Chapter Five: The Mutated Soul Spirit
The elder in the black robe doubted whether he was still half-asleep. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, only to see the same shocking number.
Beside him, Xu Minghuang was also surprised, but knowing the true nature of his grandson’s soul, it was more or less within his expectations.
A psychic soul—a rare and unheard-of original soul type—being powerful was only natural.
What’s wrong with 499? Even if it reached 500, it would still be within the Spiritual Communication realm, not the 501 mark that enters the Spiritual Sea realm.
Before the soul spirit system emerged, the divisions of spiritual power were roughly categorized into three stages: intangible and formless, intangible but with substance, and tangible with substance.
After the soul spirit system was introduced, spiritual power became a necessary cultivation path for soul masters, and the divisions became increasingly refined over ten thousand years.
The subdivided spiritual power levels, from lowest to highest, are: Spiritual Origin, Spiritual Communication, Spiritual Sea, Spiritual Abyss, Spiritual Domain, and Divine Origin.
Below 100 spiritual power is the Spiritual Origin realm, where most newly awakened soul masters, including those of the three-ring Soul Lord rank and below, and even some four-ring Soul Ancestors, reside.
Between 100 and 500 is the Spiritual Communication realm. For a six-year-old child who has just awakened their soul, having over one hundred points of spiritual power already marks them as an undeniable genius.
Xu Zhao’s 499 spiritual power was at the peak of this realm. Although only two points short of the next Spiritual Sea realm, it was still firmly within the Spiritual Communication category.
“499, not bad.” Xu Zhao removed his helmet and looked at the number on the screen. His face showed no surprise, remaining calm and composed.
He had not held back during the test.
Therefore, 499 was the true spiritual power value he possessed at the moment.
Xu Zhao chose not to hide his strength for a reason.
Upon realizing he had awakened a psychic—an original soul—he set his sights on joining the Original Soul Sect.
If he didn’t establish himself as a super genius possessing an original soul, how could he make Mu Ye, the sect leader of the Original Soul Sect, beg him to join?
“The rumors outside are true: the Xu family’s legitimate grandson was gifted from a young age, with a calm and steady character.”
Hearing this, the elder in the black robe couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of admiration.
“Alright, now let’s see if any of these five soul spirits catch your eye.”
He approached the table and began to introduce the five soul spirits displayed there one by one:
“A five-hundred-year-old ‘Mutated Ice Silkworm.’ Due to mutation, it lost its ice attribute and retains only pure spiritual attributes. There are only three left in the entire Soul Transmission Tower’s inventory, and this is the only one under a thousand years old.”
“A six-hundred-year-old Mirror Shadow Beast, possessing space, illusion, and spiritual attributes. It is rare, scarce, and in excellent condition.”
“A six-hundred-year-old Silver Shadow Beast, famous for its ‘Imprint’ talent. Extremely rare in number, it is the only one among these five soul spirits that is an artificially created soul spirit extracted from the Silver Shadow Beast’s genes.”
“A five-hundred-year-old Evil Eye, with spiritual, fire, and ice attributes. Although the fewer attributes the Evil Eye clan has, the higher its talent, I believe these three attributes should harmonize well with your soul.”
“Lastly, a seven-hundred-year-old ‘Mutated Silver Wolf.’ Not only has it grown wings on its back, but it also bears a crescent moon mark on its forehead. Most importantly, while mutated, it retained its original talent to control the seven elemental forces through spiritual power.”
Among these five soul spirits, the one with the highest age was only seven hundred years, within the absorption capacity of a soul master’s physical condition.
Although Xu Zhao was only a six-year-old child who had just awakened his soul, as the legitimate grandson of the Xu family, he had been nourished with spiritual treasures to enhance his body since birth.
A mere seven hundred years was well within the limits his body could endure.
The elder in the black robe, having chosen soul spirits for the offspring of top families in Mingdu countless times, was well aware of such knowledge. That was why he presented soul spirits of these ages.
Xu Zhao’s mind stirred as he looked at the five soul spirit light clusters on the table.
Among the five, the Mutated Ice Silkworm was immediately discarded.
Next, the Evil Eye with three attributes was eliminated; his soul was psychic, not the dual sun-and-moon pupils the elder had guessed. A purely spiritual Evil Eye might have been more suitable.
Then there was the Silver Shadow Beast, but as an artificially created soul spirit, it had some flaws compared to soul spirits transformed from soul beasts. Also, the ‘Imprint’ talent was quite mediocre.
Finally, Xu Zhao’s gaze flickered between the Mirror Shadow Beast and the Mutated Silver Wolf.
He was quite pleased with both.
The Mirror Shadow Beast’s space, illusion, and spiritual attributes resonated well with his psychic soul. Its original talent, “Mirror Image Replication,” combined with his psychic ability, would surely yield highly versatile and powerful soul techniques.
The Mutated Silver Wolf’s moon attribute harmonized with his other soul, the Primordial Ancient Dragon, and its spiritual attribute remained intact despite the mutation.
While hesitating, Xu Zhao suddenly thought of the battle armor and the alloy metals required to forge it, and his decision was made instantly.
“This one will do.”
He pointed to the light cluster enclosing the Mutated Silver Wolf.
The Silver Wolf’s original talent allowed it to control the seven elemental forces—earth, water, fire, wind, light, darkness, and space—through spiritual power.
The elemental refinement metal needed for the four-character battle armor required purification through elemental thunder tribulations.
Currently, only Zhenhua in the entire Douluo Federation was a divine craftsman capable of such work.
By the time Xu Zhao grew old enough to require the four-character battle armor, Zhenhua’s body might no longer sustain the creation of more elemental refinement metals.
He couldn’t just rely on Tang Wulin to carry this hope!
But if he had the Silver Wolf, he could later venture to another continent, the Xingluo Empire, and seize that soul spirit as well—the combination of elements and thunder would be perfect.
Breaking through the divine craftsman’s bottleneck would be as fragile as paper before the combination of these two soul spirits.
Of course, that depended on Xu Zhao’s own success in becoming an eighth-level holy craftsman.
Eighth-level holy craftsman was well within his confidence given his talent.
“Mutated Silver Wolf, huh?” The elder in the black robe glanced at Xu Zhao’s sun-and-moon pupils, unsurprised.
The order in which the five soul spirits were introduced was based on their compatibility.
If Xu Zhao had rejected the Mutated Silver Wolf, the elder would have had to present the list of soul spirits with purely spiritual attributes for his selection.
The elder handed the light cluster containing the Mutated Silver Wolf to Xu Zhao without saying a word about absorbing it here.
Absorbing a soul spirit, especially the first one, was a very private matter for a soul master.
Though this was a VIP room, it was still territory of the Soul Transmission Tower. No matter how private the outside environment seemed, it could never compare to one’s own home for the scions of noble families.
Xu Minghuang, seeing his grandson obtain the soul spirit he desired, smiled contentedly.
“Thank you. Next time, I’ll treat you to a meal.”
With that, he led his grandson out of the VIP room.
The elder in the black robe inwardly scoffed upon hearing this.
Treat me to a meal? The old bigwigs of Mingdu’s top families owed him countless meals already.
Because that meal was always promised for next time.