Douluo Phoenix

Chapter 2 Martial Soul Awakening

Three days passed quickly, much to Xiaofei's delight.

Three days later, besides Village Chief Jack and the nine children who had all arrived, there was another young man from the Spirit Hall. He looked to be in his twenties, with striking eyebrows and bright eyes, and a very handsome appearance. He wore a white, fitted outfit with a black cloak on his back, and a fist-sized character for "soul" was displayed in the center of his chest.

This is the standard attire for personnel directly under the Spirit Hall. On the left chest, there is a badge engraved with three intertwined longswords.

People like Old Jack, who are very familiar with Soul Masters, know that the number three represents the third-level title of Soul Master, Great Soul Master, while the longsword indicates that this deacon from the Spirit Hall is a Battle Soul Master.

"Hello, esteemed Master of War Souls, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you this time." Old Jack bowed respectfully to the young man.

A faint pride flickered in the young man's brows as he gave a slight, nonchalant bow in return. "I don't have much time, let's begin now," he said. Old Jack replied, "Very well. Children, this is a Battle Soul Master from Notting City. He will guide you in awakening your own Martial Souls. You must cooperate well with the Master during your Martial Soul awakening. Grandpa hopes that some of you will become Soul Masters."

The young man said impatiently, "Alright, you said the same things last year. Is becoming a Soul Master really that easy? I've already visited six villages, and not a single person has Soul Power. Nor do I have a suitable Martial Soul."

Xiao Fei had been secretly watching this young man, who was none other than the legendary Su Yuntao, known as the Blind Douluo. A symbolic figure in the eyes of countless transmigrators, he witnessed the rise of the Tang God King.

The young man's gaze fell on the eight children in front of him. As a patrol officer of the Spirit Hall, helping ordinary people awaken their spirits was his job, and he was already used to it.

"Children, line up." His attitude towards these children was much gentler. Nine children stood before the young man, Tang San second to last, while Xiao Fei deliberately stood last. He had two main reasons: firstly, he wanted to closely observe Tang San's martial soul awakening to see if it was truly as described in the original story; secondly, he felt that he was the most physically gifted and tallest among them and should make a grand entrance last. In his memory, the protagonist always appeared last. "I'll be that protagonist," he thought.

The young man smiled and said, "My name is Su Yuntao, a level 26 Great Soul Master, and I will be your guide. Now, I will guide you through the Martial Soul Awakening process one by one. Remember, no matter what happens, do not be afraid."

As he spoke, Su Yuntao opened his package on the table beside him and took out two items: six jet-black round stones and a shimmering blue crystal ball. Su Yuntao arranged the six black stones in a hexagonal shape on the ground and gestured for the first child on the right to stand within it. "Don't be afraid, close your eyes and feel carefully." As he spoke, Su Yuntao's eyes suddenly lit up. Under the children's horrified gazes, he uttered a low shout, "Lone Wolf, Possession!" A faint blue light first emanated from the center of his brow, traveling upwards and entering his hairline. Su Yuntao's hair, originally black, instantly turned gray after the blue light entered, and rapidly grew longer, the same color appearing on his bare hands. At the same time, his body seemed to swell considerably, his entire body bulging with muscles. The Spirit Hall's special uniform, though elastic, did not burst despite his increased size. Su Yuntao's eyes had turned a ghostly green, and the sharp claws protruding from his ten fingers gleamed with a faint, cold light. Two halos of light emanated from beneath his feet, swirling from his feet to the top of his head. One was white, the other yellow, both exceptionally eerie.

The boy who had been summoned into the black stone screamed in terror as he witnessed the changes in Su Yuntao's body, "Ah—" and tried to run away. The gleaming green light in Su Yuntao's eyes was indeed frightening. He grabbed the boy, "Don't move. I told you not to be afraid. This is my martial soul, Lone Wolf. If any of you become a Soul Master in the future, you will use the same ability."

Everyone was terrified by Su Yuntao. After all, as a country boy, he was still very afraid of wolves. Xiao Fei looked closely at Su Yuntao. His body had transformed into a wolf, somewhat like a transformation in a novel. He should possess some wolf characteristics, such as physical strength, speed, defense, etc. Could this be the advantage of a beast spirit? In the early stages, through spirit possession, the body gains some advantages of wild beasts.

Su Yuntao swiftly clapped his hands, and six faint green lights were injected into the six black stones on the ground. Instantly, a layer of golden light was released from the six stones, forming a pale golden light shield that enveloped the child.

"Extend your right hand." Su Yuntao's eerie green eyes fixed on the boy, commanding authoritatively. The boy instinctively extended his right hand, and instantly, all the light points surged forth, forming a scythe in his palm. It appeared the scythe wasn't an illusion of light, but a real, tangible weapon. Su Yuntao frowned. "It's a weapon spirit. Can a scythe be used as a weapon? Probably not."

"Place your right hand on the crystal to see if you have innate soul power." The boy did as instructed, placing his hand on the crystal, but it did not light up. "Without innate soul power, you cannot become a Soul Master." The child looked disappointed.

Seven children were tested in succession, and none of them possessed innate soul power. It wasn't until the eighth child, Tang San, was tested that Xiao Fei became excited, wondering if he could witness the beginning of this rise to power.

As expected, just as described in the original story, Tang San awakened an ordinary Blue Silver Grass in his right hand, showing almost no abnormalities, but his left hand was clenched tightly. Seeing that it was a Blue Silver Grass spirit, Su Yuntao looked disappointed. "This is a Blue Silver Grass spirit, a standard useless spirit, the most common useless spirit in the Douluo Continent. It has virtually no chance of becoming a Soul Master."

At Tang San's repeated requests, Su Yuntao conducted an innate soul power test on him. The crystal ball sparkled like a gemstone, its entire surface gleaming. Su Yuntao was astonished. "He actually has full innate soul power! This is the first time I've encountered full innate soul power in all my years of work. What a pity." Thinking of Tang San's martial soul being Blue Silver Grass, Su Yuntao looked disappointed.

Finally, it was Xiao Fei's turn. Standing among the six black stones, Xiao Fei felt a warm sensation all over his body as Su Yuntao infused him with his soul power. Then, flames erupted from his body, and a bird covered in flames appeared in his vision. Upon closer inspection, wasn't this Ma Hongjun's Fire Phoenix from the Shrek Seven Devils? However, Xiao Fei felt something was strange, as if something was amiss with his body, especially his right hand.

"Firebird, it's actually a Firebird! A very good beast spirit!" Su Yuntao exclaimed excitedly. Xiao Fei rolled his eyes at Su Yuntao. What kind of eyesight did he have? He could mistake a fire phoenix for a firebird. No wonder he was called the Blind God King.

"Come, let's test our innate soul power."

Xiao Fei did as instructed, placing his hand on the crystal ball. The crystal ball lit up, but its brightness was noticeably lower than Tang San's. "Level eight innate soul power, capable of becoming a soul master, with immense potential." In Su Yuntao's memory, Xiao Fei was probably the person with the highest innate soul power he had encountered besides Tang San.

"Hello Xiaofei, my name is Su Yuntao, and I am a deacon of the Spirit Hall. Would you be interested in coming to our Spirit Hall Academy? You will receive the best training."

Xiao Fei hesitated. "I'm sorry, Master Su Yuntao, I still need to ask my grandfather. There are only two of us in my family, my grandfather and I. I want to study in Notting City first, and then join the Spirit Hall when I grow up."

Xiao Fei wasn't inherently opposed to the Spirit Hall; however, the Spirit Hall's teaching methods were too standardized and unsuitable for individual training. Furthermore, the graduates tended to be cookie-cutter, lacking any truly outstanding abilities. In the original story, of the seven Spirit Hall academy members who ultimately fought against the Two Lakers, aside from the three members of the Golden Generation, the others didn't demonstrate any remarkable talent.

As a Soul Master exceeding level 45, higher than everyone else in Shrek Academy, their performance was progressively worse. Even Hu Liena and Xie Yue's performances were mediocre, showing little in terms of individual ability. Their Soul Fusion Skill was reduced to a one-on-one fight with Tang San, meaning Tang San single-handedly held off both of them, a truly disappointing performance. The only bright spot was Yan, who displayed both defense and burst damage, only to be ganged up on. Furthermore, are there really that many opportunities in Douluo Continent? Joining the Spirit Hall would be a waste of all those opportunities. Xiao Fei didn't think he could surpass level 45 at 14. His innate Soul Power was only level eight, lower than the average level in Shrek Academy.

Su Yuntao led Xiao Fei and Tang San to Old Jack.

Old Jack greeted Su Yuntao with a nervous expression, "Master, how did it go? Is there any chance that any of the children in our village will become Soul Masters this year?"

Su Yuntao said excitedly, "Two of them have awakened innate soul power. Tang San has full innate soul power, but unfortunately his martial soul is the useless Blue Silver Grass. The other one is Wang Xiaofei, who awakened the Flame Bird martial soul and has innate soul power level eight. He has great potential, but unfortunately he refuses to come with me to the Spirit Hall Academy and wants to stay at home."

Su Yuntao knew that Xiao Fei was Old Jack's grandson and kept urging Old Jack to send Xiao Fei to the Spirit Hall Academy. Old Jack knew that Xiao Fei had his own ideas and told Su Yuntao that he might have to wait until he graduated from the junior academy before going to the Spirit Hall Academy. This left Su Yuntao looking disappointed.

Back home, after confirming that it was just the two of them, Old Jack asked, "Xiao Fei, why don't you want to go to the Spirit Hall Academy? For us commoner spirit masters, the Spirit Hall Academy is the fairest and has the best environment."

Xiao Fei shared his thoughts: "The Spirit Hall Academy is indeed better at the beginning. The internal competition is too fierce, which is not suitable for individual development. I have some other ideas and goals that cannot be achieved at the Spirit Hall Academy."

There's one more thing I haven't mentioned: I don't want to work under that crazy woman, Bibi Dong. In the original story, if Bibi Dong hadn't repeatedly acted like a madwoman and let things slide, Shrek Academy wouldn't have been able to develop at all. For my own safety, I'd better stay away from idiots and cherish my life.

Back in his small room, Xiao Fei summoned his martial spirit, but something felt off. After summoning his Fire Phoenix martial spirit, he felt that his flames weren't pure enough, as if impurities had been mixed in, and quite a few at that.

This is probably the evil fire on Ma Hongjun from the original story. My innate soul power is one level lower than Ma Hongjun's, so the problem of the evil fire is probably even more serious. If I want to continue cultivating, I must find a way to control my evil fire first.

Another point is that Xiao Fei always feels like he has two martial souls, but he can't seem to find the other one. He always feels like something is wrong with his body, and his right hand seems to be unable to integrate into his whole body.

The original work is very detailed, and some parts here are borrowed from it. This can be seen as a way of respecting the original work.

(End of this chapter)