Spirit Capsules

Remembering old childhood memories, Leng Qingning couldn't help feeling a little wistful.

The Phoenix Family had always been small in number. The previous generation had suffered Yun Ming's scandal, and Dark Phoenix Douluo Leng Yulai—one of the family's twin stars, as well as her younger aunt—had gone missing without a trace.

Her elder aunt, Leng Yaozhu, had taken over as family head and secured her position as Spirit Pagoda's vice tower master, but she had long since lost all interest in marriage and having children.

No one in the family dared press her to marry, so as the new generation's prodigy, she had shouldered far more pressure than her age warranted ever since reaching adulthood.

Six years ago, she had been gravely injured in the Abyss and left half-crippled. With their direct bloodline on the verge of dying out and the family at risk of falling into decline and becoming a third-rate power, the entire Phoenix Family had nearly fallen into despair.

If you got rich, you had to return home; otherwise, it was like wearing brocade by night.

Though An Lan was still young, she had raised him herself. He was practically half a member of the Phoenix Family.

It was time to make room in her schedule to take him back and introduce him to the family, to reassure the elders.

As for the future, they could talk about it once he had grown up.

At that thought, Leng Qingning looked at An Lan with even greater tenderness and said softly, "Little An Lan, come on. I'll take you to choose your Soul Spirit."

"All right, Teacher."

An Lan had long since grown used to his two teachers gazing at him with strange looks from time to time.

His heart was as calm as still water.

The most skilled hunters often appeared as prey.

He, An Lan, had lofty ambitions. He could withstand trials and endure loneliness.

For now, the most important thing was to choose his first Soul Spirit.

Ever since he was little, he had constantly received nourishing spirit foods and medicinal baths. His two teachers also often let Xiao Huohuo possess him and used Soul Power to nourish his meridians.

As a result, not only was his spiritual power far beyond that of his peers, but his physical strength was too—enough to bear a Thousand-Year Soul Spirit.

But a Soul Master's first Soul Spirit was the foundation of their entire life. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it their natal Soul Spirit, so the choice had to be made with the utmost care.

Le Lingzhao watched An Lan lower his eyes and think seriously, but didn't interrupt him.

All the Soul Spirits in the world came from the Spirit Pagoda. Next, it was time for Leng Qingning, his Grandmaster, to show off her resources and wealth. Even if Le Lingzhao wanted to help, she was powerless to intervene.

The three of them left the awakening room at an unhurried pace. The elevator plunged straight down, heading for the underground base in the deepest part of the Spirit Pagoda.

The Spirit Pagoda's true reserves lay in the Spirit Ascension Platform and the rare Soul Spirits it had accumulated over ten thousand years. These Soul Spirits weren't open to the public.

Given An Lan's status, there was no way he'd be choosing any of the mass-produced goods available outside.

The Qiangu Family now dominated the Spirit Pagoda, controlling two-thirds of its rare Soul Spirits. The remaining third was in the hands of the Phoenix Family, the only other family within the tower that still held any influence.

Leng Qingning had already arranged for her chosen Soul Spirits to be brought to Shangling City from all over the country. All that remained was for An Lan to pick one.

So An Lan didn't need to worry about ending up like Tang Wulin, laboring over a forge for the sake of a single Soul Spirit, spending all his savings, and still getting only a defective, ten-year-old artificial grass snake.

The underground space was the core area of the Spirit Pagoda's Shangling City branch, nothing like the crowds on the upper floors.

As they made their way through, An Lan saw only a few dozen staff members.

As the tower master of the Spirit Pagoda's Shangling City branch, Leng Qingning held all the power. Wherever she went, the staff from her tower and family bowed to welcome her.

With unhurried steps, she led Le Lingzhao and An Lan into a huge, pristine-white metal chamber.

At the far end of the room hung a giant Soul Tool screen, with rows of Soul Spirit catalogs neatly arranged, waiting for An Lan to browse.

But An Lan's gaze didn't fall on the catalogs. Instead, he was drawn to a sleek, futuristic-looking device beside them, its lines sharp and angular.

Seeing this, Leng Qingning smiled faintly. "This is a spatial transmission device. We only use it to transport Soul Spirits in large quantities or those that are extremely rare."

An Lan nodded to show he understood. He also knew that wasn't the whole story: with enough status, you could use it too.

"Is the Spirit Pagoda's Spatial Soul Tool Technology already this advanced?" Le Lingzhao's bright eyes couldn't hide her surprise.

Though she and Leng Qingning were close, she wasn't part of the Spirit Pagoda. This was her first time entering such a highly classified area, too.

After all, the entire southern Federation was the Yue Family's territory. They had people and money to spare, and every year they poured astronomical sums into Soul Guidance Technology research.

She had assumed that the only thing the Angel Family and the other great powers, like Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda, had over them was ten thousand years of accumulated heritage—things like Immortal Herbs and Soul Spirits. She hadn't expected them to be so far ahead in cutting-edge technology as well.

An Lan was just as curious. He looked up at Leng Qingning, waiting for an answer.

"It's not quite as exaggerated as you imagine." Leng Qingning shook her head. "Long-distance spatial transmission has all sorts of obstacles. We've just found a clever workaround: sealing the Soul Spirits in specially made Spatial Soul Tools. That lets us transport them across regions, barely, but the cost-effectiveness is low, so it isn't worth promoting."

As she spoke, she operated the device and took out two Spatial Soul Tools unlike the standard models, handing one to Le Lingzhao and the other to An Lan.

"An elf... no, a Soul Spirit Capsule."

Looking at the Spatial Soul Tool in his hand, which looked almost exactly like an elf capsule, An Lan found it rather novel.

Le Lingzhao turned the Soul Spirit Capsule between her fingertips and praised it. "Even so, this is impressive."

The Southern Legion had also invested heavily in spatial technology, but compared with the Spirit Pagoda, the gap was like heaven and earth.

After all, the history of spatial technology research was short. Everyone had started out on the same line.

The gap was still this large. There was no way to explain it away with ten thousand years of accumulated heritage.

Then she remembered that she had been stationed in Shangling City for six years, and before that, she had spent four years in the Blood God Legion. Her knowledge of the Southern Legion was already ten years out of date.

In a full ten years, the Southern Legion must have made rapid progress too. The gap might not be as enormous as she imagined.

At that thought, Le Lingzhao relaxed. She had no intention of probing the Spirit Pagoda's secrets further, and knew where to draw the line.

After tossing the Soul Spirit Capsule back to Leng Qingning, Le Lingzhao brought the subject to a close herself. "Let's pick out a few Soul Spirits for Little An Lan to look at first."

"All right."

Leng Qingning nodded and deftly swiped across the light screen, filtering for suitable Soul Spirits.

"Good disciple, which Martial Soul are you planning to cultivate first?"

"The Red Edge Spear," An Lan answered without hesitation.

He had already thought it through. The Red Edge Spear and the Immortal Shield were both Immortal King-level, one for offense and one for defense—peerless beneath the heavens.

Though both Martial Souls were top-tier, he preferred attacking, so the Red Edge Spear was his first choice.

"In that case..." Leng Qingning thought for a moment, then selected precisely. Several Soul Spirit Capsules emerged from the device's virtual space and floated quietly in midair.

An Lan saw a flash of light across the capsules. Then they split neatly down the middle.

Several Soul Spirits of different shapes crawled out of the capsules and circled around him.