At noon, Gu Yechen did not dine with the Ye family head and the others in the villa because he wanted to wait until Lingling had calmed down—at least until tomorrow.
Tomorrow, Gu Yechen was to leave for the Tiandou Royal Academy. So right now, he needed to go to a place where he could receive a gold coin stipend—that place was the Martial Soul Hall.
The Martial Soul Hall had established a branch in the central area of Nottingham City, called the Martial Soul Branch Hall, which was managed by Master Matthew.
Before long, Gu Yechen arrived alone at the entrance of the Martial Soul Branch Hall. Looking at the grand and magnificent gatehouse and the heavy double doors, this place was truly unforgettable—the Martial Soul Hall! Long time no see.
Who would have thought that someone like himself, originally an ordinary person, could become a Soul Master.
He continued walking forward and soon sensed the soul power fluctuations of two guards ahead. Though not very strong, they seemed to be seasoned fighters, each with roughly level nine soul power.
Since they likely had innate soul rings, Gu Yechen could sense their approximate level and whether they possessed soul rings.
Based on the basic Soul Master knowledge that Aunt Ye had drilled into him, both of these men were at the Soul Warrior level.
Aunt Ye had said that Soul Master cultivation on this continent has ten ranks and one hundred levels.
Each rank roughly corresponds to ten levels, and the standard is judged by the possession of soul rings.
Since he had one white soul ring, he was at the second rank: Soul Master.
Gu Yechen silently recited to himself: "Soul Warrior, Soul Master, Great Soul Master, Soul Lord, Soul Sect, Soul King, Soul Emperor, Soul Saint, Soul Douluo, Title Douluo."
Sigh, he thought, When will I finally cultivate into a Title Douluo and earn my own title? At least twenty years, I suppose.
Soon, Gu Yechen approached one of the guards and said, "Hello, I'm here to register as a Soul Master and to undergo a soul power test."
"Alright, please follow me," the guard nodded. Such reception work was routine, so he was efficient and said no unnecessary words, leading Gu Yechen inside.
When Gu Yechen reached the center of the main hall, a solemn and sacred atmosphere filled his vision.
The hall was over twenty meters tall, supported by redwood pillars on both sides. Looking toward the walls, there were numerous crystal glass windows, letting sunlight pour in and casting reflections on nearby Martial Soul murals.
Looking at the grand and imposing hall, Gu Yechen nodded slightly—though that was all.
After walking some distance, he saw a familiar figure—Su Yuntao—who was currently chatting with his female companion.
The woman said, "Yuntao, what's going on with you? You still haven't broken through to level thirty. Do you remember what my family said? If you can't reach the Soul Lord rank by then, let's just stop meeting."
Su Yuntao replied, "Sisi, believe me, just give me some more time. I will definitely break through."
Sisi smiled bitterly, "Forget it. I've waited seven years already and you still haven't made it. Let's break up. My family arranged a match for me with a 38-level Soul Lord, much stronger than your 29-level Great Soul Master."
At that moment, an awkward voice interrupted their conversation, irritating Su Yuntao.
"Master Su Yuntao, this young man needs to register his Martial Soul. Please assist with the registration."
The guard was new and inexperienced, somewhat rigid and lacking tact. Normally, he should have asked Gu Yechen to wait aside.
But he was meticulous with his duties and dared to interrupt Master Su Yuntao—clearly a foolish move.
Su Yuntao scowled, "Who let you barge in? Can't you see I'm busy?"
The guard scratched his head, "But he's here to register with the Martial Soul Hall!"
Sisi stopped Su Yuntao from further scolding and said, "I understand. You can go now."
"Understood!" The guard bowed and left to continue his post.
Since Sisi had spoken, Su Yuntao had to save face.
He then said to Gu Yechen, "Follow me."
To Sisi he said, "Wait here. The registration won't take long."
Su Yuntao hurriedly led Gu Yechen toward the laboratory.
Watching Su Yuntao's flustered retreating figure, Sisi shook her head and sighed, "As Master Matthew said, he's just a child, blinded by love and never growing up. Maybe someone suits him, but it's not me."
They quickly arrived at the second-floor laboratory, where Martial Souls were evaluated.
Su Yuntao opened the door marked with three sharp swords and said hurriedly, "Don't waste time. Please release your Martial Soul and soul ring. I will evaluate and register you."
"Okay," Gu Yechen nodded. Though he didn't like this uncle much, he was not narrow-minded.
As long as the other didn't harm those he cared about, Gu Yechen wouldn't treat him as an enemy.
However, if someone hurt his close ones, then there would be no chance of friendship. Wounds were not easily healed.
Neither friend nor foe—just a passerby. Gu Yechen would not reveal his emotions around them.
Without expression, Gu Yechen closed his eyes and slowly released his Martial Soul. At his feet, a white soul ring glowed faintly, seeming to be a decade-old ring.
"What kind of Martial Soul is this?" Su Yuntao looked at Gu Yechen's Martial Soul but couldn't name it. This was the first time in his life he had seen it. Had he been ignorant all along?
Still proud, Su Yuntao pretended to understand and lifted his chin, saying, "I basically know your situation. There is a high-grade crystal orb over there. It's not like the low-level testing orbs used at awakening. Go sense it while I evaluate your soul power level here."
When Gu Yechen placed his palm on the crystal testing orb, it did not respond.
Su Yuntao was stunned, "How is this possible?"
He thought the orb was malfunctioning, so he tried it himself. The orb still lit up, meaning it wasn't broken.
This unsettled Su Yuntao, especially since his companion was waiting downstairs.
Recalling the ordinary little red flower in Gu Yechen's hand and that he only had a white soul ring, Su Yuntao guessed it might be a mutated Martial Soul.
Mutated Martial Souls could be stronger or weaker. Since the orb didn't even light up, it might be a worthless Martial Soul that couldn't even reach level one.
Having a white soul ring wasn't impressive. Maybe Gu Yechen had been forcibly trained after joining someone else's family. Su Yuntao had also heard of rare medicines that could improve soul power levels.
From this perspective, the little red flower should be a useless Martial Soul with innate soul power below level one—at best, half a level. Such trash Martial Souls would never reach level 20.
Since Su Yuntao himself struggled to break level 30 with his powerful beast Martial Soul, he naturally thought Gu Yechen had no potential.
The high-ups of the Martial Soul Hall wouldn't pay attention to people without potential, and statistical results for mutated Martial Souls were usually inaccurate because some might surpass others later.
So even if the stats were wrong, it was no big deal since Gu Yechen would still have to undergo Great Soul Master and Soul Lord registration later.
Su Yuntao didn't ponder further—Sisi was still waiting. Accuracy aside, he hurriedly recorded Gu Yechen's information and issued him a Soul Master badge.
Name: Gu Yechen
Martial Soul: Little Red Flower
Soul Power Level: 10
Looking at the newly issued Soul Master badge, Gu Yechen couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. "Little Red Flower?" What the heck is that? Were they trying to praise me for being outstanding?
Oh well, I promised Aunt Ye I'd keep a low profile and not let anyone harm the people I most want to protect.
Soon after, Su Yuntao hurriedly led Gu Yechen out of the laboratory.
"Sisi! I'm back!"
(End of chapter)
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