Spirit City.
On the central square, shadows were silhouetted against the ground.
Today was the annual Spirit Awakening Ceremony.
Parents waited nervously outside the square, while eligible children lined up inside, their faces filled with anticipation.
Deacons from Spirit Hall, possessing two spirit rings, skillfully awakened the Martial Soul for every child who walked into the awakening array, and then tested their Innate Soul Power.
They looked exactly like skilled workers on an assembly line.
"Martial Soul, Blue Silver Grass... No Innate Soul Power."
"Martial Soul, Rock... No Innate Soul Power."
"Martial Soul, Longsword... Innate Soul Power, Rank 1..."
"Martial Soul, Wild Dog... Innate Soul Power, Rank 2..."
"..."
"Alright, switch."
One deacon stepped down impatiently, and another slowly took over the work.
Ordinary two-ring deacons didn't have enough Soul Power to work from start to finish, so they had to rotate.
Even in Spirit City, where the number of Spirit Masters was relatively high, at least half of the children still could not awaken any Innate Soul Power.
Innate Soul Power exceeding Rank 5 was even rarer.
The Spirit Awakening Ceremony gradually came to an end.
The newly rotated deacon spoke up, "Finally, the children from the orphanage."
The orphanage matron hurriedly led a group of children dressed in simpler clothes to the front of the Spirit Awakening Array.
"Children, come quickly to awaken your Martial Souls," the matron called out.
The orphans had long been unable to wait.
As long as they awakened Innate Soul Power, they would qualify to become Spirit Masters and live a better life.
In the orphanage line, a handsome little boy with black hair and black eyes looked equally expectant.
He wore oversized, worn-out clothes with several patches. Aside from being tidier, he seemed no different from the other children.
But that was obviously not the case.
Six years, finally the Spirit Awakening! Will I possess magic again?
The boy thought to himself, clearly not an ordinary child.
In fact, he was—the heir to the Black Family, the one who defeated Voldemort twice, the discoverer of the Twelve Uses of Wizards, the destroyer of the Order of Merlin, the annihilator of the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards, the Savior of Azkaban, the executioner of multiple Ministers of Magic, the executor of Global Magical Ascension, the one whom Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald had to join forces to oppose...
The Third Dark Lord, Nero Black!
Oh, right now he had a new name and identity.
Xia Tian, a six-year-old boy in the Spirit City orphanage.
This was because the orphanage matron had picked him up during the summer.
However, Nero Black was actually just Tian's second name, because this was his second transmigration.
In his first life, he was just an ordinary otaku.
He encountered the Great Fortune Deity on the road and, despite giving it his all, could not win.
In his second life, he transmigrated to the Harry Potter world, becoming the heir of the Black family and a magical genius.
His final achievements included being a Master of Prophecy, Potions, Alchemy, Dueling, Dark Arts, Transfiguration...
He dabbled in almost every subject related to magic, and achieved extremely high accomplishments in many of them.
Actually, Tian didn't think he was a bad person. Born under the red flag, he viewed everyone equally and always treated others with kindness.
At Hogwarts, classmates were willing to rally around him, and he never monopolized the glory.
Even the old professors in the college said he had the bearing of an old friend.
After graduation, after Dumbledore politely rejected his application to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, he politely left Hogwarts and joined the Ministry of Magic to become a glorious Auror.
Every day, he was either punishing evil or on his way to punish evil.
He was also grateful to those criminals for their wholehearted dedication, which allowed his research to progress rapidly.
It also made him better and better at dealing with people.
Until he proposed the concept of "All Life is Weak, Magical Ascension"—
To transform everyone in the world into magical beings. This way, there would be no distinction between Muggles and Wizards. Everyone could master magic, no one would suffer from pain anymore, and everyone would enjoy eternal life!
Then, he was shamefully betrayed by the Ministry of Magic.
Who was Xia Tian?
He was a transmigrator!
He had just produced results; could he tolerate anger from the Ministry?
So, he took out his results and let the Minister of Magic experience them personally first.
Unfortunately, the Minister was disappointing and made a mistake that all men in the world make—he died!
After that... it was the story of Tian fighting against both the Wizarding World and the Muggle World.
And he naturally became the Third Dark Lord.
For the Greater Good, he walked on thin ice, attempting to reach the other shore.
Until Dumbledore, disregarding martial ethics, called upon his old lover Grindelwald to join forces and execute him with the G key.
Tian had anticipated this and activated the reincarnation magic he had prepared in advance.
Since the humans of this era could not understand a genius like him, he would reincarnate into the future. Surely, the people of the future would need him!
However, there seemed to be a slight problem with the magic.
He successfully reincarnated.
But not into the future of the Harry Potter world.
Instead, he reincarnated into the Douluo Dalu world.
Calculating the time, he should be the same age as Tang San.
So, it was all Tang San's fault!
Now in his third life, he had reincarnated as an orphan, adopted by the Spirit City orphanage, with unknown parents.
This was practically enjoying the Tom Riddle treatment.
It was also the hardest time Tian had spent across three lifetimes.
Although Spirit Hall opened orphanages to take care of orphans, their financial situation was not very good. They could only ensure the children received the bare minimum—survival.
The Douluo Continent, with its medieval background, did not have particularly developed productivity.
No matter how rich Spirit Hall was, keeping the orphans alive was already exceptionally kind.
After reincarnating, he also lost his magical abilities.
Probably because Wizards and Spirit Masters were two different species, so Tian had not been able to awaken magic until now.
However, his soul was still that of the young man, and he could still use some soul and mental methods.
Such as Prophecy, Legilimency, and simply using mental power.
But Tian was not little Tom.
While in the orphanage, apart from studying and learning about the outside world, he did not show much difference. He even played games with the other children.
He deeply understood one truth.
Only with power can one control destiny.
Without power, one must blend with the light and dust, hiding in the mundane.
"Next, Xia Tian."
The matron's voice rang in his ears.
"Coming~"
Tian smiled and rushed into the awakening array.
The deacon began the Spirit Awakening Ceremony. As the awakening commenced, Tian felt the power bound within his body awakening—
Something is wrong. It's not one, but... two!
Could it be that I have Twin Martial Souls?
Two Martial Souls, one on the left and one on the right.
He decided to hide one. Following the saying "men left, women right," he only extended his left hand.
Zhi zhi zhi—
A piercing cicada cry rang out abruptly.