Na'er didn't want Tang Wulin to end up as a useless Soul Master.
At such a young age, he was already working from dawn until dusk, hammering away at the forge just to earn enough money to contract a Soul Spirit. Thinking about this, her eyes grew misty.
She herself couldn't awaken a Spirit, and—at least according to Tang Wulin's guess—was an abandoned child. She had no choice but to live under someone else's roof. She was old enough to understand that she had become a burden to Tang Wulin's family, and she hated that feeling.
With a heavy sigh, she picked up her phone.
Na'er: (voice message)
This Life, I Shall Suppress Everything: That's not sweet enough. I want something sweeter than just calling Tang Wulin's name—at least five minutes of it!
Na'er: Don't push your luck!
This Life, I Shall Suppress Everything: You should know how important a Soul Spirit's age is to a Spirit Master. If his first Soul Spirit is only ten years old, it could ruin his whole life!
The Spirit Transfer Pagodano longer as evil as it was in the original timeline.
thanks to Jiang Chen's intervention—still sold ten-year white Soul Spirits for seventy thousand and hundred-year yellow Soul Spirits for a million. Prices had dropped as their relations with Spirit Beasts improved, but not everyone could afford the best Soul Spirit, and not every Soul Spirit was a good match.
After all, without money, how could you raise a Soul Spirit properly? Even Soul Spirits took a Spirit Master's future into account before choosing them. Without financial stability, what kind of future could they expect?
This Life, I Shall Suppress Everything: I can prepare a suitable Soul Spirit for Tang Wulin—a hundred-year one, nearly a thousand years old. You wouldn't want him stuck with a ten-year Soul Spirit, would you?
Na'er gripped her phone tightly, remembering Wulin's vow: to become a powerful Soul Master, to find her family, and make them regret abandoning her.
If his first Spirit Ability came from a mere ten-year Soul Spirit… would he still keep going? Or would he lose faith in himself? A ten-year Soul Spirit was the mark of failure—he'd be looked down on by his classmates. No. She couldn't let that happen.
This Life, I Shall Suppress Everything: And I'm not asking you to pay me back. See how nice big brother is to you?
Na'er: I will pay you back!Na'er: (voice message)
Her voice shifted from shy sweetness at the start to gritted teeth at the end—anyone listening could tell she wanted to strangle him. Jiang Chen saved the recording to tease Ditian later. Your master called me big brother, Little Brother Ditian!
He knew better than to push her further. Annoy this half–Silver Dragon King too much, and she might come spear him with the Silver Dragon Spear.
This Life, I Shall Suppress Everything: Big brother will take care of it for you, little sister Na'er. Don't worry.
Na'er: Don't tell him I asked you.This Life, I Shall Suppress Everything: Of course!I'll make sure he knows.
At the Spirit Transfer Pagoda…
"Spirit Transfer Envoy, sir? I thought a Soul Spirit was thirty thousand gold coins—how… how can I not buy a hundred-year Soul Spirit?"
Tang Wulin's face fell. He was nine now, and he already understood that a Spirit Master's spirit ring setup could decide their whole future.
A ten-year Soul Spirit? Those weren't even taken from living Spirit Beasts—they were defective products made from artificial Soul Spirits, sold cheap so nothing went to waste.
For commoners with no money, that was still better than nothing. If someone showed great potential, the Pagoda would sometimes "help" them for free. But for Wulin, the cheapest hundred-year Soul Spirit was one million gold coins.
One million.
All his long days and sleepless nights at the forge had only earned him thirty thousand—and he couldn't even buy the worst ten-year Soul Spirit. Despair welled up inside him.
His father, Tang Ziran, stayed quiet. The truth was, they had money—from his past work as a federal mecha designer and pharmaceutical researcher—but using it would expose them, putting their lives at risk.
If Wulin's Spirit hadn't been the useless Blue Silver Grass, Tang Ziran might have gambled on it. But with such a Spirit… maybe it was better to live quietly and safely.
The Envoy smiled. "Of course, if you join the Spirit Transfer Pagoda, we'll give you a suitable Soul Spirit for free."
Before Wulin could answer, a voice in his head suppressed the thought. If he joined the Pagoda, he'd never enter Shrek Academy or the Tang Sect. Even without memories, the will inside him knew—those two mattered above all.
Besides, with the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, the age of his spirit rings hardly mattered. Even nine ten-year Soul Spirits couldn't hold him back.
The Envoy didn't seem offended by Wulin's refusal. "There is another way—by fate. If a Soul Spirit chooses you on its own, you can take it. You'd only have to do some tasks for us until you repay the cost. Of course, if no Soul Spirit chooses you, you can try our thirty-thousand-gold-coin Spirit Beast lottery—but it's random, and once chosen, you can't refuse it. Most people don't risk it."