In
a high-end bar in Notting City, though it was already midnight, the place was still brightly lit and bustling with activity.
Elegantly dressed, slicked-back-haired young noblemen and wealthy men sang loudly, surrounded by a large group of scantily clad, flamboyant young women cheering them on.
The bar owner, who had previously been all smiles and obsequious flattery, suddenly turned around, his face contorting with rage.
He yelled at a slender boy, dressed in a small waiter's uniform, who looked to be only five or six years old, "Little Yu, where have you been? The VIP on the second floor ordered a drink!"
The boy, his forehead glistening with sweat, deftly carried a bottle of precious liquor on a silver tray and quickly ran up to the lavishly decorated second floor.
"Here it comes! Fifty-year-old Xifeng liquor! Please enjoy, esteemed guests."
The boy had barely left the room when the bar owner's roar echoed again: "Xiao Yuzi, don't you want your wages? Can't you see the kitchen is already overwhelmed?"
"Damn capitalists!"
the boy with the silver tray tucked under his right arm muttered under his breath, head down, not looking at the bar owner as he dashed into the bustling kitchen.
"Lu Tianyu, aren't you going home this late? You're really working hard."
As soon as he entered the kitchen, a wave of heat mixed with various smells hit him, and a portly, sweaty middle-aged man wearing a chef's hat asked.
The little boy named Lu Tianyu shrugged and said, "I have no choice. I have to work hard to save up enough tuition for the junior soul master academy."
The head chef looked at Lu Tianyu with disdain and said, "Have you awakened your martial soul yet? You're thinking of going to the junior soul master academy without even awakening it?"
Lu Tianyu looked at the head chef who was mocking him and said, "Soon. I'll go to the Spirit Hall to awaken my martial soul in three days."
Another man busy in the kitchen interjected, "Anyone over six years old can go to the Spirit Hall to awaken their martial soul anytime. Why do you have to wait three days?"
"Master Su Yuntao will preside over the martial soul awakening ceremony in three days, that's why I'm going to the Spirit Hall to awaken my martial soul in three days."
"Are you crazy? There are so many soul masters in the Spirit Hall who can perform martial soul awakening ceremonies, why do you have to go to Master Su Yuntao?"
The head chef said while stirring the dishes in the pot. Lu Tianyu pursed his lips and didn't reply.
The reason for specifically seeking out Su Yuntao to awaken his martial soul is, of course, because the martial soul awakened by Master Su Yuntao has a high probability of being a top-tier martial soul.
As for why Lu Tianyu thinks this way, it's because he was originally an ordinary young man living on Blue Star.
He didn't have a distinguished family background, but he had loving and caring parents. In his youth, he worked hard to finish university.
After graduation, he casually found a job as a low-level employee at a company, working without a break for two years until he collapsed from exhaustion in an elevator.
When he woke up, he found himself transformed into a poorly clothed little kid. As a modern youth, he naturally knew he had transmigrated.
But while other transmigrators either have a powerful grandfather or a system by their side, are reborn into wealthy families and rejected by their fiancés, or become powerful figures who have trained many outstanding individuals,
Lu Tianyu had nothing. He had neither a powerful grandfather nor a system.
His identity wasn't that of a wealthy young master or a powerful figure, but rather a starving beggar.
More importantly, transmigration was irreversible; Lu Tianyu had to accept it whether he wanted to or not.
Fortunately, Lu Tianyu knew that the world he had been reborn into was called Douluo Continent, a popular anime that was airing when he transmigrated.
However, Lu Tianyu had only watched a little over a hundred episodes, only knowing that the main characters had just won the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.
Lu Tianyu also remembered that there was a Soul Awakening Master named Su Yuntao hidden in the Spirit Hall of Notting City. Rumor had it that any Soul Awakening Master he deemed useless had a high probability of becoming a God-level Soul Awakening Master.
He wanted to turn his life around and needed to rely on this God-level Soul Awakening Master to bless his Soul Awakening. Therefore, Lu Tianyu had been waiting for Su Yuntao to
conduct the Soul Awakening Ceremony. However, it took Lu Tianyu half a year to inquire about Su Yuntao's movements. During this time, Lu Tianyu also gained a deep understanding of the cruel social environment of Douluo Continent.
He knew that to live freely in Douluo Continent, one must become a great Soul Master.
On Douluo Continent, Soul Masters not only possessed high social status but also had the powerful ability to control their own destiny.
Unfortunately, Lu Tianyu was still just an ordinary nobody without an awakened martial soul. Even after awakening his martial soul and qualifying to become a Soul Master, he still needed to save up enough tuition to attend the elementary Soul Master Academy.
Therefore, to realize his dream of turning his life around, Lu Tianyu worked odd jobs in various shops in Notting City to earn his tuition. Drawing on his previous life's experience of working and studying diligently, he earned and saved approximately five silver soul coins in five months.
Three days later, in the early morning, Lu Tianyu first took a bath in the small river outside Notting City.
Then he changed into the clothes he had prepared beforehand and tied his long, flowing hair into a high ponytail.
If possible, Lu Tianyu naturally wouldn't want to keep his hair long, but getting a haircut costs money, and in the Douluo Continent, no one would say anything if a man had long hair, so Lu Tianyu kept it long to save money.
After dressing and tidying himself up, Lu Tianyu stood by the river and, for the first time, carefully observed his current appearance through the reflection in the water.
In truth, what earth-shattering appearance could a six-year-old possibly have? In Lu Tianyu's eyes, he was just another fair-skinned, slightly chubby little baby.
"Whether I can turn my life around depends on today. Master Su Yuntao, don't disappoint me!"
Lu Tianyu muttered to himself, both worried and hopeful, before turning and heading into Notting City.
He easily found himself in front of the most luxurious and tallest building in Notting City, where a highly complex emblem hung prominently. The
emblem featured a sword, a hammer, a dragon, a chrysanthemum, a human figure, and a pair of wings—the emblem of the Spirit Hall, the largest Soul Master organization on the Douluo Continent.
Lu Tianyu had been here several times before. Just as he reached the entrance of the Spirit Hall, he was stopped by a guard in armor: "Kid, this is the Spirit Hall."
"If you're here to awaken your Spirit, go in and turn left. If not, leave now."
Lu Tianyu said calmly, "Excuse me, is the master in charge of today's Spirit Awakening Ceremony Master Su Yuntao?"
The guard who had stopped Lu Tianyu felt he looked familiar, but couldn't quite place him.
He asked with great confusion, "Yes, Master Su Yuntao is in charge of today's Spirit Awakening Ceremony."
After hearing the guard's reply, Lu Tianyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and
said, "I'm here to awaken my martial soul, thank you, uncle." He then walked into the Spirit Hall under the guard's questioning gaze. Previously, Lu Tianyu had only inquired from outside the door and had never actually entered.
But once inside, he discovered that the Spirit Hall was far more magnificent than he had imagined. Lu Tianyu could only say that poverty had limited his imagination.
After inquiring with a Soul Master wearing a Battle Soul Master badge on his chest, Lu Tianyu arrived at a room located on the left side of the Spirit Hall's main hall.
Just as he reached the doorway, he saw a woman carrying a sobbing boy of about six years old emerge from the room.
It was obvious they hadn't awakened a martial soul capable of cultivation.
He watched the mother and son disappear behind the Martial Soul Hall. Only then did Lu Tianyu peek into the room. The room for awakening martial souls was rather dim; he could only make out its general outline.
"Little one, come in if you want to awaken your martial soul,"
a cold, emotionless voice suddenly came from inside. Lu Tianyu took a deep breath and entered the room.
His gaze remained fixed on the young man, who appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, dressed in a cloud-white soul master's robe.
He stopped three meters away from him, cupped his hands, and said, "Young Lu Tianyu greets Master Su Yuntao."
Su Yuntao looked at Lu Tianyu with some curiosity and said, "Oh, you know me..."
A knowing smile appeared on Lu Tianyu's face. "We just met. Please, Master, awaken my Martial Soul."
Su Yuntao just chuckled and shook his head after hearing Lu Tianyu's words. "Interesting little fellow. Just stand still and don't move. Don't be afraid of anything you see later."
Lu Tianyu was naturally not afraid of Su Yuntao, but he was afraid that his Martial Soul wouldn't receive the blessing from Master Su Yuntao's words.
"Lone Wolf Possession..."
Su Yuntao activated his soul power and shouted softly. Two soul rings, one white and one yellow, appeared from the top of his head.
At the same time, a blue wolf shadow more than three meters tall appeared behind him, and Su Yuntao's eyes also shone with a dark blue spiritual light.
Although Lu Tianyu had prepared himself for Su Yuntao to summon his Martial Soul, he was still frightened and took a step back when he actually saw the three-meter-tall illusory wolf shadow behind Su Yuntao.
Su Yuntao was already used to this and comforted him, "I told you not to be afraid. This is my Lone Wolf Martial Soul. If you awaken a Martial Soul that you can cultivate, it can be like mine."
As he spoke, Su Yuntao activated his soul power and threw out six black stones. These stones, enhanced by his soul power, spun around Lu Tianyu.
Instantly, Lu Tianyu felt a very peculiar flow of energy seep into his body through his pores, then gather into a warm current that flowed through his limbs, bones, and internal organs.
"Alright, little guy, close your eyes and feel carefully. Open your right hand."
Actually, Lu Tianyu didn't need to feel anything; the warm current flowing through his body rushed towards his right hand at this moment.
Lu Tianyu involuntarily raised his right palm, and then felt something emerge from his right palm. He
subconsciously opened his eyes and saw a somewhat illusory, about an inch tall white figure floating above his right palm.
The figure was only vaguely discernible, showing a head, torso, and limbs, along with small, purple-glowing eyes on its face.
"Is this... some kind of beast spirit? It should be a beast spirit."
Lu Tianyu was slightly taken aback, his heart racing. A spirit that even Master Su Yuntao hesitated to acknowledge must be a god-level spirit.
"Alright, let me see if you have any spirit power. Just use your mind to retrieve your spirit."
With that, Su Yuntao tossed a transparent crystal ball that floated in front of Lu Tianyu. With a thought, the white figure floating in Lu Tianyu's right palm merged back into his body.
Lu Tianyu felt he could easily summon it if he wanted to.
However, now wasn't the time to experiment with summoning a spirit. Trembling, he raised his right hand and placed it on the crystal ball floating before him.
Suddenly, the previously dull crystal ball was filled with a soft, pale blue light.
"Level eight... no, it should be innate level nine soul power."
Seeing this, Su Yuntao said rather anxiously, "I didn't expect you to be a genius. With a beast spirit and innate level nine soul power, you'll definitely become a great soul master."
Lu Tianyu stood there dumbfounded, staring at Su Yuntao in disbelief.
Shouldn't he have said his spirit was useless, that no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn't become a soul master?
Why was he being called a genius? Su Yuntao's idea of genius was that level fifty was the limit, right?
Lu Tianyu gritted his teeth and looked at Su Yuntao with hopeful eyes, saying, "Master Su Yuntao, are you sure you're not mistaken?"
"My martial soul should be a useless one, the kind that can't become a soul master no matter how I cultivate, right?"
This was the first time Su Yuntao had encountered a child who hoped their martial soul was useless. He chuckled and said, "Even if your martial soul is useless, it's still a beast martial soul plus your innate ninth-level soul power talent."
"Your future achievements will definitely surpass mine, after all, I only had third-level soul power when I awakened my martial soul."
Lu Tianyu looked utterly dejected after hearing Su Yuntao's words, as forlorn as if he had awakened a useless martial soul.
This caused Su Yuntao's thoughts to short-circuit, forgetting his invitation to Lu Tianyu to join the Spirit Hall. He habitually issued a martial soul awakening certificate and handed it to Lu Tianyu.
After receiving his certificate, Lu Tianyu turned and walked out of the room and out of the Spirit Hall, looking utterly dejected.
Everyone inside and outside the Spirit Hall was used to Lu Tianyu's behavior, as such scenes played out daily within the Spirit Hall.
Lu Tianyu didn't know how he got back to his shack; he was awakened by hunger late at night.
By the dim moonlight, Lu Tianyu looked at his Spirit Awakening Certificate:
Name: Lu Tianyu
; Spirit: Humanoid Beast Spirit ; Spirit
Power: Innate Level 9
; Awakening Location: Notting City Spirit Branch Hall;
Spirit Awakener: Su Yuntao.
This was not the Spirit Awakening process Lu Tianyu wanted at all. He wanted Su Yuntao to look at him with disdain, saying his Spirit was useless and had no chance of cultivation.
And then, he wanted to have another Spirit hidden in his left hand—a divine Spirit surpassing all the top Spirits on the continent.
But Lu Tianyu didn't sense any other Spirit hidden in his left hand; during the awakening, he had focused all his attention on his left hand.
The result was that he felt nothing, only a strange sensation in his right palm, followed by the appearance of a phantom-like martial soul.
He had awakened a beast martial soul that could be cultivated, and possessed the talent of innate level nine soul power. Such talent was enough to cause a sensation in Notting Junior Soul Master Academy.