Soul Land Continent, Heaven Dou Empire, Nuoding City.
There's a saying: Nuoding City may be small, but it's where legends are born!
Not far from the city lay a small village of just over three hundred households. Legend had it that a Spirit Saint level powerhouse had once emerged from this place, hence its name—Holy Spirit Village!
As the sun dipped below the western hills and dusk settled, a small boy of about five or six years old偷偷溜了出来 (stealthily slipped out) of a wooden hut.
"Shane? You little rascal, have you been over to Widow Liu's for milk again?"
Village Chief Grandpa Jack, who happened to be passing by, caught him red-handed, a kindly smile on his old face.
"Yes, Grandpa Jack."
The little boy called Shane stopped and admitted it frankly.
Widow Liu Ruyan was the beautiful young widow from next door whose husband had passed away. He was just going over to help, doing a good deed!
"Such a good boy. Hurry back now. Tomorrow is the Martial Soul Awakening day. Grandpa will come and get you then."
Grandpa Jack patted Shane's head, a hopeful glint in his eyes.
"Okay, Grandpa Jack!"
After saying goodbye to the village chief, Shane returned to his lonely home.
As a reincarnated transmigrator, Shane unfortunately had no parents. How could his cold, empty house compare to the warmth of Auntie Liu's embrace?
"Slurp, slurp~"
Lying in bed, Shane licked his lips, savoring the lingering milky fragrance, while pondering tomorrow's Martial Soul Awakening.
Although the Soul Land Continent was considered by some to be the dregs of the fantasy genre, the quality of one's Martial Soul and the level of innate spirit power were critically important here.
"Sigh, I'm a transmigrator, after all. I can't drag everyone down, can I? At the very least, I should be able to steamroll a few nobodies, right?"
With such thoughts, Shane gradually drifted off to sleep…
The next morning.
Shane woke up early, washed up, and changed into a clean set of clothes. His somewhat childish face held a handsomeness that seemed beyond his years.
"Little Shane, you're up so early?"
"Here, take these few white steamed buns to eat on the way."
Just as Shane was about to leave, a gentle female voice reached his ears.
It was a graceful young woman holding an adorable, doll-like baby girl. She walked over, took out two large, white, warm steamed buns from her bosom, and pressed them into Shane's hands.
"Thanks, Auntie Liu!"
Shane was blessed with good looks; he'd practically charmed his way through childhood, often relying on the kindness of others.
After greeting Liu Ruyan, Shane hurried towards the Spirit Hall in the center of the village.
In this remote countryside, the so-called Spirit Hall was merely a slightly larger wooden hut.
This year, a total of nine children from Holy Spirit Village were due for their Martial Soul Awakening. Shane's house was far, so he was the last to arrive.
"Gulp~"
As Shane joined the line, munching on a large white steamed bun, he suddenly heard a stomach rumbling.
He glanced sideways. So, it was him!
"Little San, did your father not make you breakfast again this morning?"
That's right. The boy standing next to Shane, swallowing saliva secretly out of hunger, was none other than the "universally disliked and utterly infamous" Tang San!
"Ah? I've eaten, I've eaten, haha."
Tang San, embarrassed at being caught in his predicament, fidgeted. His old man, Tang Hao, was a bona fide drunkard and a good-for-nothing!
Forget breakfast; their family was so poor they could barely keep the pot boiling. When they had porridge, you could count the individual grains of rice!
"Oh, okay. If you hadn't eaten, I was going to give you the rest of my bun."
Shane said, then stuffed the entire remaining bun into his mouth in two or three bites.
"Huh? This…"
Tang San almost slapped himself upon hearing that, his mouth twitching, speechless.
Once everyone had arrived, Grandpa Jack led them to meet the Spirit Hall envoy, Su Yuntao.
A trace of pride and superiority flickered in the man's eyes. Grandpa Jack exchanged a few pleasantries with him, and then the ceremony officially began!
Su Yuntao took out six black obsidian stones and a blue crystal, arranging them in a hexagonal pattern, and gestured for the little brats to come up one by one.
"Martial Soul: Hoe. No spirit power!"
"Martial Soul: Sparrow. No spirit power!"
"Martial Soul: Roast Chicken. No spirit power!"
…
Soon, the first seven children finished their awakenings. Unfortunately, none of them had the qualifications to become a Spirit Master.
Su Yuntao sighed. He had seen this situation countless times.
"Next!"
Su Yuntao, no longer holding out any hope, called out listlessly.
"Go on, Little San!"
Shane patted Tang San's small, malnourished frame, nearly making the boy stumble.
Yet, it was this very child who brought Su Yuntao a surprise!
The blue crystal ball shone brightly – Innate Full Spirit Power! It was actually Innate Full Spirit Power!
Su Yuntao was ecstatic. But when he came back to his senses and remembered the few strands of blue grass in Tang San's hand, his face immediately contorted as if constipated.
"Grass?"
"Fuck!"
The huge disparity was unacceptable to Su Yuntao, and he couldn't help but curse.
"Sigh, Innate Full Spirit Power, and it's actually Blue Silver Grass, such a trash Martial Soul? What a colossal waste of a gift!"
At this moment, Tang San didn't yet understand what Blue Silver Grass signified. Although the words "trash Martial Soul" were somewhat hurtful, he maintained a stoic expression, secretly clenching his left fist.
Everyone's attention was on Tang San's Blue Silver Grass; only Shane noticed the black hammer hidden in his left hand!
"Never mind, never mind. You're the last one, kid."
Su Yuntao composed himself and had Shane stand in the center of the hexagram.
Golden light flickered, and a warm current permeated Shane's body. The sensation was as comforting as drinking milk in Auntie Liu's embrace; it couldn't be more pleasant.
Suddenly, the next moment, a power completely different from traditional Martial Souls surged from within Shane!
Points of white light converged in his right palm, and a small chip, shimmering with complex circuits and a faint glow, materialized!
"Th-this… what kind of Martial Soul is this?"
Su Yuntao was utterly bewildered; he had never seen such a Martial Soul.
Shane was also a bit puzzled. Faint arcs of electricity seemed to dance on the chip, as if it contained endless wisdom and power!
It all happened in a flash!
The space around the chip suddenly began to distort, and with a whoosh, it flew into Shane's forehead, straight into his sea of consciousness!
Instantly, various cloud computations and data streams erupted into a brainstorm, and Shane's vision was filled with screens brimming with a sense of advanced technology!
Finally, ten large characters formed from code appeared!
Martial Soul: Intelligent Chip, successfully activated!
Big data was still scrolling in Shane's vision. Coming to his senses, he said, "Uncle, my Martial Soul is an Intelligent Chip."
"Intelligent Chip? What's that?"
"A Martial Soul that can be used for learning and creation?"
Shane pondered for a moment and gave a conceptual answer.
"Learning? What's the use of learning these days?"
Su Yuntao frowned upon hearing this.
As Spirit Masters, men were meant to fight! Who would compete with you in studying?
Su Yuntao instantly lost interest, waved his hand dismissively, and continued, "Alright, let's test your spirit power level."
"Mm!"
Shane nodded, reached out, and touched the blue crystal ball. A dazzling light once again blinded Su Yuntao!
"Innate Full Spirit Power! It's actually Innate Full Spirit Power again?"
Su Yuntao was a bit disoriented. Two children with Innate Full Spirit Power, yet both their Martial Souls seemed hardly fit for great use…
Seeing this result, Shane smiled with satisfaction.
Ever since that massive amount of data had flooded his brain, his perception of the world had been completely updated!
[Target: Su Yuntao]
[Sex: Male]
[Martial Soul: Lone Wolf]
[Spirit Power Level: 26 – Grandmaster]
The character attribute panel was crystal clear in Shane's eyes – this was the power of the Intelligent Chip!
If he made further contact with a target, Shane could read and collect even more in-depth data, even assimilate it for his own use!
However, the most powerful aspect of the Intelligent Chip was its ability to analyze this data to design and build mecha perfectly suited to the host, with continuous updates!
Shane's excitement was beyond words!
From this day forward, please call me the Intelligent Mecha Master!