On the other side, a maid from the Spirit Hall led Jiang Hao to a solemn and magnificent palace. The palace's design wasn't flashy, but rather elegant and grand.
Jiang Hao followed the maid into the palace. The furnishings weren't luxurious, lacking any sense of extravagance, yet it possessed all sorts of facilities, both familiar and unfamiliar to Jiang Hao.
Although young, Jiang Hao possessed a keen mind. He knew that the older brother's status in the Spirit Hall was undoubtedly significant; otherwise, a single letter wouldn't have allowed him to stay in the Pope's Palace—a place many dreamed of.
Jiang Hao deeply understood that the Spirit Hall wasn't a charity; he had to cultivate diligently to be worthy of the resources he possessed. He knew that meeting Qian Xunji was the greatest opportunity of his life. Without Qian Xunji, he might have been sold off somewhere, his fate unknown, or perhaps he would have already died in the cellar of Jiang Family Village, undiscovered.
He must cultivate diligently, he absolutely must! Besides, a flame of hatred blazed in Jiang Hao's eyes. "Evil Soul Masters, I, Jiang Hao, will wipe you out the day I die!"
Several months passed in the blink of an eye. Jiang Hao ate nutritious food and slept in a comfortable bed every day in the Pope's Palace, but he didn't succumb to despair; instead, he worked even harder.
After observing Jiang Hao for a few days, Qian Daoliu allowed him to enter the Spirit Hall library to study some basic theories, and he would also provide appropriate guidance.
However, to Qian Daoliu's surprise, the boy would spend the entire day in the library, sometimes even forgetting to eat, which astonished him. It's known that in the Douluo Continent, most six-year-old children wouldn't have the patience to read those dry books on Soul Master theory; only Jiang Hao seemed to want to be in the library twenty-four hours a day.
With such diligent effort, many changes occurred in Jiang Hao. The former country bumpkin, exuding an air of folly, was now composed, calm, and confident.
[It seems that reading and learning can bring about tremendous changes in a person.]
Time flies, and today is the annual Spirit Awakening Day for the Spirit Hall. All eligible six-year-old children of the Spirit Hall will come to the Spirit Hall to awaken their Spirits.
Early in the morning, the streets of Spirit City were already bustling with people, because today was the day of Spirit Awakening.
Templar Knights belonging to the Spirit Hall patrolled and guarded, maintaining order. At this time, the square in front of the temple was already full of people. Almost all of them were parents accompanying their children, standing in lines in different blocks to wait.
Jiang Hao had gotten up early, ate breakfast, and read. Today, he was also the protagonist, because he was about to have his Spirit Awakening.
Today, Jiang Hao was wearing a black training robe, his hair was tied up, and his posture was upright. During his time at the Spirit Hall, Jiang Hao's nutrition gradually caught up, shedding the air of a country boy, and growing into a tall boy of about 1.3 meters, with increasingly handsome features.
Jiang Hao also had worries; he was worried about what kind of Spirit he would awaken. Having thoroughly studied the Spirit Hall's scriptures, he naturally understood that his awakened spirit was influenced by his parents' spirits. If it was powerful, that would be fine; but if it was a useless spirit, the blow would be immense.
After all, on the Douluo Continent, the quality of one's spirit determined their future and destiny. Moreover, Jiang Hao didn't want to disappoint Qian Xunji; he wanted to one day stand by Qian Xunji's side, helping him and repaying his kindness.
Spirit City was divided into many districts, and with so many children awakening their spirits, the Spirit Hall assigned one spirit master to each district.
A temple bishop emerged from the Spirit Hall's sanctuary in a district and began summoning children from each district to awaken their spirits.
Adults were not allowed to go in.
The sanctuary's gates were guarded by temple warriors with halberds, and adults were kept outside.
Each time a child went in to awaken their spirit, the adults would anxiously peek in, appearing even more nervous than their children. Once the child awakens their Martial Soul, they swarm around, either asking questions or receiving the Soul Master certificate to check the results. Upon receiving the desired answer, some weep with joy, others laugh heartily, while still others are filled with sorrow and disappointment, utterly dejected.
Jiang Hao, on the other hand, awakened his Martial Soul in front of the Pope's Hall. There were few people there; the empty hall was eerily quiet.
In the center of the hall stood several figures. Leading them, dressed in a white-gold-silver-threaded robe, stood ramrod straight—it was Qian Daoliu. Qian Daoliu was dressed very formally today, perhaps because it was the day of his Martial Soul awakening.
Beside Qian Daoliu stood several figures—elders of the Spirit Hall. They too had juniors awakening their Martial Souls, and as elders, they always paid close attention to the development of their descendants.
"Alright, let's begin the Martial Soul Awakening," Qian Daoliu instructed.
A cardinal bowed and replied, "Yes, Your Holiness."
Jiang Hao appeared calm, but his tightly clenched hands behind his back betrayed him. After all, he was still a child, and he was very nervous about something that would determine his future.
Jiang Hao wasn't the first to awaken his Martial Soul, but he wasn't late either.
Before the cardinal
, six large, glittering gems were arranged in a hexagon, their patterns carved from special materials, forming a large six-pointed star array.
This was a special array for awakening Martial Souls.
Theoretically, a Soul Master could directly inject Soul Power into a person's body to guide the Martial Soul awakening, but this would consume a large amount of the Soul Master's Soul Power, and most of it would be wasted, dissipating completely—a losing proposition.
Unless you are a powerful Soul Douluo or higher with profound Soul Power, never attempt to awaken someone else's Martial Soul without using an awakening array.
Few Soul Masters could withstand such a massive loss of Soul Power. A careless mistake could lead to a backlash from the sudden depletion of Soul Power, causing injury or even death.
The Six-Pointed Star Array exists to solve this problem.
It not only stabilizes and strengthens Soul Power, preventing waste and significantly reducing the Soul Power used by the Soul Master conducting the awakening,
but also isolates the Soul Master from the awakener, preventing direct contact and protecting the presiding Soul Master from backlash and ensuring their safety.
Beside them stood a pillar over half a meter tall.
On it rested a blue crystal ball the size of a human head, shimmering with a hazy light, immediately attracting the attention of the children. This was a Soul Power Crystal used to test innate Soul Power.
Essentially a special Soul Guidance Device, it was made from a unique crystal highly sensitive to Soul Power.
Due to the rarity of the raw materials and the complexity of the manufacturing process, it was extremely expensive and a rare item, possessed only by the Spirit Hall and major powers.
Throughout the entire continent, only the Spirit Hall possesses the crafting technology and the capability to manufacture and mass-produce spirits.
This is why, in the entire Douluo Continent, only the Spirit Hall has the ability and the willingness to provide free spirit awakening services to the common people.