Chapter 3: Is This a Sacred Realm or the Underworld?

Chapter 3: Is This a Sacred Realm or the Underworld?

"Ding! Host, open the newbie gift package, activation complete. Congratulations, host, on obtaining 1 opportunity to select a martial soul, 666 diamonds, 1 copy of 'Advanced Meditation Method,' and 1 purple-tier summoning card."

"Advanced Meditation Method!"

Xiao Yu didn't hesitate and immediately picked up the book on meditation, flipping through its pages.

"This meditation method is based on the host's cosmos and is derived from the soul cultivation in the Douluo Continent."

While Xiao Yu was browsing through the book, the system was also providing explanations to him.

"Not bad, not bad!"

After a quick glance, Xiao Yu nodded in satisfaction. "With this meditation method, my cultivation speed will be many times faster than my current routine of running every day."

Carefully keeping the meditation method, Xiao Yu focused and took a deep breath, then issued a command, "System, prepare to select the martial soul."

"Ding, the system is currently randomly selecting a martial soul for the host."

Once again, the system's voice resounded in Xiao Yu's mind. Suddenly, a circular roulette appeared before his eyes, its pointer rapidly spinning before finally coming to a slow stop on a gray area.

In an instant, a humanoid figure clad in black armor, wielding a long sword, slowly materialized. Long, pitch-black hair cascaded down to the waist, with eyes of a faint green color emitting an aura of death.

"Ding, congratulations to the host on obtaining the Martial Soul of the Underworld Apostle."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu was speechless. "The Underworld Apostle? Isn't this just Hades from Saint Seiya?"

With years of experience watching Saint Seiya animations on Blue Star, Xiao Yu couldn't fail to recognize this major boss character in the anime.

"Wrong!"

The system asserted firmly, "With the host's current body, it's absolutely impossible to bear 100% of Hades's power. This martial soul is at best a faint projection of Hades. However, if the host can advance to level one hundred in the future, the Underworld Apostle's martial soul might indeed evolve into Hades."

Xiao Yu understood instantly. "So, it's a weakened version that can still evolve."

"Exactly."

"Let's use up the remaining purple-tier summoning card as well."

"Ding, the selection of the purple-tier character is complete. Congratulations to the host on obtaining Milo of the Underworld Fighters from the Earth Fiend Star, with the Martial Soul of the Demon Butterfly. Innate soul power level: 7, current soul power level: 72."

"Wow, is this system of mine a Sacred Realm system or an Underworld system?"

Xiao Yu was somewhat speechless. His martial soul was a faint projection of Hades, the first-hand fighter was also a prominent member among the Underworld Fighters. It shouldn't be that the first draw would yield such strong characters; it felt like the usual gaming strategy.

However, although not as expected, Milo himself was a formidable character, ranking among the top in the Earth Fiend Star among the Underworld Fighters. With his eerie psychic powers and the Demon Butterfly from the Underworld, he once made Aries Saint Mu struggle in battle.

A soul power level of 72 was decent in the early stages of the Douluo world, serving as good protection, as long as one didn't venture into places like the Soul City or the Skyfight City, which were teeming with hidden dragons and crouching tigers, safety was virtually assured.

Take Shrek Academy in Soto City for example; obviously, they had offended the upper echelons of the Barak Kingdom, yet they could still advertise normally and recruit students at such high registration and tuition fees. Wasn't it because of figures like Flender and Zhao Wuji, both Soul Saints? Also, Canghui Academy, a senior Soul Master academy, had only one Soul Saint as the principal.

"Milo pays respects to the master!"

As Xiao Yu pondered silently, Miló, clad in a robe of alternating dark green and black, with his jet-black hair slightly disheveled like an explosion, had already appeared before Xiao Yu. He knelt down respectfully and bowed to Xiao Yu.

...

Time passed swiftly, like the flowing of water.

In the blink of an eye, another half year had passed.

During this time, with the guidance of the "Advanced Meditation Method," Xiao Yu no longer solely relied on running to improve himself as before. Of course, necessary physical exercises still continued, but Xiao Yu invested more time and energy into circulating his own soul power to condense his cosmos.

As for Miló, to avoid attracting too much attention, Xiao Yu ordered him to hide and provide covert protection, only appearing occasionally when Xiao Yu encountered problems in his cultivation.

"Phew!"

After a day of practice, Xiao Yu slowly exhaled.

At that moment, a prompt from the system suddenly sounded in Xiao Yu's mind: "Ding, the host has reached the age of martial soul awakening. The martial soul will awaken automatically within the next three days."

"It seems it's time to leave."

Upon hearing the prompt, Xiao Yu slowly opened his eyes. Indeed, the age for martial soul awakening was just as he had imagined, not necessarily at the age of six.

But considering it, even though remote villages had Soul Masters from the Soul Hall to help with awakening, the awakening ceremony only took place once a year. If a child happened to be just a month or two shy of six, they wouldn't wait another year until they were nearly seven for the awakening ceremony.

"Miló!"

Xiao Yu called out softly. As soon as he spoke, Miló quietly appeared before him and asked in a low voice, "What are your orders, young master?"

Xiao Yu deliberately had Miló change his title to "young master." On one hand, it wasn't reasonable for a child of five or six to be addressed as "master" by a Soul Saint of over seventy levels. Calling him "young master" was more logical, and others wouldn't raise suspicion upon hearing it.

On the other hand, it was also a little scheme of Xiao Yu's. Normally, people would assume that if Xiao Yu was the young master, then Miló's true master must be Xiao Yu's father. If a Soul Saint-level guard was serving a child, then Xiao Yu's father, even if not a Titled Douluo, should be a high-ranking Soul Douluo expert. This would give Xiao Yu an opportunity to boast.

"My martial soul is about to awaken. If I continue to stay here and let the people at the orphanage discover my martial soul awakening automatically, it will definitely cause a stir. It might attract unnecessary trouble."

The automatic awakening of a martial soul would be big news regardless of which faction it occurred in. Currently, Xiao Yu, still in the fledgling stage, just wanted to quietly develop his power. He didn't want to expose himself to the world so early, especially since his martial soul was not some waste martial soul.

If the Martial Soul Hall, Seven Treasure Glazed Glass Sect, or the empires like the Heaven Dou Empire or the Star Luo Empire showed interest in him, it would be difficult for Miló alone, a Soul Saint, to protect him.

"We should act quickly. Let's leave tonight."

"Yes, sir!"

Miló was also a clever person and instantly understood Xiao Yu's concerns. With a few flashes of black light, Xiao Yu and Miló disappeared from the spot.

The next day, the caregivers at the orphanage discovered Xiao Yu's disappearance. However, a child who hadn't even awakened his martial soul hadn't attracted much attention. After several caregivers searched for a few days without success, there was no further follow-up.

(End of this chapter)

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