Zhou Yu sprang up from his chair and stared at Xu Qing in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"How is that possible? Isn't your Martial Soul Blue Silver Grass? Even with three levels of Innate Soul Power, you couldn't have progressed this fast!"
Afterward, Zhou Yu took a testing crystal ball from a cabinet and checked Xu Qing's Soul Power Level.
Looking at the dazzling light shining from the crystal ball, Zhou Yu still found it somewhat hard to believe.
"Child, could you let me see your Martial Soul?" Zhou Yu suddenly asked, as though something had occurred to him.
Xu Qing nodded and raised his right hand. As a faint blue light radiated from his palm, a blade of grass brimming with vitality slowly grew out of it.
What a rich breath of life.
Zhou Yu examined it carefully for a moment, then nodded. "Just as I thought. Your Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul probably harbors a trace of Blue Silver King bloodline. That's why you can cultivate so quickly."
Xu Qing nodded. This was good-now he wouldn't have to rack his brains for an explanation.
Afterward, Zhou Yu took the two of them to the Spirit Pagoda in Aolai City in a soul-guided car.
The Aolai City Spirit Pagoda stood in the city center, not far from Red Mountain Academy. In just a few minutes, the soul-guided car stopped outside the Spirit Pagoda branch.
Xu Qing opened the door and stepped out of the soul-guided car with Gu Yuena, looking at the three-story, octagonal tower-shaped building before them.
Xu Qing remembered that the original novel had mentioned the characteristics of Spirit Pagodas in cities of different ranks. The headquarters in Shrek City was the highest-ranking Spirit Pagoda, and naturally also the tallest, standing a full eighty-one stories high. The original novel had called it the most magnificent building on the Douluo Continent.
Spirit Pagodas in large cities were thirteen stories high, while those in medium-sized cities were seven stories high.
The remaining ones were in small cities and towns like Aolai City. These were also the lowest-ranking Spirit Pagodas, standing only three stories high. Even so, this Spirit Pagoda was the largest building in Aolai City, bar none.
The Spirit Pagoda's main entrance was wide open, but few people were coming or going.
After all, in a small place like Aolai City, Soul Masters accounted for less than a tenth of the population.
Zhou Yu led the two straight into the Spirit Pagoda. The interior was extremely spacious, and the floor was paved with marble bearing the Spirit Pagoda's emblem.
A middle-aged man was waiting in the center of the hall. He was none other than Yang Tao, the branch master of the Aolai City Spirit Pagoda.
He wore a simple, elegant Spirit Transmitter's robe and had a composed face. His gaze first fell on Gu Yuena and Xu Qing, and he spoke softly. "My young friends, it's been a while."
Gu Yuena inclined her head slightly, and Xu Qing also nodded politely in greeting.
Zhou Yu dispensed with further pleasantries and said directly, "All right, Old Yang, enough catching up. Take us to choose a Soul Spirit!"
Yang Tao nodded. "You really are as impatient as ever."
With that, he turned toward Xu Qing and Gu Yuena, his tone gentle. "My young friends, follow me."
Having said that, he turned and led the way forward.
Yet as he took his first step, he still couldn't help giving Xu Qing a long, searching look.
Earlier, when Zhou Yu had called him through a soul-guided communicator and said that Xu Qing had broken through to level ten, he had almost wondered whether the man was joking with him.
After all, for someone with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and level-three Innate Soul Power to advance seven levels in just two short years, that cultivation speed simply defied common sense.
Only after hearing Zhou Yu's explanation that Xu Qing's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul harbored a trace of Blue Silver King bloodline had he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
As they passed through the empty hall, Yang Tao led the way and explained softly, "Our Aolai City branch is only a Spirit Pagoda of the lowest rank. We can only provide ten-year and hundred-year Soul Spirits. At present, there are seventy-three varieties of white ten-year Soul Spirits to choose from, and eleven varieties of yellow hundred-year Soul Spirits."
Since Xu Qing's Soul Spirit was being given to him free of charge, Yang Tao did not introduce the prices of Soul Spirits or the random Soul Spirit option Tang Wulin had chosen in the original novel.
Soon, Yang Tao led the three of them into a distinctly modern room, which also contained quite a few instruments.
Yang Tao gestured for Xu Qing to sit in a metal chair in the room and explained, "Before you choose a Soul Spirit, I need to test your Spiritual Power."
Xu Qing nodded and sat right down.
Twenty thousand years ago, during the ancient Martial Soul era when Tang San had risen to prominence, the Soul Master cultivation system had primarily revolved around Soul Power, Soul Rings, and Martial Souls.
Although Spiritual Power had existed then, it had not received much attention. There had not even been systematic realm classifications or cultivation standards for it.
Only ten thousand years ago, when Huo Yuhao had established the Soul Spirit System, had Spiritual Power begun receiving attention, even overturning the Soul Ring cultivation framework that had endured for ten thousand years.
After all, Soul Spirits relied primarily on Spiritual Power, and from then on, Spiritual Power had leaped to become a crucial core of Soul Master cultivation.
Absorbing a Soul Ring only required guidance through Soul Power, with no need for communication on a spiritual level.
Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings were an exception, of course. After all, the original novel had mentioned that absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring required enduring the Soul Beast's soul impact.
Of course, that did not require much application of Spiritual Power.
Soul Spirits, however, were entirely different. For a Soul Master to form a contract with a Soul Spirit and fuse with it, the entire process relied on Spiritual Power.
The greater a Soul Spirit's age, the stronger its spirituality, and naturally, the stricter its requirements for a Soul Master's Spiritual Power.
The number of Soul Spirits a Soul Master could bear, as well as their upper age limit, were closely tied to the Soul Master's own Spiritual Power realm.
After countless generations of research and accumulated findings by Soul Masters, the current Soul Master system had finally divided Spiritual Power into six major tiers. From lowest to highest, they were the Spirit Origin Realm, Spirit Connection Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Spirit Abyss Realm, Spirit Domain Realm, and the highest, the Divine Origin Realm.
At the same time, to define Spiritual Power tiers precisely, a unified numerical standard for quantifying Spiritual Power had been established, just as with Soul Power.
Simply put, everyone was in the Spirit Origin Realm from birth.
The "origin" in Spirit Origin meant "a new cycle begins, and all things are renewed." This was the most basic spiritual tier.
The Spirit Origin Realm was further divided into the initial, middle, advanced, and peak stages.
Below thirty points was the initial stage, thirty to sixty was the middle stage, sixty to ninety was the advanced stage, and ninety to one hundred was the peak of the Spirit Origin Realm. Soul Masters in the Spirit Origin Realm could bear hundred-year Soul Spirits at most.
When a Soul Master raised their Spiritual Power to between one hundred and four hundred and ninety-nine points, they entered the Spirit Connection Realm.
In the Spirit Connection Realm, the mind connected with the spirit, and intent reached wherever thought went. Only upon reaching this realm could a Soul Master truly control their Spiritual Power independently. Spiritual Power at the Spirit Connection Realm could support two hundred-year Soul Spirits or one purple thousand-year Soul Spirit.
Above the Spirit Connection Realm was the Spirit Sea Realm, ranging from five hundred to four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine points.
The "sea" referred to a spirit as vast as the ocean. This was the foundation for becoming a powerful Soul Master. After all, controlling a black ten-thousand-year Soul Spirit required at least Spirit Sea Realm Spiritual Power.
Above the Spirit Sea Realm was the Spirit Abyss Realm, ranging from five thousand to nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine points. Spiritual Power of this magnitude could almost be called the limit of humanity. Only upon reaching this realm was one qualified to bear legendary Soul Spirits aged a hundred thousand years or even higher.
Next came the Spirit Domain Realm, ranging from twenty thousand to forty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine points. Upon reaching the Spirit Domain Realm, Spiritual Power could manifest as a spiritual domain. It was a realm that only a Limit Douluo could possibly touch.
The final realm, the Divine Origin Realm, existed only in legend and belonged to the domain of gods.
In theory, a Divine Origin Realm expert's Spiritual Power should reach fifty thousand points or more!
Huo Gua back then had reached this very tier.
Of course, Xu Qing had someone at that level right beside him.