Leng Xue'er glanced at Yun Xiao. "The chances of that happening are too low. The lower a Soul Spirit's cultivation, the lower its intelligence. Many have only the most basic instincts. It's just like the Star Dou Great Forest in ancient times: no Soul Beast would willingly become a Soul Master's Soul Spirit, because Soul Masters and Soul Beasts are locked in a mortal struggle."
Yun Xiao looked disappointed.
Tang Wuling understood now, too. "Sister Xue'er, does that mean that when we reach a bottleneck and enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, if a Soul Spirit willingly follows us and becomes our Soul Spirit, we can take it with us?"
"That's right. If a Soul Spirit willingly follows you and becomes yours, you can take it with you. It's just that, so far, none of the Soul Spirits in the Spirit Ascension Platform have..." Leng Xue'er trailed off, suddenly thinking of Cheng Duoyi.
Gu Yue noticed Leng Xue'er's hesitation and asked, "Sister Xue'er, has a Soul Master ever convinced a Soul Spirit in the Spirit Ascension Platform to follow them?"
"Maybe." Leng Xue'er continued, "What I've told you concerns the Spirit Pagoda's secrets. Since you've joined the Spirit Pagoda, you can't let any of this get out. Any Spirit Master who leaks this information will be hunted down by the Spirit Pagoda and face imprisonment."
Tang Wuling and the others hurriedly nodded. "Don't worry, Sister Xue'er. We won't tell anyone."
Only Gu Yue kept wondering who had willingly followed a Soul Master and become their Soul Spirit.
After breakfast, Cheng Duoyi and the others gathered together.
They sat on a huge sofa.
Tang Wuling, seated to Cheng Duoyi's right, looked at him happily.
"Brother Yi'er, starting today, I'm a member of the Spirit Pagoda. Does that mean I can cultivate Soul Spirits with you from now on?"
Tang Wuling was very curious about Soul Spirit research. She wondered what kind of Soul Spirits she might be able to cultivate in the future.
Cheng Duoyi clearly knew a lot about the Spirit Pagoda. "Did Sister Xue'er tell you about Soul Spirits?"
Gu Yue, seated to Cheng Duoyi's left, nodded. "That's right. Sister Xue'er told us. Xiao Yi, with your current clearance, what level of Soul Spirit can you cultivate?"
Cheng Duoyi looked at everyone. Xie Xie and Yun Xiao were watching him intently, clearly eager to learn more about the Spirit Pagoda.
Cheng Duoyi thought for a moment. "The Spirit Pagoda has Junior, Intermediate, and Senior Spirit Masters. Above the Senior Spirit Masters are the Thirty-Six Elders, the Four Great Spirit Envoys, two Vice Pagoda Masters, and one Pagoda Master."
"I'm an Intermediate Spirit Master now, and I can cultivate Soul Spirits up to three hundred years old."
Tang Wuling looked at Cheng Duoyi in confusion. "Brother Yi'er, how come you never told me you could cultivate Soul Spirits?"
Cheng Duoyi gave a helpless smile. "My mother may be a Vice Pagoda Master, but a lot of things are classified and can't be told to outsiders. Now that you're all Spirit Masters, it doesn't violate any rules for you to know, so I can tell you."
Xie Xie nodded, then asked curiously, "Brother Cheng, you just said you're an Intermediate Spirit Master and can cultivate Soul Spirits up to three hundred years old. What does a Junior Spirit Master need to do to advance to Intermediate Spirit Master?"
Tang Wuling, Gu Yue, and Yun Xiao were curious, too, and turned their attention to Cheng Duoyi.
Seeing their interest, Cheng Duoyi didn't hide anything. "All right, I'll explain in detail. Just keep this to yourselves. You can't tell outsiders, or the Spirit Pagoda won't let you off."
"Don't worry, Brother Cheng. I definitely won't tell anyone," Xie Xie said first.
Yun Xiao followed right after him. "I won't tell anyone either, Brother Cheng."
Tang Wuling and Gu Yue looked at Cheng Duoyi. "We won't tell anyone either."
Cheng Duoyi nodded. "The Spirit Pagoda has a history of ten thousand years. At first, it only helped Soul Beasts and Soul Masters form contracts. Both parties had to agree before a contract could be made. Usually, the Soul Beast was near death, knew its time was coming, and chose to entrust its hopes to a Soul Master. Unfortunately, apart from the clearly documented ascension to the Divine Realm of Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong, not a single Soul Master has become a god."
"I've heard about that. I didn't know it was true," Xie Xie said in surprise.
Gu Yue looked lost in thought, her mind elsewhere.
Tang Wuling asked, "Is there really a Divine Realm in this world?"
Cheng Duoyi considered it for a moment. "Maybe. But that's too far beyond us, so let's leave it for now."
"Next comes the important part. Listen carefully."
"All right."
Cheng Duoyi continued, "Thousands of years ago, the development of Soul Guidance Technology brought terrible hardship to the Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest and other forests. Soul Masters cut down vast numbers of trees and hunted Soul Beasts, all for the Spirit Bones they might drop."
"Humans are awful!" Gu Yue said furiously.
"Gu Yue, aren't you human?" Xie Xie said. "They were only a portion of humanity. You can't lump all humans together with them. Besides, this all happened thousands of years ago. They've been dead for ages."
Gu Yue glanced at Xie Xie.
The moment Xie Xie met her eyes, he immediately lowered his head and fell silent.
He felt as if some powerful creature had fixed its gaze on him, chilling his back.
"Humans have done a great deal of harm to Soul Beasts," Cheng Duoyi said. "Without the rapid development of Soul Guidance Technology, the Soul Beast population wouldn't have dwindled so quickly, and the Star Dou Great Forest wouldn't have nearly vanished. Only the Core Area remains. The Star Dou Great Forest used to have three regions: the Core Area, the Mixed Area, and the Outer Area. It stretched for who knew how many kilometers and was home to countless Soul Beasts. Unfortunately, many Soul Beasts have gone extinct."
Tang Wuling looked sad. "Can't humans and Soul Beasts coexist?"
Gu Yue glanced at Tang Wuling.
She hadn't expected her to say something like that.
"From what I've read in historical records, it would be difficult." Cheng Duoyi thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Some people's greed knows no bounds. Unless a peerless powerhouse emerged among the Soul Beasts and restored them to their former standing, there would be mass casualties among humans in return. The best solution would be to find another habitable planet for the Soul Beasts to live on."
Gu Yue wanted to tell Cheng Duoyi that they could lead the Soul Beasts to glory together.
But she didn't dare. She was afraid he wouldn't accept her once he learned who she was, and she felt dejected.
Tang Wuling said helplessly, "All right..."
Cheng Duoyi felt sorry for the Soul Beasts, but he also knew he couldn't change anything now. "These aren't things we can control. We just need to live our own lives. Maybe someday something will happen that lets Soul Beasts and humans live together in peace."
Gu Yue, Tang Wuling, Xie Xie, and Yun Xiao nodded.
Yun Xiao then asked, "Brother Cheng, did the Spirit Pagoda's creation lead to the mass deaths of Soul Beasts?"
Cheng Duoyi glanced at Yun Xiao.
Yun Xiao immediately fell silent, realizing he'd said the wrong thing.
"Yun Xiao isn't wrong," Cheng Duoyi said, not taking offense at his remark about the truth behind the Soul Beasts' rapid extinction. "I've read the historical records in the Spirit Pagoda. The Spirit Pagoda's rise and the emergence of Soul Spirits brought Soul Beasts to the brink of extinction. As the Spirit Pagoda's technology kept advancing, the Pagoda initially couldn't cultivate Soul Spirits. It could only turn a Soul Beast into a Soul Spirit, one at a time. Back then, the Spirit Ascension Platform had only just begun to take shape."
"Later, Soul Spirits could increase their cultivation by devouring other Soul Spirits, which led to mass deaths among them. The Spirit Pagoda then devoted huge amounts of time, effort, and resources to dividing the Spirit Ascension Platform into Junior, Intermediate, and Senior levels. That stopped Soul Spirits from dying in such great numbers."
Tang Wuling looked disheartened. "If a Soul Spirit dies... does that mean the Soul Beast really dies, too?"
Cheng Duoyi's expression grew somber. "Yes..."
"Still, this sort of thing is unavoidable. The Spirit Ascension Platform is just like the Star Dou Great Forest in ancient times: Soul Beasts hunt Soul Beasts, Soul Masters hunt Soul Beasts, and Soul Beasts hunt Soul Masters. But because of the metal pods, Soul Masters don't die when they enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, and what's inside aren't Soul Beasts, but Soul Spirits."
"So even if we Soul Masters don't enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, the Soul Spirits inside will still die. Don't burden yourselves too much."
"If you really can't accept it, work hard at cultivating Soul Spirits. Junior Spirit Masters can only work with and cultivate Soul Spirits under a hundred years old. There's a high chance the Soul Spirit will die during cultivation, and if it does, the attempt fails. But if you succeed and the Soul Spirit breaks through the hundred-year mark, it'll be fine until it reaches a thousand years."
"To advance from Junior Spirit Master to Intermediate Spirit Master, you need to cultivate thirty Soul Spirits over a hundred years old. To advance from Intermediate Spirit Master to Senior Spirit Master, you need to cultivate fifteen Soul Spirits over a thousand years old."
"At present, a thousand-year Soul Spirit is the upper limit of what can be cultivated. The task of cultivating ten-thousand-year Soul Spirits hasn't been solved. Not even the Pagoda Master or Vice Pagoda Masters can do it. Every ten-thousand-year Soul Spirit is converted from a Soul Beast that died and was transferred into the Spirit Ascension Platform."
"Whoever solves that problem will have a very good chance of becoming the next Vice Pagoda Master or Pagoda Master."
"Still, given the current situation, cultivating a ten-thousand-year Soul Spirit would take at least several thousand years. Don't reach for the stars. For you, cultivating even a ten-year Soul Spirit would already be an achievement."
After hearing Cheng Duoyi out, Gu Yue looked pensive, clearly thinking about something important.
Tang Wuling nodded firmly. "I'll study hard."
Xie Xie sighed. "Brother Cheng, given my circumstances, I'll probably have a hard time cultivating a powerful Soul Spirit. I think I'll just make up the numbers."
But Yun Xiao felt anger kindle within him. He was different from Xie Xie. He already knew that Xie Xie had Twin Martial Souls, so it would be much easier for him to follow Cheng Duoyi's path in the future. Tang Wuling and Gu Yue were both powerful, and he could tell they were very close to Cheng Duoyi.
He was the only one who lacked strength, and he wasn't a girl, either. His one advantage was that he was good at thinking. Now, he'd found a goal: cultivating Soul Beasts!
Yun Xiao decided that if he couldn't keep up with Cheng Duoyi in the future, he'd work hard to learn how to cultivate Soul Beasts. Once he gained standing in the Spirit Pagoda, he could support Cheng Duoyi in becoming Pagoda Master!
Cheng Duoyi then took everyone to see how Junior Spirit Masters cultivated Soul Beasts. It wasn't very difficult, but it wasn't simple either. It came down entirely to luck.
That was because the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters held a vast number of Soul Beast Genetic Sequences.
But many of the sequences were only somewhat accurate, and many Soul Spirits couldn't survive to a hundred years old because of problems with their genetic sequences. Some even died as soon as they were born.
That was because the genetic sequence used to cultivate a Soul Spirit didn't perfectly match its own. When cultivating a Soul Spirit, the embryo had to be nurtured inside the body of a creature with a similar bloodline.
This often led to:
Genetic mutation, death.
Genetic mutation, a deformed Soul Spirit.
Genetic mutation, a Slaughter Soul Spirit with no intelligence at all.
A similar genetic sequence, a breakthrough to a hundred years, then death because genetic problems prevented a smooth breakthrough.
And so on.
But once someone cultivated a thousand-year Soul Spirit and recorded it, there was a good chance they could successfully cultivate more Soul Spirits of the same species. Their cultivation would probably not reach an even higher level, though. For now, ten-year and hundred-year Soul Spirits were the mainstream, while thousand-year Soul Spirits were exceedingly rare.
Aside from those supplied to the major powers, ordinary factions couldn't afford them—or had no use for them. After all, Soul Masters had level restrictions: to fuse with a thousand-year Soul Spirit, one had to be at least level thirty. How many Soul Elders had reached level thirty?
So cultivating Soul Spirits wasn't easy. The Soul Spirits cultivated by these Junior Spirit Masters had to be made using the genetic sequences extracted from the remains of ancient Soul Beasts. They then cultivated the corresponding Soul Beast, or combined its genetic sequence with that of another Soul Beast to cultivate them.
The success rate was very low, because the sequences weren't extracted from living creatures. They could come from remains that had been dead for thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years—for example, the Indomitable Soul Tyrannosaurus.
It had been created because its remains were so well preserved that its entire genetic sequence could be extracted and transformed into a Soul Spirit. But it was disobedient, and getting it to breed with other Sub-Dragon Soul Beasts was simply impossible.
The Tyrant Dragon was also incredibly powerful. Even ordinary Titled Douluo were no match for it, so forcing it was out of the question.
This made advancement very difficult for the Spirit Masters in the Spirit Pagoda.
But if you could cultivate a Soul Spirit, especially one that had never appeared before, your status could rise dramatically. If you could cultivate a powerful thousand-year Soul Spirit or a weak ten-thousand-year Soul Spirit, your standing would approach that of a Vice Pagoda Master. With enough maneuvering and sufficient strength, becoming a Vice Pagoda Master wasn't impossible. Becoming Pagoda Master, though, was basically out of the question.
After observing the process, Gu Yue looked delighted. Perhaps because she was the Silver Dragon King's incarnation, she could actually see the problems in these Soul Beasts' genetic sequences.
If that was the case, wouldn't cultivating Soul Spirits be a piece of cake?
Tang Wuling was completely overwhelmed. Though she was very clever, the process of cultivating Soul Spirits was too difficult. It required many steps, and there was a high chance of failure. That kind of mental strain was more than an ordinary person could bear.
Xie Xie immediately said he'd just make up the numbers, and that he'd leave cultivating Soul Spirits for later.
Yun Xiao didn't understand what he was seeing, but he tried to memorize the cultivation process and the steps for extracting Soul Beast Genetic Sequences, storing the knowledge as experience for his first attempt in the future.
Cheng Duoyi held high status. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to bring them here to observe. He also demonstrated the process himself, cultivating a Herbivorous Soul Beast. During the process, he could vaguely sense what was right and wrong, and with that guidance, he felt a little anticipation.
"Could this be because of my Seven-Colored Bloodline?" Cheng Duoyi wondered.
Watching Cheng Duoyi correctly cultivate the Soul Spirit's genetic sequence, Gu Yue felt delighted. As expected of my husband...
Before you continue