Chapter Eighty-Six: First Arrival in Douluo, Part One

After a dizzying whirl, Lin An found himself in an unfamiliar jungle.

“Where is this place?” he murmured.

[Current Plane: the Land of Souls!]

“What? I’ve actually come to the Land of Souls?”

Lin An cried out in surprise.

The Land of Souls was a world of martial spirits. He was not born here; there was a very real chance that he would be unable to awaken a martial spirit at all. And without one, the power he had cultivated before might not be usable.

Lin An circulated the skill he had cultivated. Just as he had expected, the vital energy within his body could move as freely as he wished, but when he tried to use martial techniques, he found that he could not invoke them at all.

It was as though some mysterious force had sealed them away.

“If I can’t use vital energy or martial techniques, what about the heavenly flames?”

If the heavenly flames could still be used, then even in this Land of Souls they would surely unleash formidable power.

Thinking of this, Lin An began to try summoning the heavenly flames within his body. Soon, the Clear Lotus Heart Flame, the Bone-Spirit Cold Flame, and the Azure Phoenix Heavenly Flame appeared before him in turn.

“Good. The heavenly flames still work. With my own formidable physical strength as well, I should at least be able to protect myself,” Lin An murmured.

By now the sky was gradually brightening, and people had begun to walk along the road. Many of them were adults leading five- or six-year-old children in the same direction.

Lin An quickly stepped forward and stopped one of them, intending to ask what place this was.

“You don’t look like you’re from around here, do you? This is Saint Spirit Village. Today is the day the Spirit Hall is testing martial spirits, so we’re taking the children from our families over there for the examination!”

Seeing that Lin An was richly dressed and handsome, and did not seem like a bad person, the man answered honestly.

“So that’s how it is. Thank you,” Lin An said with a nod.

This was Saint Spirit Village, and it happened to be the day the Spirit Hall was testing martial spirits. Lin An wondered whether the system had deliberately chosen this time line; when he first appeared in the Battle Through the Heavens world, it had also been just before the story truly began.

Of course, he still could not be sure of the exact time line, and since he was also very interested in the martial spirit test, he followed the crowd toward the Spirit Hall testing site.

It was called the Spirit Hall, but in truth it was only a shabby little house. If Saint Spirit Village had not once produced a Soul Saint, then under the village’s present circumstances the Spirit Hall would likely never have bothered to set up a testing point here, and the children would have needed to go to another village to be tested.

An elder who looked fairly advanced in years was comforting the not-so-many children.

Lin An’s arrival drew some attention, but no one took it to heart. Everyone present had come with children to have their martial spirits tested, and they were already nervous enough; naturally, they paid little mind to him.

“All right, stop talking. The Spirit Hall’s master will be here soon. Don’t make Saint Spirit Village lose face.”

Old Jack saw the children eagerly discussing what kind of martial spirit they might awaken and chattering away, so he spoke up to quiet them.

With Old Jack’s words, everyone finally fell silent.

When word came that the Spirit Hall master had already arrived outside Saint Spirit Village, Old Jack hurried forward to greet him.

Not long after, the man he had met returned with another person.

“This is Spirit Hall battle soul master Su Yuntao, who will preside over today’s martial spirit awakening ceremony.”

Old Jack stood to one side and spoke with respectful deference.

Su Yuntao looked somewhat weary. He had already visited several villages in succession and still had not found a single soul master worth recommending to the Spirit Hall. This village was no better than the ones before it, so he did not hold out much hope.

After that, Su Yuntao wasted no time on pleasantries and began the awakening ceremony directly.

The martial spirit awakenings proceeded in orderly fashion. Among ordinary people, it was extremely difficult for a soul master to appear; only the inheritors of the major sects were most likely to become soul masters.

Nearly nine children had come for the test. It could be said that all the six-year-old children in the village had gathered here. Half of them had already been tested, yet of those, fewer than half had awakened a martial spirit. Among those, a number had no soul power at all, and in the end only a pitiful few met the requirements.

“Could it be that I really shouldn’t have expected much?”

Looking at the remaining few children, Su Yuntao’s eyes made no attempt to hide his disappointment, and he had already all but given up hope.

“Martial spirit, Blue Silver Grass, innately full of soul power. What a pity—such excellent soul power, wasted for nothing.”

Su Yuntao stared at Tang San’s martial spirit, unable to calm himself for a long while.

A useless martial spirit paired with innately full soul power... This was the first time he had ever heard of such a combination.

“To become a soul master, soul power is of the utmost importance. Most people have no soul power when their martial spirit awakens, just like those children from earlier. They are destined never to become soul masters in this lifetime. But as long as a trace of soul power appears, even if it is only a thread, one can cultivate through meditation. When a martial spirit awakens, the amount of soul power is crucial; it determines the starting point of a soul master’s cultivation. The higher one’s innate soul power, the faster one will cultivate later on. At the same time, because one starts higher, one naturally stands ahead of others. So-called innately full soul power means the highest soul power one can reach at the moment of martial spirit awakening.”

Seeing the puzzled expressions on everyone’s faces, Su Yuntao explained while still stunned.

After hearing the explanation, Tang San merely nodded silently. He was not disappointed, however, because he did not have only one martial spirit; he was also hiding another.

The moment Lin An heard the words Blue Silver Grass, he already knew what time line he was in now.

Tang San had just awakened his martial spirit, and the plot of the first Land of Souls had officially begun.

This test had yielded only one person worthy of his notice: Tang San. Unfortunately, he had been saddled with a worthless Blue Silver Grass martial spirit, wasting such brilliant talent.

“All right, the testing in Saint Spirit Village ends here. I should be off to the next village,” Su Yuntao said with some disappointment. Just as he was about to turn and leave, Lin An stopped him.

“Master Su Yuntao, may I trouble you to test my martial spirit as well?”

At Lin An’s words, Su Yuntao turned to look at him, his brows faintly furrowing.

Lin An possessed an extraordinary bearing. Though Su Yuntao could not tell which country his clothing came from, it still gave off an air of nobility. He did not dare be careless. “Why would you say that, brother? Could it be that at your age you have never had your martial spirit tested?”

Su Yuntao was deeply puzzled. Judging from Lin An’s attire, he did not seem like someone who could not even afford a martial spirit test.

More importantly, on the Land of Souls, even the poorest people would receive the Spirit Hall’s help to see whether they could awaken a martial spirit.

“I was delayed by some matters, and that is why I have never been able to take part in a martial spirit test until now.”

Lin An wore an earnest expression. On one hand, he was curious; on the other, he wanted to know whether he could awaken a martial spirit. Only if he could awaken one would his true strength be fully brought to bear.