Ren Arakawa shook his head gently. "No need to test. I've never seen a spirit like the Pear Blossom in Tears, but I'm definitely a kid with soul power."
His tone was calm as he waved his hand and began packing up the six jade stones used to awaken martial spirits. "Alright, kids, you can leave now."
"Uncle, the Blue Silver Grass is considered a trash spirit too, but you still tested it for soul power. It didn't take long. Let me try it as well," Ren insisted.
He had already awakened three martial spirits—one of which was the legendary Xuanyuan Sword, another was the mutated Nine-Hearted Profound Hall, and the last, the mysterious Hell's Eye. Though he couldn't gauge the rank of the Hell's Eye just yet, one thing was clear: soul power at awakening is proportional to the quality of one's martial spirit.
Since one of his spirits was the Xuanyuan Sword, there was no way he wouldn't have soul power.
Su Yuntao stared at him. This boy was different—just like Tang San. He sighed, reluctant, but still flicked his fingers. From his soul guidance storage device, a blue crystal orb floated out and landed in front of Ren.
Testing for soul power was simple. Just place a hand on the orb, and it would automatically sense and display the user's soul power.
Ren looked at Tang San once, then slowly laid his palm on the orb.
The moment his hand touched it, a surge of energy burst within him. The crystal began to glow with a radiant blue light, growing more intense until it lit the entire hall, the brilliance piercing to the eyes.
"What is this..." Su Yuntao was stunned.
So was Tang San.
The light from Ren's orb was even brighter than Tang San's, and the orb itself began to tremble violently. Clearly, Ren's soul power had reached an extreme.
Then—bang! The orb exploded.
Su Yuntao stood frozen, petrified. Tang San looked at Ren, his black hair and eyes, completely dumbfounded.
"Uncle, what level is my soul power?" Ren asked curiously.
Su Yuntao hadn't recovered from his shock. According to the norms, any glow from the orb meant the presence of soul power. When Tang San awakened his spirit earlier, the orb glowed strongly—meaning he had innate full soul power at level 10.
Now, Ren's orb had shattered entirely.
Su Yuntao exhaled deeply and looked down at Ren with disbelief.
As a Spirit Hall deacon, Su Yuntao remembered well what his superior once told him: the orb can only withstand up to level 20 soul power. Anything more, and it would shatter.
That meant the boy with the seemingly useless Pear Blossom spirit had innate soul power above level 20—an innate soul master!
"Uncle!" Ren called again.
Still wide-eyed, Su Yuntao exclaimed, "Child, your innate soul power is actually level 20!"
"Innate full soul power at level 20!" Tang San murmured. Ren's soul power was ten full levels higher than his own.
"Level 20?" Ren frowned.
He remembered that the young lady from Spirit Hall had innate soul power at [—] level when she awakened. Now, his was just [—] as well? Ren felt dissatisfied. He had three martial spirits, including Xuanyuan Sword and Nine-Hearted Profound Hall. Yet his innate soul power was only [—]?
Did that mean his third martial spirit, Hell's Eye, was a useless one?
No reaction came from the system this time, unlike earlier. Ren couldn't help but wonder—was his soul power perhaps not strong enough to trigger the system's discontent?
The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced. Maybe his innate soul power really wasn't [—].
"Son, come with me to Spirit Hall. Join the academy and get proper training. With your talent, you could easily become a deacon like me once you graduate," Su Yuntao invited, clearly excited.
Most people awaken without soul power at all, dooming them to a mundane life. Ren might have awakened a seemingly useless spirit, but his soul power level was already beyond extraordinary. With just two soul rings, he could become a Grand Soul Master and met the admission standards for Spirit Hall's academy.
"The Spirit Hall Academy? Is it in Nuoding City too?" Ren asked, playing along.
"No, it's in Spirit City, several hundred kilometers from here," Su Yuntao replied.
"Too far! I'm still young. I don't want to study so far from home," Ren smiled and politely declined.
Through a brief exchange with the system, Ren learned its full name: Supreme Chaos Heaven-Opening Supreme Ancestral Artifact Defiant System—or simply, the Defiant System.
It had activated just because Ren had inwardly envied Tang San's twin spirits and refused to acknowledge him. The system had rewarded him with three spirits.
Naturally, he had no intention of parting ways with Tang San now.
Besides, if he went to Spirit Hall Academy, Bibi Dong might take notice of him, possibly even accept him as her disciple and reward him with three soul bones. That was a tempting future.
But Ren was a time traveler—intimately familiar with the future events of Douluo Continent. Staying close to Tang San meant he could influence the key events to come.
If he joined Spirit Hall now, things would spiral out of his control. More importantly, there would be another opportunity to join Spirit Hall later—during the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament. And that time, he'd join carrying a divine aura. The meaning and impact would be far greater.
So after careful consideration, Ren declined Su Yuntao's invitation. He had better plans.
"Alright. If you change your mind, come find me in Nuoding City. The academy starts in three months," Su Yuntao said with a sigh. He still thought Ren's spirit was a trash spirit and didn't press further.
With that, he turned and walked out of the Spirit Hall in Holy Soul Village.