Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

He abruptly pulled his gaze away, clutching the empty bowl tightly to his chest. It was his utensil for eating, and he couldn't afford to lose it.

He pulled Gouwa, who was still in a daze, with a curious look at the gray shadow in the sky.

"Let's go! Go back quickly! Don't stay outside!"

The two children trudged back to their respective shack areas, stumbling and sinking.

The wind and snow seemed to be getting heavier, and Lin Wan found every step incredibly difficult.

Lin Wan stumbled back to her dilapidated dwelling and tucked the tattered curtain tightly inside.

He curled up again in the pile of decaying grass, burying his cold toes in it to draw out the meager warmth.

Lin Wan took out the empty bowl from her bosom. There seemed to be a little bit of burnt residue and a faint warmth left on the bowl.

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately could not resist the urge of his instincts. He stuck out his tongue again and carefully licked the bowl again until he could no longer feel any trace of it.

The cold wind howled outside the shack, but Lin Wan's heart was filled with unstoppable warmth.

In two days, people from the Spirit Hall will be coming to Hanbei Village to awaken the spirits of six-year-old children.

In the darkness, Lin Wan hugged her small knees tightly and buried her face in them.

"Douluo Continent".

He silently murmured the name of this world, a world with magical martial spirits and soul masters.

Lin Wan had read this novel before, and at that time he was captivated by its exciting plot and wondrous martial spirits. He even fantasized about traveling back in time to awaken a powerful martial spirit and soar to the heavens.

But now he realizes that the wondrous worlds in those novels are as distant as stars in the sky to a six-year-old orphan huddled in a pile of rotting grass, struggling for half a bowl of vegetable paste.

Awakening one's martial spirit is the only hope for an ordinary person, and the only stepping stone for Lin Wan to escape his predicament.

He had to persevere and get through these last two days.

We cannot be like an insignificant speck of dust, silently wiped away by wind, snow, and birds of prey.

……

The blizzard that had been raging for several days finally stopped on the third day.

Several cracks appeared in the thick, lead-gray clouds, refracting brilliant golden sunlight.

Lin Wan curled up in the pile of decaying grass, hugging her knees with both hands.

Several days of hunger had left him dizzy and extremely weak.

"Clang! Clang!"

Just as Lin Wan was about to faint, several penetrating sounds suddenly entered his ears, bringing him back to consciousness.

Lin Wan suddenly opened her eyes, and a guess instantly formed in her mind: Could it be that the Spirit Hall's Soul Masters have arrived?

Sure enough, the hoarse voice of the village elder, Drus, soon came over.

"All children who are six years old or older, immediately! Gather at the Martial Soul Branch Hall in the center of the village. The Soul Master has arrived. The Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony will begin immediately."

A faint smile appeared on Lin Wan's pale face.

"The awakening of my martial spirit has finally arrived."

His voice was weak but filled with hope for the future.

Lin Wan staggered as he climbed out of the pile of rotting grass, the icy air sending a chill down his spine.

He hastily brushed the grass clippings off his body, then took his porcelain bowl from the corner of the shack.

Today, the food team will return with the Spirit Hall's Soul Masters. Lin Wan guessed that food would definitely be distributed later, since the villagers had been starving for several days.

"Brother Wan! Brother Wan!"

Gouwa stumbled over, his little face blue from the cold, snot dripping from his nose, but his eyes were shining brightly.

"The Soul Master has arrived. Does this mean we'll have food to eat?"

Lin Wan glanced at Gouwa helplessly.

I knew he was silly, but I never expected his only concern would be being able to eat.

"Ah."

Helplessly, Lin Wan took Gouwa's cold little hand and stumbled out of the shack, heading towards the Martial Soul Branch Hall in the center of the village.

The blizzard had been raging for several days, and the snow in the village was deep, making every step Lin Wan took extremely difficult.

But then he thought about how he would soon awaken his martial soul, and his resolve instantly hardened.

He gritted his teeth and pulled Gouwa forward again.

Chapter 3 Gouwa is actually a genius!

The Martial Soul Branch Hall in Hanbei Village is a house built of stones, with a thick layer of snow on the roof and long icicles hanging from the eaves.

The only thing that distinguishes it from the other houses in the village is a faded flag hanging at its entrance, with a blurred image of a six-winged angel symbolizing the Spirit Hall.

Above the lintel is a wooden plaque inscribed with the name of the Wuhun Hall Hanbei Village Branch.

When Lin Wan and Gouwa arrived, there were already more than a dozen children gathered in the hall. With Lin Wan, Gouwa, and others arriving one after another, there were about twenty people in total.

These twenty-odd children are almost all the children in Hanbei Village who are expected to awaken this year.

In the center of the main hall stood a man dressed in a plain white robe.

The robe was of a much better quality than the villagers' coarse linen. The cuffs and collar were embroidered with pale silver patterns symbolizing frost and snow. Although it was also a bit old, it was starched and washed clean and spotless.

Lin Wan recognized the man; he was Anxi, a steward of the Spirit Hall in Tianshuang City. In previous years, he was the one who came to awaken the spirits of Hanbei Village.

However, he seemed a little impatient at the moment, while old Drews was bowing and scraping beside him as he spoke.

After carefully counting the number of children present, old Druss respectfully addressed Anxi: "They're all here. All the children are here this year."

Anxi nodded to old Drus, "Now that you're all here, the children can go inside, and you can wait outside."

Upon entering the hall, Anxi took out several stones and a crystal ball from his pocket.

"My name is Anxi, a level 31 Soul Master, and my Martial Soul is the Frostbird."

He introduced himself to Lin Wan and the others, and then took a step forward.

With each step he landed, a cold yet powerful aura erupted from his body.

The air inside the hall seemed to freeze instantly, the temperature dropped sharply, and a thin layer of white frost even condensed on the walls at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The twenty-odd children instinctively hugged their arms and backed away, their eyes filled with awe and fear.

Anzai's eyes lit up with a blue light, his golden hair moved without wind, and wisps of cold air swirled around him.

Behind him, a huge bird silhouette, its entire body made of crystal-clear ice and with a wingspan of nearly two meters, appeared.

The bird's silhouette was incredibly lifelike, each feather shimmering with a cold light. Its sharp, icy eyes surveyed all living beings, and with a slight flap of its wings, it sent tiny ice crystals fluttering down.

"Martial Soul Possession!"

Lin Wan looked at Anxi with envy in her eyes.

This is the power of a Soul Master—extraordinary and detached, wielding elemental power. Seeing it with your own eyes is a thousand times more awe-inspiring than any written description.

Anxi did not maintain the spirit possession for too long, after all, spirit possession also consumes spirit power.

The illusory image of the ice bird behind him appeared only briefly before slowly dissipating, but the powerful pressure and the drop in temperature inside the hall deeply shocked all the children present.

He suppressed his aura, regained his composure, pointed to the black magic circle on the ground, and his voice remained calm and even:

"Line up, one at a time. Stand in the center of the magic circle and don't move."

The awakening has begun.

Anxi stretched out his hand, his slender fingers shimmering with a faint white halo—the light of his soul power.

He flicked his finger, and six streams of condensed soul power were precisely injected into the six black stones surrounding the magic array.

hum!

The six black stones were instantly lit up, emitting a faint glow.

The first child was a small, thin boy who appeared particularly nervous in the dim light.

His body trembled violently, and after a moment, a rusty, clearly miniature version of a woodcutter's knife appeared shakily in his hand.

Anxi, expressionless, picked up a fist-sized blue crystal ball that seemed to have mist flowing inside: "Put your hand on it."

The boy trembled as he placed his hand on the crystal ball, but the crystal ball remained unresponsive, as still as a dead object.

“No soul power. Next.” Anxi’s voice was completely flat.

The second child awakened the ice flower, a common sight in Tianshuang City.

The crystal ball remained unresponsive.

The third one is an ice chicken with sparse feathers.

The fourth one was a twisted, splinter-covered fire poker...

The fifth one was a pitted, gray stone...

As each child completed their awakening, Anzai's expression grew increasingly calm.

The atmosphere inside the main hall grew increasingly oppressive and heavy.

Lin Wan stood in the middle of the line, while Gouwa stood in front of him.

Lin Wan grew increasingly nervous as he looked at the soulless individuals before him. He clenched his fists, forcing himself to calm down.

"Next." Anzai's voice already carried a hint of weariness.

It's Gouwa's turn.

He glanced at Lin Wan, then stood with a silly grin in the center of the faintly glowing magic circle.

A soft light enveloped him.

The light from the magic circle seemed to be a few degrees brighter than before.

Gouwa's body stiffened abruptly, as if a power carrying an icy aura had been awakened within him.

He let out a muffled groan, his small body trembling violently, and blue veins faintly bulging beneath his exposed skin.