["It's something every Spirit Master with a Beast Spirit can naturally do... yet I was the one exception."]
[As Yu Xiaogang finished speaking, both Yu Yuanzhen and the Grand Elder froze in surprise before quickly realizing what he meant.]
"Are you talking about... Martial Soul Possession?"
"Exactly."
[Yu Xiaogang nodded.]
[Martial Soul Possession is an innate ability that every Beast Spirit Master gains immediately after their Martial Soul awakens.]
[By merging the beastly power, attributes, and abilities of their Martial Soul with their own body, a Spirit Master enters their strongest combat state.]
[Among the two major categories of Martial Spirits—Beast Spirits and Tool Spirits—each has its own strengths and weaknesses.]
[However, if you asked Spirit Masters which type they would rather awaken, nearly eighty percent would still choose a Beast Spirit.]
[The reason was simple.]
[The physical enhancement provided by Martial Soul Possession was incredibly powerful.]
[At the lower cultivation ranks, Beast Spirit Masters could rely on their strengthened physiques to overwhelm Tool Spirit Masters in close combat.]
[Tool Spirit Masters had little choice but to endure it.]
[In the early stages of cultivation, Spirit Masters possessed only a few Spirit Skills, and their spirit power reserves were too limited to waste recklessly.]
[As a result, many battles eventually became contests of pure physical strength.]
[And if a Tool Spirit Master was forced into a direct physical confrontation with a Beast Spirit Master...]
[Even a child knew who would win.]
[Unless there was an overwhelming difference in Martial Spirits or spirit rings, this physical advantage remained until Spirit Masters reached the seventh spirit ring.]
[Only after obtaining the seventh spirit ring could Tool Spirit Masters awaken their Martial Soul True Body, allowing them to close the gap in physical ability.]
[The problem was that very few Spirit Masters on the Douluo Continent ever reached Rank 70.]
[Because of this, Beast Spirit Masters naturally enjoyed a considerable advantage throughout most of their cultivation journey.]
[Despite possessing a Beast Spirit himself, Yu Xiaogang had never been able to perform Martial Soul Possession.]
[He had always believed that Little Dragon's malignant mutation was the reason.]
[Although he lacked the physical enhancement that other Beast Spirit Masters enjoyed, Little Dragon's extraordinary abilities more than compensated for that weakness.]
[According to both his father and the sect elders, if they could possess a Martial Spirit like Little Dragon, they wouldn't care whether Martial Soul Possession existed or not.]
[For that reason, Yu Xiaogang had never felt dissatisfied about this missing ability.]
[But today...]
[The moment he touched Little Dragon, he instinctively realized something had changed.]
[He could now perform Martial Soul Possession.]
[Just as he had sensed earlier, Little Dragon had only now completed its true Martial Soul Awakening.]
[As a result, the innate ability every Beast Spirit Master should have possessed from the very beginning had only now awakened within him.]
"You only mastered Martial Soul Possession today..."
"Doesn't that mean your Martial Spirit has only truly awakened now?"
[Yu Yuanzhen stared at both Yu Xiaogang and Little Dragon in complete disbelief.]
[It was simply unimaginable.]
[Wasn't Martial Soul Awakening supposed to happen only once in a person's lifetime?]
[Even when a Martial Spirit evolved later, it was merely an increase in strength.]
[Who had ever heard of a Martial Spirit evolving so dramatically that it underwent a second awakening?]
[Was such a thing even possible?]
---
In the Black World, everyone at Shrek Academy was equally stunned.
Was this really possible?
Their eyes shifted from the Yu Xiaogang displayed on the Heavenly Screen to the Grandmaster standing beside them.
Finally, they looked at Luo Sanpao, who had already been summoned.
Seeing its chubby, pig-like appearance, everyone couldn't help feeling sympathy.
Both Little Dragon and Luo Sanpao were separated Beast Spirits.
Yet the difference between them was astonishing.
Had Luo Sanpao awakened under the care of Dragon God Douluo Yu Xiaogang from the parallel world...
It would never have ended up looking like this.
Among everyone present, however, the person most deeply affected was Yu Xiaogang himself.
He stared blankly at the Heavenly Screen.
His mind echoed with a single realization.
Little Dragon hadn't truly completed its Martial Soul Awakening until Yu Xiaogang reached Rank 40.
The only difference between the two worlds was the choices people had made.
That meant...
His own Luo Sanpao had never truly awakened either.
Martial Soul Awakening was the dividing line between ordinary people and Spirit Masters.
It represented the first true transformation in a person's life.
Normally, such a transformation happened only once.
Even Martial Spirit evolution could never compare to the qualitative change brought about by awakening.
After all...
Awakening was the process of turning nothing into something.
Yet now the Heavenly Screen was revealing an impossible truth.
A Martial Soul could awaken...
Twice.
If a second awakening truly existed, then the improvement it brought would undoubtedly be extraordinary.
Even without thinking deeply, anyone could understand how tremendous such a transformation would be.
"A second Martial Soul Awakening..."
Yu Xiaogang suddenly stood up.
"Flender!"
"Stop the carriage!"
"I have to find someone!"
"I need another Martial Soul Awakening!"
"I'm going to awaken my Martial Spirit again!"
He rushed toward the carriage door as though he intended to jump out immediately.
Flender quickly grabbed him and dragged him back.
"Calm down, Xiao Gang!"
"We're in the middle of nowhere."
"Where exactly are you planning to find someone capable of awakening your Martial Spirit?"
Flender spoke helplessly while firmly holding onto his old friend.
There was something else he kept to himself.
In his opinion...
Even if Yu Xiaogang somehow found another awakening ceremony, it would accomplish nothing.
The Second Awakening in the parallel world wasn't a miracle that happened overnight.
It was the culmination of countless opportunities.
Two thousand-year spirit rings.
One ten-thousand-year spirit ring.
Every single one obtained from Dragon-type Spirit Beasts.
Each one replenished Little Dragon's damaged origin.
Finally...
A piece of Crimson Blood Amber, formed from the blood of a Dragon-type Spirit Beast over one hundred thousand years old, completely restored its foundation.
Only then did Little Dragon undergo its Second Awakening and reveal the form it had always been destined to possess.
But what about this Yu Xiaogang?
Luo Sanpao still looked like a fat little pig.
Both of its spirit rings were only hundred-year rings.
Neither of them even matched its original attributes.
With such a weak foundation...
How could Luo Sanpao possibly achieve a Second Awakening?
Flender's words gradually calmed Yu Xiaogang.
His body stiffened.
Realizing he had acted too impulsively, he slowly sat back down inside the carriage.
Even so...
His eyes never left the Heavenly Screen.
Second Awakening...
Second Awakening...
If I could complete one as well...
Wouldn't my true talent finally be revealed?
If Little Dragon possesses such limitless potential in that parallel world...
Then Luo Sanpao should possess the same potential.
As long as I complete a Second Awakening and allow Luo Sanpao to fully awaken...
I can finally break free from my current limitations.
The thought that he might never achieve such an awakening never crossed his mind.
"No..."
"I will complete a Second Awakening."
"I definitely will."
Yu Xiaogang clenched both fists tightly.
A future without a Second Awakening...
Was a future he refused to accept.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)