Chapter 007: Cloudy Skies

Many in the crowd instantly stood up at the sight of Dugu Wei's Martial Spirit. After all, rumors are simply rumors. Seeing it with their own eyes, however, had now made it the truth.

After the murmurs died down, Dugu Bo continued. "Although rare, there are some records of early Martial Spirit awakening. From what we do know, most martial spirits only awaken at the age of six because they are usually unable to fully form before then. Thus, early martial spirit awakeners typically require what is called a re-awakening, allowing them to fully awaken. And so, just to be clear, I will now awaken my granddaughter and re-awaken my grandson."

Starting with Dugu Yan, Dugu Bo began to infuse his spirit power into a prepared set of spirit awakening stones. As they levitated around her, green light shrouded the room as a low hiss erupted. Slowly, the jade green light formed the outline of a snake as purple light flashed from its eye sockets. Seeing this, Dugu Bo briefly winced before his face brightened after remembering something, "Yan'er, you have awakened the same spirit as me, the Jade Phosphor Serpent. If you work hard, you have hopes of becoming a Douluo."

The audience applauded lightly but everyone knew that it was only out of courtesy.

Understanding the room, Dugu Bo motioned to Dugu Wei who was watching from the side. With his finger, he beckoned, "Little Wei, come here."

At this moment, Dugu Wei felt as if his legs were paralyzed. He desperately did not want to be exposed as there would be too many problems that came with it. At the same time, as he watched the impatient looks of the crowd and the concerned look of his grandfather, he knew he could not hesitate.

A look of determination, he walked into the array of stones as they began to levitate around him. The same green light appeared around him as a burning sensation came from his soul. He was greatly confused as awakening a spirit was not supposed to hurt. Perhaps reacting to his pain, the Sky Poison Pearl showed itself once more. The green light clouded around the pearl and condensed into a mist-like substance that was chilling to the touch. At this time, a trace of purple began to leak from the pearl. At this time, his Grandfather Zhang's voice called out from his mind, 'Be careful, Little Wei!'

Seeing this, Dugu Wei attempted to immediately stop the awakening and force the pearl back into his soul. He too knew why his grandfather was warning him. This small bit of purple might seem harmless but in reality, it could kill anyone in the room, including Dugu Bo. The Sky poison Pearl was not only capable of curing poisons but also using them. Indeed, this small trace of purple was a bit of the Sky Poison Pearl's poison called the Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison strong enough to kill even the gods of Grandfather Zhang's world. The consequences of unleashing it here was unthinkable.

Just when he was about to disrupt the awakening ceremony, the green mist clouded around the poison and began to hungrily devour it, gaining a purple hue so dark it was almost black. Realizing he was no longer able to communicate with the pearl, Dugu Wei could only watch his martial spirit continue to form. Surely enough, the dark-colored cloud slowly grew into a long-bodied figure with two purple eye-sockets. Strangely enough, the pearl continued to float above the eye sockets as if it was a third eye, the vertical crack in which released the fatal poison appearing like a beast's eye-slit.

Seeing this, many attendees felt disappointed. After all, although there were some strange things about the awakening, they were not scientists who gained valuable research insight, they were simple martial artists and aristocracy. Even Dugu Bo wore a slightly disheartened expression as his old friend Xue Ming patted his back in reassurance.

But, just when they thought things were over, the low hiss they expected did not emerge. Instead, a large and grand roar was heard, directing their eyes back to the ceremony. The spirit appeared to grow long horns like a deer's as well as five-fingered claws. Flailing around, its long, coiled body grandly rose into the air before once again howling at the sky as its eyes coldly looked downwards on the spectators. Unlike anything before, they felt as if a Martial Spirit possessed intelligence of its own, unable to muster resistance. Next to it, the Jade Phosphor Serpent was nothing.

Lost in their stupor, the audience forgot to applaud before Xue Ming awoke them with his own cheerful clapping. "The serpent lies low to one day become a dragon! It seems that the Dugu family will now rise to become one of the most prestigious families of Heaven Dou. A great Martial Spirit, indeed!"

Realizing their reactions were inappropriate, the audience regathered their wits before giving a standing ovation and congratulating Dugu Bo and his family.

Dugu Wei could barely remember the rest of the day as the shock of having prepared himself for death and living regardless had left him disoriented. From what he could remember, he was going to be personally trained by his grandfather as a disciple while Dugu Yan would be taught by her father for now. At the same time, things were going to get busy around the estate.

It was not him alone that was shocked by today's event, as his Grandfather Zhang had not stopped talking in his headspace. Still going on, he said, 'But, Little Wei, you do not understand exactly how miraculous this is! Although I told you to keep that special poison as a live-saving tool, perhaps this is just as good! It can be considered an investment, one that is likely to cause you to become a god much faster.'

Dugu Wei understood his grandfather's words and even agreed with them. After all, he was not only still healthy after today's events but also felt much stronger both physically and mentally, in terms of clarity. He could think at an unimaginable pace as well as bear an unusual amount of pain now. No matter how he saw it, it could only be advantageous for him. And so, Dugu Wei quickly got over his unsettled feelings.

Sitting up on his large bed, he instead began to look forward to his grandfather's training. In addition to that, he thought back to the face of a certain Xue Qinghe. After the day's events, Dugu Bo and Xue Ming thought to arrange a playdate between the three of them, including Dugu Yan, nearly a month later.

Lying back down on his bed, he pondered silently about how to solve that little issue. Little did he know that someone else was intending to solve it for him...