Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit

In his previous life, he had longed for a younger sister. Unfortunately, he only had a mischievous younger brother who was always at odds with him and did poorly in school. As the older brother, he often disciplined him, but his grades still remained poor, and he often made Meng Li angry.

Back then, he had wished for a younger sister, especially one who was understanding and considerate. It had not come true in his previous life, but it had in this one.

"Na'er, you should talk more in the future, or you'll get sick. Once we're back from our stall, I'll teach you how to read." Meng Li watched Na'er eat happily.

Na'er thought for a moment and said, "Okay. Thank you, Brother."

"We're family. No need to thank me. Saying thanks makes us seem distant."

After eating, Meng Li had no plans to go to school that afternoon. He took Na'er with him to set up their stall; being home alone was rather lonely.

Na'er hugged a small bundle of dolls and watched Meng Li's back. Their two tiny bodies bore the weight of this household.

By the time they packed up their stall in the evening, it was already six o'clock. There was still some food left from that morning at home, enough for the two of them, so they did not buy any groceries.

After dinner, Meng Li responsibly began teaching Na'er how to read.

He brought out the pinyin system from his own world and planned to teach her pinyin first on the first day.

As long as she learned pinyin, even if she did not recognize a character in the future, she could still pronounce it, which would make things much easier.

Although Na'er did not talk much and did not seem particularly clever, she learned pinyin incredibly fast. In just one hour, she had memorized all of it and could recite it backward fluently.

After teaching her pinyin, he began teaching her characters. Another hour later, Na'er had already learned a thousand characters, along with all their meanings.

By a little after ten that night, Meng Li was tired from teaching. Na'er learned very quickly and had memorized nearly all the commonly used characters and their meanings in just one evening.

"I never expected Na'er to be a prodigy. Then why didn't your parents want you?" Meng Li asked with a puzzled expression.

"I don't remember my parents." Na'er shook her head, her gaze unfocused.

"There are many things I can't remember. I even thought for a long time before I remembered my own name..."

"Sigh, I forgot my own name too!" Meng Li sighed. He had not realized she felt this way before teaching her to read.

"Is Brother... like me too?"

"More or less." Meng Li looked deeply troubled.

The longer he stayed here, the more things he felt himself forgetting. He had almost forgotten the names of his childhood friends. He used to be known for having an excellent memory, but now he was forgetful.

"I have nothing. I only have you." Na'er was a little sad. In her current memories, Meng Li was the only older brother who cared for her.

"Forget it, let's stop saying such sentimental things. Go take a bath first. Go to sleep after you're done, and get up early for breakfast tomorrow." Meng Li patted Na'er's little head.

Na'er answered and smiled as she unsteadily picked up her clothes and went to bathe.

Meng Li took a deep breath and collapsed onto the sofa. He had been busy from morning until night again today. He was exhausted.

The next day, Meng Li walked to school. In the classroom, everyone looked at him strangely.

As expected, he was going to get scolded again today.

Meng Li shrugged and sat down at his seat without caring.

Sure enough, before his butt had even warmed the chair, he heard a woman's voice.

"Meng Li, stand up.

"Where did you go yesterday? What is wrong with you? You skip class every day. Are you worthy of your teacher...?"

"Teacher, I'm sorry. I know I was wrong."

I'll still do it next time. Meng Li apologized with a sincere expression.

After Meng Li was lectured alone for an hour, that day's Soul Master class began.

After a morning of Soul Master classes, Meng Li, as usual, brought food back for Na'er before returning the same way.

The afternoon was meditation class.

During the second hour of meditation, Meng Li successfully broke through to level ten and officially became a Soul Master.

However, he did not publicize it. After all, Lin Ximeng had said that reaching level ten within a year already made someone a genius. Under normal circumstances, it took three years, but reaching level ten in less than two days made one a monster, an anomaly.

He did not want to attract too much attention and get captured for research.

After trying several times, he could no longer level up. As the teacher had said, he needed to absorb his first Soul Spirit or soul beast before he could continue advancing.

Since he could not level up next, he could only sleep to pass the time.

That worked out well. During the days when he could not level up, he only needed to attend school for half a day every two days. He also became known among his classmates as the number one slacker, the record holder for skipping class, and a poor student in their eyes.

Later, his classmates made a ranking list of their strength. He was ranked last, while Tang Wulin was second to last.

Meng Li merely smiled and did not argue with these elementary school students. Keeping quiet and making a fortune was the proper way.

Lin Ximeng also sighed repeatedly. After trying to educate him for a while, she stopped bothering with him, because he would not listen no matter what she said.

One month later.

Meng Li and Na'er arrived at the Spirit Pagoda in the center of the city. After breaking through to level ten, Meng Li had used the mindset from before his transmigration to make money.

Working until late every day, he finally managed to save up thirty thousand Federal Coins after a month.

The Spirit Pagoda organization had existed for ten thousand years. It was important to Soul Masters, and its groundbreaking research into Artificial Soul Spirits had provided another way to break through level limits.

Meng Li and Na'er entered the Spirit Pagoda. The Spirit Pagoda had a standard octagonal design, with three floors and openings on all four sides. The interior was extremely spacious, with marble floors bearing the Spirit Pagoda emblem and a broad main hall.

Soul Spirits were priced according to their age: random ones cost thirty thousand, ten-year ones cost seventy thousand, and hundred-year ones cost five hundred thousand. After paying thirty thousand to a Spirit Pagoda staff member, Meng Li chose random. Random was entirely based on luck, with a hundred-year Soul Spirit being the highest possible result.

The device for drawing Soul Spirits looked very much like the Gacha Machine in CrossFire Mobile where sixty draws could get you a weapon. It could even be said to be exactly the same. What you got depended entirely on your luck.

Meng Li, who often played with this kind of machine, was naturally familiar with it. Still, thirty thousand for a single try meant it was impossible not to be nervous.

Meng Li gripped the red and green buttons and silently repeated three times, I'll trade Tang Wulin's ten years of being single for a top-tier prize.

Na'er watched with an expectant expression as well.

After finishing his chant, Meng Li swiftly pressed the green button, then quickly pressed the red one. This was his secret to drawing prizes: make the machine unable to react in time.

The Spirit Master's eye twitched as he thought, Why did I run into such a weirdo today?

The Soul Spirit Extractor spun once and then stopped. Golden light flashed wildly, so bright that everyone had to shut their eyes. A black ball rolled down.

What the hell is this black ball? I should have traded Tang Wulin's twenty years of being single instead. Black usually isn't a good sign, Meng Li complained inwardly.

"Yours is a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit..." The Spirit Master stared at the black egg with almost fanatical eyes.

"What did you say? A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit? Are you sure you're not messing with me?" Meng Li could not believe that his very first draw had produced such a top-tier prize.

Wasn't the highest possible Soul Spirit for thirty thousand supposed to be yellow?