Douluo Continent: The Ice King's Resurrection

2. The Legend of the Eldest Young Master of the Ling Family at the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony

As soon as Ling Bingtian stepped out of the carriage, he saw a rather simple but quite large square. This was the central square of the Ice City, designed and built by the first Ice Duke, located in front of the Ice City Government Hall, and was one of the iconic buildings of the Ice City.

At the very center of the central square stands a high platform upon which rests a marble statue—the very statue of the first Duke of Extreme Ice, erected by his descendants after his death. Around this statue, four Soul King-level experts from the Ling family and hundreds of ordinary Extreme Ice soldiers are stationed year-round to prevent disrespectful behavior from unruly children or attacks from Soul Masters plotting against Extreme Ice City.

The annual Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony is held in front of this statue, symbolizing the awakening of the Martial Soul under the watchful eye of the first generation of the Ice Duke, hoping to receive the blessing of the first generation of the Ice Duke and bring good luck.

This year's Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony was no exception. In front of the Duke's statue, more than a dozen professional Martial Soul Awakeners from the Ling family were already standing there waiting for the first batch of children to awaken.

In reality, they are called professional spirit awakeners, but they are just spirit masters who have awakened high-quality spirits for children through the spirit awakening ceremonies of past generations. They are considered to have the luck to awaken good spirits, rather than having a special training method.

After all, martial spirits are something that are innate, and there has never been any thing that can affect the awakening of a martial spirit.

However, in this world where gods truly exist, the idea of ​​a professional spirit awakener, which is filled with metaphysical aura, still has a market. These spirit awakeners are also jokingly referred to as "chosen ones" by some busybodies. They often have a higher social status than spirit masters of the same level in major cities.

Further ahead of these professional martial soul awakeners from the Ling family were children who had come to awaken their martial souls. Most of them were discussing in hushed tones about the upcoming martial soul awakening ceremony.

Around them, guards clad in ice-blue armor with a longsword emblazoned on their breastplates maintained order among the children. These were soldiers from the city's garrison of the Arctic Army, whose primary duty was to maintain order in various locations throughout Arctic City and to patrol and protect the people.

According to Ling Bingtian's understanding, these people's positions would be equivalent to police officers in his previous life, responsible for maintaining order in the city and protecting its residents.

Under the command of these city-guarding soldiers, the children, though discussing in hushed tones, stood in neat rows of four squares, waiting for the start of the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony.

Hundreds of meters away from the four children's formation, many people from the Ice City, dressed in hemp or silk, stood by and watched. Some of them were the parents of the children who had awakened their martial spirits, but most of them were residents from the inner city who had come to join in the fun.

When it comes to joining in the fun, the people of both Ling Bingtian's previous life's country and the Douluo Continent are essentially the same. This kind of thing is deeply ingrained in everyone's bones.

However, these ordinary residents of the Arctic City were blocked by the Arctic soldiers who came to maintain order, forming a large circle of onlookers. Some Arctic City residents, annoyed that the people in front of them were blocking their way, climbed up nearby trees to get a better view.

Normally, the soldiers of the city guard camp would definitely pull them into the camp and give them a good scolding for damaging the flowers, trees and shrubs. However, on a special day like the Martial Soul Awakening Day, they turned a blind eye.

Within the circle formed by the Arctic soldiers, besides the children arranged in four square formations, there was another place worth noting. There, most of the people standing were dressed in fine, luxurious robes, whispering amongst themselves. Judging from the various patterns embroidered on their robes, it was easy to see that these were indeed the true nobles of Arctic City!

"Your son also awakened today, right? How's it going? Any confidence?" A robust middle-aged man dressed in a black robe with a fiery red bear head embroidered on his chest asked a tall, thin middle-aged man beside him dressed in an ice-blue robe with a white swallow embroidered on his chest, but who was noticeably thinner than the robust man.

His trembling hands and the slight tremor in his voice clearly revealed his extreme nervousness.

"What's the use of confidence? Is this the first time you've heard of Martial Soul Awakening? It's all about luck! I can only hope that my kid can awaken it under Lord Ling Jue's guidance, so he can at least absorb some of Lord Ling Jue's divine favor." The tall, thin middle-aged man replied irritably to the robust middle-aged man's question. In comparison, the tall, thin middle-aged man seemed much more relaxed than the robust middle-aged man.

However, what he said made a lot of sense. Although in the Douluo Continent, the offspring of Soul Masters usually inherit the best lineage of their parents' Martial Soul, there is still a possibility of a malignant awakening.

According to legend, a prominent figure from the continent ten thousand years ago was also the offspring of a high-level Soul Master, but it seems that he never broke through to the Soul King realm despite cultivating for his entire life.

Therefore, professional Martial Soul Awakeners hold a relatively high status. Whether a Soul Master or an ordinary person, no one would not want their child to awaken a better Martial Soul. And in this world of metaphysics, most people on Douluo Continent believe that some things are simply unbelievable.

The tall, thin man's mention of Ling Jue was actually the most prestigious professional Martial Soul Awakener in the Ling family. Throughout his life, the Martial Souls he awakened for the children of noble families were at least those with soul power and capable of cultivation.

Even among ordinary children, the probability of them awakening a martial soul with soul power is nearly 3%. Don't underestimate this number; 3% may seem like a very small number, but it is a figure that other awakening masters can only dream of.

"Hey, I'm still a little nervous. What will I do if my daughter doesn't awaken a good martial soul?" the robust middle-aged man sighed. He wasn't unaware of the cruelty of martial soul awakening. After all, in this world, the quality of a martial soul awakening is enough to determine a person's fate in this life.

However, as a doting father, he naturally wouldn't want to see his beloved daughter awaken a bad martial soul and then cry, let alone the bleak future that would follow if she did.

"Sigh, don't even mention it. Just wait and see. I also heard that today is the day the eldest young master of the Ling family awakens, and he will probably show up today as well." The tall, thin middle-aged man, who was also somewhat worried about his son, sighed helplessly. Now he could understand what his father was thinking when he was waiting for him here back then.

But as the tall, thin middle-aged man just said, worrying is useless; it's better to focus on other interesting things.

For example, this year, the eldest son of the Ling family has reached the age for martial soul awakening. According to the Ling family rules, he must come to the scene to awaken his martial soul.

Speaking of this young master of the Ling family, he is quite a celebrity in the city of Jibing. Although he is only six years old this year, his reputation as a child prodigy has been widely known in Jibing for the past two years.

Rumor has it that this eldest son of the Ling family was unlike other children who crawled and walked around the age of seven. While other children were still crawling, he could already walk; while other children were still learning to walk, he could already say some simple words; and later, while other children were just learning to say some simple words, he was already reading the vast sea of ​​books in the Ling family's study.

If that were all, the people of Jibing City wouldn't be surprised. In the tens of thousands of years of history of Douluo Continent, there have been precocious children before.

But what truly made this young master famous was what he did, proving that he was not just a bookworm who only knew how to read and study, but also a true genius who could apply what he learned to other situations!

Two years ago, when this young man was four years old, he deduced the approximate location of a group of long-hidden bandits by combining the knowledge he gained from reading military books with the conversation between several senior officers of the Arctic Army next to his father. He then shared his deduction with the senior officers present at the time.

At first, the senior officers of the Extreme Ice Army and Ling's father simply took the young master's remarks as a joke. However, in the end, Ling's father still sent a scout from the army to search, intending to use this example to give his precocious son, who was known as a genius within the clan, a warning after the search yielded nothing.

Unexpectedly, the scout actually found a clue about the bandits in that area. Following this clue, the Arctic Army finally found the bandits in a cave deep in the mountains and wiped them out!

Later, when the heads of those bandits were cut off and paraded through the streets, everyone in the Ice City praised the wisdom of the eldest young master of the Ling family and marveled at the birth of a child prodigy.

Now, the reputation of the eldest young master of the Ling family has been thoroughly established throughout the Ice City, and his title as a child prodigy has been officially established.

However, precisely because of this, the Ling family has raised the protection level of their eldest son to the highest level to prevent those who are envious of the Ling family or have special needs from having any ulterior motives towards him.

Although the Ling family has a very good reputation throughout the entire Heavenly Soul Empire, these people could come from anywhere, such as bandits killed by the Extreme Ice City, nobles from the inland who are envious of the Ling family's status, and evil soul masters who are notorious in the soul master world.

The first two need not be mentioned. The most typical example of an evil soul master is Blood Infant Douluo!

Back when Blood Infant Douluo roamed the continent, he slaughtered tens of thousands of infants, many of whom were descendants of Soul Masters!

It's possible that the stronger the child is, the better the enhancement effect on Blood Infant Douluo. So, in order to obtain more Soul Master offspring, and perhaps also to take revenge on these high-ranking nobles on the continent, he slaughtered many Soul Master families. Many powerful Martial Souls were even wiped out by him alone!

It was starting with Blood Infant Douluo that the major powers on the continent greatly increased their efforts to combat evil soul masters, in order to prevent the emergence of another Blood Infant Douluo!

The special needs of these evil spirit masters have also put the Ling family on high alert. Who knows if some high-level evil spirit master might have a special need for a precocious child like the eldest son of the Ling family? The Ling family has no choice but to be cautious.

If it weren't for the ancestral precepts, the tall, thin middle-aged man thought that the Ling family's higher-ups probably wouldn't have allowed the eldest young master of the Ling family to go to the central square to participate in the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony.

"Yes, I've always heard of the Ling family's young master's reputation, but very few people have actually seen him. The reason why these people from the inner city who don't usually come here are all here today is probably because they want to see what the Ling family's young master looks like." The burly middle-aged man couldn't help but agree when he heard the tall, thin middle-aged man's words.

In previous years, while nobles from the inner city did attend the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony, there weren't nearly as many. The reason so many people are here now is because the eldest young master of the Ling family, who has been kept hidden away by the Ling family for so long, will be appearing today. These people want to see this elusive young master of the Ling family, and they certainly also want to see if there's a chance to make his acquaintance.

After all, once the eldest young master of the Ling family awakens a normal Frost Soul Chain Dragon Spear Martial Soul, his future appointment as the new Duke of Extreme Ice is almost a certainty. Now that there is an opportunity to leave a good impression on him when he is young, these scoundrels will certainly not miss this opportunity, the burly middle-aged man thought to himself with disdain.

Of course, he wouldn't admit that he had similar thoughts...

"Stop talking, look, Icefang Wildebeest. That's the Ling family's carriage. The eldest young master of the Ling family must have arrived." The tall, thin middle-aged man didn't respond to the robust middle-aged man's words, but instead turned his gaze to the distance, focusing on a carriage that had already stopped.

The gun-shaped emblem on the carriage was the family crest of the Duke of Arctic Ice's mansion.

Just as the robust middle-aged man followed the tall, thin middle-aged man's gaze, they saw the carriage curtain being lifted by the coachman, and a richly dressed, noble-looking young man stepped out.

The moment the boy stepped out of the carriage, the entire square fell silent.

Firstly, out of respect for the Ice Duke family he represented, and secondly, because of his handsome appearance that already foreshadowed his future good looks!

Although the boy still looks a bit chubby due to his age, anyone could tell how handsome he would be when he grew up.

The young man did not stop. He slowly stepped down from the carriage along the benches that the coachman had already set up, and every move he made showed the noble air of his ducal family.

Just as everyone was silent and hadn't yet come to their senses, a sudden change occurred!

A thin figure standing on the outer edge of the crowd suddenly sprang up and rushed towards the boy, while a thick mist of blood emanated from his body.

"Hehehe..." An eerie laugh echoed from the depths of the blood mist, sending chills down one's spine.

"They're here." Little did he know, the boy who stepped down from the carriage not far away looked at the thin figure with a calm gaze while thinking to himself.

PS: The original synopsis of *Blood Infant Douluo*: Once upon a time on the Douluo Continent, there existed a Douluo-level evil soul master with the title "Blood Infant." He awakened his martial soul at the age of eighteen. After awakening, he needed to absorb the brains and hearts of infants to cultivate. Twenty years later, he became a Title Douluo-level powerhouse. More than a dozen teachers and students from Shrek Academy died at his hands. In the end, it was only through the personal intervention of the Shrek Academy Supervisory Committee that he was finally eliminated after a five-year search.