Obtaining His First Soul Spirit

Jiang Mingyuan lay on his soft, spacious bed, his mind brimming with joy.

Not only had he awakened a powerful martial soul today, but his transmigrator's cheat had arrived as well.

"Let's try cultivating."

Jiang Mingyuan took off his shoes and immediately sat cross-legged on the bed to cultivate.

Jiang Mingyuan's parents in this life had also been soul masters. Although both had only been Four-Ring Soul Ancestors, they had left him a considerable inheritance in this small city.

The Advanced Soul Power Meditation Method.

Books on soul tool design and repair.

And twelve million in savings, giving him plenty of leeway in choosing his first soul spirit.

Soul power circulated through his meridians, completing a full circuit through his body. Jiang Mingyuan could feel an almost imperceptible increase in his cultivation, but the laws of the plane imposed restrictions. Before obtaining his first soul ring, no matter how much he cultivated, the total soul power he could unleash would remain at rank ten.

Although many netizens in the era Jiang Mingyuan had lived in looked down on the Douluo Continent's cultivation system, it had at least one advantage. Compared with other fantasy worlds, where cultivation routinely took centuries or millennia, the Douluo Continent's system allowed cultivators to feel a slight improvement with every session until they reached a bottleneck.

"Looks like I'll have to get a soul spirit first. I wonder if a tiny place like Aolai City has anything suitable? Anyway, there are still five days before school starts. If worse comes to worst, I'll check out the Spirit Pagodas in other, bigger cities."

Shrek City, Spirit Pagoda Headquarters.

Thanks to successive advances in soul tool technology, the Spirit Pagoda had established a comprehensive information-processing center.

Spirit Pagoda Branch Towers everywhere uploaded information on children with newly awakened martial souls in real time. After multiple rounds of screening, the records of children judged to possess outstanding talent would finally reach the Spirit Pagoda's upper management.

"Oh! A phoenix, and it can even change sexes. What an interesting child."

Leng Yaozhu sat at her desk, browsing information on children from various regions who had awakened exceptional martial souls that year on her Communication Soul Tool.

Suddenly, her scrolling finger stopped. A gleam lit her eyes, carrying a hint of amusement.

Throughout the Douluo Continent's more than ten thousand years of history, phoenix martial souls had been rare and powerful. Dragon martial souls were likewise powerful, but their bloodlines were mixed and their varieties numerous.

Phoenix martial souls, however, were exceedingly, exceedingly rare. Since the rise of human civilization, surviving historical records had documented only four true phoenix martial souls.

The evil fire phoenix.

The ice phoenix.

The bright phoenix.

And the fire phoenix passed down through her Leng family.

That was not to say there were no other phoenix martial souls, but they were all variants of those four great phoenix martial souls.

The dark phoenix, for example, almost always appeared because the soul master carried the evil fire phoenix bloodline.

"Which lineage is this child's variant from?"

Leng Yaozhu beckoned, and the female assistant standing in the corner of her office immediately approached.

"Go and pull up this child's detailed information for me."

"Please give me a moment. I'll take care of it right away."

Early the next morning.

Jiang Mingyuan got out of bed and stretched luxuriously. He had spent the previous night conducting extensive research into his martial soul.

His phoenix martial soul had two forms.

Female phoenix form (attack form/female form): in this form, his martial soul brimmed with violent, destructive power, and its aggressive flames would scorch everything within range.

Male phoenix form (utility form/male form): in this form, his martial soul contained sacred, gentle power. Its warm flames would heal injured living beings according to his wishes.

When Jiang Mingyuan switched his martial soul's form, his sex changed as well. Whichever form he was in when he ended Martial Soul Possession, his body's sex would remain that way.

Looking at his vivid red hair in the mirror, Jiang Mingyuan did not find anything particularly strange. Perhaps it was because he was still a child, but honestly, unless someone observed him very closely, it would be hard to determine his sex beyond that long hair.

Jiang Mingyuan possessed an androgynous beauty. Others could call him cute, pretty, or handsome, and none would seem out of place.

Aolai City was small. The straight-line distance from his home to its Spirit Pagoda Branch Tower was only six kilometers. Jiang Mingyuan changed into sportswear, planning to experience the effects of enhancing his physical abilities with soul power.

Jiang Mingyuan alternated between running and resting, making sure his soul power and stamina always remained plentiful.

About thirty minutes later, the Aolai City Spirit Pagoda Branch Tower finally appeared before Jiang Mingyuan. For a six-year-old child, that was already quite fast.

The Spirit Pagoda followed a standard octagonal design, with three stories, four faces, and eight sides. Its interior was spacious, its marble floor tiles smooth and clean.

A gray-robed Spirit Transmitter sat behind the counter. When he saw someone enter, his bored, listless face immediately pulled into a slight smile.

"Little one, what brings you to the Spirit Pagoda?"

Jiang Mingyuan walked to the counter and slapped a purple savings card onto it.

"Uncle, I'd like to buy a soul spirit."

Jiang Mingyuan had considered joining the Spirit Pagoda, but not now. What he ought to do now was cultivate while enjoying his childhood. He had no desire to join the Spirit Pagoda and be forced to meditate in a cultivation room all day by some old monster countless years his senior.

The moment the Spirit Transmitter saw the purple savings card Jiang Mingyuan had slapped onto the counter, his eyes lit up.

The Sun Moon Federation Bank had an unspoken set of rules for issuing savings cards. The bank made its judgments based on deposit amounts and investigations into social background.

Savings cards were divided into the following categories.

White savings card: deposits and social-background investigations placed the holder's assets below one million Federation Coins.

Yellow savings card: assets above one million Federation Coins and below ten million Federation Coins.

Purple savings card: assets above ten million Federation Coins and below one hundred million Federation Coins.

Black savings card: assets above one hundred million Federation Coins.

Gold savings card: those who could obtain a card of this color could no longer be measured by assets alone. Almost all held positions at the very pinnacle of the continent.

"Please follow me!" The Spirit Transmitter beamed as he enthusiastically led Jiang Mingyuan onward. "You've come at just the right time. A fresh batch of soul spirits arrived here at six this morning."

Hmm?

Jiang Mingyuan sensed something was off.

The Spirit Transmitter brought Jiang Mingyuan to a room with a sign reading "Spiritual Power Testing Room."

"Before purchasing a soul spirit, we need to measure our young soul master's spiritual power. The strength of your spiritual power determines the upper limit of the soul spirits you can absorb."

He pushed open the door, revealing a room filled with equipment that looked advanced at a glance.

"Come, please sit in this chair."

Following the Spirit Transmitter's instructions, Jiang Mingyuan sat in the chair and put on the helmet used to measure spiritual power.

"From lowest to highest, spiritual power is divided into six major levels: the spirit origin realm, spirit connection realm, spirit sea realm, spirit abyss realm, spirit domain realm, and the legendary divine origin realm," the Spirit Transmitter explained while adjusting the equipment.

"Don't be nervous. Relax your whole body. You might feel slightly dizzy, but that's normal," the Spirit Transmitter reminded him one last time.

The machine hummed into operation, and white light shone from the helmet. About two minutes later, the measurement ended.

The Spirit Transmitter helped Jiang Mingyuan remove the helmet. His head felt a little foggy, rather like motion sickness. He felt slightly nauseated, though it was not too severe.

The Spirit Transmitter glanced at the final spiritual power reading, surprise spreading over his face.

"A genius!!!"

The number displayed on the instrument's screen was 239: the middle stage of the spirit connection realm. Throughout soul master history, most soul masters had only forty or fifty points of spiritual power upon reaching rank ten. Some geniuses could often reach sixty or seventy.

Only an exceedingly small number of peerless geniuses could have initial spiritual power above one hundred.

Two hundred and thirty-nine points of spiritual power was simply unheard of. Perhaps only the continent's very finest spiritual-type soul masters could reach such a level at rank ten.

"Little one-oh, no. Honored guest, please follow me. I'll take you to choose a soul spirit right away. If none catches your eye, I can also contact other cities and have them send their soul spirit information for you to browse."

The Spirit Transmitter led Jiang Mingyuan into the Soul Spirit Storage Room. The room was beautifully decorated, with shelves extending from three walls and displaying Soul Spirit Balls of various colors.

"Please take a look. The soul spirits on the left wall are all under one hundred years old. Those on the right wall are all between one hundred and two hundred years old. As for the central wall we're facing, everything displayed there is a prized treasure of this pagoda: soul spirits over two hundred years old."

As he spoke, the Spirit Transmitter produced a tablet-shaped soul tool from somewhere and handed it to Jiang Mingyuan.

"You can examine these soul spirits first. If any interests you, enter the number engraved beneath it into this tablet soul tool, and its detailed information will pop up automatically." With that, the Spirit Transmitter stood quietly behind him and left Jiang Mingyuan to choose.

Jiang Mingyuan looked around. There were not actually many varieties of soul spirits here. Despite the two hundred or so Soul Spirit Balls displayed in the room, there were only seventy or eighty varieties.

The ten-year soul spirit section was filled with common little animals: small snakes, dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. He did not see any finger-thick little grass snakes, though.

Skipping the soul spirits between one hundred and two hundred years old, Jiang Mingyuan looked straight at the section of soul spirits over two hundred years old before him. One glance was enough for him to spot the issue.

In this soul spirit section, three Soul Spirit Balls occupied the most prominent position. The auras they emitted were undoubtedly far stronger than those of the other soul spirits.

Jiang Mingyuan entered their corresponding numbers into the tablet, and their information immediately appeared.

[Emerald Swan: 653 years old. She possesses powerful healing abilities and a trace of phoenix bloodline. Fusing with this soul spirit is expected to grant soul skills for group healing and support.]

[Wind-Chasing Bird: 439 years old. Agile in build, with extremely fast flight speed. Fusing with this soul spirit is expected to grant a speed-enhancing soul skill.]

[Crimson Flame Lion: 555 years old. A powerful stone-type soul beast possessing a robust physique and the ability to control flames. Fusing with this soul spirit is expected to grant soul skills that strengthen the body and control flames for attacks.]

Seeing Jiang Mingyuan stop before these three soul spirits, the Spirit Transmitter immediately came over to explain.

"You have an excellent eye. These three soul spirits were delivered just this morning. In terms of age and quality, even our previous prized treasures cannot compare."

Jiang Mingyuan was now certain these three soul spirits had clearly been sent here for him.

Jiang Mingyuan eliminated the Wind-Chasing Bird first. Agility-Attack Soul Masters could be called a trap in the current meta.

In damage output, they could not compete with assault-type or control-type soul masters.

As for speed, in this age dominated by battle armor and mechas, the value of a martial soul's inherent speed had been greatly diluted.

Two soul spirits remained. The Emerald Swan could enhance vitality and provide healing abilities, while the Blazing Lion could increase attack power and provide control over flames.

These two soul spirits corresponded perfectly to the two forms of Jiang Mingyuan's martial soul. One leaned toward life, the other toward attack.

Rather than calling the two attributes complementary, they could at least be described as complete opposites.

If someone else encountered this situation, they would most likely be helpless, forced to choose either life or attack as their focus. Jiang Mingyuan, however, was different. His martial soul possessed a peculiar trait.

When his martial soul changed forms, not only did his sex change, but the attributes of the previous form would become a buff transferred to the attributes of the new form.

In other words, life could convert into attack, and attack could also convert into life.

Under these circumstances, there was no need to agonize over which path to take. As long as the soul spirit's attributes matched, the higher its quality, the greater the improvement it would bring Jiang Mingyuan.

"Spirit Transmitter Uncle, I'd like this Emerald Swan soul spirit. How many Federation Coins does she cost?"

The Spirit Transmitter took another leaflet from inside his robe and placed it before Jiang Mingyuan.

"This kind of soul spirit is extremely rare. Normally, she shouldn't even appear in a remote city like ours. Her price is three million two hundred thousand Federation Coins. If you join the Spirit Pagoda, you can claim a beginner benefit: you may choose any soul spirit under one thousand years old sold through the Spirit Pagoda's system and receive it free of charge."

Jiang Mingyuan took a closer look. The leaflet in the Spirit Transmitter's hand was precisely the one the Spirit Transmitter who had awakened his martial soul yesterday had offered him. He shook his head, took his savings card from his pocket, and said firmly,

"I don't want to join the Spirit Pagoda yet. I'll pay by card."

Since Jiang Mingyuan had made himself clear, the Spirit Transmitter tactfully put the leaflet away. He took a remote-control soul tool from his pocket and pressed it lightly. The Soul Spirit Ball sprang from its shelf and landed securely in Jiang Mingyuan's hands as though it had eyes.

"Please follow me. We still need to register your information."

The Spirit Transmitter brought Jiang Mingyuan before a soul tool resembling a computer. He moved the mouse and began working on the screen. Before long, using the information Jiang Mingyuan provided, he found his name in the soul master database.

"Congratulations. You qualify for the Genius Development Plan established by our Spirit Pagoda Headquarters. Even without joining the Spirit Pagoda, you can enjoy a twenty-percent discount on soul spirits and other cultivation supplies purchased here."

Hearing there was such a good deal, Jiang Mingyuan immediately agreed and paid two million five hundred and sixty thousand Federation Coins by card.

After leaving the Spirit Pagoda, Jiang Mingyuan spotted a dessert shop across the street. He went inside and bought a small cake to celebrate awakening his martial soul and obtaining his soul spirit. Then he looked over the other desserts in the display case and asked the clerk to package several kinds in an elegant gift box.

Putting the desserts into his storage ring, he hailed a taxi and headed for the residential complex where Tang Wulin lived. He intended to visit the child.