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--- Chapter 498 ---
"Refreshing~!"
Han Yuan slowly exhaled a plume of warm, turbid air from deep within his chest. As he opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of three figures staring back at him in total bewilderment.
"Xiao Yuan... Are you truly alright?" Han Tianyi asked, his tone low and tinged with suppressed anxiety.
Even though his spiritual sense had already scanned Han Yuan numerous times and found no hidden defects or lingering instability, he couldn't stop his heart from aching at the thought of his grandson suffering through such intense agony.
Han Yuan offered a bright, cheerful smile. "I'm completely fine, Grandpa! It stung a little bit during the process, but this much is nothing at all!"
What Han Yuan failed to recognize, however, was that his easygoing, calm smile, as if he had just finished a morning stretch, acted like a big boulder crashing into a calm lake, causing a grim, heavy darkness to fall onto the faces of all three elders.
Their very souls stirred with heavy heartache.
To have developed such a bizarrely high tolerance for pain at merely six years old. Just how much unimaginable suffering had this child endured in the hands of Evil Spirit Masters before getting rescued?
Han Yuan didn't utter a single whimper during a process that cracked his bones, shattered his skin, and restructured his very frame. One could only imagine the horrific tortures he must have survived in the past to view this level of physical reconstruction as "nothing."
'Damn those despicable Evil Spirit Masters... forcing Xiao Yuan to suffer like this!'
'You already found the way of death!!'
The three elders cursed in unison within their hearts, their eyes flashing with a shared murderous intent. They silently swore to annihilate every single Evil Spirit Master they crossed paths with in the future. Yes, no mercy, no hesitation.
Completely oblivious to the bloody vows his elders were swearing on his behalf, Han Yuan turned his attention inward, checking on his two newly contracted Spirit Souls.
Through their mental link, he discovered that both Spirit Souls were in a half-awake, semi-drowsy state, busily digesting the transformations brought by him.
The Soul Contract had produced immense mutual benefits. The Great Evil Orca was currently submerged deep within his spiritual sea, mutating and evolving under the continuous baptism of the World-Devouring Kunpeng's bloodline.
On the other hand, the Cosmos Eye Lord was floating cheerfully near the radiant Life Gold sun, drowning in a dense vortex of stellar energy and vitality as its core gradually expanded.
Eventually, both Spirit Souls drifted into a deep, peaceful hibernation to complete their evolution.
Fortunately, before their consciousnesses fully faded into sleep, Han Yuan had managed to bestow names upon his new lifelong companions.
He named the Great Evil Orca 'Ogre,' simple, raw, and fearsome. As for the primordial star core, the Cosmos Eye Lord, he named it 'Cosmo,' equally clean, classic, and neutral.
Han Yuan was about to check the Spirit Skills provided by Ogre and Cosmo when Han Tianyi's voice pulled him back to reality.
"Xiao Yuan... It's good that you're fine, but your cultivation has improved too quickly," Han Tianyi said calmly. "Grandpa wants to test your physical condition before deciding the next step of your cultivation."
"Yeah, we need to make sure that you're completely solid..." Mu Ye added right after.
"Mm, better careful than sorry." Zhen Hua flashed a deep look.
Han Yuan blinked and obediently replied, "Okay."
After bidding farewell to the other Ultimate Spirit Souls and promising to visit them often in the future, Han Yuan followed Han Tianyi and the two elders back down to the main testing floor.
They proceeded to the assessment hall, where Han Yuan lay down inside the spiritual power reading device. Moments later, the readouts revealed that his spiritual power capacity had surged by nearly three hundred points!
"Hiss... It almost hit one thousand... One freaking thousand! This kid's Spiritual Power could already contend against some low-level Spirit Saints!" Mu Ye sucked in a cold breath.
Zhen Hua nodded in awe. "That is just his Spiritual Power, though... We knew this massive spike of improvement came from contracting two Ultimate Spirit Souls."
"But don't forget that we haven't tested his physical strength yet."
"Fuck! I forgot this kid's monstrous body!" Mu Ye facepalmed and cursed on the spot. It was he himself who had initially discovered that Han Yuan possessed physical fitness rivaling a Spirit King, yet he had somehow forgotten in all the excitement.
Han Tianyi carefully pulled Han Yuan out of the testing capsule. "Are you alright, Xiao Yuan?"
"Mhm... a little dizzy, but I'm fine," Han Yuan rubbed his forehead, answering slowly.
"The sensor array might be a bit disorienting, but you'll get used to it soon." Han Tianyi patted his grandson's head gently. "Alright, let's test your raw physical strength next."
Han Yuan smiled inwardly. He wasn't getting dizzy from the machine. He was dizzy because he was suppressing his spiritual sea too hard!
After contracting Ogre and Cosmo, his mindscape was actually right on the thin edge of breaking into the Spirit Abyss Realm.
By then, contracting a 100,000-year-old Spirit Soul in the future wouldn't just be possible. It would be effortless.
"Punch this pad with everything you have," Han Tianyi gestured to the heavy military-grade impact testing machine nearby, patting the soft leather pad.
Han Yuan gazed at the machine, which was significantly taller than his own young frame, and asked a curious question. "This... what if I break it?"
"It would be best if you broke it, kid!" Mu Ye chimed in with a boisterous laugh.
"Yeah, it would be great if you actually broke it with a single punch. Don't worry, I will pay for it if it shatters," Zhen Hua added casually, amused as money meant nothing to a Divine Craftsman.
Han Tianyi's mouth twitched. "Are you two his grandfathers, or am I? Even if Xiao Yuan breaks it, he won't need to pay a single dime. I can order the Headquarters to ship a brand new one."
"Oh... then I'll try." Han Yuan walked up to the machine, rubbing the heavy leather pad a few times as if gauging its resistance.
Then, he took two steps back.
For a split second, the three elders watched as Han Yuan coiled his body low. In the next instant, he launched forward, twisting his tiny waist and driving a mean, explosive right hook straight into the leather pad.
BOOOOOOM!!
A violent shockwave erupted through the testing hall! The heavy impact machine shuddered violently on its base, its frame groaning loudly under the impact. However, it did hold together as the digital numbers rolled rapidly across the display screen.
3,346 kg!
"Holy shit! 3.3 tons?!" Mu Ye's shocked eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Zhen Hua clenched his fist tightly. "Hiss... so his raw physical strength has undergone another qualitative leap..."
"Physical reconstruction... no, a complete metamorphosis."
"How terrifying!"
Han Tianyi was just as stunned as the other two, but he forced his hands into his pockets and maintained an air of stoic calm. "Use your other hand."
Han Yuan glanced back and nodded obediently. "Mm."
He reset his stance, winding up his left arm this time. And with the same explosive kinetic chain, the same low coil, the same waist whip, and the same lethal hook, he slammed his left fist heavily into the leather pad.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
3,332 kg.
"As expected... you're ambidextrous. Excellent," Han Tianyi commented, his voice remaining impressively steady.
Han Yuan tilted his head in mild confusion. "What does that mean, Grandpa?"
Han Tianyi's stoic facade finally broke into a proud, beaming smile. "It means my grandson is amazing, an absolute genius."
"Now then... Do you want to test your Martial Souls and see what kind of Spirit Skills you obtained after contracting those Ultimate Spirit Souls?"
"C-Can I?!" Han Yuan's eyes lit up instantly with excitement.
"Of course!" Han Tianyi chuckled warmly. "Your grandpa is the Chief of the Heaven Dou Spirit Pagoda, which means you have lifetime, unlimited access to the Spirit Ascension Platform."
"Come. Let me take you there personally."