Spirit City was still steeped in a thin veil of morning mist the next day.
Delicate frost crystals clung to the gilded roof tiles. As the rising sun shone upon them, they instantly turned a warm gold, as though sprinkled with gold dust. Soul Masters moved along the streets in twos and threes, some carrying briefcases to their posts at Spirit Hall, others carrying soul tools on their backs as they headed outside the city for morning training. The refreshing scent of spirit grass mingled with soul power in the air, soothing the heart and lungs.
Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin stood outside a side hall east of the Pope's Hall.
After yesterday's auction, they had arranged with Spirit Hall's supply depot to collect the hundred sets of improved Godly Zhuge Crossbows they had purchased this morning, and to check the handover list for the Thousand-Year Soul Ring Pills.
"Sect Master Ning, Your Eminence, please come inside."
The steward was a middle-aged Soul Master dressed in the gray uniform of Spirit Hall's supply depot, with a badge reading "Tier Three Soul Tool Engineer" pinned to his chest. Wearing a practiced but polite smile, he stepped aside and ushered them into the hall.
The side hall had no unnecessary decorations. Dozens of black metal cases were neatly stacked on shelves along both sides.
The cases bore the gold-stamped words "Manufactured under the supervision of the Spirit Hall Soul Tool Institute." Pale blue, moisture- and rust-resistant soul tool runes were inlaid at their corners, marking them as carefully prepared military supplies.
"Please take a look, Sect Master Ning."
The steward stepped forward and opened the outermost case, revealing a Godly Zhuge Crossbow forged from refined iron. Its body gleamed with a dark metallic luster and looked sturdier than the first-generation Godly Zhuge