Spiritual Power Test

The heavy metal door slowly closed behind them, seeming to cut off the hall outside and the sound of footsteps all at once.

The white ten-year Soul Spirit selection area was far quieter than Tang Wulin had imagined.

It was not the place he had expected, filled with Soul Spirits and shimmering lights everywhere. Instead, it felt like something between a laboratory and a quiet chamber. Several rooms branched off at the end of the corridor, faint soul-guidance patterns flowed across the walls, and the air carried an interwoven scent of vegetation, minerals, and some special energy that made anyone entering instinctively soften their breathing.

The gray-robed Spirit Transmitter led them to a door and stopped.

"Before you officially select a Soul Spirit, we need to test your Spiritual Power." He turned to Tang Wulin. "This is a mandatory procedure before your first Soul Spirit fusion."

Tang Ziran immediately nodded.

"Of course, of course."

Tang Wulin blinked.

"Sir, why do we have to test Spiritual Power first?"

The gray-robed Spirit Transmitter glanced at him, his tone considerably gentler than when they had first met.

"Because a Soul Spirit is not an inanimate object," he said. "Though the Spirit Pagoda preserves, nurtures, and guides it into being, it still retains some of the Soul Beast's original spiritual nature. Whether you can fuse with it depends not only on your martial soul, but also on the strength of your Spiritual Power and your mental state."

He paused briefly.

"Especially for your first Soul Spirit fusion, a Spiritual Power test is the most fundamental requirement. With insufficient Spiritual Power, you might not complete the fusion smoothly even with a ten-year Soul Spirit. With enough Spiritual Power, you'll have a better chance of choosing one that truly suits you."

Tang Wulin listened intently.

The term "Spiritual Power" was not unfamiliar to him. Lin Ximeng had mentioned it several times in their Soul Master knowledge classes, but never before had he so keenly realized that it had a direct bearing on him.

"Does Spiritual Power have levels like soul power, then?" he could not help asking.

"Of course." The Spirit Transmitter nodded. "It simply isn't divided as finely as soul power. Under the Spirit Pagoda's current standards, Spiritual Power has six major realms, from lowest to highest: the spirit origin realm, the spirit connection realm, the spirit sea realm, the spirit abyss realm, the spirit domain realm, and the legendary divine origin realm."

"At your age, you would normally still be in the most basic spirit origin realm. As for where you stand within it, we'll only know after the test."

Tang Wulin's eyes shone as he listened, as though another new door had opened before him.

"Then if my Spiritual Power is strong, will I be more powerful in the future too?"

The gray-robed Spirit Transmitter smiled faintly.

"For an ordinary low-ranking Soul Master, even strong Spiritual Power may not offer much of an immediate advantage at the start. But if you want to go far, Spiritual Power becomes increasingly important. Especially if you hope to fuse with higher-level Soul Spirits, control more complex Soul Skills, or even operate Battle Armor and Mecha in the future, Spiritual Power will become a true threshold."

Though Tang Ziran did not understand all those details, he stood quietly beside them without interrupting. He knew these things would all be part of the world his son would truly have to face in the future.

The gray-robed Spirit Transmitter pushed open the door.

"Come in."

Beyond the door was a small testing room with a distinctly more modern feel.

Unlike the solemn, old-fashioned style of the Spirit Pagoda outside, this room held several precision soul-guidance instruments that closely integrated metal and illuminated screens. In the center stood a silver-gray metal chair fixed to the floor. Several slender metal arms were connected behind its backrest, with a half-helmet-shaped testing device suspended from their ends.

"Sit there." The Spirit Transmitter gestured to Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin instinctively glanced at his father.

Tang Ziran gave him an encouraging look.

"Go on. Don't be nervous."

"Okay."

Tang Wulin nodded, walked over, and sat in the metal chair. The seat was slightly cool, but the backrest was firm and steady. Once he sat down, the metal arms automatically dipped a little, and the helmet-shaped device slowly descended until it stopped a few inches above his head.

"Relax," the gray-robed Spirit Transmitter said as he adjusted the instruments. "You may feel a little dizzy in a moment. Don't resist it. Just let your mind relax naturally."

Tang Wulin immediately answered obediently.

"Yes, sir."

No sooner had he spoken than the device above his head gave a faint hum.

Then a soft white glow appeared around the rim of the metal helmet, like a ring of gentle moonlight, slowly enveloping Tang Wulin's head. The light was not warm. Instead, it carried a slight coolness that eased even the tension in his temples.

At first, the sensation was very faint.

It was only like an exceedingly light breeze brushing slowly across his forehead, then gently seeping into the depths of his mind. Tang Wulin instinctively closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually steadied.

The gray-robed Spirit Transmitter turned toward the soul-guidance screen beside him.

The readings on the screen fluctuated rapidly at first, shooting upward from the lower values before slowing, as though searching for a truly stable range.

At first, the Spirit Transmitter wore only his usual businesslike expression.

But the longer he watched, the more his brow furrowed.

This child's Spiritual Power reading was clearly far higher than he had expected.

A nine-year-old child undergoing his first Soul Spirit fusion, even one from a Soul Master class with rank-ten soul power, would usually hover around the most basic range of the spirit origin realm. Yet the curve before him did not quickly level off. It kept rising, steadily and solidly, even displaying an unusually stable trend.

This was not an inflated reading.

Nor was it a random fluctuation.

It was the genuine result of prolonged meditation, sustained intense concentration, and some deeper power tempering his mind together.

The Spirit Transmitter instinctively glanced again at Tang Wulin in the chair.

The boy's eyes were closed, his expression peaceful and his breathing even. He showed none of the obvious nervousness and mental turmoil ordinary children displayed when entering a testing room for the first time. That stillness even seemed faintly beyond his years.

The readings on the screen finally settled.

A clear flicker of surprise crossed the Spirit Transmitter's eyes.

"This child..." he murmured.

"What's wrong?" Tang Ziran, who had been waiting quietly by the door, felt his heart tighten and instinctively asked.

The gray-robed Spirit Transmitter did not answer immediately. He first lowered the testing device's power slightly, then turned around only after confirming that the reading no longer fluctuated.

"Don't worry. It's nothing bad," he said.

Only then did Tang Ziran breathe a small sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, the metal helmet slowly rose, and the white light faded with it. Tang Wulin opened his eyes, feeling as though something had gently wiped through his mind, leaving an indescribable clarity.

"Sir, is the test finished?" he could not help asking.

"It is." The gray-robed Spirit Transmitter looked at him, much of the initial indifference in his eyes gone. "Your Spiritual Power reading is thirty-eight. Within the spirit origin realm, that puts you firmly in the middle tier. At your age, and with this being your first Soul Spirit fusion, that is quite an outstanding reading."

Tang Wulin froze for a moment.

"Thirty-eight... is that very high?"

"For an ordinary nine-year-old, very high." The Spirit Transmitter nodded. "The spirit origin realm ranges from one to one hundred. Below thirty is only the initial tier; thirty to sixty is the middle tier. Your current Spiritual Power is not merely enough to support fusion with a ten-year Soul Spirit. You can even communicate steadily with somewhat stronger low-level Soul Spirits."

Hearing this, Tang Ziran finally felt his anxious heart ease a little.

They had gathered enough money, and Tang Wulin's soul power was firmly at rank ten. If insufficient Spiritual Power had barred him at the door now, it would have been far too cruel.

Fortunately, it had not.

As for Tang Wulin, though he still did not quite understand what "the middle tier of the spirit origin realm" meant, he had at least understood one thing:

His Spiritual Power was enough.

Only at that moment did the deeply hidden tension within him truly begin to ease.

"Are you usually good at settling your mind? You must spend quite a lot of time meditating," the Spirit Transmitter suddenly asked.

Tang Wulin nodded honestly.

"I meditate every day. And... I also study Forging."

"Forging?" The Spirit Transmitter was visibly taken aback.

"Yes." Tang Wulin's eyes brightened. Whenever he mentioned this, a touch of pride unconsciously entered his voice. "I've been learning from my teacher for three years. He says you can't rely on strength alone when Forging. You have to keep concentrating, or whatever you hammer out won't turn out right."

As the Spirit Transmitter listened, his expression grew even more peculiar.

A nine-year-old child with rank-ten soul power, a Tool Martial Soul, Spiritual Power clearly above his peers, and a long history of intensive Forging training—in a place like Aolai City, "quite good" was no longer enough to sum him up.

He slowly nodded.

"No wonder."

Often, improvements in Spiritual Power did not come from meditation alone. Sustained training in intense concentration, the tempering of one's own will, and maintaining a highly focused state over long periods naturally made the mental world more stable.

"Very good." For the first time, the gray-robed Spirit Transmitter's tone carried clear appreciation as he looked at Tang Wulin. "Your foundation is even more solid than I originally imagined. That will give you more room to choose when selecting a Soul Spirit."

Tang Wulin immediately perked up.

"Really?"

"Really," the Spirit Transmitter said calmly. "At the very least, you don't need to worry that weak Spiritual Power will leave you unable to control even an ordinary ten-year Soul Spirit."

Though these words were spoken calmly, they dispelled much of the tension hidden deep in Tang Wulin's heart.

Throughout his journey here, what he had feared most was not that his Soul Spirit would be too weak, but that, after finally making it this far, he would discover he was not even qualified to fuse with one.

Now, at least, he had passed the most fundamental hurdle.

The gray-robed Spirit Transmitter put away the data tablet and turned toward a door on the other side of the testing room.

"Come with me."

Tang Wulin hopped down from the metal chair and instinctively clenched his fists as he steadied himself.

Perhaps because he had just finished the Spiritual Power test, he suddenly felt the Star-Sinking Hammer within him with exceptional clarity. It seemed to rest heavily in the steadiest part of his consciousness, motionless, yet possessing a reassuring presence.

And for some reason, the image of that small troop of ants moving among blades of grass and cracks in the stones during last night's meditation flickered ever so faintly through his mind again.

Yet that feeling never quite faded away.