Douluo Continent has a system, but I don't want to use it.

Chapter 4 Martial Soul Awakening (Part 1)

Normally, when Fang Tian wakes up, his parents are still asleep. They only get up to wash and get ready after Fang Tian finishes his breathing exercises, and then his mother cooks for the whole family.

However, today was very different. As dawn broke, Fang's parents were already dressed and appeared in front of Fang Tian's bedside.

Fang Tian opened his eyes in a daze, and couldn't help but twitch his lips when he saw his parents' solemn expressions.

"Dad, Mom, do you have to be so dramatic! It's just a martial soul awakening!"

Fang Tian's face darkened; he felt his parents were making a mountain out of a molehill. Martial spirits are inherited from one's parents, and as for innate soul power, it was completely set by the time it was time to awaken. Whether one goes early or late, what is meant to be will be, and what is not meant to be will be, no matter how early one goes.

"What nonsense are you talking about, son? Today is a big day that will decide your life. Get up and eat, Master Li Feng from the Spirit Hall is coming soon." Fang's mother didn't indulge her son's temper as usual today.

Fang Tian looked at his mother's stern face, resignedly got up and washed up. He then reluctantly ate breakfast much earlier than usual.

Following their parents, they arrived at the village's Martial Soul Branch Hall. A dozen or so villagers stood before the hall; they were all children who would awaken their Martial Souls this year, along with their parents.

"Brother Ye, Sister-in-law Hua, you've arrived!" People around greeted them.

Since they were all from the same village, raising rabbits and making vermicelli were no secrets. So, after teaching everyone how to make vermicelli, Mr. Fang also taught them how to raise rabbits. As a result, Mr. Fang is now highly respected in the village, and his status is almost higher than that of the village chief.

Seeing that it was still early, and based on the time it usually took for Grand Soul Master Li Feng to awaken the martial souls of the village, Fang Tian figured it would take another three or four hours. So he ran to an open space nearby and began practicing the Eight-Section Brocade.

Seeing this, the children who were supposed to be awakening today also ran over to practice. Their Eight Pieces of Brocade were, of course, taught by Fang Tian.

Since they were all from the same village, it was easy to notice that Fang Tian did some strange things every morning. Some people were curious and asked Fang Tian what he was doing.

Fang Tian told them that he was training his body. He also told them that when his father was studying at Notting Academy, he overheard a teacher saying that children with good physical fitness were more likely to awaken innate soul power and become soul masters.

This caused an uproar; no one could believe such a thing had happened! The entire village, young and old, flocked to Fang Tian's house. The old village chief of Hongshu Village rushed over and, shouting and cursing, chased everyone away.

The village chief quickly comforted Fang Tian's family, fearing they might misunderstand and think they were ungrateful. They weren't satisfied with just getting the vermicelli and rice noodle technology; they wanted something that could make them Soul Masters. (At this time, Fang Tian hadn't yet started rabbit farming.)

Is this something I can just teach anyone? This is something that can be passed down through generations!

Fang Tian had already discussed it with his father; he had obtained the Eight Pieces of Brocade from a dream. Fang Tian also taught the Eight Pieces of Brocade to his parents, but perhaps due to their age, their physical condition did not improve significantly after practicing it, although there were still some effects.

Seeing that the results were not obvious, Fang's parents did not stop practicing, but they did not practice very diligently.

Fang Tian discussed with his parents that practicing Baduanjin would definitely attract attention in the village, and they could teach it to the villagers then, since it wasn't anything important. As for the origin of Baduanjin, Fang's father would make up a reason to cover it up.

So when the village chief arrived, Fang's father told him that he had discovered the Eight-Section Brocade in a tattered book in the library of the junior soul master academy years ago. As for the claim that high physical fitness could increase the chances of awakening soul power, that was just hearsay and had not been verified.

Mr. Fang then told the village chief that he had only let his son, Xiaotian, practice as a last resort. If anyone wanted to learn, he was happy to teach them.

The village chief disagreed. He argued that Fang's father had already taught everyone how to make rice noodles and rice sheets for free. If he were to teach them something else for free, wouldn't they become ungrateful wretches?

"I will tell everyone the truth about what you said. If you still want to study, send a basket of eggs as tuition. After all, we don't have much else." These were the village chief's exact words at the time, and Fang's father thought about it and agreed.

After the villagers learned the truth, seven or eight families with children the same age as Fang Tian brought eggs, expressing their desire to learn Baduanjin (Eight Pieces of Brocade).

Later, when rabbit-raising techniques were being taught, the village chief discussed with the entire village that each family learning the technique would receive one male and two female breeding rabbits from Fang's father. Once the rabbits had reproduced and the techniques were mastered, the family would repay Fang's father with two male and three female rabbits—five rabbits in total. Furthermore, each year at the end of the year, they would be given a rabbit as a token of gratitude for their meat. This would continue until the day they stopped raising rabbits altogether!

Fang Tian thought the people in Sweet Potato Village were quite honest!

……

"Children, come here quickly! Master Li Feng from the Spirit Hall is here!" When the sun was high in the sky, the village chief called to the children who were going to awaken their spirits this year to come quickly.

Fang Tian ran over and saw a middle-aged man in his thirties, wearing a robe from the Spirit Hall, striding towards him.

"Haha, Master Li Feng, you've worked hard. Have a bowl of water and rest." The village chief said, pouring a bowl of warm water and smiling as he handed it to Master Li Feng.

"Village Chief Fang, you're too kind. I'm really thirsty." Master Li Feng chuckled as he took the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

"Village Chief Fang, I still have to visit more than a dozen villages today, so I won't take up any more time. Let the children come over!" With that, Master Li Feng opened the gate of the Martial Soul Branch Hall and went inside.

The village chief gave a call, and the children who were to awaken their martial spirits this year entered the Martial Spirit Hall one by one. Fang Tian followed and was last in line.

Li Feng took out six black stones from his bundle and placed them on the ground at each corner of a six-pointed star pattern. He then took out a transparent crystal ball.

"Children, I am Li Feng, your guide in awakening your martial souls. My martial soul is the Jade Vine, and I am a level 30 Great Soul Master. In a moment, I will be possessing your martial soul, so don't be afraid, children."

"A level 30 Great Soul Master? It seems that Li Feng will soon be equipped with a Soul Ring and become a Soul Venerable. This Martial Soul Awakening must have been a last-minute addition; perhaps the Spirit Hall is currently facing a shortage of Soul Masters," Fang Tian thought to himself.

"Martial Soul Appears!" Li Feng summoned his Martial Soul.

A lush, verdant vine sprouted from Li Feng's right hand, climbed up his arm to his shoulder, and then emerged from his other shoulder.

This was the first time the children in Sweet Potato Village who were about to awaken their martial spirits had ever seen one, and they stared at it with wide eyes in amazement.

Fang Tian looked at Master Li Feng's hair, which was green from the vines, and suppressed the smile on his lips.

"Alright, children, let's begin awakening our martial spirits now," Master Li Feng said to the children.

(End of this chapter)