Volume 2, Chapter 14: The Shop of Broken Dreams
Over the past ten thousand years, the way soul masters awakened and grew had changed completely under Lakan's rule. The old system of hunting soul beasts for spirit rings was long gone. In its place was a sustainable cycle that Lakan had built to protect both humans and soul beasts.
Instead of killing beasts, new soul masters received or formed a Soul Spirit Seed — a condensed fragment of spiritual energy. It was like a seed planted in a garden. The user had to nurture it with their own soul power and the right Baybayin resonance for it to grow into a full soul spirit. These seeds came from Resonance Altars, where soul beasts that had reached the end of their natural lives, failed a heavenly tribulation, or simply wanted a chance at immortality could peacefully condense their cultivation into a seed. It was a voluntary partnership, not slaughter.
To support this new system, Lakan had also created Soul Spirit Tools. These were living tools made of special crystalline materials etched with Baybayin characters. They acted as a bridge between the user's body and the world's energy. Without them, a human body would quickly break down from the friction of using high-level skills. The tools handled the heavy overdrive and kept the user safe.
This was the world Chen Feng had woken up in — a world shaped by Lakan's laws.
•••••••
The town of Loulan was nothing special. It was just a busy hub where the smooth tracks of the Phoenix-Rail trains met the dirt roads of the surrounding farms. Chen Feng walked slowly down the main street, his small boots crunching on the gravel. He still carried the rusted iron hoe in his hand. He couldn't put it away — his system inventory was locked behind a high level requirement he hadn't reached yet.
I look like a poor farmer, he thought bitterly. I'm a transmigrator with a System. I should be flying around on a sword or wearing fancy clothes and surrounded by beautiful girls. That's supposed to be my right as a transmigrator!
[Notice: Local Spirit Shop detected. Recommended Action: Acquire a strong Soul Spirit Seed to fix your current weak Martial Souls.]
"Finally," Chen Feng muttered under his breath. He looked up at a building made of white stone and clear glass. A sign above the door read Anito Trade & Spirits. The Baybayin character "ᜐ" (Sa) was etched into the glass, glowing with a soft, steady light.
He pushed the door open. A small bell chimed, but it wasn't an ordinary bell. It was a resonance chime that vibrated gently in his chest. The shop was quiet and smelled of incense and fresh ozone. Rows of glass canisters lined the walls, each one holding a swirling cloud of colored mist — Soul Spirit Seeds ready to be chosen.
A middle-aged man sat behind the counter, polishing a small metal disc. He didn't look up at first. "Awakening season already? If you're looking for the really strong Dragon-grade seeds, you're in the wrong town, kid. We mostly have Boar, Sparrow, and maybe a Tree Cat if you have enough credits."
Chen Feng walked up to the counter. "I want your best spirit. And I'm not paying with credits."
He focused in his mind and tried to call up the System's currency window. [Current Balance: 10,000 System Gold.] "I have gold," he said confidently. "Pure gold. That should be worth at least a thousand Federation credits."
The shopkeeper finally stopped polishing. He looked at Chen Feng, then at the rusted hoe in the boy's hand, and let out a short, dry laugh. "Gold? Kid, we haven't used actual gold for trade since the Sun-Moon merger years ago. The Federation runs on Merit Points and Credits now. You got a Spirit Pad with you?"
"I don't need a pad. Look." Chen Feng tried to manifest a gold coin from his System.
Nothing happened.
[Warning: Physical manifestation of System Currency is blocked by the Phoenix Law of Resource Regulation. System Gold can only be used inside the System Shop. To convert to Federation Credits, please complete Community Service: Clean the Village Square.]
Chen Feng's face turned red with anger. "Clean the square? I'm supposed to be destined as a God-King!"
Damn that Lakan, he thought furiously. Just because you got here earlier than me, that doesn't give you the right to control everything.
The shopkeeper leaned back in his chair. "You're supposed to be in school at your age. Look, if you really want a spirit, go work at the docks for a month. Or go back to whatever farm you came from. That hoe looks like it could use some oil anyway."
Chen Feng felt a hot surge of rage. It was the kind of anger you get when a vending machine takes your last coin and gives you nothing. He glanced at a canister on the shelf behind the man. It held a flickering red flame — a Fire-Type Fox spirit. That was exactly what he needed to fix his weak Wilted Grass soul.
System, can you bypass the glass?
[Calculated Risk: 40%. Detection likely. Host's current physical stats are very low.]
"Just do it," Chen Feng hissed quietly.
He reached out, his hand glowing with a faint blue System light. He touched the glass, trying to make the canister disappear into his inventory.
Suddenly, the soft glow of the Baybayin markings on the shop walls turned a violent, angry red. A heavy, humming alarm filled the room.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" the shopkeeper yelled, reaching for a button under the counter.
The shop door hissed open. A man in a dark, structured uniform stepped inside. He wore a silver chest plate with the Execution emblem — a stylized spider-lily. He was an Enforcer from the Hall of Execution.
He didn't draw a weapon. He simply looked at Chen Feng. The air in the shop suddenly felt five times heavier, like being underwater.
"Tampering with a regulated Spirit Seed," the Enforcer said in a flat, serious voice. "That's a serious offense in the Federation, boy. Who is your guardian?"
Chen Feng froze. His hand was still inches from the glass. He felt the weight of the man's gaze — it wasn't just pressure. It felt like his very soul was being examined by cold eyes.
[Warning: Level 60 Soul Master detected. Conflict is suicidal. Suggestion: Play the 'Clueless Child' card.]
"I… I just wanted to see the pretty light," Chen Feng stammered, quickly pulling his hand back. "I didn't know."
The Enforcer walked closer, his boots making almost no sound on the floor. He looked at the rusted hoe in Chen Feng's other hand. "A twin-soul user with almost no power. You're the one the priest reported earlier."
He leaned down, his face only inches from Chen Feng's. "The Sovereign Lakan built this world so people like you could earn their own path. If you try to steal it, the Law of Slaughter doesn't care how young you are. Go home. If I catch you near a Spirit Shop again before you're properly enrolled in an academy, you'll be spending your awakening in a cell."
Chen Feng didn't wait. He bolted out of the shop and ran until he reached the dirt alley behind his small shack. He leaned against the wall, gasping for air, his small chest heaving.
"This world is a prison," he spat, throwing the rusted hoe angrily at a pile of trash. "Lakan isn't a hero. He's a tyrant. But I'll find a way. I'll find a way to delete him from this story."
Also, did that guy say Law of Slaughter? But that's Asura.
?!?!
Then it suddenly became clear to Chen Feng, Tang San must've died and Lakan took his Asura Core and give it to someone, likely Bibi Dong.
Then at the thought of that, Chen Feng felt angry and frustrated. That's a God King Position, a God King. It also meant that Tang San is 100% dead. As there's no way a Hero like Tang San who always hates tyrany and evil will join the Martial Soul Hall.
•••••••
While Chen Feng was fuming in the back alley, the spirit carriage carrying Huo Yuhao and Ma Xiaotao pulled up to a massive set of gates.
This was the Anito Academy.
It wasn't a cold fortress or a grand castle. It looked more like a beautiful botanical garden mixed with an observatory. Massive white pagodas floated several feet off the ground, held up by steady Seven-Tone resonance. The air was filled with the sound of wind chimes and the distant laughter of students.
"We're here," Ma Xiaotao said, jumping out of the carriage. She stretched, her bright orange eyes sparkling with excitement. "Best school in the Federation. Even other academies send their top students here for exchange programs."
Yuhao stepped out slowly, looking up in awe. To a boy who had spent most of his life in a servant's shack, this place looked like heaven. He saw students of all kinds — humans, spirit-folk, and even some with faint draconic traits — walking together peacefully.
After Lakan created the Soul Spirit System, it became a real bridge between humans and spirit beasts. Some students here were even descendants of mixed human and beast unions.
But as they approached the gate, a shimmering wall of blue light blocked their path. It was the academy's security field.
Two guards stood there in white and gold robes of the Hall of the Phoenix. One of them held a Spirit Pad.
"Identification and Soul Spirit Seed registration," the guard said.
Ma Xiaotao held out a small jade token. The guard scanned it, and the blue light turned green. "Welcome back, Miss Ma."
Then the guard looked at Yuhao. He saw the ragged clothes, the dirt, and the lack of any registration token. "And this one? A servant?"
"He's a guest," Xiaotao said, crossing her arms. "He's got a real talent for markings. Let him in."
"Rules are rules," the guard said firmly. "Without a token, he has to pass the basic resonance test. If he can't trigger the gate's markings, he doesn't enter."
Yuhao looked at the blue light barrier.
"Don't worry, boy," Electrolux whispered in his mind. "Use the Library. Look for the Handshake."
Yuhao closed his eyes. In his mind, the All-Seeing Library came to life. The blue wall of light dissolved into thousands of moving symbols. He saw the Baybayin "ᜑ" (Ha) acting as the main anchor for the field. It was beautiful, but he noticed a small rhythm in the flickering — like a heartbeat.
He reached out his hand. He didn't push against the light. He waited for the gap in the heartbeat.
Now.
He touched the field. Instead of pushing him back, the blue light swirled gently around his fingers like calm water. He traced a small, invisible "ᜊ" (Ba) in the air — a stabilizing marking he had learned from watching the carriage axle earlier.
The gate didn't just turn green. It sang. A low, beautiful harmonic note rang out, and the entire field rippled with deep Seven-Colored light — the color of the Phoenix.
The guards nearly dropped their Spirit Pads. Ma Xiaotao's jaw dropped open.
"He didn't just trigger it," one guard whispered in awe. "He synchronized with it. Only high-level researchers from the Hall of the Phoenix can do that."
"Who are you, kid?" the other guard asked, his voice full of new respect.
"I'm Huo Yuhao," the boy said quietly. "I'm here to enroll."
As the gates opened, a group of students walked past. In the center was a boy wearing a high-collared blue uniform. He had silver hair and a look of cold, effortless superiority.
He stopped when he heard the harmonic note from the gate. He turned, his eyes landing on Yuhao.
"A synchronization?" the silver-haired boy said. His voice was smooth, like silk over a blade. "I haven't heard the gate hit that note since I arrived three years ago. And it was triggered by… a beggar?"
"Watch your mouth, Dai Huabin," Ma Xiaotao snapped. "He's got more talent in his pinky than you have in your whole ego."
Dai Huabin. Yuhao's heart skipped a beat. He knew that name. Huabin was the legitimate son of the White Tiger Duke. His half-brother. The one who used to watch from the balcony while the servants beat him.
Huabin didn't recognize him. To him, Yuhao was just another face in the mud he had stepped on.
"Talent is one thing," Huabin said, his eyes narrowing. "But this is the Anito Academy. We don't just read markings here. We fight. We cultivate. We win."
He walked closer to Yuhao, letting his soul power flare out — a sharp, metallic pressure. "If you think a lucky touch on a gate makes you special, you're mistaken. You'll be out of here by the first exam."
Yuhao didn't flinch. Thanks to Electrolux and the All-Seeing Library, he could see the cracks in Huabin's power. The boy was strong, but his energy was jagged and arrogant. It had no real solid foundation.
"We'll see," Yuhao said quietly.
Huabin let out a short, cold laugh and walked away with his group.
"Ignore him," Xiaotao said, though she looked a bit worried. "He's the top of the freshman class. He's got the White Tiger Spirit and a strong Soul Spirit Seed. He's a jerk, but he's a strong jerk."
"I'm not worried," Yuhao replied calmly.
In his head, Electrolux was quietly laughing. "I like him, Yuhao. He's the perfect anvil for your hammer. He thinks he's a tiger? We'll show him what happens when a tiger meets a ghost."
•••••••
Later that night, Yuhao sat on a small bunk in the scholarship dorms. The room was tiny but clean. It had a window that looked out over the floating pagodas.
He pulled a small, crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. It was a simple drawing his mother had made for him when he was four — just a bird. It was the only thing he had left of her.
He touched the paper gently, feeling the old ink under his fingers. It was a small, quiet moment of grief in a world full of floating towers and ancient gods. He thought about Lakan, the man who had given him the Library. He wondered if even someone as powerful as Lakan ever felt small and lost like this.
"You're doing well, boy," Electrolux said softly. "Sleep now. Tomorrow, the real work begins."
••••••••
Up on the Phoenix God Star, Lakan was watching the interaction between Yuhao and Huabin.
"Typical," Lakan said, tossing a grape into the air and catching it in his mouth. "The Arrogant Young Master trope never dies. Ten thousand years and they still haven't learned to be humble."
Zhu Zhuqing sat beside him, her long legs crossed. "The White Tiger lineage has always been stubborn. But Yuhao didn't react. He looked right through him."
"That's the Library at work," Lakan grinned. "It's hard to be intimidated by a tiger when you can see exactly where his joints are loose. But did you see Chen Feng?"
"He tried to steal a Fire Fox," she said. "The Enforcer nearly took his head off."
"Good," Lakan said, his expression turning a bit cynical. "Let him feel the weight of the law. He thinks life is a game where you can just save and load. He's about to find out that in my world, the rules are written in blood."
He stood up, looking down at the shimmering map of the Douluo Federation.
"The Transmigrator is desperate. The Abandoned Son is hungry. And the Universe Will is probably biting its nails." Lakan stretched his arms over his head. "I think it's time we introduced a new Course at the Anito Academy. Something... unconventional."
"What are you planning?" Zhu Zhuqing asked, a hint of a smile on her lips.
"I'll go on a little field trip," Lakan winked. "I think the kids need to see what happens when the Symbols they study actually come to life."
End of Volume 2, Chapter 14