"Since you have innate full soul power, I might as well take you to contract a soul spirit right now."
Leng Yaozhu beckoned, motioning for Li Zha to follow her.
Li Zha stepped forward and followed.
As they walked through the Spirit Pagoda's corridors,
Da Bai and Xiao Bai were even more excited than Li Zha himself. It was understandable, though. In their eyes, Li Zha was a peerless genius whose martial souls crushed the Spirit Ice Douluo's.
Li Zha laughed inwardly.
He wondered what they would think if they knew that when Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao first awakened, his martial soul had only been ordinary Spirit Eyes, and his innate soul power had been a mere rank one.
"Sis, what soul spirit do you think Li Zha will contract?"
"Probably a fire-attribute one? Let me think about which fire-attribute soul spirits are particularly powerful..."
Li Zha was pondering that same question.
The choice of a first soul spirit shaped a soul master's future path, so naturally, it demanded care. There was no room for carelessness.
The soul spirit's cultivation itself was not actually the main concern. The Spirit Pagoda's old monster, Qiangu Dieting, had managed to grind all nine of his soul rings up to red, proving that raising a soul spirit's cultivation afterward was entirely feasible.
In other words,
when choosing a first soul spirit,
the primary considerations were its attributes and whether it suited the soul master.
As for cultivation, he could always grind it up later in the Spirit Ascension Platform, right to the limit of what his body could withstand.
I have a body martial soul and a fire-attribute tool martial soul. That does make this a little tricky.
Li Zha mulled it over.
His body martial soul, the Lotus Body, embodied his higher self. It possessed mental power, strength, defense, speed, and every other attribute across the board. It seemed he could take any path.
There were a few too many choices,
leaving Li Zha unable to decide for the moment.
As for his tool martial soul, the Fire-Tipped Spear,
it would unquestionably follow a path of overwhelming offensive power.
In other words,
his choice of soul spirit needed, at the very least, to combine strength with lethal offensive capabilities. A fire attribute was the first requirement.
With that in mind,
Li Zha's target became clear.
A fire-attribute soul spirit focused on offense.
Preferably one with a powerful physique, too.
That essentially ruled out most plant-type soul spirits. After all, offense-focused plant-type soul spirits were rather rare.
Soon,
under Leng Yaozhu's guidance, Li Zha proceeded without a single obstacle.
They first took an elevator down, then passed through a long corridor to reach the underground area.
Many soul masters were working here. Li Zha took a couple of glances and realized they were allocating and coordinating soul spirits for various locations.
Of course,
powerful soul masters were also stationed here as guards.
Descending again, Leng Yaozhu soon brought Li Zha into a round room made entirely of white metal.
A hemispherical soul-guidance screen enclosed the entire room like an overturned bowl. Through it, Li Zha could see a vast, deep primeval forest, with a rich aura of life lingering within the screen.
"This is the Star Dou Great Forest. Not the present-day one, of course."
Since this was Li Zha's first visit to obtain a soul spirit, Leng Yaozhu took the time to explain.
"This is a partially synthesized recreation of the former Star Dou Great Forest, made by the Spirit Pagoda using soul guidance technology. Once soul masters enter, they experience a perfectly simulated soul beast battlefield as though they were truly there."
"But right now, I'm going to help you obtain a soul spirit first, so there's no need to go straight inside. I'll pick out a few suitable soul spirits for you."
Leng Yaozhu said no more.
She reached out and lightly grasped the air, and several soul spirits immediately flew out of the screen.
Leading the way was a Flame-Tailed Eagle with three heads and a tail covered in flame-patterned feathers.
"Holy crap, the first one's already an eight-thousand-year soul spirit?!"
Li Zha had spent the past year studying soul beasts like mad, so he easily identified the soul spirit's species and cultivation.
Approval shone in Leng Yaozhu's eyes.
"That's right. An eight-thousand-year Three-Headed Flame-Tailed Eagle, a variant of the Flame-Tailed Eagle species."
"Eagles are carnivorous birds of prey. This eight-thousand-year Flame-Tailed Eagle is strong enough to contend with ten-thousand-year soul beasts, and even defeat some weaker ones."
Da Bai looked at Li Zha.
"What do you think? This one looks pretty good."
Li Zha was in no hurry. "Let's look at the others."
This Three-Headed Flame-Tailed Eagle was indeed good.
But it could hardly be called stunning.
Leng Yaozhu nodded and quickly drew out a few more soul spirits.
Li Zha examined them carefully.
One was a Fire Evil-Eyed Tyrant whose body consisted of a giant vertically slit eye.
It belonged to the Evil-Eyed Tyrant species, a fire-attribute variant.
Its cultivation was seven thousand years.
But Li Zha dismissed it after a single glance. The Fire Evil-Eyed Tyrant's physique was inferior even to the Three-Headed Flame-Tailed Eagle's.
Beside it,
was a plant-type soul spirit, an Infernal Delicate Apricot!
Its cultivation was five thousand years.
This one was even more of a roadside nobody, worse than the Fire Evil-Eyed Tyrant.
Li Zha turned to the last one,
an enormous Lava Giant covered in scarlet stone armor, with bright red molten lava flowing through its eyes and mouth.
Its cultivation was nine thousand years, approaching Li Zha's limit for absorbing a soul spirit.
More importantly,
the Lava Giant could hurl molten balls at range and fight up close.
Moreover,
its defensive power was formidable. After all, that suit of lava-stone armor hardly looked like something to mess with.
It was the type that excelled at both offense and defense.
After a moment's thought, Li Zha decided against it.
The Lava Giant was decent at both offense and defense, but it was too cumbersome.
And it looked rather vacant,
not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.
In contrast to Li Zha's indifference, the four soul spirits were positively fawning.
The instant they saw Li Zha, all four soul spirits, including the Lava Giant, adopted ingratiating expressions and gestures.
After all,
as soul spirits, they could only remain trapped in this virtual space forever.
But if they contracted a soul master, not only could they leave, they would even have a considerable chance of evolving and growing stronger.
The story of an Ice Silkworm that had followed the Spirit Ice Douluo to godhood ten thousand years ago was often passed around among soul spirits.
And Li Zha was an extraordinarily gifted genius of a soul master. Whether following him would lead to godhood or not, it would at least be far better than staying here.
Thus,
the instant they saw Li Zha, these soul spirits all wanted to contract him.
When Li Zha shook his head without choosing a single one, Bai Haoze was dumbfounded.
"Even a nine-thousand-year Lava Giant isn't good enough?"
"If I could contract a nine-thousand-year soul spirit as my first, I'd be bragging about that shit at school for six whole years!"
Li Zha merely replied, "Heh."
These soul spirits were actually already very high quality, and each had its own merits.
The Three-Headed Flame-Tailed Eagle was an agility-focused fire-attribute soul beast.
The Lava Giant combined fire-attribute offense and defense.
The Fire Evil-Eyed Tyrant also cultivated the mental attribute, while the Infernal Delicate Apricot possessed fire poison.
All four appeared to be fire-attribute soul spirits, but each actually specialized in a different direction.
In fact, to Da Bai and Xiao Bai, any of the four would have been excellent.
Whichever path he took,
he would have a chance of reaching the pinnacle of Douluo soul masters.
After all, Leng Yaozhu had chosen these soul spirits personally. Their quality was certainly up to par.
Leng Yaozhu stopped and looked at Li Zha in puzzlement. "Zha'er, none of them will do? What do you have in mind?"
Li Zha thought for a moment. "Teacher, my Lotus Dharma Body has comprehensive attributes, while my Fire-Tipped Spear possesses Samadhi True Fire that surpasses even the ultimate level."
"So I'd like to find a fire-attribute soul spirit that's balanced in every respect, without specializing in any one direction."
"You can aim a little higher with its age and cultivation. I'm naturally immune to soul shocks, so I could give even a ten-thousand-year soul spirit a try."
Da Bai and Xiao Bai's eyes widened.
Holy cra...
You were picking and choosing because you actually planned to try a ten-thousand-year soul spirit straight away?
You've got to be kidding, right?
Attempting a ten-thousand-year soul spirit for his very first one-
Da Bai and Xiao Bai had never seen anything like this.
Yet, to their surprise,
Leng Yaozhu only thought briefly before agreeing. "All right. I'll look for some more."
Da Bai and Xiao Bai rolled their eyes, speechless.
"Your Eminence Heavenly Phoenix, just keep spoiling him!"
Before you continue