LRAB Chapter 1: Martial Soul Awakening! The Mirror of Morality!
Chapter 1: Martial Soul Awakening! The Mirror of Morality!
Douluo Continent, Mingdu.
The March sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the orphanage, making the corridor warm and cozy.
Chen Yingwu stood at the very end of the line, his gaze calmly fixed on the children his age ahead of him. He wore the gray short-sleeved shirt issued by the orphanage, and his hair was neatly cut, making him look no different from the other six-year-olds around him.
But in reality, he is a time traveler who awakened his past life's memories when he was five years old.
It was a completely different world—there were no martial spirits, no spirit power, only skyscrapers and something called "technology".
It took him a week to process those memories, and at the same time, he figured out where he had come to—this was the Douluo Continent, and in the era when internal and external troubles were most severe—the Legend of the Dragon King period.
No, to be precise, it was a hundred years before the official start of the Dragon King Legend era.
While living in the orphanage, he overheard someone mention "the tower master of the Spirit Transmission Tower, Qian Gu Die Ting..." He wondered at the time if the tower master should be Qian Gu Dong Feng.
He continued to inquire, but there was still no news of Yun Ming, Tang Wulin, and others whom he knew from his previous life.
Until a few months ago, a major event that shocked the entire continent occurred and spread throughout the Federation at an extremely rapid pace.
Hades Douluo Harosa, at the age of twenty-five, became a Super Douluo! And caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people!
Not long after, Tianjuan Douluo, the current master of the Sea God Pavilion, found Hades Douluo in a remote coastal city.
An epic battle has broken out!
But the final result was shocking.
Harosa, despite being a Super Douluo, managed to escape severely injured from the Heavenly Favored Douluo, who had already reached the Limit Douluo realm.
That's a Limit Douluo! He's also wearing a four-word battle armor, a true existence standing at the pinnacle of the continent.
But Hades Douluo survived.
Combining his memories from his previous life, he realized that he had arrived a hundred years before the original story began.
He didn't know whether coming to this era was a good thing or a bad thing.
In Douluo Continent, a person's martial spirit almost determines their ultimate potential.
Awakening a powerful martial soul and having enough innate soul power can lead to becoming a respected soul master; awakening a useless martial soul or having no soul power will likely result in being an ordinary person for life, with little chance of accessing the top tiers of the continent.
And today is the day to awaken your martial spirit.
If his martial spirit is weak, even if he travels to a hundred years before the original story begins, it won't be of much use.
He might die of old age before the main character even appears.
Before he could think any further, a voice came from ahead.
"Stay close, don't fall behind." Teacher Lin, who was in charge of leading the group, walked at the front, looking back at them as she went.
Li Sanping walked at the front, his steps light and quick, his face filled with barely suppressed excitement. His eyes were bright, and the corners of his mouth were turned up, as if he were going to receive some kind of reward.
Walking beside him was Chen An. Compared to Li Sanping's outgoing personality, Chen An appeared much more introverted. Although there was a hint of expectation in his eyes, his steps were somewhat tiptoeing.
All three are children from the Mingdu Nursing Home who have recently turned six years old.
The awakening room was in a building at the very back of the orphanage, a place Chen Yingwu had never been before. Teacher Lin swiped her ID card at the door, and the metal door slid open silently, revealing a corridor with a light gray floor.
At the end of the corridor was a heavier door, with a ring of pale blue soul-guided lights embedded in the door frame, emitting a soft glow.
The moment the door opened, a refreshing energy surged out.
Chen Yingwu's pupils contracted slightly. He could feel it—the concentration of soul energy in the air was several times higher than outside.
The spirit medium is already waiting inside.
He was a middle-aged man around forty years old, wearing a silver-gray uniform of the Spirit Pagoda, with the Spirit Pagoda's emblem embroidered on his chest—a tall, silver-white tower with a golden star at its tip. He had a thin face and sharp, eagle-like eyes, scrutinizing the three children with a hint of judgment.
"These are the three?" The spirit medium nodded to Teacher Lin.
"Thank you for your trouble." Teacher Lin's attitude was very respectful. Spirit Masters have an extremely high status in Douluo Continent because they are all Soul Masters, and Soul Masters are the highest-ranking profession on the entire continent.
"Come in, one by one, in order."
The spirit medium pointed to the center of the room. There, six hexagonal metal plates were laid out, forming a larger hexagonal area. Each plate was covered with densely packed soul guidance patterns, and several soul guidance crystals were inlaid at the intersections of the patterns, emitting a faint glow.
Li Sanping was the first to be called up. He took the lead and strode towards the center of the Awakening Array.
"Close your eyes, relax, and don't resist."
The Spirit Master activated the Awakening Array. The soul-guiding patterns on the floor suddenly lit up, and the six metal plates simultaneously emitted a low hum. A gentle wave of soul power surged out from the array, enveloping Li Sanping entirely.
Li Sanping's body trembled slightly, and then a burst of light surged out from his body.
It was a stick.
It was about three feet long, dark red in color, with irregular patterns floating on its surface, like naturally formed lines. After the light faded, the stick hovered in front of Li Sanping, slowly rotating.
"Weapon spirit, patterned staff." The spirit master glanced at it and said calmly, "Place your hand on the crystal ball to test your innate soul power."
Li Sanping was still a little dazed when Teacher Lin gently reminded him from the side, and he then reacted and placed his hand on the soul power crystal ball next to him.
The crystal ball emitted a faint white light, flickered twice, and then dimmed.
"Innate Soul Power Level Two." The Spirit Master recorded it. "Next."
Level 2. The Spirit Master silently noted it down. Not good, not too bad, barely qualified to become a Soul Master, but the talent was truly mediocre. Without a fortuitous encounter, he would probably only ever reach the level of a Great Soul Master.
Li Sanping walked down carrying his patterned staff, his expression a mix of joy and disappointment. Awakening one's martial spirit is a joyous occasion, but level two spirit power is indeed not outstanding.
"A patterned staff, not bad." Teacher Lin patted his head: "If you cultivate diligently, you'll definitely become a Soul Master in the future."
Li Sanping nodded vigorously and hugged the stick even tighter.
The second person to go up was Chen An.
Compared to Li Sanping, Chen An appeared more nervous. He cautiously stepped into the center of the Awakening Array, even closing his eyes before the Spirit Master activated the array.
The spirit medium glanced at it but didn't say anything more.
The awakening array lit up again. This time, the soul power fluctuations were noticeably stronger than before, and the soul guidance crystals on the floor also began to flicker. A ball of azure light burst forth from Chen An's body, quickly condensing into shape—
That was an eagle.
With its blue feathers, sharp eyes, and wingspan exceeding one meter, it exuded a formidable aura even though it was merely a phantom of a martial spirit.
"Beast Soul, Azure Eagle".
The spirit medium's tone finally changed, and he nodded slightly: "Not bad, come and have your soul power tested."
Chen An opened his eyes and saw his awakened martial spirit, a smile appearing on his lips. He placed his hand on the crystal ball, and the crystal ball immediately lit up with a bright white light—once, twice, three times, four times.
It flashed four times before stopping.
"Innate Soul Power Level 4"
The spirit master recorded it down, and a rare expression of approval appeared on his face: "The Azure Eagle is an agility-type beast spirit with level four innate spirit power. It has good talent."
"Thank you, Spirit Master." Chen An bowed respectfully.
Li Sanping watched with wide eyes, then glanced at the patterned stick in his hand, pursed his lips, and ultimately said nothing.
Teacher Lin clapped happily. The emergence of a talented child in the orphanage was a good thing for the entire institution.
Chen Yingwu saw all of this.
He felt neither envy nor nervousness. He simply took a deep breath and, at the Spirit Master's prompting, stepped into the center of the Awakening Array.
Six metal plates lay beneath his feet, their soul-guiding patterns still warm from the previous two activations. Chen Yingwu stopped, closed his eyes, and, as he had heard before, tried to relax his body as much as possible.
His heart started racing involuntarily.
Six years have passed. Ever since he awakened his past life memories at the age of five, he has been thinking about this day.
A person's martial soul determines their fate on the Douluo Continent. The gap between a useless martial soul and a top-tier martial soul is so vast that it is almost insurmountable. He doesn't know what his martial soul will be, but he hopes it will be a high-quality one.
"start up."
As soon as the Spirit Master finished speaking, the awakening array beneath their feet lit up with a bang.
The soul-guiding patterns on the six metal plates simultaneously erupted with dazzling light, far more intense than the previous two times. A surge of soul power rushed in, flowing from the soles of his feet into his body, traveling upwards along his meridians—he felt as if a warm electric current was coursing through his entire body, every cell trembling.
Then, he felt it.
Something is awakening inside him.
It was a mirror.
The mirror, as simple and white as jade, had patterns he couldn't understand etched along its edges, and its surface reflected a deep, eerie light. It emerged from the depths of his body, hovering before him, slowly rotating.
The light in the entire awakening room was suppressed at this moment. The mirror surface seemed to conceal a bottomless abyss, and everyone's gaze fell upon it, feeling as if their consciousness was about to be sucked in.
The spirit medium's pupils suddenly contracted.
He had presided over many Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony and seen all sorts of weapon Martial Souls—swords, spears, halberds, cauldrons, bells, towers, shields, and even musical instruments, calligraphy, and paintings. But he had never seen a Martial Soul like this before.
The mirror exuded an aura that was ancient and profound, carrying a sense of oppression that instinctively inspired awe.
"What kind of martial spirit is this?" the spirit master asked subconsciously, only realizing after the words left his mouth that he had asked a six-year-old child.
Chen Yingwu opened his eyes and looked at the Morality Mirror floating in front of him.
His own face was reflected in the mirror.
At the same time, a surge of information flooded his mind. It wasn't anyone's voice, but a sudden realization that appeared directly in his consciousness—as if he had always known this, and had only just remembered it.
Martial Soul: Moral Mirror.
Characteristic 1: Omniscient. Knows everything that the mind desires.
Characteristic Two: The Dao is Severed by a Single Line. All those reflected in the mirror have a portion of their realm, supernatural powers, spirit, and physical body removed.
Characteristic Three: Everything Leaves a Mark. When the wielder of the mirror becomes powerful enough, they can see across vast landscapes and monitor all directions. They can even travel back in time and glimpse into the future.
Characteristic Four: Morality resides within me. A single glance reveals nothing that cannot be cut down, nothing that cannot be restrained.
Omniscient. Weakening the enemy. Surveillance. Severing prohibitions.
Chen Yingwu's heart pounded like a drum. He tried his best to control his expression, not letting any emotion show. But his hands were trembling slightly.
He knew this martial spirit was very strong. No, not just very strong—among all the martial spirits he knew, probably none could compare to it.
What shocked him the most was the first function—omniscience.
Although he had read the Legend of the Dragon King and knew the general direction and plot of this world.
However, many specific details were forgotten.
For Chen Yingwu, knowing only the general direction of the world was of little use.
As the saying goes, the general trend is hard to change. Even if he knew the God King's grand plan for ten thousand years, with his current strength, there was nothing he could do.
However, there is a lot of room for improvement in the details, and they are not that difficult to change.
However, he had forgotten many specific details about the Dragon King Legend. Besides, he was now living in a real world, and the novels he had read in his previous life only focused on the protagonists to describe this world.
In other words, what the novel tells is only a part of the Douluo Continent, far from the whole story.
Moreover, he is currently in Mingdu, which is more than a hundred years away from the era of the protagonist Tang Wulin. The plot he knows can't help much for the time being.
Things are different now.
Now his moral mirror has the function of omniscience, and can completely make up for the lack of details.
Although he knew the direction of the world before, it was like an ordinary person seeing a flash flood coming in the distance, unable to change anything.
He had to be cautious. He had to carefully conceal his differences, observe everything, and then make a judgment.
But now, he has the ability to know "everything".
Even though this ability has great limitations—the level of the things being inquired about cannot be much higher than one's own cultivation level.
Furthermore, the matter inquired about cannot be closely related to anything or anyone far stronger than oneself.
If the matter being inquired about is of an extremely high level, or has a very close relationship with a powerful figure, then a massive amount of time and a vast amount of soul power will be required. Conversely, the less time is needed, the less soul power is required.
But this is still omniscience.
Because who is higher or lower, stronger or weaker, is in a constant state of flux, not static.
As long as he continues to cultivate and break through, the upper limit of this ability will continue to increase. Things that previously required a lot of time to deduce will also require less and less time.
The same applies to other functions.
Because the power of a martial soul is positively correlated with one's strength; the stronger one is, the stronger the martial soul becomes, and the more powerful its functions become.
Chen Yingwu took a deep breath to calm himself down.
"What is the name of your martial spirit?" the spirit master asked again, his tone much more serious than before.
"A mirror of morality," Chen Yingwu said softly.
He made his voice sound like that of an ordinary six-year-old child, with a hint of confusion and bewilderment: "Its function is to emit a powerful beam of light and to sense the enemy's condition."
He had actually explained all the functions of a mirror, but he had only described them in a weak and simplified way.
"A mirror-like aura with offensive capabilities and the ability to sense enemies..." The Spirit Master nodded thoughtfully. A decent weapon spirit, with its sensory abilities; it could be quite useful in actual combat.
Moreover, based on the unusual phenomenon he had just awakened, he vaguely felt that this martial soul was not as simple as it seemed.
"Let's test your soul power."
Chen Yingwu placed his hand on the soul power crystal ball.
The crystal ball lit up.
Once, twice, three times—the light grew brighter and brighter, and the flashing frequency increased.
The spirit medium's expression changed from calm to surprise, and from surprise to shock.
Four times, five times, six times—
The crystal ball's light was so bright it was almost blinding, illuminating the entire awakening room as if it were daytime.
Seven times, eight times, nine times, ten times.
Ten complete flashes.
Then, the light did not go out, but continued to shine, steadily and brightly.
Full Soul Power.
The spirit medium's hand froze in mid-air, not falling for a long time. He stared incredulously at the steady, unwavering light on the crystal ball, then looked at the calm-faced child before him.
He possesses innate full soul power and is a level 10 Soul Warrior.
On the mainland, the probability of someone possessing innate full soul power is shockingly low. Out of ten thousand awakened individuals, perhaps only one will appear. And every person with innate full soul power, provided their martial soul isn't a useless one, will achieve considerable success in the future.
Moreover, people with high innate soul power will never have low-quality martial souls.
This is a universally acknowledged principle in mainland China today.
Even Tang San, the Sea God from 20,000 years ago, did not have an ordinary Blue Silver Grass martial soul when he first awakened it. It was a high-quality martial soul that could evolve into the Blue Silver Emperor.
Moreover, Tang San, the Sea God, possesses twin martial souls; he also has the Clear Sky Hammer, which was hailed as the number one weapon martial soul in the world 20,000 years ago.
The martial spirit of the child in front of us is clearly not a useless one.
Based on the unusual signs of the child's newly awakened spirit, he could conclude that the child's spirit was of very high quality, possibly a top-tier spirit.
"Innate full soul power, level ten," the Spirit Master said slowly, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement. "Your martial soul is the weapon martial soul, the Moral Mirror, right? Your abilities are mirror light attacks and sensing enemies?"
"Mm." Chen Yingwu nodded.
The spirit medium was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly changed his expression, a smile spreading across his face. The smile seemed abrupt, as if he had only just remembered to do so.
"Let's test our mental strength again."
He led Chen Yingwu to a metal chair nearby, and then a metal helmet-like object fell from it, connected by metal arms, and covered Chen Yingwu's head.
"Don't be nervous, relax your whole body. You may feel slightly dizzy in a little while, which is normal. Just relax," the spirit medium said very gently.
Chen Yingwu hummed in agreement.
A soft buzzing sound rang out, and a gentle white light began to illuminate the helmet. The spirit master looked at a soul-guided screen next to him, where data began to fluctuate.
The numbers fluctuated rapidly until they passed a certain point, at which point they gradually slowed down.
"Mental strength 68 points, high-level Spirit Origin Realm!"
The spirit medium was quite surprised; even his spiritual power was so high. Looking at the child before him, he thought to himself, "A promising talent."
His gaze toward Chen Yingwu grew increasingly intense.
"Chen Yingwu".
The spirit medium solemnly read the name aloud, then crouched down to align his gaze with Chen Yingwu's, his eyes gentle: "Are you willing to join the Spirit Pagoda?"
Teacher Lin stood there, stunned for a moment. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately remained silent. He couldn't very well stop the Spirit Pagoda from poaching people right in front of him.
Since the orphanage was meant to provide these children with a better future, the Spirit Pagoda, as a super power renowned throughout the continent, was indeed a good choice.
However, as a federal institution, the orphanage naturally hoped that Chen Yingwu would join the Federation.
In short, let's respect the child's choice.
Li Sanping and Chen An were also looking in this direction, one with his mouth agape and the other with his brows furrowed.
"The Spirit Pagoda is the most powerful organization on the continent." The Spirit Pagoda's tone became friendly and gentle, completely losing its initial coldness.
"We are responsible for the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony across the entire continent, as well as the cultivation and allocation of Soul Spirits. With your exceptional talent, joining the Spirit Pagoda will provide you with the best resources for training—the best teachers, the best cultivation conditions, and you might even be able to directly enter the Spirit Pagoda headquarters to study."
He paused, then added, "Furthermore, the Spirit Pagoda will take care of your life. You won't have to live in the orphanage anymore; you'll have your own private, high-class room, a generous monthly allowance in Federal Dollars, and even the best supply of spirit souls. With your talent, becoming a core member of the Spirit Pagoda in the future is entirely within your reach."
The conditions are indeed very favorable.
Chen Yingwu listened attentively, his expression remaining unchanged.
Of course he knew what the Spirit Pagoda was.
Although he had forgotten many plot details, he had a very deep impression of the fact that the Spirit Tower Master colluded with the Holy Spirit Cult and then destroyed Shrek City.
Although that happened during the Qian Gu Dong Feng era, who knew that it didn't happen during the Qian Gu Die Ting era.
He didn't want to join such a place.
He possesses omniscience. As long as he continues to grow stronger, this ability will allow him to acquire any information he needs. The resources the Spirit Pagoda can provide can be obtained through other means.
Most importantly, he doesn't easily trust anyone.
It wasn't because he was inherently suspicious, but because in this world, he only had himself. In the orphanage, he had no relatives, no connections, and no one to rely on. One wrong step could lead to utter ruin.
"Thank you," Chen Yingwu said, "but I don't want to join."
The spirit medium's smile froze on his face.
He clearly hadn't expected this answer. A six-year-old orphan, refusing the olive branch extended by the Spirit Pagoda?
"Are you sure?" The spirit master's voice deepened slightly. "Invitations from the Spirit Pagoda aren't available all the time."
"I'm sure," Chen Yingwu said calmly.
The spirit medium tried to persuade him several more times, but to no avail.
The spirit medium stared at him for a few seconds, then finally stopped smiling and stood up.
"Since that's the case, I won't insist." His tone returned to its initial businesslike tone: "Martial Soul Morality Mirror, Innate Full Soul Power Level 10. Record complete."
After saying that, he began to pack up the equipment for the awakening formation, no longer looking at Chen Yingwu.
Teacher Lin quickly stepped forward and led the three children out of the awakening room. Her expression was complicated; she looked at Chen Yingwu, then at the spirit medium, and ultimately said nothing, only letting out a soft sigh.
Stepping out of the awakening room, the sunlight fell on me again.
Li Sanping finally couldn't hold back any longer and said, "Ying Wu, are you crazy? That's the Spirit Pagoda!"
Chen An didn't say anything, but looked at Chen Yingwu with a thoughtful expression in his eyes.
Chen Yingwu did not answer Li Sanping, but looked down at his right hand.
A small, illusory image of a white jade mirror flashed past in his palm.
A mirror of morality.
Now, everything is different.