Su Yuntao still had several villages left to visit.
When they reached the next intersection, he got out of the carriage and continued on his own.
By evening, the carriage arrived in Nuoding City and reached their new home.
The new house wasn’t very big.
It was just a small courtyard in the western part of the city.
But it had everything they needed.
There was a master bedroom, a side room, a kitchen, and even a private well.
There was also a small vegetable garden and a storefront attached to the house.
The storefront could be used by Lin Yuan’s mother to open a medicinal herb shop.
The couple had planned this out long ago.
Back in the village, Lin Yuan’s mother would occasionally purchase medicinal herbs.
Whenever his father returned, he would take them into the city and resell them.
That helped supplement the family’s income.
Now that they had their own medicinal herb shop, it could be considered a pretty decent business.
As for Lin Yuan’s room, naturally, it was the separate side room.
After settling into their new home, Lin Yuan began training in earnest.
He wanted to build up his physique so that he would be in better shape when he awakened his martial soul.
Every day, he did 100 push-ups, 100 squats, 100 sit-ups and ran 10 kilometers.
For a child who hadn’t even turned six, this was undoubtedly a daunting task.
Lin Yuan didn’t expect himself to accomplish it all right from the beginning.
He only needed to complete the full routine before his martial soul awakened.
By the time those two and a half months had passed, Lin Yuan’s body had undergone a tremendous transformation.
He couldn’t say that he possessed immense strength, but he had at least developed a solid physique.
He was no longer as soft and weak as he had once been.
On this particular day, Lin Yuan unusually didn’t train.
Lin Kun had also taken the day off from his duties at the City Lord’s residence.
His mother had prepared a table full of steaming dishes early that morning.
There was only one reason.
Lin Yuan had finally turned six.
It was time for his martial soul awakening.
After celebrating his birthday, Lin Yuan left home with his father and headed to the Nuoding City Spirit Hall Branch to awaken his martial soul.
The Nuoding City Spirit Hall Branch was a huge domed building.
It was one hundred meters wide and twenty meters tall, with a total of three floors.
“Master Lin Kun, you’re here to bring your child for his martial soul awakening, right?
Come on in.
Master Su Yuntao is already waiting inside.”
As soon as Lin Yuan arrived at the Spirit Hall, he saw two guards greeting his father.
Lin Kun nodded.
He was already very familiar with the Nuoding City Spirit Hall Branch.
When father and son entered the hall on the second floor, they happened to see Su Yuntao.
He had already transformed into a humanoid gray wolf and was standing in front of the martial soul awakening formation, which consisted of six black stones.
He was preparing to awaken the martial souls of four children of the appropriate age.
There was less than half a month left before Nuoding Academy began its new term.
Clearly, these children, like Lin Yuan, had just turned six and had come at the last possible moment to awaken their martial souls.
Seeing Su Yuntao’s appearance, Lin Yuan deliberately hid behind his father in fear, displaying the natural apprehension a rural child of his age would have toward something unfamiliar.
Lin Kun rubbed his head, signaling to him not to be afraid, then nodded toward Su Yuntao.
When Su Yuntao, who had transformed into a humanoid gray wolf, saw Lin Kun bring Lin Yuan inside, he didn’t say anything.
He simply raised his hand and gestured for Lin Yuan to stand at the very back.
He then began awakening the martial souls of the children one by one.
“Niu Dali, Martial Soul: Iron Hammer.
What a pity.
You have no soul power.”
“Chen Ergou, Martial Soul: Dog.
Innate soul power: half a rank.”
“Zhu Sanpao, Martial Soul: Pig.
Innate soul power: half a rank.”
After awakening the martial souls of three children in succession, Su Yuntao had at least found two children with soul power.
Unfortunately, their martial souls were either a pig or a dog, and their innate soul power was only half a rank.
This inevitably left Su Yuntao somewhat disappointed.
The final boy was exceptionally handsome.
Although his clothes were plain and his body was thin from malnutrition, with yellowish skin, his face held confidence.
More importantly, there was an unmistakable air of self-importance about him.
The other children had all been somewhat frightened by Su Yuntao’s wolf-like appearance.
Only this boy looked completely unfazed, as though he had seen it all before.
He was absolutely a textbook transmigrator.
That was precisely why Lin Yuan had been secretly observing him ever since he arrived.
When it was finally the boy’s turn, he didn’t step into the martial soul awakening formation.
Instead, he spoke in a calm and composed manner, like a little adult.
“Master Su Yuntao, I didn’t come here to awaken my martial soul.
I came to have you issue me a martial soul certificate.”
“The last time you came to our village to awaken martial souls, you saw that mine was Blue Silver Grass, so you didn’t test my soul power.”
“Not long ago, a soul master passed through our village.
He realized that I possessed soul power and asked me why I wasn’t going to school.
He told me to come here.”
“Which village are you from?” Su Yuntao asked in surprise.
“Emperor Soul Village, next to Holy Soul Village,” the boy answered.
“That can’t be right.
I tested the soul power of every child in the villages after Holy Soul Village…”
Su Yuntao was somewhat speechless.
“Forget it.
Forget it.
Just test it.”
He handed over the soul power testing crystal ball.
Lin Yuan noticed that the instant Su Yuntao handed over the crystal ball, the corners of the boy’s mouth curled up ever so slightly.
The next moment, the boy raised his hand and gently touched the crystal ball.
A light that wasn’t particularly intense suddenly burst from within it.
“Innate rank one soul power…”
Su Yuntao’s expression changed.
“No, it’s already one and a half ranks.
Almost two.”
“You really do have soul power.
Could I have remembered it wrong?”
“That’s enough, Master Su Yuntao.
My name is Yan Beifei.
Please issue my martial soul certificate.”
“I still need to attend Nuoding Academy in half a month.”
Yan Beifei spoke as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
“What an impolite little brat.”
Su Yuntao was somewhat annoyed, but he didn’t make things difficult for him.
After issuing Yan Beifei his martial soul certificate, Yan Beifei turned around and left without looking back.
Lin Yuan watched his departing figure, deep in thought.
The three children whose martial souls had already been awakened also said goodbye to Su Yuntao before leaving.
A moment later, only Lin Yuan, Su Yuntao, and Lin Yuan’s father remained in the awakening room.
“Ah Yuan, come on in.”
At Su Yuntao’s signal, Lin Yuan stepped into the martial soul awakening formation.
As Su Yuntao injected his soul power into the six stones, one golden point of light after another floated up from the awakening stones on the ground.
Lin Yuan suddenly felt as though something inside his body had shattered.
He instinctively extended his right hand.
The next moment, an ordinary-looking green bamboo appeared in his palm.
“Test your soul power quickly,” Su Yuntao urged.
Lin Yuan’s heart immediately leaped into his throat.
The key difference between ordinary bamboo and Lone Bamboo was whether it possessed soul power.
If he had no soul power and failed to awaken a proper martial soul, many of his plans for the future would be affected.
Lin Kun was also sweating nervously for him, his eyes fixed on the crystal ball in Su Yuntao’s hand.
Fortunately, the result didn’t disappoint either father or son.
A few seconds later, Lin Yuan gently touched the crystal ball with his palm.
Brilliant light immediately erupted from within it.
The radiance was even brighter than the light produced by Yan Beifei.
“Innate rank 3 soul power!”
Lin Kun was overjoyed.
“Good!
Good!
Ah Yuan, now you can become a soul master just like me.”
“Yuntao, let’s go to the old tavern tonight.
Call a few of our old friends.
We’ll have a proper drink together!”
Back in Zhuling, most villagers awakened ordinary Bamboo Martial Souls.
Only a very small number of people could awaken Lone Bamboo.
Now that Lin Yuan had awakened a Lone Bamboo martial soul with innate rank 3 soul power, his talent was even better than his father’s had been.
How could Lin Kun not be delighted?
End of Chapter