Soul Land—Chapter 1: Star-Breaking Sword and Primordial Heaven Star Map
In a small mountain village in the Star Luo Empire, Ling Qianyao walked into the magic circle constructed with six black stones, and the golden halo flowed.
"Stretch out your right hand," said a great soul master of the Spirit Hall, wearing a long sword badge on his chest.
The light spots gradually gathered in Ling Qianyao's hand, and an iron sword, with a diamond-shaped gem inlaid in the center of the sword guard, emerged.
"Weapon martial soul: iron sword." Su Hantao nodded with satisfaction. In this place that was not a town, he could see martial souls other than blue silver grass and hoes. He felt some psychological comfort from the hard work of these days.
"Put your hand on the crystal ball and test your soul power, child," Su Hantao's voice was soft.
Ling Qianyao nodded and placed his hand on the blue crystal ball. The soul power in his body automatically flowed into the crystal ball, and the fluorescence flashed.
"Innate Soul Power Level 6!" Su Hantao's eyes lit up. As we all know, the level of innate soul power is proportional to the soul master's aptitude. The child in front of him might become a soul emperor in the future! Thinking of his distant relative Su Yuntao, he felt extremely pleased.
If he could win this child over to the Spirit Hall, the date of marrying his "Sisi" would be much earlier than for that cousin!
Ling Qianyao's eyes moved slightly. Although he was a little disappointed that this great soul master did not say "useless martial soul" to establish his foundation for becoming a god when the martial soul awakened, he was very satisfied with his martial soul.
Moreover, in a place that others could not see, there was a phantom in the sword frame that was slowly dissipating and merging into the sword body.
It was an extremely magnificent star crown, with eighteen stars gathered around the diamond-shaped gem at its center.
His martial soul was not this sword at first, but this star crown, which was one of the top martial souls on the continent.
Ling Qianyao silently put away his martial soul. He could feel that as the shadow of the star crown dissipated, his soul power was growing.
In his mind, the Primordial Heaven Star Map that had come to this world with him also responded at this moment, reviving from its silence and flashing with light.
His martial soul was broken and reshaped because of the Primordial Heaven Star Map.
After completing the awakening ceremony for all the children and conveying the practice concept of the "Meditation Method," Su Hantao took Ling Qianyao alone with him and led the children out of the wooden house.
Old Jason, who was waiting outside, approached him immediately. "Master Soul Master, how did our village do this year?"
Su Hantao nodded, smiled, and patted Ling Qianyao's shoulder. "Iron Sword, innate soul power level 6, congratulations."
Old Jason smiled broadly, causing his face to wrinkle and tremble, and he patted the boy's shoulder heavily. "Okay, okay! I'll kill a sheep tonight."
Ling Qianyao grinned. After the other children left, Old Jason looked at Ling Qianyao. "Qianyao, are you willing to study at the Soul Master Academy? Our village's work-study student quota this year is yours."
"Of course, I am willing! Thank you, Grandpa Village Chief." Ling Qianyao nodded heavily.
"Child, go home first. I have something to discuss with your village chief grandfather. When you come to Star Luo City in a month, you can find me at the branch spirit hall there. My name is Su Hantao."
"I understand. Thank you, Brother Su." Ling Qianyao bowed slightly and then went to his residence alone.
Old Jason and Su Hantao watched Ling Qianyao's departing back and spoke to each other.
"Is he an orphan?" Su Hantao was stunned.
"He was abandoned. There was a single old woman in the village who felt sorry for him and took care of him for several years. Unfortunately, when Qianyao could take care of himself, the old woman died of a cold."
——
After returning home, Ling Qianyao did not rush to tinker with the Martial Soul. Instead, he waited until late at night, closed the doors and windows, and sat cross-legged on the bed.
Opening the most common "Meditation Method" in the Douluo Continent, there were only a few pages in the thin book, and the description was quickly memorized by Ling Qianyao.
He began to practice according to the meditation method, and the vitality of the world gathered towards him. The iron sword martial soul appeared out of thin air in front of him, and the diamond-shaped gem on the sword guard gradually flickered.
The Primordial Heaven Star Map in his mind also lit up at this moment. This scroll of the star curtain, which seemed both virtual and real, gradually unfolded, revealing an infinite galaxy, containing 365 main stars and 14,800 auxiliary stars.
As Ling Qianyao's meditation method ran, the Primordial Heaven Star Map in his mind suddenly transformed into streams of light and sank into Ling Qianyao's body. Three hundred sixty-five star lights were imprinted into 365 positive acupoints in Ling Qianyao's body, while the remaining auxiliary stars immersed themselves in the remaining acupoints.
When the last auxiliary star returned to its position, from Ling Qianyao's spine faintly came a dragon-like sword sound, and 365 acupoints lit up at the same time, outlining a complete Primordial Heaven Star Map on the surface of his skin.
In a flash, it returned to its original state.
"Full innate soul power." Ling Qianyao's eyes flashed with a gleam of brilliance, and the origin of his Star Crown martial soul had been transformed into the nourishment for a new martial soul.
This change began when he started to awaken his martial soul, and now his soul power had reached level 10.
The iron sword suspended in front of him also transformed. As the soul power ran, a miniature Primordial Heaven Star Map was projected and shone on the sword body. The sword body became transparent like stardust, covered with fine lines, totaling 365 lines.
With a slight movement of his mind, this strange appearance once again returned to that of an ordinary iron sword.
"Star-Breaking Sword." Ling Qianyao stroked the sword's body and murmured.
The departure of the Star Crown Martial Soul was worth Ling Qianyao's half-day remembrance. Its demise granted him three basic skills:
- Astrology: Once a day, can peek at the good and bad signs in the next twelve hours.
- Star Tempering: Can absorb the essence of stars to automatically strengthen the Martial Soul.
- Star Hiding: Can perfectly hide and disguise the original breath of the Martial Soul.
Looking inward at his body, the flowing starlight in the 365 acupoints flickered like breathing, some shining brightly, while others looked dim.
"Should I light them all up? But how do I do it?"
Ling Qianyao tried to activate the Primordial Heaven Star Map, but after a long time, he found it had no effect.
He opened his eyes, sighed, got off the bed, and opened the window.
The stars outlined familiar star tracks in the night sky.
Ling Qianyao was blessed, and the now-vanished Primordial Heaven Star Map emerged in his mind. The infinite galaxy performed endless changes within his thoughts.
He saw the Big Dipper and all his spirit was drawn to the star at the end of the handle.
In the void, strands of starlight power poured into his body, and the "Gate of Life acupoint" at the end of Ling Qianyao's spine suddenly burned like a branding iron – that was the corresponding acupoint for the Yaoguang (Radiant Light) [Pojun/Army Breaking] star.
"Pojun is a sign of killing and destruction." The dormant starlight in the Gate of Life acupoint suddenly surged forth.
Three hundred and sixty-five acupoints trembled simultaneously, and only the Gate of Life acupoint corresponding to the Yaoguang star shone with brilliance. Among the 365 lines of the Star-Breaking Sword, the seventh line suddenly lit up.
He abruptly opened his eyes and closed the window instantly, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Looking at the huge stone that had been placed in the corner for who knows how long, Ling Qianyao summoned the Star-Breaking Sword and chopped it in one move! With a slight sound, the huge stone cracked.
Ling Qianyao raised the corner of his mouth slightly. "Visualizing the stars in the sky and condensing the power of the stars to temper myself? This method can be called visualization."
He placed the Star-Breaking Sword beside him, clasped his hands behind his head, and lay on the bed with his eyes closed to rest.
"Originally, it was the Star Crown Martial Soul. It seems that I have another life experience, one from a top sect in the Star Luo Empire, the hidden sect Star Crown Sect from the Douluo Dalu II period."
[T/N:
1) Yaoguang Star is called Radiant Light Star or Luminous Star and is associated with Venus.
2) Pojun Star is called Army Breaking Star and is associated with destruction and killing.]
(End of this chapter)