After Yun Ming finished his oath and kowtowing, he retreated to the side of Yang Wudi.
The other clan members also recovered from the shock they had just experienced and began to offer incense one after another, though they couldn't help but steal a few glances as they passed by Yun Ming. Everyone thought to themselves, to be so handsome and have such a righteous heart, he truly lived up to being the grandson of the Clan Leader!
As the members of the Breaking Clan finished offering their incense one by one, the memorial ritual drew to a close.
After the ritual concluded, most of the clan members left to prepare for the day's work, leaving behind only Yang Wudi, a few excited elders of the clan, and three children—including Yun Ming—along with their parents.
Yun Ming stood still with the two other children his age; the task that followed was the fixed procedure after every Memorial Day, and the most important ceremony in the entire Douluo Continent, held by the Yang Family every three months: the Spirit Awakening Ceremony.
From the teachings of his grandfather Yang Wudi and the books in the library, Yun Ming knew that on the Douluo Continent, everyone possessed their own unique spirit.
At the age of six, people could awaken their spirits through an awakening ceremony, and children generally awakened the stronger spirit of their two parents.
Spirits were divided into two major categories: Weapon Spirits and Beast Spirits. As the names implied, those who used tools as their spirit were Weapon Spirits, and those who used animals were Beast Spirits. Relatively speaking, Weapon Spirits covered a wider range, and most people possessed them. The inherited spirit of the Breaking Clan, the Soul Breaking Spear, was a top-tier Weapon Spirit.
Yun Ming wasn't particularly curious about his own spirit; if there were no surprises, it would likely be the Yang Family's ancestral Soul Breaking Spear. His father's Profound Nether Leopard spirit could only be considered a high-level spirit, which was still quite inferior to the Soul Breaking Spear.
Compared to the spirit itself, Yun Ming was more curious about his level of innate soul power, because innate soul power was directly proportional to the speed of future cultivation. As for having none? As long as the child born from two soul masters wasn't exceptionally unlucky—avoiding extreme situations like the classic "drought meeting a few drops of rain, meeting an old friend in a foreign land only to find an enemy, the wedding night spent next door, or failing the imperial exam after being top of the list"—they would basically have soul power, though the exact level was hard to say.
The classic negative example of this was the "continent-famous" Great Master, Yu Xiaogang. The son of a Titled Douluo with half a level of innate soul power—normal people could hardly imagine how those two terms could be linked, yet our Great Master managed it easily. Of course, this couldn't be blamed on the Great Master; although his character and ability were lacking, the matter of innate soul power really had nothing to do with him personally.
Seeing that the other clan members had left and only the relevant people and a few elders remained in the Ancestral Hall, Yang Wudi began the spirit awakening ceremony directly. Perhaps because he was facing the children of the clan, Yang Wudi's attitude was a bit gentler.
"Children, stand in a row. Our spirit awakening ceremony for today begins now!"
The three children were all from the Breaking Clan and stood before Yang Wudi. Yun Ming stood on the far left, meaning he would be the last to awaken in order.
Seeing that the three were ready, Yang Wudi took two items from his storage soul tool: one was six pitch-black round stones, and the other was a shining crystal ball.
Those six black round stones were called awakening stones. On the Douluo Continent, spirit awakening required the assistance of awakening stones, and these stones were strictly controlled by the Two Great Empires and the Martial Soul Hall. Aside from the Martial Soul Hall, only some great nobles and powerful soul master families possessed them. The shining crystal ball was a soul power test crystal. The one Yang Wudi brought out had a low upper limit for detection, only ten levels, but it could accurately test a person's innate soul power level.
Yang Wudi arranged the six awakening stones into a hexagon on the ground, then called for the first boy on the right to stand in the center.
"Yang Lin, you go first!"
The little boy named Yang Lin walked to the designated spot. After he stood still, Yang Wudi struck out with his hands rapidly, injecting six beams of black light into the stones on the ground. Instantly, a layer of golden radiance was released from the six stones, forming a golden shield that enveloped the boy in the center of the hexagon.
Golden light dots drifted out from the awakening stones and continuously poured into Yang Lin's body. As more and more light dots entered, Yang Lin's body began to tremble slightly.
Seeing that it was enough, Yang Wudi gave a direct command.
"Extend your right hand."
Yang Lin followed the instruction and extended his right hand. Suddenly, all the light dots surged out, forming an eight-foot-long, pitch-black spear in the boy's hand, shimmering with a cold, chilling luster. The shaft was eight feet long, the wide spearhead was four feet long, and the shaft was as thick as a normal person's arm. Sure enough, it was the Yang Family's ancestral spirit, the Soul Breaking Spear. Perhaps because the spear was heavy, as soon as Yang Lin grabbed it, the weight bent his waist. Seeing this, Yang Wudi, who had felt slightly gratified to see a clan member awaken the Soul Breaking Spear, immediately darkened his face and said in an unkind tone.
"Use your mind to retract your spirit! Then come over to test your soul power!"
Hearing the Clan Leader grandfather's slightly dissatisfied tone, Yang Lin was a bit scared, which made it take a long time for him to retract the Soul Breaking Spear. Although Yang Wudi was even more dissatisfied seeing this, he thought that the boy was still just a child and didn't say anything more. He handed the soul power test crystal to Yang Lin and told him to place his right hand on it.
Yang Lin obeyed. Soon, the soul power test crystal lit up with a brilliant blue light, starting from the bottom and eventually lighting up about seventy percent of the scale—innate level seven. Seeing this, Yang Lin's parents were also excited; the innate soul power was quite good! Their son was a little genius.
Yun Ming had originally been quite happy for his clan brother when he saw Yang Lin awaken with innate level seven soul power, but after seeing his parents' excited expressions, his own joy cooled bit by bit, replaced by a feeling of envy.
Yang Wudi didn't notice Yun Ming's mood; he just looked at Yang Lin and nodded inwardly. It was decent talent. Even though the Yang Family were all possessors of the top-tier Soul Breaking Spear spirit, most clan members only had innate soul power of level five or six, with a few at level seven. As for levels eight or nine, those were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns; Yang Wudi himself only had innate level eight soul power.
"Yang Lin, spirit Soul Breaking Spear, innate soul power level seven!"
"Cultivate well in the future!"
After announcing Yang Lin's awakening results, Yang Wudi encouraged him.
Yang Lin's father also hurriedly stepped forward to speak.
"Don't worry, Clan Leader! I will definitely train this brat well from now on!"
After saying this, he glared fiercely at Yang Lin. Having seen his son fail to hold the spear properly earlier, Yang Lin's father felt he had lost face to his mother-in-law's house.
Yang Wudi responded indifferently.
"He does need to be trained well. Alright, let the ceremony continue."
Yang Lin's family stepped back, and Yang Wudi continued with the spirit awakening. The same scene played out again; this child also awakened the Soul Breaking Spear, with innate level six soul power, which could only be considered average in the Yang Family.
Finally, it was Yun Ming's turn. The few elders still in the Ancestral Hall were also excited to see Yun Ming's awakening ceremony about to begin.
Seeing Yun Ming walk into the hexagonal awakening array, Yang Wudi's eyes were filled with tension. Perhaps out of concern for Yun Ming, or perhaps to calm his own heart, Yang Wudi asked Yun Ming.
"Ming Er, are you ready?"
Hearing Yang Wudi's words, Yun Ming let go of the tension in his heart and responded earnestly.
"I am ready!"
Seeing this, Yang Wudi directly activated the spirit awakening ceremony, and the spirit awakening officially began.
PS: Seeking monthly tickets, seeking recommendations.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader