Early in the morning, children flooded into the best-looking building in the village.
Unlike most houses that were made of wood, this building was made of stone.
Though it was not as luxuriously decorated as those from the city, in this tiny village, it was definitely a cut above the rest.
Its plain white walls lent it an air of sanctity, especially considering it was only ever used for grand events like marriage and the martial soul awakening ceremony.
Today, it was hosting the latter.
A little over a dozen children stood inside with eager anticipation.
Most of them were already getting impatient, their minds filled with lofty dreams of fame, wealth and power. They were only waiting for the Spirit Hall deacon to finish discussing some things with the village chief.
Towards the end of the group of children were two who huddled together, whispering quietly.
One was a girl with long golden hair and silvery blue eyes while the other was a boy with purple hair that seemed to change its shade, going from pinkish roots to deep purple ends. His eyes were a brilliant pair of amethyst, both sharp and enchanting.
In this tiny village, these two children were the undisputed most beautiful among their peers.
Naturally, they attracted a lot of attention from others. The children nearby tried listening in on their whispers, thinking the two must be planning out their future paths as soul masters already.
"What should we get for mom then? Her birthday is in two weeks."
"I've been saving up my allowance. We could go to the city and buy her something."
"How do we go? She'll catch us before we can even get there."
"Maybe we can ask Grandpa Ang to distract her for us while we slip out."
"No. He'll definitely tell mom and we'll get into even bigger trouble."
The two sighed in frustration and resignation. They had been discussing this for days now, and still there had been no resolution.
They were both six years old now, about to awaken their martial souls. They wanted to at least get their mother a gift for raising them all by herself throughout these years. But they knew it would not be easy.
For one, they did not even know what gift to give her yet. All they knew was that they would buy it from the city. But even now, they were still planning how to leave the village.
Before they could continue their discussion, however, the Spirit Hall deacon had finally finished his discussion with the village chief and stood in front of the group of children.
After setting up the necessary materials for the ritual, the awakening ceremony proceeded immediately. The children eagerly stepped forward, but soon, their enthusiasm was drowned by reality.
"Ang Ruxue, martial soul: umbrella, innate soul power: Rank 2"
"Lin Hai, martial soul: ghost cat, innate soul power: Rank 1"
"Fu Tong, martial soul: sickle, innate soul power: none"
Most of the children had very little to no innate soul power at all. Even those with a chance of becoming soul masters among them were less than a handful.
The highest so far had been Rank 2.
The atmosphere quickly shifted into depression and anxiety for those that had awakened. Until finally, only two remained. The first to be called was the blonde girl.
"Celine, come forward."
The girl, Celine, stood in front of the soul master with an unease that came mostly from the surrounding children. Many dreams had already been shattered before they could even begin.
Could she be special enough to be among the few to have a chance to make her dreams come true?
She turned her head, looking back to the purple-haired boy, her adoptive brother. She did not know what to expect, but from his gaze she saw an unwavering confidence, not in himself, but in her.
The small smile he gave her calmed her nerves as she turned to face the soul master once more.
The awakening began before she understood what was happening.
Behind her rose a phantom of a beautiful ancient dragon, its long serpentine body seemingly coiling around an ethereal moon overhead.
Its scales were mostly gold with cobalt blue lining the edges. They shimmered under the lights, seemingly shifting colours between gold and blue every so often.
The hair and fur that lined its spine and coated the wrists of its limbs were a proud silver. Its horns rose like branches of an ancient tree, glowing blue and gold.
The dragon gazed down upon the world like a primordial deity, its bluish silver eyes glowing with red and gold lights.
"An ancient dragon! Quick, test your soul power!"
The soul master felt a primal fear deep within him, his beast martial soul trembling from the sheer instinctual fear. Even so, he had a job to do and the prospect of being able to report this potential genius was tantalising.
He brought forward the crystal orb and Celine placed her hand upon it. The moment her hand touched the crystal ball, she felt her soul power surge into it.
The ball glowed so bright in an instant that it blinded everyone who was eagerly watching it in anticipation, except for the Spirit Hall deacon who was at Rank 28.
"Full innate soul power! A genius!"
Celine was so dumbfounded by the sheer magnitude of her awakening that she did not even know when she had returned to her brother's side.
The sight of the dragon was astonishing, but there was something else that gnawed at her, a secret that she did not want to reveal to anyone but her brother. And as she thought this, she heard his name be called.
"Caelum, come forward!"
The deacon was now getting impatient. He wanted to hurry and finish this last awakening so he could report to his superior in the city. The rewards awaiting him were sure to be rich.
Naturally, he did not believe that he would get so lucky again, but he still did his job.
As the purple-haired boy, Caelum, stepped before him, the deacon began the ritual immediately.
Another major phenomenon occurred, but this time was stranger.
An immense pressure bore down upon the entire building, forcing everyone to kneel.
The deacon barely kept himself standing by expending soul power, but he was already shaken.
He could not understand his tremendous luck, but more importantly, he could not understand what manner of martial soul could even force a rank 28 like him to kneel with just its presence.
And then it appeared...
A chair.