"It's so great to join the Spirit Hall!"
Luo thought to himself, clutching the gold soul coin Su Yuntao had just given him.
Upon hearing Luo agree to join the Spirit Hall, Su Yuntao had immediately pulled out a gold soul coin from his pocket and forcefully placed it in Luo's hand as a gift for their future collaboration.
Although it was just a single gold soul coin, if used sparingly, it would be enough for a family of three's monthly living expenses.
This showed that Su Yuntao truly believed in Luo's future achievements, even investing in him in advance!
And all of this was predicated on Luo awakening a rusty katana with innate spirit power at level seven!
(The prices in the original work are ridiculously high; I've set one copper coin to roughly equal one dollar, 1 gold coin = 10 silver coins = 1000 copper coins.)
Afterwards, Su Yuntao tightly embraced Luo's shoulder, as if afraid he would run away, and walked outside the wooden house to talk to Village Chief Jack about Luo's decision to join the Spirit Hall.
As for Tang San, who awakened the Blue Silver Grass martial soul and possessed the rare innate full soul power—Su Yuntao only mentioned it briefly and didn't elaborate further.
Village Chief Jack didn't pay much attention to this either, although he liked the obedient and sensible Tang San.
However, Tang San was someone else's child, while Luo was his own "child."
Naturally, his own "child" deserved more attention.
Originally, Holy Soul Village only had one work-study student spot at Notting City Junior Academy, but fortunately, out of respect for Luo, Su Yuntao gave him an extra spot.
Although Luo was now exempt from living expenses and other tuition fees after joining the Spirit Hall, he still had to pay tuition.
To avoid paying such exorbitant tuition fees, he could only work as a part-time student, responsible for tasks like cleaning the school.
Of course, these cleaning tasks were a piece of cake for Luo, taking up almost no of his time.
With the power of the Op-Op Fruit, Luo was the best cleaner in the world.
No one knew how to clean better than him!
Next, Su Yuntao earnestly instructed Village Chief Jack—when Notting Junior Academy opened in three months, Luo must go to the Spirit Hall in Notting City to complete the contract to join the Spirit Hall.
If Luo didn't complete the contract, he wouldn't be able to enjoy the various subsidies Su Yuntao had mentioned!
After explaining everything, Su Yuntao left Holy Soul Village directly.
Several villages were waiting for him to hold Spirit Awakening ceremonies today; he couldn't waste too much time in Holy Soul Village.
Otherwise, it would get dark soon!
…
After Su Yuntao left, Luo put away his Spirit Sword.
This sword was nearly 1.3 meters long, almost as tall as Luo himself.
Although it looked rusty and fragile, as if it would break at the slightest breeze, it was surprisingly heavy.
Even with both hands straining to lift it, Luo could hardly hold it for long.
He estimated the sword weighed at least ten pounds.
"What should I name my martial spirit?"
Luo pondered as he walked towards the back mountain.
Soon, the names of numerous famous swords surfaced in his mind—Shusui, Enma, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, Bai Lei, Gui Ku, Ryuto Jakka, Hyōrinmaru…
After much internal struggle, Luo finally decided to abandon "Autumn Water" and name his katana spirit "Enma"!
He felt that Enma's lotus-shaped hilt had a Zen-like quality reminiscent of Buddhism.
Coincidentally, the name "Enma" also originated from Buddhism.
While "Autumn Water" was beautiful, it was too elegant and serene.
Luo preferred the domineering and majestic aura of someone who ruled the world!
He went behind a large rock on the back mountain and sat cross-legged.
After scanning his surroundings and finding no one else present, Luo extended his left hand, palm down, and silently chanted,
"ROOM!"
Instantly, a white whirlwind appeared beneath Luo's palm, quickly forming a pale blue, transparent spherical light shield.
The shield suddenly expanded, enveloping Luo's figure within it, forming a bowl about ten meters in radius, upside down on the ground.
Then, the light shield completely disappeared, leaving only a faint, blurry blue tinge near the edge close to the ground.
Actually, Luo didn't need to shout "ROOM" to use the power of the Op-Op Fruit; he just thought shouting it made him look cooler.
After summoning the "ROOM" space, Luo closed his eyes and carefully sensed the spiritual energy within.
The "Op-Op Fruit" means that the user can completely control everything within the "ROOM" space, like a doctor performing surgery on a patient.
Whether it's cutting without injury, swapping positions, teleporting, using electrical pulses, or eliminating sound...
it's all possible!
Manipulating the spiritual energy within the "ROOM" space is naturally also possible!
For the two and a half years since awakening the Op-Op Fruit's power, Luo has unfailingly used all his soul power every day to manipulate the spiritual energy within the "ROOM" space, absorbing it all into his body for cultivation.
If a Soul Master's soul power is likened to experience points, then the Soul Master's soul power level is equivalent to the experience bar that holds those experience points!
The essence of Soul Master cultivation is to absorb spiritual energy during meditation, expanding the "experience bar" within the body to accommodate more soul power.
Luo couldn't figure out the specifics of his cultivation in the short term; he simply stuffed a large amount of spiritual energy into his body.
He didn't conduct any specific testing on how much spiritual energy he could successfully retain and convert into an "experience bar" capable of holding soul power.
Anyway, cultivation was the key!
There was nothing cultivation couldn't solve!
If there was,
then he'd continue cultivating!
While Luo was cultivating in the back mountain, Tang San showed Tang Hao his Clear Sky Hammer spirit.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Tang Hao hugged Tang San tightly, tearfully instructing him to use the hammer in his left hand to protect the grass in his right.
After a heartfelt conversation, Tang San suddenly told Tang Hao he wanted to join the Spirit Hall.
Upon hearing this, Tang Hao's expression changed drastically. He slapped Tang San across the face, sternly declaring that Tang San absolutely could not join the Spirit Hall.
Otherwise, he would kill Tang San right now!
Although Tang San was very confused, he didn't resist, only inwardly blaming Luo.
If he hadn't seen the substantial subsidies Luo would receive if he joined the Spirit Hall, he wouldn't have even considered asking Tang Hao to let him join as well.
Then he wouldn't have received that slap from Tang Hao!
Tang San naturally didn't dare blame his father, Tang Hao, and could only vent his anger on Luo.
(End of Chapter)