Mu Xi: So Embarrassing!

Mu Xi returned to her family's Soul Guidance Car and saw that Mu Chen had already come over and was talking with an old man. She did not interrupt and obediently stood to the side, listening to them speak.

Mu Chen did not send her away when he saw this. After all, it was not an important conversation.

"Chairman Mu has it good. You bought quite a few Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures for your daughter." The old man also glanced at Mu Xi and shook his head with a smile. "As for this old man, I made this trip for nothing."

Mu Chen smiled bitterly. "The Spirit Pagoda has close relations with the two great Soul Beast gathering grounds. They aren't lacking in Ten Thousand Year Soul Spirits. Who could have thought Hua Yichen would also be interested in that soul spirit?"

"Hm?" The old man was somewhat surprised. "Chairman Mu doesn't know? That Ten Thousand Year Soul Spirit was provided by the Shen Family. From the very beginning, it was aimed at the child beside Hua Yichen."

"No one in their clan can contain the Evil Eye Tyrant soul spirit anymore, so they wanted to make a deal with the Spirit Pagoda and obtain a soul spirit suitable for their inheritance. In the end, a genius with Innate Full Soul Power and a Body Spiritual Attribute martial soul happened to appear, giving them an opportunity."

Mu Chen, along with Mu Xi, who was listening from the side, both froze, secretly shocked.

Innate Full Soul Power? A top-grade Body Spirit?

Either one was an extremely rare existence in Eastsea City.

Mu Chen was the first to come back to his senses. "The association's affairs have been busy lately, so I haven't paid attention to the Spirit Pagoda's movements. Is that child very special? Which family's Spirit Pagoda Core Disciple is he?"

"Neither. According to the investigation, he is merely a child born to an ordinary family in Eastsea City."

The old man sighed softly. "And precisely because of that, he seems even more special. Hua Yichen even arranged for a Soul Douluo to secretly protect him. I'm afraid it isn't as simple as just Innate Full Soul Power and a Body Spirit. He must have other outstanding qualities."

"A Soul Douluo..."

Mu Chen was secretly shocked.

Eastsea City was located in a remote region of Douluo Continent. Although its economy was very developed, its soul masters were relatively weak. There were not many experts with Ten Thousand Year Soul Spirits, and on the surface, there was only one nine-ring Titled Douluo: the Spirit Pagoda's Carefree Douluo—Hua Yichen!

And beneath Hua Yichen, the strongest figures in East Sea Spirit Pagoda were two Soul Douluo. One of them had actually been sent to guard Huo Yuhao. From this, one could imagine how much importance the Spirit Pagoda placed on Huo Yuhao.

The old man continued, "The Spirit Pagoda has now replaced the Spirit Hall from twenty thousand years ago, awakening martial souls for commoners for free. Commoner soul masters naturally feel close to them. After sifting through the masses, they can always harvest top geniuses. They also have close ties with Soul Beasts, so they are growing more and more powerful."

Mu Chen coughed lightly and reminded him, "Elder Li, be careful with your words. The Spirit Pagoda is still different from the Spirit Hall."

Elder Li was stunned, then revealed a smile. "Look at you, where did your thoughts go? Of course I know they're different. My family also came from commoner origins in the past, and we owe the Spirit Pagoda a favor. I have no objections to them helping commoners awaken their martial souls for free."

"I was only lamenting how rich they are. Whether it's your Forging Association, our Mecha Master Association, or other powers, none of us have the ability to do such a thing. Only the Spirit Pagoda is rich enough to rival a nation and willing to spend a huge price every year on this. It's only natural for commoner geniuses to join the Spirit Pagoda."

Mu Chen fell silent for a moment.

That was true, but the Spirit Pagoda was too powerful. When other factions faced it alone, they unconsciously felt inferior.

Hm, alone?

"Looks like you're not in the mood to chat either, so I'll leave first. When you have time, bring Mu Xi to the Mecha Association more often."

After Elder Li finished speaking, he patted Mu Chen on the shoulder, turned, and left.

Mu Chen stood where he was, watching Elder Li's back, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

He already understood what Elder Li meant, but an alliance between the two associations, even if it was only an alliance between their Eastern Sea Branches, was not something he could decide alone. A high-level meeting would need to be convened to discuss it.

"Let's go. We're going home."

Mu Chen turned to Mu Xi and said, "You heard what was said just now too. If you meet Huo Yuhao in the future, don't throw a childish temper again."

He had seen Mu Xi run off to find Huo Yuhao. With his daughter's proud and competitive personality, the two of them had most likely not gotten along very pleasantly.

"Oh..."

Mu Xi nodded blankly. Immediately afterward, she remembered what she had said to Huo Yuhao, and her cheeks instantly turned bright red.

What had she said?

She had told a Spirit Pagoda Core Disciple with Innate Full Soul Power and a Soul Douluo protecting him that she hoped he could be worthy of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Spirit?

That soul spirit had even been put up for auction because of him in the first place...

This... just thinking about it felt embarrassing.

But he really did look very ordinary. She hadn't said anything wrong.

As Mu Xi thought this indignantly, her face flushed bright red, and she lowered her head, turning into an ostrich.

Seeing that Mu Chen did not immediately call him back, Li Yucheng sighed somewhat regretfully and left directly.

Among the four great Side Professions, soul masters who chose the path of forging in the major academies were the fewest, and forging talents were also the fewest. Yet many Side Professions could not reach the peak without the help of blacksmiths, which caused the status of high-level blacksmiths to rise even further.

And Mu Chen was an Eight Star Saint Craftsman, second only to a Nine Star Divine Craftsman. If the East Sea Forging Association and the Mecha Master Association could further combine, it would bring many benefits to their association.

He was old, but his heart was not.

Whether it was cultivating outstanding successors or reaching cooperation with the Forging Association, before retiring, he wanted to do a little more for the association.

But from the looks of it now, there was currently no hope for either. When he went to headquarters in the future, he would not even have much confidence to show off to his old friends.

Li Yucheng smiled helplessly.

"Here."

Hua Yichen walked out of the museum and handed a small ball to Huo Yuhao.

"The Soul Spirit is inside. You've read so many books lately, so you should know how to use a Soul Spirit Ball."

A Soul Spirit Ball was a spherical soul tool used to store Soul Spirits. Like a Storage Soul Tool, it contained a space inside where Soul Spirits could survive, and its price was relatively high.

Its manufacturing principles were likewise similar to those of a Storage Soul Tool. After all, creatures like Soul Spirits existed between life and death, so the restriction that Storage Soul Tools could not store living beings did not apply to them.

As for its uses, the first was to store Soul Spirits, which the Spirit Pagoda used the most. The other was to allow a Soul Spirit to stay close to a soul master as they grew, nurturing their bond.

After all, a Soul Spirit Contract required the Soul Spirit's consent, but the more powerful a Soul Spirit was, the pickier it became about its contractor. At times like these, aside from using strength to win the Soul Spirit's respect, one had to consider playing the emotional card.

If a Soul Spirit watched a soul master grow up from childhood and got along well with them, then even if the soul master was very weak, its desire to resist would not be too strong.

Huo Yuhao took the half-red, half-white Soul Spirit Ball, his expression indescribable.

In his eyes, whether in appearance or function, this thing resembled a Poké Ball. He had no idea who had come up with it, and there was no record of it in the history books.

That was right—Huo Yuhao had to make one thing clear. This was not his invention. It was absolutely not a soul tool he had invented!

All he had done ten thousand years ago was casually mention the concept of a Poké Ball. Who could have thought someone would actually go out of their way to make one...

Taking a breath, Huo Yuhao looked at the calm Hua Yichen.

"What request did they make?"

Since they had even prepared a Soul Spirit Ball, they had clearly been targeting him from the start. However, since they had handed the Soul Spirit to them in the form of an auction, what they wanted should not be too much.

"They only wanted to spend money to buy a ticket to the Soul Spirit Tower. It's no big deal. You don't need to worry about these things. Just focus on cultivating."

Hua Yichen smiled calmly and teased, "I'm still counting on you to make a name for yourself in the future so I can rely on your connections and find some cushy idle post to retire on."

Huo Yuhao put away the Soul Spirit Ball. Their time together recently had made him understand that Hua Yichen was not someone who liked putting on airs, so he replied with a direct smile.

"Then that's unfortunate. If I really do make a name for myself, I might end up making everyone busy."

"You're saying in a roundabout way that I'm idle, aren't you?"

Hua Yichen paused, then shook his head with a smile. "All right, we've got the Whale Rubber too. Let's go."

Huo Yuhao was just about to nod when he suddenly noticed an old man and paused. "Teacher Hua, it doesn't violate any rules for members of the Spirit Pagoda to study a Side Profession and join a related association, right?"

Hua Yichen followed his gaze and saw Li Yucheng, then raised an eyebrow. "You want to join the Mecha Master Association and study a Side Profession?"

Huo Yuhao nodded. "Mm."

Hua Yichen fell into thought at his reply. "Your soul skill is indeed very suited to mecha design and manufacturing. Just be careful about your priorities. Don't let it delay your cultivation."

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

Huo Yuhao rarely revealed such a confident smile.

His talent in other areas might not be good, but when it came to soul tools alone, he was very confident.

The original work also had a kind of Soul Spirit Ball that stored Soul Spirits, but it seemed to be a one-time-use item.