After the incident in the mountains, Arthur immediately brought Jing Liu home. It seemed Uncle Jack had already left for the garden, so Arthur didn't need to make up a story to explain why Jing Liu had fainted!
"Hahh... Who would have guessed that Jing Liu is actually a spirit creature who transformed into a human?" Arthur muttered to himself.
"That's only natural. Even a 'Titled Douluo' or someone at rank 90 would hardly be able to tell the difference between her and an ordinary human. She's a special case!" the System said calmly.
"Hmm... Is that so? But speaking of which, why are you already functional again? Didn't you say it would take two days? Since you can contact me without me entering the system space, does that mean the merge was successful?" Arthur asked curiously.
"Of course! The merge is complete, and it seems I miscalculated by including that paper in my calculations," Master Dwarf said, pointing to the baby basket.
"So this isn't ordinary paper? Then what is it? Will it instantly give me the battle memories of the hero Arthur, like my name suggests?" Arthur asked excitedly.
"Of course... not! That paper is formed from the core of the Tree of Life. If merged with me, my workshop—now the system space—can be physically entered. That means it can be used as a shelter! But you can't move from where you entered, so this ability must be kept secret. As for your name, it was determined by the 'spirit soul' you were supposed to have," Master Dwarf explained confidently.
"Wow, that's a long explanation! But how do you know all this? And if my 'spirit soul' is a sword, why does my spirit feel like energy?" Arthur grew even more curious.
"That's because the merge gave us unexpected information. Your first 'spirit soul' is liquid metal, or 'nano metal,' and 'Excalibur' was too powerful, so most of its strength and form were used to create us. You only received its energy, along with a portion of your merged spirit soul's abilities," the System replied calmly.
"What?! What kind of nonsense is this?! But... ah, whatever. At least I got an amazing guide and spirit weapon maker out of it!" Arthur resigned himself to the situation.
"Alright, now that everything's been explained, do you want to merge the paper now?" Master Dwarf asked eagerly.
"Wait! You want to merge it right away? I still need help with Jing Liu's situation!" Arthur protested.
"Well, this merge won't take long. Since I've already integrated with the system, I can merge the paper quickly!" Master Dwarf said confidently.
"Fine, then. I'll wait for the merge to finish," Arthur sighed.
"It won't take long—maybe just two hours outside and four hours inside the system space," Master Dwarf assured him.
---
After waiting for a while and seeing no signs of Jing Liu waking up, Arthur decided to practice White Aura Hunt beside her. As the sun began to set in the west, Jing Liu finally regained consciousness—and with it, the memory that she was the transformed spirit of a 100,000-year-old beast!
In truth, Jing Liu lost her memories during the transformation because, just as she decided to take human form, the lightning tribulation for ascending to 200,000 years struck her!
Her energy split, separating her human body from her spirit essence, resulting in a "spirit soul " like Luo Sanpao from Master Yu Xiaogang—a so-called negative mutation!
But even though her mutation followed the same path, it seemed Jing Liu would benefit from Arthur's system abilities!
---
"So, you're awake? I was really shocked! You glowed and fainted, but the light you emitted was like when someone awakens their 'spirit soul.' Don't tell me you...?"
"It's over... I hoped this life would last forever, but it seems I'll have to leave," Jing Liu thought to herself.
"Don't tell me... you already tried awakening your 'spirit soul' at age five but failed? And when you felt hungry earlier, that was your instinct trying to awaken it?" Arthur said, pretending to guess so she wouldn't feel sad.
"Yes! I actually tried awakening my 'spirit soul' at five but failed. It seems that at six, I unconsciously needed energy to awaken it!" Jing Liu said excitedly.
Though Jing Liu had regained her memories, she hadn't inherited her past emotions. So when someone helped her in her time of need, she felt incredibly grateful!
"Is that so? What's your spirit? And can you feel its power?" Arthur asked.
"My spirit is an Ice Armor Wolf. But it seems my 'spirit soul' mutated, and... yes, I have spirit energy!" Jing Liu said as she summoned her spirit soul—an adorable yet fierce little wolf that seemed almost alive!
"Oh? Your 'spirit soul' mutated too? Mine also mutated when I awakened it. But it looks like we both got positive mutations, not negative ones!" Arthur said, showing the white energy in his palm—though no one else could see it.
"Alright! Since you've awakened your 'spirit soul,' starting tomorrow, we'll train your physique, spirit energy control, and meditation!" Arthur declared firmly.
"What?! But I just awakened my 'spirit soul'!" Jing Liu complained.
"No excuses! Now that you're part of my family, you need to be able to protect yourself!"
"By the way, does your 'spirit soul' have a shorter name? We'll be training with it too!"
"No, it doesn't have a name yet. Do you want to give it one?" Jing Liu asked hopefully.
"Alright! From now on, its name is... Lumy!" Arthur announced.
But... the moment Arthur named it, Lumy suddenly shone brightly!
Over time, its body grew larger, and ice armor began covering its entire form—gleaming like polished steel!
"What's happening?! Did naming it make it evolve?! And it seems to have drained 40% of my spirit energy!" Arthur exclaimed in confusion.
"No, it didn't evolve. It gained an ability called 'Battle Mode'! And it seems it can shrink back to its original size," the System explained calmly.
"What?! What's going on? It looks like because you named it, it gained the ability to enter 'Battle Mode'! And... our spirit energies are connected?!" Jing Liu gasped.
"Wait, what?! Our energies are linked?!" Arthur was equally shocked.
Just then, "Master Dwarf" finished merging the paper from the World Tree's core—and the system space was fully upgraded!
What will happen next?!
TO BE CONTINUED!.....