Chapter 347 - 2: School Awakening

Chapter 347: Chapter 2: School Awakening

The Awakening Hall was packed.

Hundreds of gray-robed students stood in neat rows across the wide stone floor. Soft blue light from the Awakening Pillar washed over their faces. Teachers and examiners moved quietly between the rows with glowing datapads, checking names one last time. A low murmur of voices filled the air — nervous whispers, quiet jokes, and the occasional deep breath.

Then the principal stepped onto the elevated platform.

He was an elderly man in deep blue robes, his hair pure white and his back still straight. When he raised one hand, the entire hall fell silent within seconds.

"Students of Azure Cloud Martial Academy," he began, his voice calm but strong enough to reach every corner. "Today is the day many of you have waited for since you first stepped through these gates. Today, you will place your hands on the Awakening Pillar and learn the rank of the martial soul or spirit root that will walk with you for the rest of your lives."

He paused, letting his gaze travel slowly across the rows of young faces.

"Some of you will awaken high ranks. Some of you will awaken average ones. And some of you... will awaken ranks that look weak on the surface — E or even F."

A few students shifted uncomfortably.

The principal’s expression softened, but his voice remained firm.

"I want you to listen carefully. Rank is not destiny. Talent is not the only path. Over the long history of this academy, there have been students who awakened F-rank and E-rank martial souls. Students who were told, quietly or openly, that their future would be limited. Yet some of those same students refused to accept that limit. They trained harder than anyone else. They studied longer. They endured more setbacks. And years later, those ’weak’ students walked out of this academy and became legendary figures — powerhouses whose names are still spoken with respect across the continent."

He let the words settle.

"So no matter what rank appears above the pillar today, do not give up. Do not lower your head. The path of cultivation is long. What matters most is not the starting point, but the steps you choose to take afterward. Work hard. Stay steady. And never let a single letter decide the value of your life."

Silence hung in the hall for a moment.

Then soft murmurs rose among the students.

A girl in the front row clenched her fists, eyes shining with determination. A boy near the back exhaled slowly, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. Rylan, standing a few places away from Ash, whispered under his breath, "That’s what I needed to hear."

Ash stood quietly in the third row, a small, genuine smile on his face. Good speech, he thought. Even if I get something low, I’ll just cultivate steadily and keep watching my shows. That’s enough for me.

Around him, more students straightened their backs. The nervous energy in the hall shifted into something steadier — not completely gone, but tempered by a quiet resolve.

The principal nodded once, satisfied, and stepped back.

"Let the awakening ceremony begin."

One by one, students stepped onto the circular platform at the center of the hall.

The Awakening Pillar stood there like a crystal monolith. Its surface was covered in intricate glowing runes that pulsed with a soft blue light. The light was steady and calm, yet every student who looked at it felt a quiet pressure in their chest.

The pillar was not a natural object. It was humanity’s greatest technological achievement after the portal catastrophe — a carefully engineered replica of the original cosmic awakening.

When the portals first tore open centuries ago, the sudden flood of raw cosmic energy had forced its way into the bodies of every human over the age of eighteen. That violent, uncontrolled rush had shattered Gene Locks and given birth to the first martial souls. Many died in the process. The survivors became the first generation of awakeners who saved humanity from extinction.

After decades of research, scientists and high-level cultivators finally reverse-engineered the phenomenon. They studied the exact frequency, density, and rhythm of the cosmic energy that had triggered those first awakenings. Then they built the Awakening Pillars to recreate the event under controlled conditions.

Now, when a student placed both hands on the cool crystal surface, the pillar would pump a precisely calibrated stream of cosmic energy into their body. The energy would attempt to resonate with their soul and force open the first Gene Lock. The amount of energy a person could absorb, and how deeply their soul responded to that specific frequency, determined the rank of the martial soul that formed.

That was all the machine could reveal — only the rank. The true nature of the martial soul or the rare spirit root had to be understood by the awakener themselves. Fortunately, this was rarely difficult. The moment the martial soul or spirit root fully formed, a surge of instinctive knowledge flooded the mind. Every basic function, every innate ability, and every fundamental method of use was automatically imprinted into the consciousness, as clear and natural as breathing.

It was an artificial recreation of the day the world changed — safer, measured, and repeatable. Yet every student who stepped onto the platform still carried the same quiet tension. Because no matter how refined the technology became, the moment of awakening remained a gamble with one’s entire future.

First up was Lira Voss.

She was widely regarded as the academy’s school beauty. Long silver-white hair cascaded down her back in soft waves. Her calm, elegant features drew quiet attention from every corner of the hall. She stepped onto the platform with composed grace and placed both hands on the Awakening Pillar.

The runes flared.

Cosmic energy poured into her body in a steady, refined stream. For a moment the light remained the usual deep blue. Then it suddenly shifted. The blue deepened into a pure, ethereal silver. Delicate crystalline patterns began spreading across the surface of the pillar like frost forming on glass. A soft, almost musical hum filled the air as the energy refined itself further, becoming lighter and more spiritual in nature.

Above the pillar, instead of a simple rank letter, a glowing silver character appeared:

Spirit Root – High Grade

A wave of surprise swept through the hall.

On the elevated observation platform, the principal’s usually stern expression broke into a wide, genuine smile.

"A Spirit Root!" he exclaimed, his voice carrying clearly across the hall. "An Immortal Path talent has appeared in our Azure Cloud Martial Academy!"

The school management seated behind him exchanged excited glances. Spirit Roots were rare — far rarer than even S-rank martial souls. A student on the Immortal Path was a long-term investment that could elevate the academy’s status for decades.

Lira stepped down with a polite nod. Silver light still lingered faintly around her fingertips. Soft applause followed her as she returned to her place.

Ash clapped along with the others. High-Grade Spirit Root... that’s something special, he thought. She’ll probably be cultivating for centuries without much trouble.

Next was an average-looking student named Tomas. He walked up nervously, shoulders slightly tight. He placed his hands on the pillar and received a steady flow of blue cosmic energy. The light remained ordinary. After several seconds, a clear letter appeared:

B Rank

Polite applause. Tomas let out a relieved breath and hurried back to his place. A solid, respectable result.

Then came the third student — a quiet, previously unremarkable young man named Kael Draven. Few had paid him much attention during the year. He was the type who trained hard in silence and rarely spoke.

He stepped onto the platform and placed his hands on the crystal.

The moment contact was made, the pillar reacted violently.

A dense, golden torrent of cosmic energy surged upward from the base and flooded into his body. The runes blazed with intense light. A deep, resonant pressure spread across the hall. Several students instinctively took a step back.

When the light finally stabilized, a brilliant golden letter floated above the pillar:

S Rank

The hall erupted in surprised murmurs and stronger applause.

On the observation platform, the principal’s smile widened even further. The management members leaned forward, clearly pleased. Two exceptional results in a single ceremony — one High-Grade Spirit Root and one S-Rank martial soul — was an outstanding outcome for the academy.

"Excellent," the principal said, nodding with satisfaction. "Azure Cloud will remember this day."

Ash watched from his place in the third row. His expression stayed calm and friendly as always. He clapped lightly along with the others, already knowing his own turn was coming soon.

"C Rank!"

"B Rank!"

"A Rank!"

Cheers and polite applause followed each result. Even the lower ranks received quiet encouragement. No one laughed. No one mocked. People simply nodded and moved on.

When Ash’s name was called, he walked up with his usual easy stride.

He wasn’t nervous. He expected a solid C or maybe a D. That would be enough. He just wanted to cultivate leisurely, live a long life, and keep watching his shows and reading his manga.

He stepped onto the platform. The cool metal grating grounded him. He placed both hands on the smooth, glass-like surface of the pillar.

The reaction was immediate.

At first, it was just a gentle trickle of warmth, like stepping into a sunbeam on a cold day. The familiar blue light rose around his hands.

Then the dam broke.

The cosmic energy didn’t just flow into him — it roared.

A blinding pure white light erupted from the pillar. It raced up Ash’s arms and sank into his pores. It felt like liquid starlight, a torrential river of primordial power flooding his meridians. The light was so bright that many students had to shield their eyes.

Then came the sensation.

It was utterly, overwhelmingly euphoric.

It felt as though gentle, luminous hands were massaging his very soul. The energy kneaded away the deep-seated impurities of his mortal body, soothed the small aches of everyday life, and untangled the quiet knots in his consciousness. Every nerve ending in his body sang in harmony. It was a pleasure so profound, so deeply spiritual, that Ash’s knees nearly buckled. He had never felt this good in his entire life. It was the feeling of coming home to a place he had never been.

Inside his mindscape, the awakening took shape.

The energy coalesced — not into a weapon, a beast, or an element, but into a swirling, infinite nebula of primordial light. It was a microcosm, a seed of creation itself.

The Boundless Origin Martial Soul had awakened.

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