t wasn't long before it was Xiao Yan's turn.
Stepping into the center of the six black stones, as Su Yuntao injected six strands of soul power, a faint golden glow began to flicker and shine.
"So this is the feeling of Martial Soul Awakening? Kinda nice, actually… like soaking in a hot spring."
Moments later, Xiao Yan felt something inside him shatter—like a shackle breaking apart. In his palm, something burst out, releasing a radiant golden light.
Su Yuntao's eyes lit up. The brightness of this golden light was much stronger than the ones before. It might actually be a powerful martial soul.
For people like him—those assigned by the Spirit Hall to help ordinary folks awaken their martial souls—if he could discover a child with exceptional potential and bring them into the Hall, his evaluation and promotion prospects would skyrocket.
Xiao Yan looked down at his right hand. This was a very familiar martial soul.
"Blue Silver Grass?"
This same martial soul had just appeared in the palm of the girl next to him, so Xiao Yan recognized it instantly.
Su Yuntao sighed helplessly, "Another trash martial soul. Looks like coming to Saint Soul Village was a waste of time again. Alright, kids, you can all leave now."
Xiao Yan quickly spoke up, "Master, you haven't tested my innate soul power yet!"
I mean, if you're gonna do the ritual, at least finish the dang checklist, right?
Su Yuntao waved his hand dismissively, "No need. I've never seen Blue Silver Grass produce any soul power. Total trash."
"Blue Silver Grass doesn't come with soul power? Why?" Xiao Yan asked, puzzled.
People in this world really seem to have some rigid thinking. A sickle can't be a weapon, a hammer can't be a weapon, a rake can't be a weapon...
Now Su Yuntao was making the same mistake—clinging to outdated experience. That's a big no-no.
"Your question's a bit complicated. Fine, let's just test your soul power."
With that, Su Yuntao handed the blue crystal ball to Xiao Yan.
Following the method Su Yuntao mentioned earlier, Xiao Yan first used his intent to retract his martial soul.
Surprisingly, retracting the martial soul didn't seem hard at all.
All it took was the same kind of control he used for his inner strength—just like manipulating internal energy, really.
In fact, when his Blue Silver Grass martial soul manifested earlier, it seemed like it was formed from his inner strength.
Once he retracted the martial soul, Xiao Yan placed his hand on the blue crystal ball.
The moment his palm made contact, Xiao Yan frowned—this thing was trying to absorb his inner strength.
But he'd been cultivating since childhood, with all his meridians thoroughly refined and his inner power rock solid. The crystal ball's absorption wasn't enough to shake his foundation.
"Let's release a bit and see." Xiao Yan focused, allowing a wisp of inner strength to leak into the crystal ball.
Then—boom. The ball flared to life, bursting out with dazzling blue light. It lit up like a radiant gem, gleaming with a gentle azure halo. It was downright mesmerizing.
"That much reaction?" Xiao Yan was stunned. He only released a tiny bit of inner power, and this thing was going full fireworks. He hurriedly stopped the flow.
Su Yuntao was just as shocked. "Heavens! It's innate full soul power!"
A wave of green light pulsed from Su Yuntao's body, and the crystal ball emitted a force that gently pushed Xiao Yan's hand away.
Still stunned, Xiao Yan asked, "Innate full soul power? That's really powerful?"
Su Yuntao, still a bit dazed, instinctively began to explain.
"When a person awakens their martial soul, the form of the martial soul determines its strength, but the amount of soul power is also crucial. Most people awaken with no soul power at all—like those kids before. They'll never be able to become soul masters.
But as long as there's even a sliver of soul power, they can cultivate through meditation. The amount you have at awakening determines your starting point. The higher your innate soul power, the faster your future cultivation.
And having a strong start means you'll always be ahead of others. 'Innate full soul power' means you're starting at the maximum—ten levels—the highest possible level at the time of awakening."
"The highest soul power?" Xiao Yan was floored. He only used less than 10% of his inner strength, and that was already the max?
And based on what this guy just said, Xiao Yan's gut feeling was dead-on.
In the Douluo Continent, becoming a soul master didn't depend much on the martial soul—it was all about that innate soul power. Without it, you could forget about ever advancing.
On top of that, this so-called innate soul power of his... seemed to be a pretty rare gift.
But wait—the crystal ball clearly absorbed his inner strength. So… are inner strength and soul power actually connected?
If they are, then the inner force techniques he knows might just be the most valuable thing in this whole world.
Su Yuntao clearly misunderstood Xiao Yan's pondering—he just thought the kid was curious.
"Here's how soul power levels work: every ten levels is a title. Once your martial soul is awakened, if you have soul power, you're called a Soul Scholar. That means you're at level one.
From there, your soul power level increases with cultivation. The term 'innate full soul power' means you've started at the max—level ten."
As he spoke, Su Yuntao retracted his martial soul and started packing up the awakening tools.
"I've never seen anyone with innate full soul power before. When I awakened, I only had level two."
Xiao Yan pressed on, "Wait, innate soul power maxes out at level ten? Can't it go higher?"
He still had tons of inner power left unused. If he let it all out, he couldn't say exactly how strong he'd be, but it'd definitely crush this level-26 guy.
"Of course not!" Su Yuntao denied immediately. "Advancing in power isn't that simple. To jump to the next title, you don't just need to max out your soul power—you also need a soul ring. Without one, it doesn't matter how much you meditate, you won't break through.
Like you now. Even though you have full innate soul power, to continue advancing, you need to obtain a soul ring first. Only then can your cultivation move to the next level."
That explanation only left Xiao Yan with even more questions.
His own cultivation was completely different from what Su Yuntao described.
The twelve meridians were like irrigation channels, and the eight extraordinary meridians like vast rivers and seas—there was no upper limit to inner strength cultivation.
Even with lifelong training and his Xuan Tian Art running constantly, he was only scratching the surface.
To say he hit some sort of ceiling? Please. He wasn't even close to knowing how far he could go.
(End of Chapter)