After the ceremony, Su Yuntao led everyone outside and smiled at the village chief. "Village Chief, this year, quite a few soul masters in your village awakened soul power—three in total. One even has innate level five. Although his martial soul is just a rusty iron sword, that's still impressive."
Then Su Yuntao looked at Xiaotian warmly. "Little one, are you interested in joining the Spirit Hall and studying at the Spirit Hall Academy?"
As a commoner himself, Su Yuntao knew the Spirit Hall was the most suitable path for ordinary spirit masters. Seeing the soul master's gaze fixed on Xiaotian, the village chief understood immediately—Xiaotian had awakened the martial spirit he had long wished for.
Even if it was just a rusty sword, with innate level five, Xiaotian had a strong chance of becoming a Soul King with consistent cultivation.
Being a soul master and blacksmith, the village chief knew martial souls would shift with each added soul ring. He also understood the day would come when Xiaotian's sword spirit would no longer be rusty.
Adding soul rings could change a martial soul's form and greatly strengthen it.
"Xiaotian, what do you think?" the village chief asked, not rushing him to accept the Spirit Hall invitation. Each year, someone with soul power awakened in their village. Those above level two innate power were usually invited by Su Yuntao. This was no surprise.
But since most villagers' martial spirits were related to forging, many chose to study at the nearby academy and return to the village blacksmith afterward.
After a brief silence, Xiaotian smiled innocently. "Master Soul Master, I want to explore the outside world first. I'll consider the Spirit Hall later."
Su Yuntao was surprised by the refusal but didn't press further. He thought Xiaotian was a bit naive—yearning for the outside world, which was often harsh to commoners.
"If he hits a wall, maybe he'll come to the Spirit Hall Academy himself for polishing," Su Yuntao thought.
After bidding farewell to the village chief, Su Yuntao set off for the next village.
Xiaotian, too, wasn't eager to dive into the martial world just yet. He was more curious about this system and wanted to see more of this world first.
After all, Douluo was known as the continent of love. In his previous life, besides collecting famous swords, he loved admiring beautiful women!
The village chief respected Xiaotian's choice and said, "In that case, we'll offer you a work-study spot in our village. After three months, you can go to nearby Notting College."
Hesitant, Xiaotian asked, "Grandpa Village Chief, are you sure it's okay to give me this spot? There are others with awakened souls and spirit power too."
Laughing, the chief replied, "Who said there's only one work-study spot? There's just one at Notting College. No worries. Come with me to the forge. You want that long sword, don't you?"
As they spoke, the village chief bowed respectfully to Su Yuntao. "Thank you, Master Soul Master, for coming each year to awaken our children's martial souls."
[Ding! An 80,000-year-old Blue Silver King detected nearby. Please be cautious!]
Xiaotian followed the chief toward the blacksmith shop. Meanwhile, the system kept warning again and again about the Blue Silver King's presence—but all Xiaotian saw was vast fields of blue silver grass. No signs of the ancient beast.
He shook his head, annoyed, and ignored the alerts.
Suddenly, he stepped on a patch of blue silver grass. Not paying much mind, he moved his foot away. To him, the grass was just like weeds from his previous life—something easily overlooked.
Then the system's voice shocked him. [Alert! The host has accidentally crushed the 80,000-year-old Blue Silver King! Critical hit reward triggered!]
[Reward: Increased comprehension and innate soul power raised to level ten!]
Xiaotian blinked in disbelief. Was this system completely crazy?
He looked back at the trampled blue silver grass. How could it possibly be the fearsome Blue Silver King?
Despite reading countless novels before, he was puzzled. He suspected the system was rewarding him in some roundabout way—perhaps because of his poor talent.
After all, if the host was subpar, the system's own reputation would suffer!
Since the system was so generous, Xiaotian would accept the reward—though grudgingly. Typical case of taking advantage of others!
At the blacksmith shop, the village chief handed Xiaotian the long sword he'd made. "Xiaotian, here's the iron sword you always wanted. It's forged from the best ore we could find."
He hesitated, then added, "Since your martial spirit is a sword, if this iron sword…"
Before he could finish, Xiaotian grabbed the sword protectively. "Grandpa Village Chief, since you promised this sword is mine, you can't back out—even if it's my martial sword."
"Alright, alright, I'm not going back on my word. By the way, can you show me your martial spirit?"
Xiaotian nodded and twisted his right hand. "Fifteen, appear!"
Instantly, a dark longsword appeared, but to Xiaotian's surprise, the rust was gone. Could it be that his improved innate soul power had also enhanced his martial soul's quality?
"Hey, Xiaotian, your martial spirit's name is Sword Fifteen? That's odd. Didn't the master soul master say your sword was rusty? Why is it shining now? That's strange."
Xiaotian politely saluted the sword to the old chief, and the sword swayed gently side to side—not a bit humorous, but mesmerizing.
The village chief, experienced as both a soul master and blacksmith, was stunned. He had never seen such a vibrant martial soul!
"Xiaotian, your martial spirit is truly unusual… there's something indescribable about it."
His sharp eyes sensed Xiaotian's sword spirit was special.
Now, Xiaotian was even more certain this was the Sword Fifteen—the legendary sword spirit of Xuan-Yuan Sword from his previous life.
Xiaotian smiled but said nothing.
Three months passed.
Under the chief's guidance, Xiaotian finally stood before the gates of Notting College.
During these months, he practiced swordplay on the back mountain daily. When his soul power was full, he wielded Sword Fifteen; when drained, he switched to the iron sword.
Thanks to the system's reward boosting his comprehension, he found cultivating sword intent surprisingly easy. He could even condense sword energy at his fingertips and shoot it out!
This came as a surprise—he hadn't learned many sword moves, only swinging—but he managed to master sword intent first. Wasn't that backward?
At the gate, a stern security guard checked Xiaotian's work-study certificate and let him in without comment. Xiaotian silently thought, "Right. The guard's just an ordinary person. How dare he try to cause trouble for a future soul master?"
Xiaotian was assigned to Dormitory 7 for work-study students.
As he entered, everyone turned to stare. One boy smirked arrogantly, "You must be the new freshman. I'm Wang Sheng. We have one rule here in Dorm 7: if you want to join, you have to fight the dorm head!"
P.S. In this chapter, Xiaotian navigates early challenges after awakening his rare and powerful sword martial soul, Sword Fifteen, which has already transformed through his improved soul power. He chooses to explore the outside world first, hinting at his independent spirit and curiosity. His quick cultivation progress and mysterious system rewards set him apart, while entrance into Notting College introduces new social dynamics and tests.
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