"Innate full spirit power? A Body Martial Soul?"
Spirit Transmission Master An Ya stared at the test results, then looked up at Huo Yuhao in open astonishment.
Spirit Awakening Day was created for families who couldn't otherwise afford the awakening ceremony. These were usually ordinary families with ordinary parents. It was unlikely that they would discover a genuine talent among them, let alone a child with natural full spirit power and a top-tier Body Martial Soul.
But it was still the best.
To hold a position as a Spirit Transmission Master at the Tower, An Ya had graduated at the top of her class from a high-level Spirit Master academy. The moment she confirmed that Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul was a Body type, she had already begun forming a hypothesis about its nature.
According to Spirit Master theory, innate spirit power and Martial Soul quality were deeply linked. A child with innate full spirit power would not possess an ordinary Body Martial Soul.
Body Martial Souls were categorized by their connection to human organs the more vital the organ, the higher the Martial Soul's quality. The eyes alone were not particularly significant in that hierarchy. But the eyes connected to the brain were an entirely different matter. That combination produced the highest-tier Body Martial Soul in existence and a spirit-attribute one at that.
In this era, what was the single most important thing a Spirit Master could possess?
Spiritual power.
Spiritual power and Spirit Souls were inseparable. Without sufficient spiritual power as a foundation, a Spirit Master simply could not absorb a Spirit Soul. Many practitioners spent years trapped at a bottleneck, unable to advance, precisely because their spiritual power had not kept pace with their needs leaving them unable to accommodate a new Spirit Soul. Spirit-attribute Spirit Masters held a natural, inborn advantage in this regard.
A spirit-attribute Spirit Master with innate full spirit power, given proper cultivation reaching Titled Douluo was not a matter of if, but when.
With that thought, An Ya's eyes lit up as she looked at Huo Yuhao.
A genius. A commoner-born genius with no faction behind him and no background to speak of.
Everyone in the business knew what that meant: a genius like this equaled results. Personal results.
An Ya crouched down and smiled. "Huo Yuhao, would you be interested in joining the Spirit Transmission Tower? If you're willing, your qualifications alone would earn you a suitable Spirit Soul completely free of charge it would save your parents a great deal of money."
"I don't have parents."
Huo Yuhao's expression remained perfectly flat as he repeated those words for the second time that day.
"And as I recall," he added, "if a Martial Soul is exceptional enough and cultivation speed fast enough, the first Spirit Soul from the Spirit Transmission Tower is already provided free of charge."
An Ya faltered.
She hadn't managed to win him over and it seemed she'd accidentally stepped on something sensitive as well.
Watching Huo Yuhao's expression, An Ya felt her results slipping away, her bonus vanishing into the distance, and her supervisor's voice rising somewhere on the horizon.
Can't even manage one small child. What use are you?
"Excuse me, I'd like to know where I can buy a Spirit Soul."
An Ya answered without thinking. "Hundred-year Spirit Souls are sold on the second floor — no, wait." She stopped herself. "Let me test your spiritual power and physical health. Once we have these numbers, we can find the Spirit Soul that suits you best. It won't cost you a penny."
Done speaking, An Ya moved with brisk efficiency pulling out her communicator and placing two calls in quick succession. The first went to a colleague, asking him to come relieve her early. The second went to her supervisor, reporting Huo Yuhao's results up through the chain.
With that handled, she looked up and offered Huo Yuhao a smile. "Right then follow me to the testing room."
Huo Yuhao's eyes flickered briefly. He saw through her stalling at once, but said nothing. He gave a cooperative nod.
Her intentions were transparent to him, but he had already planned to join the Spirit Transmission Tower directly. There was no reason to refuse.
...
"Physical constitution on par with a Spirit Grandmaster? Spiritual power at three hundred? Mid-stage Spirit Connection realm?"
An Ya stared at the instruments in blank disbelief, wondering whether the problem lay with her eyes or with the equipment.
The physical constitution result she could accept, just barely. The spiritual power reading was another matter entirely.
Spiritual power was measured across six ascending realms: the Spirit Origin realm, the Spirit Connection realm, the Spirit Sea realm, the Spirit Abyss realm, the Spirit Domain realm, and the Divine Origin realm.
Spiritual power below one hundred placed a practitioner in the Spirit Origin realm, limiting them to Spirit Souls under a hundred years of age. Between one hundred and five hundred lay the Spirit Connection realm and it was only upon entering the Spirit Connection realm that a Spirit Master could absorb a thousand-year Spirit Soul.
With three hundred points of spiritual power, were it not for his physical constitution lagging slightly behind, Huo Yuhao could contract a thousand-year Spirit Soul right now.
Even for a spirit-attribute Martial Soul, this level of spiritual power immediately after awakening was simply not supposed to be possible.
"May I go and look at the Spirit Souls now?"
Huo Yuhao glanced at the still-frozen An Ya, then directed his gaze toward the door.
Because of his transmigration and recultivation, his spiritual power had always been in a category of its own. With Skydream Iceworm's Origin Energy layered on top of that, the number on the display was not particularly remarkable to him. In fact, the reading was already the result of him reining himself in considerably.
An Ya snapped back to herself. She was about to speak assuming he genuinely wanted to browse Spirit Souls when the door opened and a middle-aged man walked in.
The instant she saw him, a flash of surprise crossed An Ya's eyes. She straightened immediately and offered a respectful salute. "Tower Master."
"Good work." Hua Yichen gave her a brief nod, then turned to Huo Yuhao, his expression settling into a warm smile. "I am Hua Yichen, Tower Master of the Spirit Transmission Tower's Eastsea City branch."
"Child would you be willing to join our Spirit Transmission Tower? It is the foremost power on the Douluo Continent. Only by joining us will you be able to fully realize your potential and reach Titled Douluo."
He had come on a whim after receiving the report, not expecting much. He had not anticipated a windfall of this magnitude.
Innate full spirit power. A spirit-attribute Martial Soul. Physical constitution on par with a Spirit Grandmaster. Innate spiritual power already within the Spirit Connection realm. Talent like this would not merely turn heads in Eastsea City placed before the Tower's central headquarters, it would command the highest level of attention the institution had to offer.
Above all else, those spiritual power numbers. No child of this age, anywhere, could surpass what this boy had just registered.
Hua Yichen pressed further, his voice bright with barely-contained excitement. "If you are willing to join, I can personally guarantee you the finest treatment and cultivation resources not only Spirit Souls, but Battle Armor and Spirit Bones as well."
Swept up in the moment, he made promises that a child likely could not yet fully appreciate.
Huo Yuhao was quiet for a stretch, then smiled.
"I have always been curious about Spirit Souls how they form, what governs them. Since you are the Tower Master, would you be willing to teach me about that? If so, I am willing to join the Spirit Transmission Tower."
With the branch Tower Master himself present, there was no point in playing coy. A man of his standing could provide an ideal environment for the early stages of his cultivation.
Hua Yichen blinked.
He had braced himself for complications. There were none only a windfall, delivered to him by heaven without so much as a word of negotiation.
Spirit Souls? For research?
He was the Tower Master of a Spirit Transmission Tower branch. Providing Spirit Souls for Huo Yuhao to study was the same as providing them for free and with Huo Yuhao's future talent, what Spirit Soul would he ever be unable to obtain? Beyond that, studying Spirit Souls was the Tower's core business to begin with. There was nothing remotely unreasonable about the request.
Clearly, for all his precocious maturity, the boy was still a child with no understanding of what his own gifts could earn him.
That said, Hua Yichen had no desire to shortchange a child of exceptional talent. He answered without delay. "Agreed. Every Spirit Soul available in Eastsea City is at your disposal for study. And going forward, I will personally guide your cultivation as your teacher, at least for now."
He very much wanted to take Huo Yuhao as a formal disciple.
But the Douluo Continent placed great weight on lineage and mentorship. Eastsea City was too small a stage, and a talent like Huo Yuhao was destined for the central headquarters sooner or later. If one of the major figures there set their eye on him, a formal discipleship could become an awkward complication.
Better to leave the relationship informal let Huo Yuhao go to headquarters without the burden of formal ties, and part as friends rather than master and disciple. A good connection, built without obligation.
Huo Yuhao's thoughts moved quickly, his long years of experience allowing him to read Hua Yichen's reasoning without difficulty.
A shrewd man. One who would be easy to get along with.
With that settled in his mind, Huo Yuhao offered a small smile and a measured bow. "I greet my teacher."
There is no seniority in the pursuit of knowledge whoever has mastered something is fit to teach it.
When it came to genuine understanding of this current era, Hua Yichen surpassed him considerably. Even the Soul-Spirit system Huo Yuhao himself had built had undergone ten thousand years of change certain things had shifted in ways he did not yet know. Hua Yichen was the fastest path to bringing himself current.
So the bow Huo Yuhao offered was given in complete sincerity.
"Wonderful , wonderful, wonderful!"
Hua Yichen said the word three times in a row, stepping forward to take Huo Yuhao by the wrist. He turned to An Ya, who was still standing in a pleasant daze, and said, "You won't need to continue regular Spirit Transmission duties after today. I'll arrange a new post for you."
An Ya came to herself at once. Something bright kindled in her eyes and she answered with a beaming smile, "Yes, sir!"
With that settled, Hua Yichen turned back to Huo Yuhao, his expression cheerful. "You have innate full spirit power you can absorb a Spirit Soul directly. Come, I'll take you to see the Spirit Souls right now."