With his Spirit Soul selected, Huo Yuhao followed Hua Yichen's instructions and took his position at the center of the hall, Spirit Soul in hand. He studied the intricate formation arrays surrounding him and understood immediately what he was looking at.
Auxiliary arrays for the contract process. Ten thousand years of development had changed their appearance considerably from what he remembered but the Spirit Transmission Tower had never possessed the ability to touch the Soul-Spirit Contract's core. The fundamental requirement remained intact: a Spirit Soul's willing consent was still necessary before any contract could be formed.
Hua Yichen gave Huo Yuhao a brief smile and a few words of instruction, then began chanting the Soul-Spirit Contract rite that the Spirit-Ice Douluo had left behind.
The Spirit Souls housed here had all been provided by the Star Dou Great Forest and the Extreme North every one of them had long since agreed to exist as Spirit Souls, and had simply been waiting for a Spirit Master to choose them. No additional steps were required on their end.
A ripple of golden light spread outward from Hua Yichen, expanding rapidly until it enveloped both Huo Yuhao and the Spirit Soul in his hands.
"Brother Skydream."
"On it your brother's here!"
At Huo Yuhao's prompt, the Skydream Iceworm stirred inside the Sea of Spirit and moved into position, claiming the slot of the Spirit Eyes' first Spirit Soul before the contract could fully take form.
As if he would let some junior steal his place. He was Yuhao's first Spirit Soul that was not up for debate.
Huo Yuhao, meanwhile, wrapped the thoroughly bewildered Ice Silkworm in his spiritual power and drew it temporarily into the Sea of Spirit.
The contract's core had not changed. As its original architect, making a quiet adjustment just enough to let Skydream occupy the contracted slot required no particular effort.
Huo Yuhao would need Spirit Souls eventually, given his inability to generate Spirit Rings on his own. But not yet.
From Hua Yichen's perspective, the Ice Silkworm Spirit Soul gradually grew transparent and faded, finally merging into Huo Yuhao's body. A ring of yellow light materialized around him.
Huo Yuhao settled naturally into a cross-legged position. A soft radiance of spirit power drifted around him as he sank into meditation.
Hua Yichen watched for a moment, then quietly withdrew from the room without disturbing him.
Shortly after stepping out, a staff member approached and handed him a file Huo Yuhao's basic information, including family background and place of residence.
Hua Yichen's gaze lingered on two entries: parents divorced, mother deceased.
He raised an eyebrow.
An orphan. That explained the unusual maturity, and the complete absence of nerves when speaking to someone of his rank.
Not a bad thing, all told. Without family ties, Huo Yuhao would likely feel a stronger sense of belonging to the Tower.
When Hua Yichen looked up from the file, the staff member continued his report.
"Tower Master, I have forwarded Huo Yuhao's information to headquarters, though we have not yet received a reply. Do you wish to arrange a private aircraft to send him to headquarters in advance?"
"No need." The question prompted a thought, and Hua Yichen shook his head as the tangled web of factions at Tower headquarters came to mind. "Eastsea City's stage is small, but it's more than adequate for providing early-stage cultivation resources."
With Huo Yuhao's talent, a move to headquarters was inevitable just not now.
The Soul-Spirit Contract the Spirit-Ice Douluo had left behind had bound the Spirit Beasts and the Tower together at a deep level. For ten thousand years, the Tower's upper echelons had not dared overstep, not dared to take aim at Spirit Beasts in any meaningful way.
That was both a strength and a complication.
On the strength side: with the power of Spirit Beast factions behind them, the Tower had been elevated to the continent's peak. Their combat strength was formidable. Counting the Spirit Beast side of the alliance, the Tower now possessed seven individuals whose power rivaled a Limit Douluo four of whom had reached the near-divine realm.
What other faction in the world could match that count?
Even Shrek Academy at the height of its glory could not.
But the greater a power's reach, the stronger its forces and when no single figure stood above all the rest, internal tension was inevitable. The Tower's headquarters had become a cauldron of competing factions, each with roots running deep, each engaged in open and covert struggle.
Sending a child into that environment would do nothing for his growth. At minimum, Huo Yuhao needed to first build both his strength and a clear enough understanding of the world to navigate it. Only then could he be sent to headquarters.
As that thought settled, a quiet smile crossed Hua Yichen's face.
With this boy in the picture, the rising generation of the Eternal Clan was about to find itself with real competition. The Eternal Tower Master was going to have a headache.
...
Mingdu capital of the Sun Moon Empire before the continent's unification, and still as vital as ever even ten thousand years on. It remained the Douluo Federation's most advanced city, the western heartland of the entire Douluo Continent.
At the heart of Mingdu stood a tower-shaped structure rising eighty-one stories into the sky an edifice of extraordinary grandeur.
The Spirit Transmission Tower's central headquarters.
Unlike in the original story, Huo Yuhao had never joined Shrek Academy which meant the Tower's headquarters had never been established in Shrek City. Instead, given that the Sun Moon Empire had ultimately emerged as the continent's unifier, the headquarters had been placed in Mingdu, seat of the Federal Government.
At the very top floor of the Tower's headquarters, a tall woman sat behind a desk. She was striking in appearance, her long red hair falling loosely behind her. She reached out to scroll through a soul-powered screen, reading the information displayed there, and a smile of genuine interest crossed her face.
"Huo Yuhao — innate full spirit power, a Body Martial Soul, spiritual power reading of three hundred. Quite the genius." She paused, then glanced sideways at the small girl seated beside her. "His innate spiritual power is actually stronger than yours."
She let that land, then smiled warmly. "You see there is always a higher sky, always someone more gifted. I told you this world has no shortage of talent. You cannot afford to be complacent, Na'er."
The girl addressed as Na'er wore her silver hair in a short cut, her delicate features as precisely crafted as a porcelain doll. She was also looking at Huo Yuhao's file. Her amethyst eyes gleamed as she read, and she gave a small, composed nod.
"I understand, Teacher."
Spirit Eyes Martial Soul… and that appearance. This was the Huo Yuhao Emperor Tian had spoken of — no question about it.
Ten thousand years, and he was still alive?
The surprise moved through Gu Yuena's thoughts without reaching her face. She looked up at Leng Yaozhu and offered a small smile. "Teacher you didn't call me here just for this, did you?"
"Of course not." Leng Yaozhu reached over with quiet affection and smoothed a hand through her disciple's hair. "Your Martial Soul has awakened. Would you rather stay here at the Tower to cultivate, or attend an academy?"
Gu Yuena shifted slightly and drew back from the touch with a trace of awkwardness, slipping free of Leng Yaozhu's hand. "I'll do whatever Teacher thinks is best."
Still not comfortable with closeness. Leng Yaozhu retracted her hand with a resigned acceptance she did not voice.
"Then spend the next three years studying with me. After that, I'll enroll you in a Spirit Master academy before the succession ceremony. If there's somewhere specific you want to go, tell me ahead of time."
The atmosphere at Tower headquarters was genuinely unsuitable for a child. Leng Yaozhu had no desire to see her disciple grow up learning to scheme and maneuver from the time she could walk. Especially since three years from now marked another ten-year cycle and with it, the next succession ceremony, as mandated by the founding Tower Master's rules. The Tower would once again select its four leaders: one Tower Master and three Vice-Masters. The outcome this time seemed unlikely to change — but that would not prevent the process from drawing blood.
Leng Yaozhu's expression grew heavy. She glanced at Gu Yuena and sighed inwardly.
If not for Gu Yuena still being young and at a critical stage of building her foundation, she would sincerely prefer to keep her far from this place entirely to let her have a peaceful, uncomplicated childhood.
"Somewhere I want to go…"
Gu Yuena murmured to herself, her gaze drifting back to Huo Yuhao's file.
A human talent who had appeared like a meteor and yet had given the Spirit Beasts a path to endure, keeping them from being swallowed by the tide of the age.
Why had he done it? And how had he managed to survive this long?
Most importantly would he affect her plans?
These questions, especially the last, were things Gu Yuena needed to answer for herself.
And so she gave her reply.
"I want to go…"