Before they left, an attendant pinned a badge onto both Zhong Yi's and Zhong Ling's chests. Despite them not purchasing a Soul Awakening package, the attendant showed no signs of neglect.
The number on Zhong Ling's badge was 313, while Zhong Yi's was 314.
The sign on the door of the Awakening Room indicated that each room could hold 400 people.
'After Zhong Ling and I go in, we'll probably have to wait for a while,' Zhong Yi thought.
The Awakening Room was vast, with seven or eight meters of space between each seat.
This was to ensure that even if a problem occurred with someone's Soul Base awakening during the Soul Awakening Ceremony, it wouldn't affect the others.
Parents were allowed to accompany their children during the Soul Awakening Ceremony.
Zhong Yi saw a chubby kid not far from his seat, surrounded by at least fifteen accompanying adults. It looked like his entire extended family had shown up.
One of them, a wealthy-looking old woman, was incessantly coaxing the kid to chug down potions.
Zhong Yi's eyebrows shot up as he looked at the medicine bottles arranged on the table.
'Did they buy two of the most expensive Soul Awakening packages from the Beastmaster Association?'
'Spending nearly ten million Federation Coins... they're really willing to splurge!'
Even if he failed to awaken a Lifebound Guardian Beast and a Beastmaster Talent, that kid was still set for life.
Raising a Guardian Beast, after all, required a massive amount of resources.
Take Hong Ji, Zhong Yi's contracted Guardian Beast, for example. One Substitute Puppet only costs 30,000 Federation Coins.
But the materials Zhong Yi had used to raise Hong Ji were far more valuable. The remains of that one Luminous Flame Scorpion alone were worth around 1.8 million Federation Coins.
While the Soul-Controlling Flower had absorbed all the Life and Soul Energy from the Guardian Beast Remains, the more than two thousand pounds of Mortal Beast remains were still worth over 600,000 Federation Coins.
And those materials were just the beginning of Hong Ji's development. The only reason she had leaped to Silver Quality while still at the Mortal Beast Level was because of the Soul Taming Seed.
However, official organizations were more than willing to invest resources in cultivating geniuses who possessed both talent and potential—those who awakened a Lifebound Guardian Beast and a Beastmaster Talent simultaneously.
The Beastmaster Association, the Ghost Suppression Bureau, and the Starlight Army all set aside a huge amount of resources each year to recruit and train such geniuses.
Once these geniuses accepted an official organization's sponsorship, they would be branded by that organization.
After they grew up, they would be required to contribute their strength to the organization that had cultivated them, receiving an enviable "iron rice bowl"—a secure job for life.
Almost every child in the room was accompanied by an adult. Only a few, like Zhong Yi and Zhong Ling, sat by themselves.
The moment Zhong Yi and Zhong Ling took their seats, murmurs broke out around them.
The chatter was directed mainly at Zhong Yi's age.
"You've got to be kidding. Why is a sixteen or seventeen-year-old here for the Soul Awakening Ceremony?"
"Isn't he already losing at the starting line by doing the ceremony this late?"
"His parents are so irresponsible. How could they gamble with their child's future like that?"
"Mom, Dad, he's only here for the Soul Awakening Ceremony now. He must be an idiot, right?"
The Beastmaster Association didn't offer private Soul Awakening Ceremonies. People have a mean streak, and Zhong Yi had expected to be the subject of gossip before he even arrived.
It was just like in school, where the student who was different always ended up being talked about and ostracized.
Zhong Yi chose to ignore the comments.
But upon hearing people gossiping about Zhong Yi, Zhong Ling had already clenched her fists.
Zhong Ling could tolerate it at first, but when she heard someone call Zhong Yi an idiot, she slammed her fist onto the table with a loud BANG.
Despite the Awakening Room's vast size, every eye in the place instantly fell upon Zhong Ling.
"What right do you have to call the Young Master an idiot!"
"You're the idiots!"
Zhong Ling roared, completely disregarding her composure. She was like an enraged lion cub, but her eyes had already turned red before the words even left her mouth.
People are always cowards, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, especially when rules are in place.
Causing a disturbance in the Beastmaster Association's Awakening Room would get you disqualified from the Soul Awakening Ceremony.
Whether out of fear of the Beastmaster Association or for some other reason, the murmuring died down.
The kid who had just called Zhong Yi an idiot was stunned for a moment as Zhong Ling roared at him. He was about to retort when his parent quickly stopped him.
Zhong Yi sighed softly and walked over. He took hold of the fist she had just slammed on the table and saw that the backs of her knuckles were already bruised and purple.
"Xiaolingdang, that's your own fist. Hurting yourself doesn't hurt them, but it hurts me to see it."
"Next time you throw a punch, make sure it's aimed at the face of the person who's bothering you."
"Let them say what they want. In a little while, when they find out their children's Soul Bases contain Bizarres, they won't have a chance to say anything at all."
Zhong Yi didn't lower his voice when he said this.
Not only was it highly likely that Zhong Ling would awaken both a Lifebound Guardian Beast and a Beastmaster Talent, but if Zhong Yi's guess was correct, his own Lifebound Guardian Beast would be an Order Beast.
Zhong Yi didn't give a damn about anyone else in the room, so there was no need for him to be concerned or intimidated.
'You call me an idiot, so I'll say your kid is awakening a Bizarre.'
'Tit for tat. Perfectly fair!'
'Why waste mental energy on this stuff?!'
Zhong Yi's words made the faces of the parents who had been gossiping about his age turn ashen. They gritted their teeth, itching with fury.
But since their own children's futures were on the line, no one dared to say anything more.
What if they said one more word and that little girl exploded on them again?
In less than twenty minutes, Awakening Room 4 was full. Two people in the uniforms of the Beastmaster Association's Awakening Masters entered the room.
The female Awakening Master's sharp gaze swept across the room before she spoke.
"All accompanying parents, please move to the waiting area at the back of the Awakening Room. For those who haven't finished your potions, you have five more minutes to do so."
"I must remind you not to drink too much. The Soul Base awakening takes one hour. If you drink too much and need to use the restroom during that time, it will disrupt the activation of your Soul Base."
The male Awakening Master meticulously went around the room, inspecting each of the Soul Energy Stones that would play a crucial role in the Soul Awakening Ceremony.
After confirming that the six Soul Energy Stones were fully charged with energy, the male Awakening Master announced in a loud voice.
"The Soul Awakening Ceremony will not be a pleasant experience. A Soul Base awakening is equivalent to an evolution of the soul."
"No matter how painful the process becomes, you must endure it with all your might. Do not cry out and disturb the others."
"Once the Soul Awakening Ceremony begins, we two Awakening Masters will be responsible for any and all incidents. The accompanying parents in the waiting area are forbidden from interfering."
"Should any interference occur, minor infractions will be punished according to regulations. In severe cases, we will use lethal force at our discretion."