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Luan Yu smiled and said, "Liuying has full innate soul power. Title Douluos aren't like those low-level soul masters — you actually need a soul power crystal to test for innate soul power at their level."
Meteor twitched his lips. Title Douluo, so what?
…Oh right, Title Douluos are a big deal. Meteor stood in front of Bupo Douluo, a bit sulky, repeating what Liuying had just gone through.
His martial soul had awakened alongside Liuying's, so he wasn't nervous at all and acted pretty naturally.
As a blast of red flames — very different from Liuying's green ones — exploded out of him, Meteor's body turned into a silver-white humanoid mecha. Just like Liuying, his martial soul was a humanoid mech, but there were some differences: Liuying's soul emitted green flames, while his burned bright red. Her mecha form was silver with a tinge of green, his had a silver body with a hint of red.
That subtle difference might be due to Liuying carrying the divine power of the Goddess of Life… or maybe it's just a male vs. female version?
"Yup, exactly the same martial soul."
Luan Yu gave a knowing smile. The two kids kept insisting they weren't siblings, but come on — they looked so much alike. Same hair and eye color, even their names were similar. How could they not be related? Now that they'd shown the same martial soul, she was even more convinced.
Huo Feng Douluo hadn't said a word this whole time. Out of everyone here, she was the only one who truly understood how powerful these two martial souls were. Bupo Douluo and Luan Yu were just thinking in terms of top-tier souls with full innate power, but that was far from the whole story.
"Thanks, Bupo Douluo. I'll take these two with me now. There's still a line of people waiting."
She didn't want Bupo Douluo digging too deep — it wasn't safe. Sure, talent brings attention and resources, but it also attracts the wrong kind of interest. These two kids were still weak, and if someone with bad intentions caught wind of their potential, it'd be dangerous.
Thankfully, only a few people had access to the Awakening Hall's records, so the risk of them being exposed anytime soon was low. And even if people heard about their top-tier martial souls and full soul power, it wouldn't cause too much of a stir — talent doesn't mean much until it's developed.
Now, the humanoid mech martial soul was rare enough that it might draw the attention of researchers studying human-shaped soul devices, but with her and Luan Yu around, no one would dare get too bold.
Bupo Douluo did want to study their martial souls a bit more, but he was a responsible man. His job was awakening martial souls, and there were still others waiting — he wasn't about to waste time. So he let Huo Feng Douluo take the kids and go.
Noticing her sister's strange expression, Luan Yu quickly followed her out of the Awakening Hall and jumped into Huo Feng Douluo's ride, heading straight to her villa.
Meanwhile, at the White Tiger Duke's mansion in the distant Star Luo Empire, another awakening ceremony was underway.
"Roar!"
With a thunderous tiger's roar, a blond boy let out a low growl. White tiger claws burst out of his arms, replacing his hands, and his whole body swelled in size, becoming taller and more imposing.
"Well done! Dai Huabin, martial soul: White Tiger. Full innate soul power!"
The soul saint presiding over the ceremony beamed as he made the announcement.
The blonde boy, Dai Huabin, deactivated his martial soul. Maintaining it right after awakening wasn't easy for him, so he looked a bit worn out. Still, pride lit up his face as he turned toward the elegant woman seated at the head of the room and called out warmly, "Mother, I didn't disappoint you, right?"
"Good, good, very good! That's my son. Your father would be so proud if he knew."
The noblewoman reached out fondly and smoothed his golden hair, her eyes full of affection.
"Congratulations, Madam! Congrats to the Second Young Master! Like father, like son!"
The awakening master standing to the side quickly offered his congratulations. He was one of the White Tiger Duke's own men — otherwise, he wouldn't have been trusted with the job of awakening the duke's child's martial soul.
As a staunch supporter of the White Tiger line, the stronger they were, the better. Full innate soul power, and maybe even a future Title Douluo! On top of that, the duke's eldest son had already been accepted into Shrek Academy — another genius with top-notch talent.
As the atmosphere grew jubilant, a modestly dressed, beautiful woman — looking like a maid — led in a shy black-haired boy.
She glanced up at the seated duchess, then finally summoned her courage and said softly, "Um, Madam, Yuhao is old enough to awaken his martial soul too…"
The duchess's cheerful expression instantly turned cold. She shot the woman and the boy a frosty look, then shut her eyes without a word.
The once-lively room went dead silent. The Soul Saint awakening master and all the nearby servants froze, not daring to breathe too loudly.
Eventually, Dai Huabin glanced at the black-haired boy with disdain and sneered, "Mother, let this little loser try awakening too. I'm curious what kind of useless martial soul he'll get."
The duchess opened her eyes again. She really did despise that woman and her child, and had done everything she could to suppress them. But awakening a martial soul was no small matter — no matter how worthless that kid seemed, he still carried the White Tiger Duke's blood. If she refused to let him awaken his martial soul, the elders from the White Tiger line would be the first to call her out.
Even the Soul Saint awakening master, who had just shown her so much respect, would probably take issue with her — might even go over her head and report it to the Duke himself, who was currently stationed at the border.
That's the last thing she wanted. The Duke must never find out about this woman and her son.
Finally, the duchess gave a slight nod to the Soul Saint and said coldly, "Go ahead."
The awakening master let out a quiet sigh of relief. The Duke's family drama was the last thing he wanted to get involved in. But if someone carrying the White Tiger bloodline wasn't even allowed to awaken his martial soul, he'd be the one in trouble if the Duke ever found out. No way would he escape blame.
Thank God the duchess still had some sense and didn't go completely off the rails.
He waved to the black-haired boy, neither friendly nor cold. After all, this was still the White Tiger Duke's child. Even though the duchess was crushing him now, if this kid awakened the White Tiger martial soul, even with low soul power, his status would skyrocket overnight.
No matter how much the duchess hated him, if he awakened the White Tiger martial soul, she wouldn't be able to control him anymore.
The White Tiger line still had elders around — she wasn't powerful enough to silence them all.
"....."