Testing Spiritual Power, Fusing the Evil Eye

Ten thousand years ago, the Sun-Moon Empire had battered the original three great empires into near ruin. Although deities intervened to preserve a brief balance, the rapid development of Soul Tools still allowed the Sun-Moon Federation to become the ruler of this continent.

The Star Luo Empire took a different path. Through research into oceanic navigation, it discovered another continent, quietly occupied it, transported vast amounts of resources there, established a new Star Luo Empire, and named that land the Star Luo Continent.

Over those ten thousand years, the Spirit Pagoda, the faction founded by the Spirit Ice Douluo, rapidly expanded and became one of the strongest organizations in existence.

With the emergence of artificial Soul Spirits, the Spirit Pagoda's status rose even further, and its influence spread across the entire planet.

Naturally, Aolai City also had a Spirit Pagoda branch. Located in the city center, it was a three-story tower-shaped structure, the lowest tier within the Spirit Pagoda system.

Spirit Pagodas in mid-sized cities stood seven stories tall, while those in major cities such as Mingdu and Tiandou City were as high as thirteen stories.

The Spirit Pagoda headquarters in Shrek City was even more imposing. After ten thousand years of renovations and improvements, it had a full eighty-one stories and was the most magnificent building on this continent.

Although Aolai City's Spirit Pagoda branch only had three floors, the Spirit Pagoda's unique construction meant that it was itself a Soul Tool, making it look far more distinctive than the surrounding skyscrapers.

When Lin Ye drove Tang Li there, the Spirit Pagoda's main gates were wide open, yet there was hardly anyone around. After all, only Soul Masters came to places like this, and in a small place like Aolai City, Soul Masters were few enough to count on one's fingers.

As a director of this branch, Lin Ye was a Level 5 Spirit Master, his status second only to the branch chief. The robed Spirit Master behind the counter greeted Lin Ye without asking any questions and directly allowed him to take Tang Li inside.

This Spirit Pagoda followed a standard octagonal design, with three floors, four sides, and eight directions. Its interior was exceptionally spacious, entirely made from some kind of metallic material and stamped with the Spirit Pagoda's emblem.

Tang Li curiously surveyed his surroundings as he followed Lin Ye through one metal door after another until they reached his office.

"Little Tang Li, in a small place like Aolai City, the Spirit Pagoda generally only offers two ways to obtain a Soul Spirit: direct purchase, with a ten-year Soul Spirit costing seventy thousand Federation Coins and a Century-old Spirit costing one million Federation Coins, or a lottery draw costing thirty thousand Federation Coins.

"However, members of the Spirit Pagoda like me can purchase them from headquarters through internal channels. It's considered a benefit. Your father helped me obtain several core components for my Mecha and guaranteed future upgrade and repair services. In exchange, I'll select suitable Century-old Spirits for you and your sister."

As Lin Ye explained the situation to Tang Li, he took two yellow Soul Spirit orbs from the Soul Tool safe in his office.

In this era, Mecha Masters had become synonymous with power. They did not require a powerful Martial Soul or Soul Power to gain considerable combat strength, so their market value had always remained high.

Tang Ziran had already been a Federation-certified Level 4 Mecha Designer many years ago. Tang Li guessed that he should now be at Level 5 or even Level 6, capable of designing the highest-tier, privately customized Purple-grade Mechas.

As a tier below Black-grade Mechas, even ordinary Purple-grade Mechas could rival Five-Ring Soul Wangs. Customized models could even provide a certain degree of enhancement for Soul Dis, making their value impossible to measure.

That was why Lin Ye had been willing to help Tang Ziran obtain Soul Spirits for them.

"Here, these are the Soul Spirits for you and your sister. Hold onto them. I'll take you to test your spiritual power first. If it doesn't reach Level 30, then fuse with your sister's Iron-Backed Earth Dragon first."

With that, Lin Ye handed the two Soul Spirit orbs to Tang Li, then turned and led him toward the place where spiritual power was tested.

It was a room filled with a sense of technology, containing all kinds of sophisticated instruments. Another Spirit Master was present as well, likely responsible for ensuring the equipment's safety.

Lin Ye had Tang Li stand on a platform. Then, a metal helmet controlled by a mechanical arm descended from above and covered Tang Li's head.

The metal helmet was connected to numerous data cables, which in turn linked it to a large display screen at the side.

"Don't be nervous. Relax your entire body. You might feel a little dizzy, but that's normal."

As soon as he finished speaking, the metal helmet emitted a low hum and released a gentle white glow. Lin Ye and the Spirit Master gathered around the display, staring at the rapidly changing data.

The number on it almost instantly surpassed the thirty-point mark Lin Ye had required, then galloped onward like an unbridled wild horse. In the blink of an eye, it broke through fifty and continued surging without slowing down—

70

80...

100!

"It... it broke through the Spirit Origin Realm!"

Not only was the Spirit Master stunned, even Lin Ye was dumbfounded, because the value was still rising!

A few breaths later, the number on the screen stopped at 133. This meant that Tang Li's spiritual power had reached the Spirit Connection Realm.

At the Spirit Connection Realm, one's mind communicated with the spirit, and one's thoughts reached their destination. Upon reaching this realm, one had begun to grasp the control of spiritual power and could truly attempt to wield it for one's own use. One could also support two Century-old Spirits or one thousand-year Soul Spirit!

The metal helmet was pulled away from Tang Li's head by the mechanical arm. He had just felt two gazes fixed on him, and the moment he opened his eyes, he found the Spirit Master and Uncle Lin staring at him with burning eyes.

"Little Tang Li, are you interested in joining the Spirit Pagoda? Uncle Lin will look after you."

"What's gotten into Uncle Lin? Why are you suddenly asking that? Wasn't I testing my spiritual power? Besides, I can't make that decision. You'll have to ask my dad."

Tang Li did not refuse. He merely said that he had to listen to his father, Tang Ziran.

Lin Ye did not say anything further after hearing that, but he had already made up his mind to seek out Tang Ziran and poach him. He pointed at the display screen and let Tang Li see for himself.

133 points? Just so-so. The blessing of the Tang God King had expanded his Spirit Sea. As long as he persisted in using the Demon-Sealing Pot for visualization to improve his spiritual power, there should be no bottlenecks at least until the Spirit Abyss Realm.

"Alright, I'll take you to the Meditation Room to fuse with your Soul Spirit."

With that, Lin Ye eagerly scooped Tang Li up, tucked him under one arm, and strode toward the Meditation Room without even saying goodbye to the Spirit Master behind them.

Inside the Meditation Room provided by the Spirit Pagoda, Tang Li could clearly feel that the Soul Power here was much stronger than at Red Mountain Academy.

Lin Ye instructed Tang Li from the side on how to fuse with a Soul Spirit. Following his directions, Tang Li first opened the Soul Spirit orb marked Evil Eye and released the Century-old Evil Eye within.

"Next, you need to use your spiritual power to establish contact with the Evil Eye. Control it or communicate with it, either is fine, as long as the fusion succeeds. But be careful. Creatures like Evil Eyes are quite proud and may clash with your spiritual power. If it doesn't work, immediately use the Soul Spirit orb to take it back in."

The moment Lin Ye finished speaking, the Evil Eye impatiently waved its three tentacles and flew up. Its massive vertical pupil stared fixedly at Tang Li, clearly about to use its innate ability, Evil Eye Gaze.

As Soul Beasts primarily aligned with the spiritual attribute, the Evil Eye race was naturally highly intelligent. Even after becoming Soul Spirits, this remained true.

Yet just as the Evil Eye's gaze gathered, before it could be released, the faint trace of an aura unique to the Demon-Sealing Pot that emerged from Tang Li frightened it into submission. Without any resistance, it accepted Tang Li's spiritual imprint and obediently became a part of him.

As the Evil Eye fused with him, the Soul Power condensed within Tang Li's dantian also grew active. A yellow Soul Ring slowly rose beneath him...