The Awakening Chamber was not spacious, square, and held a sense of emptiness similar to the quiet room where he first met Han Tianyi, but upon closer inspection, it was completely different. The air here felt charged, vibrating with a dormant power that waited for a spark to ignite.
The walls, floor, and even the dome here were not plain white, but covered with extremely complex and profound patterns. They were etched into the very stone, glowing with a faint, silvery trace that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat.
Dai Yuhao knew that these were Spirit Tool Array Patterns, which were necessary to help awaken one's Spirit. He had read about them in the books Leng Yaozhu provided, but seeing them in person, surging with potential energy, was a different experience entirely.
At this moment, only Leng Yaozhu and Dai Yuhao were in the room. The silence was absolute, save for the soft hum of the tower's internal systems far below.
For a Quasi-Demigod like Leng Yaozhu to personally preside over the Spirit Awakening of a mere child, if word got out, it would undoubtedly shock and envy countless people. It was a privilege reserved for the highest nobility or the most talented geniuses of the era.
But at this moment, it was not just her expectation for Dai Yuhao that drove her. She wasn't just acting as a mentor or a guardian; she was a seeker of truth.
It also meant that she wanted to fully grasp the answer she had waited three years for. She needed to know if the boy before her was the legend she suspected him to be.
"Yuhao, stand in the center."
Leng Yaozhu's voice was exceptionally clear in the quiet room, carrying a hint of imperceptible tension. Even she, a master of her standing, could not remain perfectly calm in the face of this revelation.
Dai Yuhao complied, walking step by step to the very center of the room. Every footfall echoed slightly, emphasizing the gravity of the moment.
The patterns inscribed on the floor there were the most dense, forming a perfect circle about one meter in diameter. It looked like a celestial compass designed to point toward one's true destiny.
After he stood still, he saw Leng Yaozhu with a solemn expression, slowly raising her right hand. Her movements were fluid and practiced, yet heavy with the weight of the ceremony.
Her palm was upward, fingers slightly spread. She looked focused, her mind channeling the vast reserves of her own power into the array.
The next instant, a soft, pure milky white light illuminated from her palm, initially like a firefly, then like a bright moon! The radiance filled the room, chasing away every shadow.
The light was not dazzling; it shot straight up, precisely entering a core array eye in the very center of the dome. It was the key that unlocked the chamber's hidden potential.
Immediately after, starting from the 'lit' core on the dome, the dense Spirit Tool Array Patterns seemed to come alive! The silver lines began to glow with a brilliant intensity.
The ceiling patterns were the first to be fully lit, and the light then poured down along the walls, with the patterns on the walls lighting up one by one, like a rushing waterfall. It was a cascade of pure energy.
Finally, it converged into the circular magic array beneath Dai Yuhao's feet, suddenly bursting forth with the brightest and gentlest golden-white radiance! The floor seemed to vanish beneath a sea of light.
Dai Yuhao felt a slight numbness in the soles of his feet, as if something warm was quietly drilling into his body from his soles. It was a sensation he had never felt before, both strange and comforting.
The feeling was initially like a faint electric current, with a slight tingling. It raced up his legs, making his muscles twitch with a sudden surge of energy.
It then transformed into a warm current, rapidly spreading upwards along his legs, and wherever it passed, his Meridians slightly heated up, and his Bloodline flow seemed to quicken. His heart hammered in his chest, keeping pace with the flow of power.
Under Leng Yaozhu's focused gaze, Dai Yuhao's entire body was completely enveloped by the rich and pure white spirit power light. He looked like a beacon in the center of the dark chamber.
The energy stimulated by the Awakening ceremony surged and resonated within his body, searching for the anchor point of his Bloodline, summoning the dormant Spirit. It probed every fiber of his being, seeking the truth of his soul.
The light reached its peak, then slowly receded like a tide, revealing Dai Yuhao's figure within. He stood there, trembling slightly from the aftereffects of the energy surge.
Leng Yaozhu's gaze swept over his entire body immediately, but no external, materialized Spirit form appeared. There was no tiger, no tool, and no plant manifesting beside him.
A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes; she had clearly perceived the fluctuation of spirit power just now, so how could... no Spirit appear? A failure at this stage was almost unheard of given the intensity of the light.
However, at the moment this thought arose, she caught an anomaly. She felt the energy didn't dissipate; it consolidated.
The awakened spirit power within Dai Yuhao's body was spontaneously converging towards a specific part. It wasn't moving to his hands or his back, but to his head.
That direction was—his eyes!
Leng Yaozhu's gaze immediately locked onto Dai Yuhao's face. She watched him with bated breath, her heart racing.
She saw the child, who seemed somewhat bewildered standing there, slowly raising his head. His expression was one of dawning realization and wonder.
The moment he looked up, Leng Yaozhu saw that Dai Yuhao's already bright eyes now seemed to have been infused with stars! They shimmered with an otherworldly brilliance.
The color of his eyes became deeper and clearer, and a subtle, glistening luster seemed to flow around the edges of his pupils. They were no longer the eyes of a normal human.
Spirit Eyes!
These two legendary words appeared in the depths of Leng Yaozhu's mind without warning! It was the confirmation she had both feared and hoped for.
All the conjectures, all the waiting, seemed to find their answers at this moment! The pieces of the puzzle finally clicked into place.
The Spirit awakened by Dai Yuhao seemed to be exactly the same as the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, the founder of the Spirit Pagoda ten thousand years ago—an extremely rare and powerful mental-type Original Body Martial Soul—Spirit Eyes! History was repeating itself before her very eyes.
While Leng Yaozhu's heart was stirred by the turbulent waves of Dai Yuhao's Spirit Eyes, Dai Yuhao, in the center of the Awakening array, was immersed in an unprecedented and novel experience. He felt as if a veil had been lifted from the world.
He only felt that the World before his eyes, as if an invisible pair of hands had gently wiped away all blurriness and dust, became incredibly clear, to an almost unbelievable degree. Every detail was sharp and distinct.
The complex and profound Spirit Tool Array Patterns on the wall were now perfectly clear. He didn't just see them; he understood the flow of energy within them.
The depth and direction of each pattern seemed to be magnified and brought closer, presented before his eyes. He could see the microscopic imperfections in the stone walls.
His gaze shifted slightly, and the almost invisible dust in the room was now clearly discernible, each particle's trajectory seeming to slow down, allowing him to easily capture it. Time itself seemed to have lagged for his new vision.
This extraordinary vision brought a sense of controlling confidence, yet it was also mixed with a slight dizziness from information overload. His brain was struggling to process the sheer volume of data.
He unconsciously blinked, trying to adapt to this new 'vision'. He felt like a man who had been blind his whole life finally seeing the sun.
At this moment, Leng Yaozhu's voice came, and although she tried her best to control it, there was still an undisguised fluctuation in her tone. The composure of the Vice Tower Master had cracked.
"Yuhao, your Spirit is... eyes?!"
Dai Yuhao turned his gaze to Leng Yaozhu, and her complex and indescribable expression was clearly reflected in his eyes, which had become even brighter, as if containing starlight. He saw her shock, her awe, and her uncertainty.
He nodded: "Yes, Aunt Leng, my Spirit is my eyes, an Original Body Martial Soul!"
Over the years, under the guidance of Leng Yaozhu and Han Tianyi, Dai Yuhao's understanding of the Spirit System had long surpassed that of children his age, and was even comparable to Spirit Masters who had received System education in Elementary Spirit Master Academies. He knew the rarity of what he possessed.
Therefore, he naturally knew that the eye Spirit he had awakened was a type of Original Body Martial Soul. He felt a strange sense of pride, even as his internal thoughts remained cold and calculating.
In the depths of Leng Yaozhu's eyes, an extremely complex emotion flashed by rapidly. She looked at him as if she were seeing a ghost from the history books.
Facing this young boy whom she had personally cared for and taught for three years, for a moment, she felt an unprecedented sense of bewilderment and helplessness. The boundaries of her reality had been shattered.
The result of three years of waiting seemed to declare a startling fact. A fact that would change everything she knew about the Spirit Pagoda.
This child, whom she regarded as her nephew, was very likely the First Generation Pagoda Master who laid the foundation of the Spirit Pagoda in legends, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao! The ancestor had returned in the form of a child.
How should she face him?
Should she continue to treat him as a junior child who needed protection and guidance? After all, he was currently just a six-year-old boy.
Or... with the attitude one would treat a legendary ancestor? A figure of worship and absolute authority?
This momentary conflict in identity recognition made her uncharacteristically speechless for a moment. She felt lost in the presence of her own student.
"Aunt Leng, what level is my spirit power?"
Dai Yuhao's clear voice, filled with anticipation, sounded at the opportune moment, breaking the subtle and stagnant silence. He wanted to know the numerical value of his potential.
Leng Yaozhu suddenly snapped back to attention, her gaze refocusing on Dai Yuhao, temporarily suppressing those chaotic thoughts. She had a duty to perform.
"It's Innate Full spirit power!"
As the host of this Awakening ceremony, Leng Yaozhu naturally clearly perceived Dai Yuhao's Innate spirit power. It was a perfect $10$ out of $10$ level.
However, she distinctly remembered that in the ancient scrolls within the Spirit Pagoda, the early records of the First Generation Pagoda Master Huo Yuhao mentioned that his Innate spirit power seemed to be only level one. It was a major historical discrepancy.
It was that weak starting talent, combined with his later achievements that shook the continent, that formed the most poignant contrast in the legend. His story was one of triumph over mediocre beginnings.
But now, what was presented before her was undoubtedly Innate Full spirit power! The boy was starting with the highest possible potential.
Had the historical records of $10,000$ years ago been inaccurate? Had the scribes of old made a mistake?
Or... had her intervention over these past three years changed history? Had her care and the Body Sect's conditioning elevated his soul?
Upon hearing the words 'Innate Full spirit power', a flash of light instinctively flickered in Dai Yuhao's eyes. It was the thrill of knowing he had the power to change his life.
But this light vanished in an instant, and the budding joy on his face also dimmed and receded. A shadow of disappointment crossed his features.
Because the Spirit he awakened was not the Evil Eyes White Tiger he had longed for. He didn't feel the surge of feline power; he only felt the cold clarity of his eyes.
"Yuhao, come with me, there's something important I need to tell you."
Leng Yaozhu's voice sounded, calm but with an unprecedented solemnity. She knew the time for secrets was over.
Dai Yuhao looked up, meeting Leng Yaozhu's gaze. He saw a resolve in her that he hadn't seen before.
That look was no longer the usual warmth or encouragement, but rather contained a very complex resolve, which made his heart inexplicably tighten. He felt like he was about to be judged.
Although he didn't know what could make the usually composed Aunt Leng show such an expression, he habitually nodded and silently followed. He maintained his facade of the obedient ward.
The two of them, familiar with the route, walked through the familiar corridors inside the Spirit Pagoda, returning to the 'home' on the $121$st floor where Dai Yuhao had lived for three years. The atmosphere was heavy with unspoken truths.
They sat opposite each other on the living room sofa, Leng Yaozhu's gaze fixed on Dai Yuhao, her scrutinizing yet worried eyes making Dai Yuhao unconsciously straighten his body, his small hands secretly clenching on his knees. He felt like a prisoner in an interrogation room.
Finally, Leng Yaozhu's clear, cold voice broke the silence: "Yuhao, with your intelligence and keenness, over these past three years... you must have already noticed the 'anomaly' happening to you, right?"
Upon hearing this, Dai Yuhao's entire body stiffened abruptly! His mask nearly slipped as a jolt of panic shot through him.
His heart felt as if an invisible hand had squeezed it, pounding wildly. The internal calculation began immediately—how much did she know?
Aunt Leng... she knows?
The ability to travel between two Worlds, that was his biggest secret and anomaly! If she knew the truth, his entire existence was at stake.