bookbashuk Chapter 45 Mutant Martial Soul
Chapter 45 Mutant Martial Soul
Half a month later.
The courtyard of Tianhai Orphanage has shed its former silence. Warm sunlight streams through the windows into the awakening room, and a restless anticipation floats in the air.
"Brother Xingchen, hurry up and help us awaken our martial souls!" Rosalia grabbed Lu Xingchen's sleeve, her clear voice filled with barely suppressed eagerness, her little face beaming with joy.
Although Lilia did not speak, her clear eyes reflected an expectant light.
Lu Xingchen raised his hand and pinched Rosalia's cheek, a gentle smile spreading across his eyes: "Don't rush, let's start with you this time."
A month has passed since the last attack on the orphanage. The four children who were cursed at the time successfully broke free of the curse after coming into contact with his blood. After a follow-up examination at the hospital confirmed that they were unharmed, they finally returned to the orphanage.
Rosalia's obsession with awakening her martial soul has never diminished—the last ceremony was interrupted by a surprise attack from the Grim Reaper, and now that she has recovered, she naturally wants to make up for it as soon as possible.
Lu Xingchen stepped forward and stood in front of the awakening formation, gesturing for Rosalia to step into the formation.
Cocolia and the other three children stood guard outside the formation, their eyes fixed on the figures inside.
Nowadays, the awakening of a martial soul no longer requires the cumbersome process of the past. It can be completed simply by using a soul guidance array and having a soul master inject soul power. Previously, this task was handled by a spirit transfer master, but now it is being taken over by Lu Xingchen.
"Buzz~"
As Lu Xingchen infused his soul power into the array, the pale blue array patterns instantly lit up, and soft white light overflowed from the array's core, enveloping Rosalia entirely.
Under everyone's gaze, a strange pinkish-white pattern slowly appeared on her right palm. Then, an exquisitely crafted pinkish-white greatsword materialized out of thin air, its blade gleaming with a delicate luster in the white light.
"It's a weapon spirit."
Lu Xingchen nodded slightly, which was consistent with the previous "0-02" assessment result.
But at that moment, a sudden change occurred.
The moment the pinkish-white greatsword hovered, Rosalia's body began to undergo astonishing changes.
The right side of her head slowly protruded, and a curved pinkish-white horn broke through her hair. At the same time, a pinkish-white tail covered with a strange carapace swayed gently behind her, unusually agile.
"Twin Martial Souls?!" Cocolia exclaimed in surprise upon seeing this.
When a weapon spirit awakens, it manifests as a weapon.
When a Beast Martial Soul awakens, it will cause certain changes to the Soul Master's body, the specific changes depending on the type of Martial Soul.
Rosalia had clearly awakened a sword spirit, yet her body also exhibited obvious beast-like characteristics. To Cocolia, wasn't this a case of twin spirits?
"No, this isn't twin martial souls, it's a mutated martial soul."
Lu Xingchen shook his head, having discerned some clues. Although it did appear to be two martial souls from the outside, in reality, the horns and tail should be one with the sword martial soul.
In other words, Rosalia actually only has one martial soul.
Although such mutated martial souls are extremely rare, they are not entirely untraceable.
Lu Xingchen recalled ancient records: 20,000 years ago, there was a Serpent Spear Douluo in the Spirit Hall. Although his spirit was a weapon spirit, the Serpent Spear, he could simultaneously manifest both weapon and beast forms.
Rosalia's situation is very similar to that of the Serpent Spear Douluo. Although it is a weapon spirit, it has acquired beast-like characteristics for some reason, forming this unique mutated spirit.
"But what kind of spirit beast characteristics do these pinkish-white horns and tail correspond to? Could it be that the unique nature of the Chaos Sea triggered a mutation in the spirit?"
Lu Xingchen stared at the figure in the formation, unable to determine the source of the mutation for a moment. He then took out a soul power testing device and handed it over, saying, "Test your innate soul power first."
As soon as Rosalia grasped the testing device, the scale on it began to climb rapidly—one mark, two marks, three marks… The value broke through level four all the way, far exceeding the previous assessment result of "0 - 02".
When the scale finally stopped at the tenth mark, the entire awakening room fell into a brief silence.
"Innate full soul power!"
Lu Xingchen's eyes were filled with astonishment. The "0-02" appraisal ability had never been wrong. Rosalia's innate soul power should have only been level four, but now it had undergone earth-shattering changes.
Rosalia hadn't fully reacted yet; she just stared at the glowing testing device in her hand, tilting her head curiously: "Starry Brother, is this... a success?"
"It was a success, and the best possible result!"
Lu Xingchen lifted Rosalia up in his arms, his voice filled with joy, "You have innate full soul power; you will definitely become a very powerful soul master in the future!"
Rosalia finally understood, and a bright smile instantly bloomed on her face. She hugged Lu Xingchen's neck and excitedly exclaimed, "Great! I have innate full soul power! I can become a powerful soul master!"
Lu Xingchen smiled and ruffled her hair, then lifted her, still excited, out of the formation and gently placed her on the ground. He then turned and waved to Lilia, "Lilia, it's your turn."
Looking at her sister's innate full soul power, Lilia had a faint smile of happiness for her sister on her lips, but her hands secretly clenched the hem of her clothes, her fingertips turned white, and a few barely perceptible tensions flashed in her eyes.
She was happy for her sister's outstanding talent, but she couldn't help but worry about the outcome of her own awakening, fearing that she wouldn't be able to keep up with her sister's pace.
"Relax, it's just a normal awakening, don't be nervous."
Lu Xingchen noticed her unease, walked over to her, gently patted her shoulder, and said in a voice as warm as the autumn sun, "No matter what the outcome, you are a wonderful child."
Lilia raised her head and met Lu Xingchen's gentle gaze. The tension in her heart eased slightly. She nodded gently and stepped into the center of the awakening formation.
In the white light, Lilia slowly opened her left hand, and a halo also appeared on her palm. However, the halo on her palm was a cool, clear blue, like the surface of a lake in deep winter.
Immediately afterwards, a greatsword of deep blue emerged from the halo and hovered above her palm.
This greatsword is similar in design to Rosalia's, but it exudes a completely different aura—the blade is as clear as a still lake, gleaming with a cool luster, as if it can reflect a person's shadow.
The edge of the blade had a faint layer of icy blue, exuding a chill, as if it were carved from millennia-old ice.
Immediately afterwards, a scene similar to Rosalia's unfolded.
Lilia's hair on the left side of her head rose slightly, and a curved horn slowly emerged. The horn was light blue, the same color as her greatsword, and its surface shimmered with an icy luster.
At the same time, a small black tail hung down from her back, covered with black carapace, which contrasted sharply with her azure horns, yet somehow harmonized with them.
Lu Xingchen nodded, his suspicions becoming even more certain.
The fact that the two children awakened similar mutated martial souls one after another clearly indicates that they were influenced by the same factor, which is most likely his blood.
Without further hesitation, he immediately handed the soul power testing device to Lilia: "Come on, Lilia, test your innate soul power."
Lilia stretched out her small hand and gently grasped the testing device.
The next second, the scale inside the tester lit up again, the pale blue light rapidly climbing from the first bar—one bar, two bars, three bars, four bars…
The value soared without any pause, quickly breaking through six bars, eight bars, and finally settling steadily at ten bars. The entire testing device was also enveloped in light, emitting a soft halo.
"Another one with innate full soul power!"
Cocolia couldn't help but shout it out, her eyes filled with disbelief.
One person with innate full soul power is a once-in-a-century occurrence, but now two have appeared at the Tianhai Orphanage, and they are geniuses with innate full soul power who possess mutated martial souls!
Lilia stared at the testing device in her hand for a few seconds, then her eyes lit up, and her previously tense lips curled up slightly into a faint smile.
Although not as excited as Rosalia, she couldn't hide her joy.
Lu Xingchen walked into the formation and led Lilia out, his tone tinged with relief: "Lilia, you also have innate full soul power."
"That's great, Lilia! We also have innate soul power now, and we can become powerful soul masters in the future!"
Rosalia could no longer contain her excitement. Seeing that her younger sister had also awakened her innate full soul power, she immediately stepped forward and hugged Lilia tightly. Her innocent little face was full of a carefree smile, and her eyes curved into crescent moons.
"You idiot Rosalia, don't hug me like that, it's hot!"
Lilia was held tightly in her arms. Although she was happy inside, she kept her usual expressionless face, except for a faint blush creeping up her ears.
She reached out her little hand and pushed her older sister's arm with a hint of disdain, trying to create some distance, but there was no real dissatisfaction in her tone. Instead, it revealed a bit of sisterly intimacy.
Rosalia, however, ignored all of that and continued to cling to Lilia, excitedly saying, "I don't care! From now on, we'll train together, get stronger together, and we won't be afraid of bad guys bullying us anymore. We can also protect Brother Xingchen and Mom Cocolia!"
Lilia gave a soft "hmm" and didn't push her away again. Instead, she quietly reached out and gently hugged Rosalia's waist.
"Is this the unknown mutation that '0-02' refers to?"
Looking at the scene before him, Lu Xingchen seemed thoughtful. "Not only has their martial soul mutated, but their aptitude has also been significantly improved."
He couldn't help but recall how he had spent half a year huddled in a trash can trying to improve his qualifications before finally seeing some results.
These two children achieved a mutation in their martial soul and a leap in their aptitude simply by being tainted by his blood, transforming from ordinary level four innate soul power into geniuses with full innate soul power.
"Comparing yourself to others can be incredibly frustrating."
(Rosalia and Lilia)