Apprenticeship, Obtaining Soul Spirit

Zhen Hua took the tea from him, took a sip, and set it on the table.

Mu Ye took the tea but set it aside without even drinking it, pulling him up and giving the back of his head a light tap.

"Enough! We in the Body Sect don't bother with that hollow nonsense. You're my disciple now, so stop keeping that stiff face all day, as if everyone owes you a few hundred bucks."

Zhen Hua watched the two of them from the side and smiled, a faint sense of gratification in his expression.

"Don't get too happy just yet."

Zhen Hua put away his smile and said seriously.

"Kid, your foundation is solid, but there is one problem we must solve first: you don't have a Soul Spirit yet, so you cannot attach a Soul Ring."

"Without attaching a Soul Ring, your soul power will remain stuck at its current level and won't be able to rise."

Mu Ye also dropped his devil-may-care expression.

"That's right. The top priority is to pick a suitable Soul Spirit for you. But before we pick,"

He glanced at Zhen Hua.

"Let's run a detailed test on him first. We need to know exactly what his soul power level is, what his mental strength is, and what level his physical constitution has reached."

The two men got straight to work. Zhen Hua brought Lin Qingzhou to a testing room next to the forging room, which was equipped with a full set of Soul Master testing devices.

Lin Qingzhou placed his hands on the various sensor panels in turn, watching the numbers on the dashboard jump upward.

Soul Power: Level 24.

Mu Ye watched the flickering numbers on the tester from the side, his eyes not blinking once.

Zhen Hua pressed the high-precision comprehensive tester nearby, and several pale blue soul guidance beams fell onto Lin Qingzhou, scanning the bone density and muscle strength within his body.

After scanning three times and confirming there were no deviations in the readings, Zhen Hua spoke.

"Physical strength is roughly around level 34. With innate divine strength and the Silver Dragon King bloodline tempering the body, the foundation is far too good."

Zhen Hua couldn't help but look at Lin Qingzhou a few extra times as he said this. A blacksmith's physical strength was directly related to how many rounds of lightning tribulation they could withstand, especially in Heavenly Forging, where every round was a test of the body's limits.

His own soul power had been piled up with medicinal pills, leaving his foundation floating, and he had to rest for a long time after every Heavenly Forging. The child before him had an innate foundation far stronger than his own.

When it came to the mental strength test, Zhen Hua specifically switched to a sensor panel with the highest precision and had Lin Qingzhou place his hands on it. Mu Ye also leaned in, and the two old men, whose combined ages were unknown, stared at the flickering digital screen and fell silent together.

206 points. Spirit Connection Realm.

Mu Ye's breathing became noticeably heavier behind Lin Qingzhou. He reached out and patted Zhen Hua on the shoulder, his palm striking Zhen Hua's scapula with enough force that Zhen Hua let out a muffled grunt.

"Old Zhen Hua."

Mu Ye's voice was very low, but every word carried an irrepressible excitement.

"I've truly struck gold this time. Nine years old, Spirit Connection Realm mental strength, level 34 physical strength, level 24 soul power. Have you ever seen a configuration like this?"

Zhen Hua did not answer, but the way he looked at Lin Qingzhou had completely changed.

This youth's physical foundation could support the lightning tribulations of Heavenly Forging, his soul power had ample room for growth, and his mental strength far exceeded his peers.

Before, he had agreed to take Lin Qingzhou as a disciple mostly for Mu Ye's sake and because of that basic Hundred Forging skill, but now it was different.

"Let's go," Zhen Hua's voice returned to its steady tone. "To the Spirit Pagoda."

The Heaven Fight City branch of the Spirit Pagoda was a silver tower that soared into the clouds, located in the very center of the city; no building within a radius of several kilometers stood taller than its waistline.

The outer layer of the tower was covered in a pale blue soul guidance light film that shifted colors with the changing light.

As one of the oldest Spirit Pagoda branches on the continent, the Heaven Fight City Spirit Pagoda possessed a stock of Soul Spirits far exceeding ordinary branches, ranging from common hundred-year Soul Spirits to rare ten-thousand-year ones, and even a few top-tier Soul Spirits listed as the tower's treasures that were never displayed to the public.

When Mu Ye and Zhen Hua walked into the Spirit Pagoda lobby side by side, the front desk staff recognized the two of them.

It was not a common sight for the President of the Blacksmith Guild and the Sect Master of the Body Sect to appear at the Spirit Pagoda simultaneously. The news quickly reached the Tower Master's office, and within five minutes, an old man in deep purple robes stepped out of the elevator.

"Sect Master Mu Ye, President Zhen Hua, what wind has blown you two here together?"

The old man greeted them with a smile and cupped his hands toward them. He was the current Tower Master of the Heaven Fight City branch, He Zhiqiu, a level 91 Titled Douluo with the title "Zhiqiu," specializing in control.

The man had a thin, long face, wore three wisps of gray-white beard, had eyes that hid a sharp glint, and spoke in a slow, measured manner.

"Tower Master He, we are here today to pick a Soul Spirit for my disciple."

Mu Ye got straight to the point, pushing Lin Qingzhou forward. "The little guy is nine years old, level 24, and needs a suitable Soul Spirit to attach a Soul Ring."

He Zhiqiu stroked his beard, swept his gaze over Lin Qingzhou, and nodded.

"A disciple brought personally by Sect Master Mu Ye naturally cannot be treated carelessly. Please follow me, the three of you."

He Zhiqiu led the trio through the lobby and onto an internal elevator, which descended for about ten seconds before coming to a stop.

"Since he possesses a Body Martial Soul, the Soul Rings he requires are best provided by beast-type Soul Beasts. As for the specific age, around 2,000 years should do."

Mu Ye pondered for a moment before speaking to He Zhiqiu; he did not take Lin Qingzhou's specific attributes into account.

Lin Qingzhou didn't bring it up either; after all, his current Martial Soul was extremely complex, with the Silver Dragon King bloodline combined with the Power of End, and he didn't know what attributes he was suited for.

The best way forward now was to continuously increase his power, essentially breaking through all laws with sheer strength.

After the door opened, it revealed a long underground corridor, with Soul Spirit storage rooms separated by high-strength glass on both sides. The electronic nameplates at the entrance of each room were marked with the Soul Spirit's species, age, quality grade, and characteristics.

Pale blue soul guidance light spilled down from the ceiling, illuminating the corridor in a quiet and cold manner.

The outermost storage rooms contained more common Soul Spirits.

An Ice Crystal Turtle of about a century hovered in pale blue nutrient solution, frost crystals congealing on its shell as it slowly exhaled bubbles.

Two rooms over was a Fire Feather Sparrow of about a millennium, its crimson tail feathers swaying gently in the nutrient solution like a flame burning underwater.

"This Ice Crystal Turtle is two hundred and thirty years old, ice-attribute, defensive type. It is suitable for water or ice-type Soul Masters, and after attaching the soul ring, it can provide ice armor-type soul skills."

He Zhiqiu introduced them as they walked.

"As for this Fire Feather Sparrow, it is one thousand one hundred years old; its Fire Feather Shield is among the top in terms of defensive power at the millennium level."

"This young friend's martial soul is a body-type, so choosing an auxiliary or defensive Soul Spirit would be more secure. Body-type martial souls are already strong enough on their own; there is no need to rely on Soul Spirits to supplement attack methods."

Lin Qingzhou stood before the glass, staring at the Fire Feather Sparrow through the transparent barrier for a few seconds. The Fire Feather Sparrow tilted its head to examine him, then shrank its neck and buried its head under its wing.

It was afraid of him.

It was not the kind of fear one feels toward the strong, but a deeper, instinctive shrinking from life itself.

With the aura of the Silver Dragon King bloodline within him, coupled with the oppressive feeling of the End-of-All Martial Soul that even he did not fully understand, ordinary Soul Beasts would subconsciously hide upon sensing him.

Although these Soul Spirits had already been stripped of their Flesh Body, their intuition remained.