, so Huo Yuhao acted. He extended a finger forward; a stream of white energy entered Zhou Yang's body.
Zhou Qi anxiously watched his son.
Gradually, Zhou Yang's painful expression faded, and his trembling body calmed. Perhaps due to exhaustion, he had already passed out.
Zhou Qi stepped forward and checked—his son's expression was peaceful, and his body unharmed. He exhaled in relief.
This was his last hope, his only son—he couldn't afford anything to go wrong.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao's voice rang beside him. "Hall Master Zhou, you've got a fine son. Consider yourself blessed."
Zhou Qi's heart ached. Blessed? He'd nearly faced disaster!
"Please enlighten me, Supreme One."
Huo Yuhao smiled. "You should be able to feel it—your son's Martial Soul far exceeds yours, but his body is too weak to withstand its power. In such cases, three outcomes usually occur."
"First, the Martial Soul mutates and weakens, like Yu Xiaogang from history."
Zhou Qi shivered. Though ancient history, Yu Xiaogang was still widely known due to the Sea God incident.
Born in the Blue Electric Tyrant Clan, his Martial Soul should have evolved excellently, but because of his weakness, it degenerated into a bizarre half-pig, half-dog creature. His innate soul power dropped to half level—a complete waste.
Zhou Qi's heart sank. Could his son…?
"The second outcome: the Martial Soul self-seals to protect the Soul Master."
Huo Yuhao thought of Beibei, whose top-tier Martial Soul, the Bright Holy Dragon, had temporarily degenerated into the Blue Electric Tyrannosaurus for self-protection. With proper cultivation, it could return to its true form.
This clearly wasn't Zhou Yang's case.
"The third outcome," Huo Yuhao continued, "is the Soul Master can't endure the Martial Soul's immense power and explodes, dying instantly."
Zhou Qi's face turned pale—this was exactly his son's condition.
Seeing Zhou Qi's worry, Huo Yuhao shook his head slightly. "Don't worry. I've set a seal inside this little one. Nothing will happen for the next six months. After that, bring him back, and I'll reinforce the seal."
...
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