After choosing a Soul Spirit, Huo Yuhao followed Hua Yichen's instructions and stood at the center of the hall with the Soul Spirit. Looking at the intricate formation around him, he understood at once.
It was an auxiliary contract formation. After ten thousand years of development, it no longer looked as it once had.
Even so, the Spirit Pagoda did not have the power to touch the core of the Soul Spirit Contract. To sign a contract, the Soul Spirit's consent was still required.
Hua Yichen smiled at Huo Yuhao, gave him a few instructions, and then, murmuring under his breath, began to chant the Soul Spirit Contract left behind by the Ice Spirit Douluo.
The Soul Spirits here had all been provided by the Star Dou Great Forest and the Extreme North. They had long since agreed to exist as Soul Spirits and had been waiting for a Soul Master to choose them, so no other steps were needed.
Golden ripples spread from Hua Yichen and rapidly expanded in all directions, finally enveloping Huo Yuhao and the Soul Spirit in his hands.
“Brother Tianmeng.”
“All right, your big brother's here!”
Hearing Huo Yuhao's reminder, the Tianmeng Iceworm in his Sea of Spirit sprang into action, seizing the first Soul Spirit slot for the Spirit Eyes before the contract was signed.
As if he would let it happen—he was Yuhao's first Soul Spirit. He was not about to let some junior steal his place.
As for Huo Yuhao, he wrapped the bewildered Ice Silkworm in his spiritual power and pulled it temporarily into his Sea of Spirit.
The contract's core was unchanged, so as the creator of the Soul Spirit Contract, tampering with it enough to let Tianmeng take the contract slot was naturally no difficulty.
Because he could not produce Spirit Rings on his own, Huo Yuhao did need Soul Spirits to make up for it—but not now.
From Hua Yichen's perspective, the Ice Silkworm Soul Spirit gradually grew illusory and finally merged into Huo Yuhao's body. A yellow Spirit Ring appeared around him.
Huo Yuhao sat down cross-legged, soft soul power radiance lingering around him as he entered a meditative state.
Seeing this, Hua Yichen did not disturb him and quietly withdrew from the room.
Not long after he stepped out, a staff member came up to him and handed him a file.
It contained Huo Yuhao's basic information, including his family background and address.
Hua Yichen's gaze paused for a moment on the entries recording that his parents had divorced and his mother had died, and he raised an eyebrow.
An orphan. No wonder he was so mature—he had not even been nervous facing him.
Just as well. With no family, Huo Yuhao would feel a stronger sense of belonging to the Spirit Pagoda.
When Hua Yichen looked away from the file, the staff member continued his report:
“Pagoda Master, I've sent Huo Yuhao's information to headquarters, but no reply has come yet. Should we prepare a private plane in advance to send him there?”
“No need.” The staff member's words reminded Hua Yichen of the tangled factions at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, and he shook his head. “East Sea City's sky is a little small, but it can still provide the resources for his early training.”
With Huo Yuhao's talent, it was only a matter of time before he trained at headquarters, but not now.
The Soul Spirit Contract left by the Ice Spirit Douluo bound the Soul Beasts and the Spirit Pagoda tightly together. For all these years, that had kept the pagoda's leadership from daring to overstep and move against the Soul Beasts.
That was both a good thing and a bad thing.
The good: with the backing of the Soul Beast faction, the Spirit Pagoda had been pushed to the peak and possessed immense fighting strength.
Counting the Soul Beasts, the Spirit Pagoda now had seven powerhouses comparable to Ultimate Douluo, four of whom were Quasi Gods!
What force in the world had more powerhouses than they did?
Even Shrek Academy in its ascendancy could not match their number of powerhouses!
But the larger a faction and the stronger its power, the more trouble bred within when no one was strong enough to overawe the rest.
The Spirit Pagoda headquarters was now a den of competing factions, its factions intertwined at every level, with constant open rivalry and hidden scheming.
Putting a half-grown boy into that could do his development no good at all.
He would have to wait at least until Huo Yuhao had some strength and a clear sense of right and wrong before sending him to headquarters.
At that thought, Hua Yichen suddenly smiled.
With this boy around, the younger generation of the Qianqiu clan would have a rival in the future. Pagoda Master Qianqiu was going to have a headache.
...
Mingdou had been the capital of the Sun Moon Empire before it unified the continent. Even after ten thousand years, its development had not fallen behind; it remained the most modern city in the Douluo Federation and the western core of the entire Douluo Continent.
In the heart of Mingdou stood an eighty-one-story tower, magnificent beyond measure.
It was none other than the Spirit Pagoda headquarters!
Unlike in the original story, because Huo Yuhao had not joined Shrek, the Spirit Pagoda headquarters was not established in Shrek City. Instead, since the Sun Moon Empire had been the final victor, the headquarters had ultimately been placed in Mingdou, where the Federation government was located.
On the top floor of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, a tall woman sat behind a desk. She had delicate features and long red hair spilling loose behind her.
She reached out and tapped at the soul guidance screen on the desk, reading the information on it with an interested smile. “Huo Yuhao—innate full soul power, a Body Martial Soul, and spiritual power of three hundred? A genius. His innate spiritual power is even stronger than yours.”
At that, the Spirit Pagoda's Deputy Pagoda Master, Leng Yaozhu, looked at the little girl beside her and smiled warmly.
“You see? There's always someone better out there. I told you this world has no shortage of geniuses. You mustn't slack off, Na'er.”
The girl called Na'er had short silver hair and a delicate face like a finely carved porcelain doll.
She, too, was looking at Huo Yuhao's information. Her amethyst eyes gleamed, and at Leng Yaozhu's words she gave a slight nod.
“Yes, I understand, Teacher.”
Spirit Eyes Martial Soul... and that face. This was indeed the Huo Yuhao Di Tian had spoken of.
Ten thousand years had passed. How was he still alive?
Gu Yuena was astonished, but she let none of it show. She raised her head to Leng Yaozhu and smiled slightly. “Teacher, you didn't call me here today just for this, did you?”
“Of course not.” Leng Yaozhu stroked her disciple's hair affectionately. “Your martial soul has already awakened. Do you want to keep training here in the Spirit Pagoda, or would you rather attend an academy?”
Gu Yuena shook her head, a little uncomfortable, and drew away from Leng Yaozhu's hand. “I'll do as you say, Teacher.”
‘This child still isn't used to being close to me.’
Leng Yaozhu withdrew her hand with a helpless look.
“Then for the next three years, you'll study with me first. After that, before the leadership transition, I'll send you to a Soul Master academy. If there's somewhere you'd like to go, tell me in advance.”
The atmosphere at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters was truly unsuitable for a child. Leng Yaozhu did not want her disciple to learn scheming and plotting from a young age.
Especially since three years later would mark another ten-year cycle. By the first Pagoda Master's rules, the Spirit Pagoda would hold another leadership transition ceremony and elect one Pagoda Master and three Deputies anew. From what she could see of the current situation, the result would not change, but it would still be a bloody storm...
Leng Yaozhu's expression was grave, and she sighed inwardly as she looked at Gu Yuena.
If Gu Yuena were not still so young and in the foundation-building stage, Leng Yaozhu would truly have wished to keep her far from this nest of trouble and let her enjoy a happy childhood.
“Somewhere I'd like to go...”
Gu Yuena murmured to herself and found her gaze drifting to Huo Yuhao's file.
A human prodigy who had appeared like a meteor, yet had given the Soul Beasts a chance to continue, so that they were not drowned in the waves of the times.
Why had he done it? And why was he still alive?
Most importantly, would he affect her plans?
These were things Gu Yuena had to confirm—especially the last.
So Gu Yuena gave her answer.
“I want to go...”
Chapter 6