"This is my martial soul? It's so pretty!" Little Yang Zhenzhen looked at the phantom of the wings behind her, her eyes shining with joy as she clapped her hands excitedly and cheered.
Beside her, Granny Yang was already crying tears of joy.
"Very good, Yang Zhenzhen. Now let big sister test your innate soul power," Jiang Nannan said with a beaming smile. No matter what, personally helping a child awaken their martial soul and begin a new life was something that filled her with immense happiness.
"Okay, okay!" Yang Zhenzhen nodded her little head and immediately followed Jiang Nannan's instructions.
"Innate soul power, rank five!" The result came quickly, and Jiang Nannan called out joyfully, "Zhenzhen, congratulations! From now on, you're a soul master!"
"Yay! I'm a soul master too!" The little girl jumped up in excitement, then ran toward her grandmother, shouting, "Grandma, grandma, I became a soul master!"
Granny Yang scooped her up and sobbed loudly. The surrounding elders all smiled warmly and offered their congratulations.
"Rank five innate soul power—if she cultivates steadily, becoming a Soul King or even a Soul Emperor is definitely possible," Xian Lin'er commented.
"That's wonderful," Jiang Nannan agreed. She then turned to the next child. "Come on, it's your turn."
"Soul master big sister, hello. My name is Zhang Chao." The next child was a little boy.
On the other side, Zhu Ziyang had already completed the awakening for three children, but unfortunately, none of them had any innate soul power. Now it was the fourth child's turn—an eight-year-old boy with a dull expression who didn't seem very bright.
"S-soul master s-sir, h-hello. I-I'm Han Li." The dull boy spoke respectfully, stumbling over his words.
"Alright, stand here," Zhu Ziyang nodded and pointed to the six-pointed star formation in front of him.
Han Li obediently stepped inside. He moved only when told, slow and awkward. And yet, this boy—so quiet and clumsy—turned out to be the first child Zhu Ziyang tested who actually had innate soul power.
His martial soul was a weapon soul called the Coiling Dragon Staff, and his innate soul power was rank eight—the same as Jiang Nannan's. But in terms of martial soul potential, Han Li surpassed Jiang Nannan, because the Coiling Dragon Staff was a top-grade weapon soul, while the Soft Bone Rabbit was only a common one. The Coiling Dragon Staff was one of the most widely known top-grade weapon martial souls across both the Douluo and Sun-Moon continents. Many famous soul masters in history had wielded it, the most renowned being an elder from the old Spirit Hall tens of thousands of years ago.
"It's the Coiling Dragon Staff!" Cai Mei'er's eyes lit up as she exclaimed, "What excellent talent. With the right training, he might even reach the realm of a Titled Douluo!"
Cai Mei'er immediately began considering taking him as her disciple. The Coiling Dragon Staff shared the same origins as her Breaking Evil Dragon Soul Spear—both carried the power to vanquish evil. They were natural counters to evil soul masters. Her Breaking Evil Dragon Soul Spear possessed a complete Evil-Slaying Dragon Soul, while the Coiling Dragon Staff had a fragmented one. If she could guide Han Li well and help him complete his soul, perhaps his martial soul could rival even her own.
In fact, Cai Mei'er had once encountered a student with the Coiling Dragon Staff martial soul, but that person's talent had been abysmal. He had only just reached the Soul King level in his thirties. By comparison, Han Li's potential was vastly superior.
She made up her mind. Once they brought Zhu Ziyang home, she would return to take Han Li back to the academy and train him personally.
Han Li's appearance greatly encouraged Zhu Ziyang. As long as there were soul master seedlings like him, all the effort he had made to travel here and help them awaken martial souls would not be in vain.
Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan spent the next hour awakening martial souls for all seventeen children. What shocked them—and Xian Lin'er and Cai Mei'er even more—was that out of the seventeen children, eleven had innate soul power. Such a high success rate was nearly unheard of.
Among these eleven, Han Li—with rank eight innate soul power and the Coiling Dragon Staff martial soul—had the highest potential. Next was a little girl with rank six innate soul power and a small cat martial soul. Then came Yang Zhenzhen and two others with rank five soul power. The remaining seven had ranks below five.
After finishing the awakening ceremony, the group stayed for another hour to teach the eleven children how to meditate and cultivate soul power. Only then did they leave Zhangyang Village.
They had opened a new path in life for these children. Where that path led, and how far they would go, was now up to the children themselves. Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan wouldn't interfere further. They weren't family—helping them awaken their martial souls was already a great kindness.
After leaving the village, Xian Lin'er and Cai Mei'er quickly accelerated their pace, rushing toward Anyang City without stopping.
"Mei'er, you're thinking of taking a disciple, aren't you?" Xian Lin'er asked during the journey.
"Yes. That boy Han Li shows promising talent, and his martial soul matches well with mine. I'll bring him to the academy and observe him for a few years first," Cai Mei'er replied.
"That makes sense," Xian Lin'er nodded. "By the way, isn't there a guy named Wang Yan at the academy? Didn't he have the Coiling Dragon Staff martial soul too? Why didn't you take him in?"
"His talent was mediocre, and he was undisciplined—always neglecting his cultivation. He's already in his thirties and still only a Soul King!" Cai Mei'er said with a wry smile. "If I hadn't once offered him guidance, he'd have been kicked out of the academy by Du Weilun ages ago. He's only still teaching there because of that."
"That explains it." Xian Lin'er looked enlightened.
—
Night had fallen over the village outside Anyang City. Two streaks of light shot down from the sky, revealing two middle-aged women and two youths. They were none other than Xian Lin'er, Cai Mei'er, Zhu Ziyang, and Jiang Nannan.
After leaving Zhangyang Village, the two Titled Douluo had traveled at full speed. By late afternoon, they arrived at North River Village just outside Anyang City. The familiar sights stirred deep emotion in both Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan. After a year away, their hometown looked both familiar and unfamiliar.
"Junior Brother, Junior Sister, this is Anyang City, right?" Xian Lin'er asked.
"Yes, that's right," the two nodded. "Senior Sister, come, we'll take you to our home."
"No need. We won't be staying," Xian Lin'er and Cai Mei'er exchanged a glance and made their decision. "We need to return to the academy to oversee this year's inner court assessment. We won't disturb your family."
"I see… alright then," Zhu Ziyang said with a hint of regret. "Safe travels."
"Okay! Junior Brother, Junior Sister, we'll see you in a month!" the two women said together, then prepared to depart.
"Oh, right—Senior Sister, Junior Sister, please help me look after Xingcai this month," Zhu Ziyang suddenly remembered and called out.
"No problem!" Xian Lin'er and Cai Mei'er's voices echoed as they vanished into the sky.
Watching the two figures disappear, Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan exchanged a helpless look, then both laughed. Jiang Nannan said, "We're finally home. It feels so good!"
"Come on, let's go," Zhu Ziyang said as he took Jiang Nannan's hand and led her toward North River Village.
The village was just as it had always been. Nothing had changed. As night settled, warm lights lit up each home, just like before. The lights from Zhu Ziyang's house were the brightest. His family's small courtyard stood prominently at the village entrance.
After dropping Jiang Nannan off at her home, Zhu Ziyang walked toward his own. Seeing his house so close, his heart filled with a mix of nervousness, joy, and anticipation. He couldn't help but imagine the surprise on his parents' faces—Zhu Changhe and Liang Ying—when they saw him return without warning. A smile crept onto his lips.
But what Zhu Ziyang never expected was that this return home… would bring him a fright unlike anything he'd ever known.
And from that day forward, for a long, long time, he would live under the shadow of one particular person.
(End of Chapter)
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