Douluo Dalu II: The Peerless Tang Sect

Chapter 3: The Northern Town Continues the Church's Glory! (Seeking Recommendations)

In front of Zhu Ziyang's house.

Zhu Ziyang's parents and other children from the village who met the conditions for martial soul awakening, along with their parents, had already arrived.

"Dad, Mom." Zhu Ziyang pulled Jiang Nannan to his parents.

"Hmm!" Zhu Ziyang's father, Zhu Changhe, was a handsome man with a refined appearance. Seeing his son come out, he smiled and said, "Everyone is here. Children, get in the car."

"Yes!" The other seven children boarded the Zhu family's carriage amidst their parents' expectant gazes.

"Village Chief, please help us!" the parents of the seven children said respectfully to Zhu Changhe.

"Don't worry, you can all go back now. We're about to set off." Zhu Changhe was the village chief of Beihe Village and also its top expert. He was thirty-five years old and a level 28 Great Soul Master. Approaching forty, he remained a Great Soul Master, meaning he had no hope of ever reaching the Soul Grandmaster level. Zhu Changhe's martial soul was the Obscure Light Scythe, a common weapon martial soul that could barely be considered a light-attribute weapon. Starting with Zhu Changhe's great-great-grandfather, the Obscure Light Scythe martial soul had been stably passed down through six generations in the Zhu family. Zhu Ziyang was the seventh generation, and he had a fifty percent chance of inheriting this martial soul.

Why is there a 50% probability?

Because his mother, Liang Ying, is also a Soul Master. Liang Ying is two years younger than Zhu Changhe, thirty-three years old this year, and is a level 25 Great Soul Master. Her Martial Soul is the Snow Dragon Lizard, a dragon-type Soul Beast with a thin dragon bloodline. In terms of quality, the Snow Dragon Lizard Martial Soul is slightly better than the Obscure Light Scythe Martial Soul, but not by much.

The remaining 50% of Zhu Ziyang's martial soul might lie in this Snow Dragon Lizard martial soul.

Since they are both ordinary martial souls—one a weapon martial soul and the other a beast martial soul—it doesn't matter to Zhu Ziyang. As long as he can cultivate, ordinary martial souls are fine. With so much knowledge in his head and in the library, there must be a way to take off hidden within it.

Liang Ying led Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan into the carriage, and Zhu Changhe drove the carriage towards Anyang City, which was not far away.

Beihe Village is located on the outskirts of Anyang City, only two or three miles away from the south gate of Anyang City, and only four or five hundred meters away from their destination, the city lord's mansion.

They arrived in Anyang City in about fifteen minutes. Actually, it was such a short distance that they could have walked there, but Zhu Ziyang didn't say anything about his father's decision.

Many of the children were visiting the city for the first time, looking around with curiosity. Zhu Ziyang, however, had been to Anyang City many times before.

This is just a small town!

This is Zhu Ziyang's impression of Anyang City.

Anyang City is located in the northern border of the Tianhun Empire. To the north is the outer forest of the far northern ice plains, to the south is a huge mountain range running east-west known as the Northern Mountain Range, to the east is Longcheng, the main city of Zhenbei Province, and to the west is a large canyon running north-south. Because the terrain on three sides is very complicated, Anyang City's geographical location is irrelevant. Almost no one wants to come here, making it a dispensable city.

Anyang City is not very large. It is nominally a city, but in reality it is just a slightly larger town with a small population of about 200,000. The strongest person is the city lord Hong Zhen, who holds the title of baron of the Heavenly Soul Empire and is a level 42 defensive Soul Master.

The carriage arrived at the city lord's mansion.

Zhu Changhe was a prominent figure in Anyang City, serving as one of the deputy captains of the city guard. Most importantly, he was related to the city lord, Hong Zhen. Hong Zhen's grandmother was the younger sister of Zhu Changhe's grandfather, meaning that Hong Zhen and Zhu Changhe were cousins.

The gatekeeper of the city lord's mansion very sensibly took the carriage from him and went to park it. Zhu Changhe and Liang Ying led Zhu Ziyang, Jiang Nannan and nine other children into the city lord's mansion. They easily found their way to the main hall used for martial spirit awakening and immediately spotted a giant man who was nearly two meters tall.

"Ha, Brother Changhe, you've arrived!" The burly man grinned and laughed loudly when he saw Zhu Changhe.

"Brother Hong!" Zhu Changhe replied with a smile, "I need your help today!"

This burly man was none other than Hong Zhen, the city lord of Anyang City, a baron, and a level 42 Icefield Elephant Soul Sect member.

Today, it was he who awakened the martial souls of Zhu Ziyang and the others. The city lord personally presided over the martial soul awakening ceremony, and it was even free! This was undoubtedly a tremendous blessing for the children of Anyang City. After all, in most parts of the three great empires, it was simply a pipe dream for commoners to awaken their martial souls for free. If commoners wanted to awaken their martial souls, they either had to sell themselves to the imperial military or to nobles. Otherwise, they could only pray to encounter a kind-hearted high-level soul master who would come to give them alms.

It's truly tragic that the awakening of martial spirits is completely monopolized by the aristocratic class!

Zhu Ziyang had read history books and knew that this tragic situation was formed 10,000 years ago in the battle known as the Jialing Pass Victory.

In the official histories of the three great empires, the description of that battle is the same: under the leadership of the great Sea God, His Highness King Lan Hao, and His Majesty Thousand Hands Douluo, the imperial allied forces destroyed the Spirit Hall's evil ambition to unify the continent, achieved the final victory in the war, and maintained the stability and peace of the continent.

After the battle, Bibi Dong, the last pope of the Spirit Hall, died, and the saintess Qian Renxue disappeared. The era of the church ended, and the Spirit Hall, which had provided free spirit awakening for everyone, perished. Along with it, the golden age of commoner spirit masters also disappeared.

The glory of the church in the past now needs a small northern town to continue.

What an irony!

"Brother Hong!"

"Uncle Hong!"

Liang Ying and Zhu Ziyang also stepped forward to greet Hong Zhen.

"Ying'er's here too!" Hong Zhen responded to Liang Ying, then looked at Zhu Ziyang and laughed, "Little Yang's reached the age to awaken his martial soul, time flies!"

"Yes!" Zhu Changhe said with a sigh.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's get started!" Hong Zhen, a straightforward northern man, never procrastinated, and spoke up.

The nine children lined up in a row under the arrangement of Zhu Changhe and his wife, with Zhu Ziyang standing at the front, followed by Jiang Nannan and the other children.

"Xiao Yang, come here to your uncle!" Hong Zhen had already prepared everything. After seeing that the children were also ready, he called out to Zhu Ziyang, who was in the first position.

Without hesitation, Zhu Ziyang strode towards Hongzhen. His heart was racing. To be honest, it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous. This was a matter of life and death, and he really didn't want to live another life in such a great era.

After a few steps, he arrived in front of Hong Zhen, and then, under Hong Zhen's guidance, he walked into a six-pointed star made of six jet-black stones.

He recognized these six jet-black stones: Awakening Stones, an extremely important resource monopolized by imperial noble families and powerful forces, capable of the most effective way to awaken one's martial spirit.

After seeing Zhu Ziyang stand still, Hong Zhen unleashed six streams of soul power in succession. The six streams of soul power accurately entered the six awakening stones, and the next moment, the six awakening stones emitted light, which then formed a light shield that surrounded Zhu Ziyang.

"Close your eyes, calm your mind, and feel it carefully!" Hong Zhen said.

Zhu Ziyang had no choice but to comply. He unconsciously used the Lesser Brightness Breathing Technique, and his mood immediately calmed down. Then, he felt a power being drawn to him, about to emerge from his body. He immediately realized that it was his Martial Soul.

So, he instinctively stretched out his right hand, and at that moment, Hong Zhen's instruction arrived: "Stretch out your right hand!"

(End of this chapter)