"This Child is Fated to be with My Qiangu Family."

The rumbling roar continued as the propellers stirred the morning wind, and two helicopters hovered above Red Mountain Orphanage.

A dozen or so mechas stood in silent formation, their steel bodies reflecting a cold gleam beneath the morning light.

"Mechas!"

Cries of surprise rose and fell among the children in the courtyard, and some curious kids poked their heads out to size up the mechas.

"Everyone, back up! Don't get close!"

A young female caregiver came out and scolded the curious children. She glanced back at the mechas, her face filled with shock and unease.

She had been here for three years, and she had never seen anything like this.

Forget Red Mountain Orphanage—even Aolai City had never seen a scene like this.

Mechas from the Spirit Transmission Pagoda—and judging by the look of it, an entire mecha unit. Why would they appear here?

She looked toward the director's office.

"Director, I'm leaving."

Inside the room, Gu You withdrew his gaze and turned to Chen Hui.

"Go on."

Chen Hui nodded.

With the Spirit Transmission Pagoda making such a show of force, it meant they were paying close attention to Gu You, so he felt at ease.

"I'll come back."

At the final moment before stepping out, Gu You left those words behind.

"That child..."

Chen Hui brushed it off with a smile.

Gu You walked into the courtyard and came before the two rows of mechas.

Just then, the cabin door of one helicopter opened, and someone jumped straight down.

There was a boom as he landed. After the dust settled, he straightened the clothes that the wind had blown into disarray and strode toward Gu You.

But after taking a few steps, the burly man stopped. He took a photo from his chest pocket, looked at it, then accurately fixed his gaze on Gu You. After sizing him up for a few seconds, he revealed a smile.

The smile looked out of place on his face, like a bear suddenly grinning at you. You knew it meant no harm, but you still couldn't help wanting to take two steps back.

"Little friend Gu You," he said, advancing with vigorous, powerful strides. "I am a black-rank Spirit Envoy from East Sea Spirit Transmission Pagoda. My surname is Bai. I've come today to take you to East Sea City to fuse with a soul spirit."

"Hello, Spirit Envoy Bai."

What did this guy grow up eating?

Looking at the burly man's "surging" physique, Gu You greeted him.

"There's no time to lose. Come with me. It's a fairly long trip, so you can even sleep on the way."

Bai Haoze nodded, his voice deep and resonant.

"Okay."

With Bai Haoze's help, Gu You boarded one of the helicopters.

The helicopter rose into the air and flew off into the distance, followed by more than a dozen mechas. Their grand momentum left everyone who saw them speechless.

At the same time, at the Spirit Transmission Pagoda headquarters, on the forty-second floor of the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda.

Qiangu Dongfeng sat behind his desk, looking through page after page of Gu You's reports, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Innate full soul power, twin dragon and phoenix martial souls, the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon and a new martial soul, the Creation Heaven Phoenix. Does that Creation Heaven Phoenix truly reach the level of a true phoenix?"

"It's rare to receive good news in the morning. This child, it seems, is fated with my Qiangu Family."

He spoke slowly, with undisguised possessiveness in his tone.

"Uh... Pagoda Master, there's something I'm not sure I should say."

In front of the desk, a black-robed man spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Oh? What is it?"

Qiangu Dongfeng poured a cup of hot tea and took a sip, his interest piqued.

"Last night, Leng Yaozhu already set off for East Sea Spirit Transmission Pagoda."

Crack—

The teacup in Qiangu Dongfeng's hand suddenly split with fine lines, and scalding water dripped from his hand onto the redwood desktop.

"Good. She certainly moved quickly." Qiangu Dongfeng lightly shook the water from his hand and spoke those words in a calm voice.

The black-robed man lowered his head.

On the helicopter.

Gu You gazed at the endless sea in the distance, filled with emotion.

It felt like yesterday, yet everything was different now.

In a single day, he had gone from an unknown orphan nobody in the Dragon King era to a favored son of the Spirit Transmission Pagoda. It was impossible not to feel a little moved.

That said, once he set out this time, his ambitions lay among the stars and the sea. He would rarely return to Red Mountain Orphanage.

Many years later, would he still remember the memories of his childhood there?

Silence. Gu You did not know, but he would go back. He definitely would.

East Sea City.

The second-largest coastal city on the eastern seaboard of the Sun Moon Federation, an important port and a city built on the development of marine resources.

The city had a permanent population of more than three million and was extremely wealthy thanks to its use of ocean resources. Even across the entire Sun Moon Federation, it could be considered a second-tier city.

East Sea City had a long history. In recent centuries, the Sun Moon Federation had paid particular attention to protecting certain ancient structures, so many buildings over a thousand years old could be seen within the city.

"Damn it, the Spirit Transmission Pagoda sure throws its weight around! I'm the captain of East Sea City's mecha brigade, and even I can't pilot a mecha over the city. What gives them the right?"

Outside an unnamed tavern, Guang Biao had just finished drinking and was leading over a dozen underlings back to the mecha corps' garrison when he suddenly heard the roar of mechas.

He looked up and saw over a dozen mechas flying past above his head, along with two helicopters. They all belonged to the Spirit Transmission Pagoda and seemed to be escorting some important figure.

"Exactly, Commander. Does East Sea City belong to their Spirit Transmission Pagoda or to the federal government?"

An underling at his side quickly chimed in.

"Hmph. Let's go back. They'd better not let me find a chance to put them in their place."

Guang Biao gave a cold snort. Although he had been drinking and his head was not entirely clear, he still understood the Spirit Transmission Pagoda's current position within the Federation.

Grumbling about his dissatisfaction with the Spirit Transmission Pagoda was one thing. If he really went up against them, he probably would not even know how he lost his job.

East Sea Spirit Transmission Pagoda.

East Sea City's Spirit Transmission Pagoda was far beyond anything Aolai City's Spirit Transmission Pagoda could compare to. As one of the Spirit Transmission Pagoda's eighteen Heavenly Pillars, it was known as the "Sea Pagoda," carrying the meaning of "the sea soul beasts guard the heavenly tower."

In truth, every "Heavenly Pillar" had a different meaning, corresponding to the protection of a landmark soul beast.

When the Spirit Transmission Pagoda had first been established, it had been for the sake of protecting soul beasts, carving out living space for them.

Sitting in the helicopter and looking around, Gu You was amazed by East Sea City's urban development.

Compared with his previous life, it was not inferior at all. Skyscrapers stood in great numbers, and there were also protected ancient buildings, especially the towering Spirit Transmission Pagoda in the distance.

From here, it looked to be over a hundred stories tall, more than four hundred meters high!

After getting off the helicopter and looking at it up close, the shock only grew stronger.

"You can all disperse."

When they reached the entrance of East Sea Spirit Transmission Pagoda, Bai Haoze said to the dozen or so black-clad men following behind him.

They were all members who had piloted the mechas and helicopters. After getting off the helicopters just now, they had followed behind, making Gu You feel as if he were some kind of gang boss.

"Yes!"

After receiving Bai Haoze's order, everyone dispersed.

"Come with me. I'll take you into the tower to test your spiritual power first."

Bai Haoze then said to Gu You.

Gu You knew that spiritual power had to be tested before fusing with a soul spirit, so he had no objection.

The present era was unlike ten thousand years ago, when one could just kill a soul beast and absorb its soul ring. Now, the height of one's spiritual power determined the upper limit of what one could fuse with.

But it was only the upper limit. If your spiritual power was enough to fuse with a thousand-year soul spirit, but your body was too weak to look at, the risks during fusion would still be considerable.

Stepping into the first-floor hall of the Spirit Transmission Pagoda, the interior was decorated in resplendent splendor. Massive stone pillars supported a dome several dozen meters high, and both the pillars and the dome were carved with many colorful murals.