"Yes, Grandpa Tai."
Now steady on his feet, Yang Yunhai carefully stood up and walked forward with big strides.
Having watched his two friends go through their martial soul awakening, he was familiar with the process and directly stepped into the hexagonal stone array.
Seeing this, the middle-aged man wasted no time and slapped both palms onto the ground, injecting soul power into the six black stones. In the next moment, the stones seemed to resonate with one another, emitting a faint golden glow that enveloped Yang Yunhai completely.
So warm. That was Yang Yunhai's first impression.
Then, he felt as though something inside him suddenly shattered. A wave of warmth surged through his arm, rushing toward his right palm.
Instinctively, Yang Yunhai raised his right hand.
The village chief, the middle-aged man, and the children nearby all fixed their eyes on him.
In the next second, blue light accompanied by a few streaks of white gathered. A tiny, delicate blue blade of grass suddenly appeared in his palm.
Blue Silver Grass, an ordinary plant found everywhere in the village. They couldn't be mistaken.
The only difference was that the veins of the leaf in Yang Yunhai's hand were whitish, while the ones growing by the roadside were light blue. But there was no doubt about it, the shape matched exactly.
"Blue Silver Grass!?"
The children were all stunned, and so was Yang Yunhai himself.
"How can this be?"
Both the village chief and the middle-aged man looked as though they couldn't believe what they were seeing.
They had high hopes for Yang Yunhai, the boy who always got struck by lightning on rainy days, thinking he might awaken an extraordinary martial soul today.
But now, he had awakened Blue Silver Grass, commonly recognized throughout the continent as a useless martial soul!
The disappointment was real.
"Uncle Di, I feel like my Blue Silver Grass is a little different. Try touching it!"
Snapping out of his daze, Yang Yunhai looked at the middle-aged man.
Chang Gong Di, the village chief's eldest son, 44 years old, a level-29 Grand Soul Master, currently a deacon of the Spirit Hall.
"Different?"
Chang Gong Di murmured and instinctively reached out to touch a leaf of the grass.
The next second, his eyes widened, and he quickly withdrew his hand.
"It's electrified?!"
He blurted out in surprise. His eyes lit up again, hope rekindled.
That's more like it! Electricity, that matched the kid's lightning-strike-prone trait. Maybe this wasn't ordinary Blue Silver Grass after all, he thought excitedly.
He quickly picked up the nearby blue crystal and handed it over, urging, "Come, Little Hai, test your soul power."
"Okay."
Yang Yunhai nodded and willed the martial soul to return to his body. Then he placed his right hand on the crystal.
A powerful suction came from his palm, and the blue crystal beneath began to glow.
"This..."
Chang Gong Di's face immediately fell, and the hopeful glint in the village chief's eyes also dimmed.
That brightness, just 0.5 levels of innate soul power. As seasoned soul masters, they could tell at a glance.
Damn it. A lightning-attributed martial soul with such low innate soul power?!
Yang Yunhai himself was about to break down.
As far as he knew, soul masters in the Douluo Continent couldn't cultivate soul power before their martial soul awakened. Thus, the amount of innate soul power was something determined at birth. Otherwise, everyone would have max innate soul power.
In a way, barring any accidents, one's innate soul power pretty much determined their future cultivation speed and potential.
And 0.5 levels of innate soul power meant his cultivation talent was bottom-tier.
The only exception he knew was Tang San. According to the original story, Tang San's innate soul power came from his Xuan Tian Art cultivation. He had no soul power initially; it was his internal power that transformed into soul power after awakening his martial soul.
But Yang Yunhai had never practiced any cultivation techniques in his previous life. Naturally, before age six, he couldn't accumulate internal energy. All he could do was exercise his body and hope for a miracle. His tanned skin came from years of training under the sun.
Now, with that hope shattered, he felt utterly disheartened.
"Sigh..."
Seeing the disappointment on Yang Yunhai's face, Chang Gong Di couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He quickly composed himself, gave a comforting smile, and patted the boy's shoulder.
"Little Hai, don't be discouraged. The fact that you awakened a martial soul with soul power means you can still become a soul master. You've already surpassed the vast majority of people on this continent."
He wasn't lying, soul masters made up less than 1% of the population.
"Yeah, Big Bro!"
One of the kids nearby chimed in with a hint of envy. "None of us awakened soul power."
"Sigh, Big Bro's going to school to be a soul master now. No more storytime for us..."
To them, hearing stories was more important than becoming a soul master.
"I'll tell you a story later when I get back."
Yang Yunhai forced a smile as he looked at his little buddies.
"Yay!"
The children immediately cheered up.
"Alright, kids, time to head out."
The village chief called out with a kind smile as he walked to the side.
Then he turned to his eldest son.
"Ah Di, I'll talk to Little Hai about school when we get home. You should go on to the next village to awaken more kids' martial souls."
"Got it."
Chang Gong Di nodded and began packing up.
Before long, outside the wooden hut, those with parents were taken home, while the orphans were brought back to the orphanage by the village chief.
Once there, the chief led Yang Yunhai alone into the director's office.
"Little Hai, would you like to join the Spirit Hall like me, your Uncle Di, Uncle Ao, and your older brothers and sisters?"
The chief asked gently, then explained,
"I was thinking this: even though your innate soul power is low, you still have a good chance of becoming a soul master. If you join the Spirit Hall, you can serve as a deacon in the Spirit Hall branch in Notting City someday, like I did. You'd have a stable income and live a decent life."
"When you're older, you could retire back here, maybe even take over my role as village chief or orphanage director. You've grown up here; you know everyone. People can look after each other, and when it gets dull, you can chat and reminisce."
The chief always thought Yang Yunhai was smart, and being a future village chief would suit him well.
"As for school," the chief continued, "you're the only one in the village this year who awakened soul power, so you'll be using the working student quota for Notting City's Junior Soul Master Academy. If you join the Spirit Hall early, you'll become a reserve soul master. That way, you can collect a monthly allowance from the Notting branch. Add in the academy's work-study wage, and you won't need to worry about food or drink. Just be careful not to offend those noble students."
He particularly disliked the noble soul masters at Notting Academy. He'd been bullied by them as a child and even forced to pay protection fees.
So naturally, he felt the need to warn him.
"Okay, Grandpa Tai."
Yang Yunhai didn't hesitate and agreed immediately.
He had long learned from villagers' gossip that he was abandoned at the roadside as a baby. If the village chief, then a Spirit Hall deacon, hadn't found him, he would've been eaten by wild animals or starved to death under that poplar tree.
And all these years, it was the chief's family that raised him, even teaching him soul master knowledge.
Joining the Spirit Hall was the least he could do in return.
As for not sending him to a Spirit Hall-exclusive academy and instead recommending the Notting City Junior Soul Master Academy, he understood why.
Spirit Hall academies had strict requirements, at least level-3 innate soul power.
They selected promising individuals from the common folk, likely to become Soul Elders or stronger.
Once accepted, benefits like century-old soul rings were basically guaranteed.
Why were there Spirit Hall law enforcement teams stationed in low-level soul beast forests? Not just to verify permits and prevent unauthorized entries, but also to assist Spirit Hall students in hunting down suitable soul beasts.
These forests were stocked and managed by the empire. Every soul beast's location, type, and age were documented and known to the Spirit Hall.
When needed, the law enforcement team could lead students straight to the target, even weaken the beast for them. A complete, guided service.
No wonder Spirit Hall controlled 70% of the continent's soul masters.
Just think back to the original story, even nobles like the Notting City lord's son, Xiao Chenyu, had a white (ten-year) first soul ring.
The disparity in resources was massive.
And someone like Yang Yunhai, with only 0.5 levels of innate soul power and a so-called useless martial soul, naturally wasn't qualified to enter a Spirit Hall academy. That's also why Tang San wasn't invited despite having full innate soul power, because his martial soul, Blue Silver Grass, was seen as worthless.
Still, anyone with soul power was better than ordinary people. Voluntarily joining Spirit Hall would be accepted, even if not given priority treatment. So, placing such people in local academies and providing some aid became the optimal choice.
The village chief himself had awakened with level-2 innate soul power. Not enough to enter a Spirit Hall academy, he had attended the Notting City school as a work-study student and was bullied by nobles.
Eventually, he joined Spirit Hall, probably influenced by those bitter experiences.
No wonder the chief urged him to join and warned him about the nobles.
"Then it's settled," the chief said with a smile upon hearing Yang Yunhai's answer.
"There's still half a month before the academy starts. I'll arrange a single dorm room for you. Use this time to cultivate. Leave everything else to me."
The Spirit Hall's meditation technique, Yang Yunhai had already learned it while watching the chief's grandson train.
"Thank you, Grandpa Tai."
Yang Yunhai got off the chair and respectfully bowed. "I'll head back now."
The chief smiled even more warmly and nodded. "Alright."
Lightning attribute, yet only 0.5 innate soul power. That doesn't make sense...
Yang Yunhai pondered as he walked out of the room. The gentle sunlight shone down on his face.
Feeling the warmth, he looked up at the sky. Clouds drifted slowly, and his thoughts drifted with them.
"Blue Silver Grass is a plant-type martial soul. It represents vitality. But lightning is destructive to life. How can those two coexist? Unless... my martial soul mutated negatively, and there was no soul power generated at all. The little soul power I have might just be residual energy left from getting struck by lightning over the years?"
That thought reminded him of a special plant-type soul beast.
Thunderous Hell Vine, a soul beast described in the original story. Each time it was struck by lightning, it grew stronger. A hundred lightning strikes equaled a year of regular cultivation.
But he was just a regular human.
His body's toughness, recovery rate, and energy absorption, especially when it came to wild lightning, would be far inferior to that soul beast.
If the Thunderous Hell Vine needed 100 lightning strikes to grow a year's worth, would he need hundreds or thousands?
And all his lightning strikes so far had been passive.
So, this 0.5 level of innate soul power was just the energy left behind from those dozens of strikes over the past six years?
That realization made his brain momentarily freeze, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
So if I had deliberately gone out during every storm to get struck, I could've awakened with full innate soul power today?
Of course, I might also be dead by now!
He lowered his head and stayed silent for a long while.
"Sigh..."
Eventually, he let out a long sigh.
"I'll wait for the next rainy day and test if I can cultivate through lightning strikes. If I can, then there's hope."
"If not... I'll have to find a way to steal a piece of Brother Tang's plot armor..."
Thinking this, he walked toward his dorm room.
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