Hearing the result, Su Ming felt not a trace of disappointment. Instead, he was quite satisfied.
He had never liked being tied down.
He had come to Spirit Hall for one thing only: access to its highest-tier resources and support.
Not taking her as his master gave him far more freedom.
Su Ming immediately bowed. "Thank you, Your Holiness the Pope. Su Ming understands."
Beside him, Hu Liena quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Since they weren't master and disciple, she would remain the sole heir.
At the same time, she knew she couldn't let her guard down.
Su Ming's presence would constantly affect her standing.
Afterward, Hu Liena showed Su Ming around.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Hu Liena. My martial soul is the Demon Fox, and I'm a thirty-ninth-rank Battle Soul Elder. From now on, I'll be your senior." Hu Liena walked ahead, glancing back at Su Ming from time to time.
She hadn't called herself his senior sister. That title was reserved for disciples of the same master.
"Su Ming. My martial soul is the Evil Fire Phoenix. I'm twenty-second rank." Su Ming introduced himself briefly.
Going by the timeline of the original story, he and Tang San were the same age, which meant Hu Liena was about six years older than him.
Fifteen years old, thirty-ninth rank.
"My teacher asked me to show you around, so let's start with your residence. Spirit Hall has always been extremely generous with resources for its core geniuses. You'll receive the highest standard of support available to someone of our rank." Hu Liena led the way.
They followed the road and soon arrived in an exceptionally quiet area.
A vast complex of palace buildings stood there.
The buildings were extremely luxurious, their yellow and white surfaces gleaming against each other. The main gate was made of heavy sandalwood, inlaid with the bronze emblem of Spirit Hall.
Above the main entrance, three imposing characters had been carved into a plaque: Golden Hall.
They entered the main hall.
Six young women hurried out of a side hall.
They were around twenty years old, beautiful, and dressed in matching white Soul Master robes.
As soon as they saw Su Ming, they bowed in unison.
"Greetings, Master."
Hu Liena explained, "These six are Soul Master attendants specially trained by Spirit Hall. Their Soul Power Levels are all around twenty."
"From now on, they'll be responsible for your daily needs, including your meals. If you have any minor requests, you can tell them directly and they'll take care of them."
Su Ming nodded.
He looked at the women. Twenty years old, around level twenty.
Their talent wasn't particularly impressive.
But outside Spirit Hall, they would still have been figures of high status.
Here, however, they could only serve as his attendants.
Thinking of this, and then of his days at Shrek, Su Ming felt even more certain that leaving Shrek had been the right decision.
In a world like Douluo Continent, where social classes were rigidly entrenched, choosing a powerful, well-established faction as a backer was the right path to rapid growth.
Of course, it wasn't that Su Ming had never wanted to join Spirit Hall. Before his martial soul awakened, Flender had done him many favors.
He couldn't bring himself to repay kindness with ingratitude.
In the end, their ideals had clashed, and leaving Shrek had been unavoidable.
Seeing that Su Ming had finished looking around the room, Hu Liena continued, "Now that you've seen your residence, I'll show you around the living and commercial districts."
"Spirit City has a market where high-ranked Soul Masters can trade materials, as well as restaurants that serve energy-rich food..."
Su Ming cut her off, his tone calm. "Those things aren't important. I'd like to see Spirit Hall's Mimicry Cultivation Room first. Would that be all right?"
Hu Liena stopped mid-sentence.
She looked at Su Ming in surprise.
In her experience, any young Soul Master newly joining Spirit Hall would show at least some excitement or pleasure when faced with the luxurious treatment at Golden Hall and the bustle of Spirit City.
Besides, Su Ming was only nine years old, the perfect age for a child to be curious about everything around him.
But there was no desire for pleasure in his eyes. His purpose seemed crystal clear: cultivation.
"Of course."
A faint smile remained on Hu Liena's face. "The core cultivation area is behind the Pope Palace. Follow me."
Soon,
the two of them reached the core cultivation area.
The Soul Power fluctuations here were clearly much denser than outside. It was immediately obvious that this place was extraordinary.
At that moment, two young figures stood before the door of the central cultivation room, which bore an A-grade sign.
They wore the red-and-gold robes of Spirit Hall's core disciples. Beads of sweat dotted their foreheads, and they were clearly resting outside after a grueling round of cultivation.
They were Xie Yue and Yan.
Hearing footsteps, both turned around at the same time.
"Nana?"
"Xie Yue, Yan." Hu Liena greeted them.
The two young men immediately came over, their eyes falling first on Su Ming, who was following behind Hu Liena.
"Who's this?" Xie Yue asked.
Hu Liena stood between the three of them.
She introduced him to Xie Yue and Yan. "This is Su Ming. He arrived in Spirit City today. His Holiness the Pope personally approved his admission into our ranks, and he'll receive the same Saint-level resources and treatment as us."
Then she turned to Su Ming. "Su Ming, these are Xie Yue and Yan. They live at Golden Hall too."
Xie Yue looked Su Ming over.
Seeing his still-childish face and height, he immediately guessed that Su Ming couldn't be more than ten years old.
To receive Saint-level treatment through a special approval from His Holiness the Pope at such a young age, he must have exceptional talent.
Xie Yue immediately nodded to Su Ming and smiled. "Welcome. I'm Xie Yue, and my martial soul is the Moon Blade. We'll be partners from now on. If you have any questions, feel free to come to me anytime."
Yan, standing to one side, looked somewhat ill at ease.
He had keenly noticed that when Hu Liena looked at Su Ming, there was a hint of special concern in her eyes.
She had never shown him that kind of concern.
Yan had always considered Hu Liena his future partner. Seeing her act so warmly toward a newcomer immediately stirred up resentment in him.
But since this was their first meeting, and Su Ming carried the mark of approval personally granted by His Holiness the Pope, Yan naturally couldn't let his feelings show.
Following Xie Yue's lead, he said, "Welcome aboard. Getting this kind of treatment at your age is impressive. I hope I'll get the chance to learn from you sometime."
There was a hint of provocation in his voice.
But Su Ming didn't care.
He nodded politely. "Thanks. I'm glad to meet you all too."
After the introductions, Hu Liena continued, "Su Ming, now you know where the Mimicry Cultivation Room is."
"Next, I can take you to Spirit City's Library Pavilion, or show you the Spirit Hall branch at the Great Spirit Arena."
This time, Su Ming declined. "Thank you, but I don't feel like going anywhere else for now. I'd like to stay here and cultivate for a while."