"As expected!" In a small grove just outside the school's iron fence, beyond the soccer field's sidelines, a middle-aged man in a leather jacket stared intently at Rong Taotao in the distance. He saw the painful look on Rong Taotao's face as he clutched his head with both hands.
The middle-aged man turned to the buzz-cut youth beside him and said, "Rong Yang, your brother is probably opening the Soul Slot on his forehead."
"Mmm..." Rong Yang rested one hand on the iron railing, his eyes also fixed on the youth on the distant soccer field.
At this moment, squads of soldiers were halting the students' awakening process, leading those who felt unwell off the field and to the medical tents set up beside the main platform.
As time passed, the scene grew increasingly chaotic. The sounds of crying and shouting were incessant. Meanwhile, the parents waiting anxiously outside the school gates were cleared away by local police, moved to a distance.
But these two men were still able to stand here. They must have had some connections.
No, to be precise, there were three people.
But one of them, a woman, wasn't standing outside the fence, but rather within the school campus, leaning with her back against it.
The woman was about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, with a beautiful face and an elegant demeanor. She wore a tasteful dress, and her smile held a trace of emotion as she said, "He really is living up to expectations."
"Rong Yang, you know what it means for us that he's opened a Soul Slot on his forehead," the middle-aged man in the leather jacket said to Rong Yang, his expression quite serious.
"Of course I do, Captain Fu," Rong Yang replied with a smile. True to his name, the gentle smile on his face was indeed like a warm Little Sun.
Rong Yang continued, "He just graduated from middle school. You're not thinking of making him start working now, are you?"
"Haha, not just yet," Captain Fu chuckled upon hearing this, clapping a hand on Rong Yang's shoulder. "But we have to start them young. We need to guide him toward our unit in the future.
You both have a forehead Soul Slot, and more importantly, you're blood brothers!
With the right Soul Pearl configuration, you two could achieve seamless communication across different dimensions. If you two don't go into intelligence, who will?"
Seeing the captain's "got-him-in-the-bag" expression, Rong Yang shook his head with a smile and said, "It's a good thing there aren't any Soul Skills in this world that can read minds. Otherwise, things would get really complicated."
Hearing this, Captain Fu shrugged. Indeed, it was a good thing there weren't.
Otherwise, given the nature of Rong Yang's current job, what would have awaited Rong Taotao might not have been the embrace of high school, but a lengthy period of political-aptitude training...
"Shouldn't you be getting nervous, Captain Fu?" Inside the campus, the beautiful woman leaning against the fence turned her head and looked at Captain Fu outside with a chuckle. "Rong Yang's head Soul Slot is officially certified. Now that Rong Taotao has also opened a head Soul Slot, I'm afraid many teams will be coming to snatch him from you after today."
"Mmm..." Captain Fu rubbed his chin, muttering to himself, "That's a good point."
Rong Yang, who had been smiling the whole time, now had a solemn expression. Gazing at his brother on the distant soccer field, he couldn't help but sigh internally.
'Will my brother accept this kind of work and life?'
'He's still just a kid, a fifteen-year-old with infinite potential. Why should his entire future be decided right here, right now?'
'I know how hard life is in my unit. I don't regret my choice of profession, but... I don't want my own brother to go down this path.'
'The damnable thing was, I awakened a forehead Soul Slot.'
'Even more damnable, eight years after I was born, Mom and Dad just had to have another one!'
'And this one... he just had to have a forehead Soul Slot, too...'
'One person with a forehead Soul Slot? No big deal! But two people? And those two being blood brothers? That changes everything!'
'This kind of seamless communication, which only exists between siblings, has immense strategic value! Even if I want my brother to have an easy life, it might be impossible now.'
Sigh...
Rong Yang sighed again at the thought.
As the trio conversed, large groups of students were led away by soldiers. On the vast soccer field, only about a hundred people remained.
Among the hundred-odd people, almost everyone had already opened their third Soul Slot, with Rong Taotao among them.
It was a process of elimination, like sifting sand in a great wave. When the fourth Soul Slot gradually began to appear on various parts of the students' bodies, nearly all the soldiers on the field sprang into action!
They called a halt to the awakening ceremony for most of the students, quickly soothing and stabilizing the rampaging Soul Power in their bodies, and led them away from the soccer field, which was now rippling with Soul Power.
As professional Soul-guide Soldiers, the Soul Power they channeled into the students' bodies roamed throughout their systems. The soldiers knew far better than the children whether their bodies had reached their limits.
The soldiers' professionalism was clear: among the hundred-odd students, the successive awakenings of the fourth Soul Slot all occurred within a five-minute span.
「And after that...」
The stadium, originally filled with over a thousand students, was now left with only seven people.
A glint flashed in the beautiful woman's eyes. She pushed off the fence she was leaning against, straightening up, and turned to Rong Yang on the other side. "He's more than qualified. Start thinking about how you're going to help me persuade your brother."
Rong Yang's feelings were complex, but he gave a slight nod.
The two men and one woman were not from the same team; otherwise, it would be impossible for one to be inside the campus and two outside.
In fact, this woman was a teacher from the admissions office of Songjiang Soul Martial University.
Compared to the admissions teachers from other key Soul Martial High Schools, Rong Yang clearly trusted Songjiang Soul Martial University more, or rather... he trusted the woman before him more.
Although he thought this, Rong Yang still said to the woman, "Chunxi, are you so sure Taotao can open a fifth Soul Slot?"
Yang Chunxi gestured toward the soldier sitting cross-legged in front of Rong Taotao and said, "Look at that soldier, steady as a rock. Your brother probably hasn't reached his limit yet."
As they spoke, three more soldiers called a halt to the awakening ceremony and quickly led the students away.
Although the field was now very empty, the Soul Power here was too active. The soldiers had to lead the students away from this turbulent area to prevent any unnecessary harm to their newly awakened and unstable bodies.
Unfortunately, even after pushing to their absolute limits, those three students still ended up with only four Soul Slots, failing to awaken a fifth.
Only four people remained on the field.
Captain Fu suddenly said, "The kid obviously wanted to bend over and rub his knee, but the Soul-guide Soldier stopped him."
Yang Chunxi bit her lower lip. Despite having weathered countless storms, she too seemed to be getting excited at this moment.
'Did he open five Soul Slots?'
'Good! Very good! Excellent!'
"That's the fifth Soul Slot," Captain Fu said, clenching his fist. At this moment, he felt the same as Yang Chunxi, overjoyed at the sight of such a one-in-a-million seedling.
'In the future, this kid is going to be one of my soldiers!'
The trio over here was thrilled, but at this moment, the soldier sitting in front of Rong Taotao was not as calm as he appeared on the surface.
Right now, the soldier was ecstatic, but his superior professionalism kept him steadily performing his duty.
The soldier knew that right here, under his watch, a prodigy was about to be born!
'Initial Awakening with Five Soul Slots!'
'What kind of Talent is this!? He was born for this life!'
'You can embed more Soul Skills than anyone else, and absorb Soul Power faster!'
'Your ability to cultivate Soul Techniques is stronger, and even your Compatibility with your Lifebound Soul Beast is higher!'
'This f... this... Holy hell!!!'
The soldier's eyes suddenly widened. He saw Rong Taotao, who already had a faint vortex of Soul Power appearing on his knee, actually lower his head slightly and cover his left eye with one hand?
By the school fence, the trio had obviously noticed Rong Taotao's astonishing action!
The act of covering an eye meant nothing on its own.
But during an awakening ceremony, especially after already awakening five Soul Slots, to suddenly cover your eye!?
Could he... still be opening a sixth Soul Slot!?
"Rong Yang, I'm afraid your brother's aptitude is even higher than yours. Besides the forehead Soul Slot, which is the most difficult to open, he can actually open an eye Soul Slot..." Yang Chunxi murmured, a hint of disbelief in her heart.
Although she knew this was Xu Fenghua's son, and she knew his older brother Rong Yang was exceptionally talented, she never would have expected that the Rong Family's second son could actually push his initial Soul Slot count to six!?
Odds of tens of thousands to one—this wasn't something you just stumbled upon!
「On the soccer field,」
The soldier in front of Rong Taotao... was well and truly dumbfounded.
'Other people awaken Soul Slots on their wrists and ankles, or maybe an elbow or shoulder every now and then... but you!?'
'You open your forehead, then your knee, then your eye?'
'Is your Soul Power just doing laps inside you for fun? Taking a random stroll?'
'Are you even human???'