The first Soul Spirit collaboration between Shrek Academy and the Star Dou Great Forest went smoothly; nine out of thirteen Inner Courtyard Disciples successfully contracted their first Soul Spirit, while the remaining four students temporarily did not contract a Soul Spirit because there were no suitable Spirit Beasts among those brought by Ditian.
The nine Inner Courtyard Disciples who obtained Soul Spirits were Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Tang Ya, Zhou Tianhe, Chu Hua, Ning Tian, Xie Huanyue, and two other Spirit Emperor-level Inner Courtyard Disciples.
Among these, Bei Bei and his two companions, plus Ning Tian, were particularly noteworthy.
The Spirit Beast Bei Bei chose was a Sky Dragon Horse with a cultivation of less than thirty thousand years. Although this Sky Dragon Horse had a low cultivation, its bloodline was very rich. According to Bi Ji's explanation, this Sky Dragon Horse suffered severe injuries in its youth, leading to damage to its origin. Despite reaching ten thousand years of cultivation, it had little life left.
The Sky Dragon Horse and Bei Bei successfully contracted, and seeing the Sky Dragon Horse shed its old body and gain new life, both the ferocious beasts like Ditian and Bi Ji, as well as some of the voluntarily arriving Spirit Beasts, felt a glimmer of anticipation.
The Spirit Beast chosen by Xu Sanshi was a thirty-thousand-year-old Golden Hawksbill Turtle. In fact, Zhu Ziyang was very surprised by the appearance of this Golden Hawksbill Turtle, as it possessed a golden bloodline. Although it couldn't be compared to Fifth Huan'er, it was still a symbol of auspiciousness.
According to Bi Ji's explanation, this Golden Hawksbill Turtle had problems with its own vitality, which was constantly draining away, and it didn't have much time left to live. That's why it chose to come and try its luck, to see if it could find a turning point.
However, when Zhu Ziyang was signing the Soul Spirit contract for Xu Sanshi and the Golden Hawksbill Turtle, he was surprised to discover that the reason for the Golden Hawksbill Turtle's vitality loss was that this greedy fellow had actually swallowed a fist-sized piece of gold of life!
"Truly courting death," Zhu Ziyang sighed in his heart, and he promptly put the gold of life into his pocket. Without the shackles of the gold of life, the immense vitality accumulated within the Golden Hawksbill Turtle instantly erupted, causing this thirty-thousand-year-old Golden Hawksbill Turtle to leap to become a 100,000-Year Soul Beast, thereby providing Xu Sanshi with a Hundred-Thousand-Year spirit ring and a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit. This could be considered a blessing in disguise.
As for Tang Ya, the Spirit Beast she chose was actually a fifty-thousand-year-old Emerald Sky Swan. This fifty-thousand-year-old Emerald Sky Swan was a member of Bi Ji's clan, one of only a dozen or so Emerald Sky Swans remaining in the Star Dou Great Forest. The reason it appeared here was entirely due to an incurable severe injury, leaving it with not much time left to live. After learning about Soul Spirits from Bi Ji, it wanted to try its luck.
In fact, ninety percent of the Spirit Beasts brought by Ditian and his group were there because they were nearing the end of their lives and wanted a chance to survive; less than ten percent came because they couldn't stay in the Star Dou Great Forest any longer.
Ahem, I've strayed. Tang Ya and this Emerald Sky Swan hit it off. Although the Emerald Sky Swan is not a plant-type Spirit Beast, it is the Spirit Beast with the strongest life attribute and is also recognized as having the strongest healing ability. Tang Ya's Spirit, the Blue Gold Immortal Grass, although a mutated Spirit, is also a life-attribute Spirit. Coupled with Tang Ya herself being a support system Spirit Master, she and the Emerald Sky Swan could be said to complement each other perfectly.
Their contract went very smoothly, and Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "Now, Old Zhuang will definitely pester Tang Ya to take her as his disciple."
Finally, there was Ning Tian. As the Young Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, her talent was excellent, reaching Spirit Emperor at only nineteen years old. The Spirit Beast she chose also surprised Zhu Ziyang and the others; she actually chose a twenty-five-thousand-year-old Giant Palm Black Tiger, rather than the Flying Spirit White Deer, which was more suitable for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Spirit.
According to her own explanation, she hoped to gain combat ability through her Soul Spirit, which is why she chose the Giant Palm Black Tiger, known for its fierce combat power, as her Soul Spirit. Clearly, her choice aligned well with her intentions.
After the Giant Palm Black Tiger became her Soul Spirit, it provided her with a dark attribute amplification Spirit Ability. Although it changed from the traditional strongest attribute amplification of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's sixth spirit ring to a directional attribute amplification, she became the first Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Spirit Master with combat ability. Whether it was beneficial or detrimental, outsiders could not easily judge.
The remaining four Inner Courtyard Disciples who had not found suitable Spirit Beasts watched the others' gains, and it was impossible for them not to feel a sense of disparity.
Zhu Ziyang was also a bit depressed. Looking at the expressionless Ditian, he said, "Senior Ditian, this should be considered your oversight."
"Hmph." Ditian snorted coldly and said, "I will resolve it."
With that, Ditian's figure flickered, about to disappear. As Zhu Ziyang watched Ditian about to leave, his lips immediately moved a few times, and then Ditian suddenly stopped, looking at Zhu Ziyang with a shocked expression. Clearly, Zhu Ziyang's actions just now were telling Ditian something, and his words must have been very important, otherwise, it would be impossible for Ditian to react in such a way.
Ditian gave Zhu Ziyang a deep look, then imperceptibly glanced at Huo Yuhao, and with a leap, disappeared from everyone's sight.
"You don't need to be disheartened. Senior Ditian has already gone to find suitable Spirit Beasts to be Soul Spirits for you," Zhu Ziyang said to Huo Yuhao and the other three. "This was originally the initial construction of the Soul Spirit System, so a few mistakes are normal. However, I believe that the seniors of the Star Dou Great Forest will definitely not let you return disappointed, right, Senior Bi Ji?"
"Hmm!" Bi Ji nodded blankly. Her mind was entirely focused on Ditian's previous behavior, pondering what Zhu Ziyang had said to Ditian, completely disregarding what Zhu Ziyang had just said.
Soon, Ditian returned, carrying three Spirit Beasts in his hands, and another Spirit Beast closely followed behind him.
They arrived before everyone, and Ditian placed the three Spirit Beasts in his hands on the ground, allowing Zhu Ziyang and the others to clearly see their appearances: a twenty-thousand-year-old Blazing Sword Dragon, a thirty-five-thousand-year-old Rock Armored Bear, and a ten-thousand-year-old Azure Shadow Leopard. Clearly, these three Spirit Beasts were the Soul Spirits Ditian had chosen for Wu Feng and the other two Inner Courtyard Disciples, as their cultivation and attributes perfectly matched their Spirits.
Zhu Ziyang's gaze, however, remained fixed on the Spirit Beast following behind Ditian. Not being casually carried by Ditian indicated that its strength was different from these ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts.
Indeed, this was a Three-Eyed Demonic Fox with a cultivation of around one hundred thousand years, a relatively common Spirit Beast among mental-type Spirit Beasts. As soon as it appeared, its three eyes were fixed on Huo Yuhao. Clearly, it had already learned about Huo Yuhao from Ditian.
"Zhu Ziyang, I hope you are not lying to me, otherwise..." Ditian's eyes flickered with black halos as he walked over to Zhu Ziyang and threatened him in a low voice.
"Don't worry, Senior Ditian, I, Zhu Ziyang, can assure you that every word I said is true," Zhu Ziyang said with a smile.
What did Zhu Ziyang say to Ditian that made him directly choose to summon a 100,000-Year Soul Beast? Actually, it was nothing much. He just told Ditian that Huo Yuhao had attracted the attention of more than one deity, and then Ditian proactively did these things.
It wasn't difficult to guess what Ditian was thinking, and Zhu Ziyang indeed hadn't lied. There were indeed more than one deity's gazes on Huo Yuhao. Besides the Sea God that Zhu Ziyang knew about, there was also an unknown deity watching him. Huo Yuhao was very likely to obtain the legacy of this unknown deity.
Zhu Ziyang quickly signed Soul Spirit contracts for the other three Inner Courtyard Disciples besides Huo Yuhao, and then he called out to Huo Yuhao: "Yu Hao, come here."
Huo Yuhao was originally still disheartened because among the three Spirit Beasts Ditian brought back, there was still none suitable for him. He certainly saw the Three-Eyed Demonic Fox, but he wasn't foolish and could naturally tell that it was a 100,000-Year Soul Beast. He never imagined that this Three-Eyed Demonic Fox was the Soul Spirit Ditian found for him, because it was too absurd.
He thought Zhu Ziyang was calling him to comfort him, so he walked over to Zhu Ziyang, his expression normal, even showing a hint of a smile, and asked, "Senior Brother, I'm fine, you don't need to comfort me."
"Here, how do you feel about this Three-Eyed Demonic Fox?" Zhu Ziyang smiled and said to him.
"Ah?" Huo Yuhao was stunned, his mind immediately going blank, and even after Zhu Ziyang had already signed the Soul Spirit contract for him and the Three-Eyed Demonic Fox, he was still in a state of extreme bewilderment, truly unable to react.
The first construction of the Soul Spirit System was completed very smoothly. Both Shrek Academy and the Star Dou Great Forest were very satisfied with the result, so after the first collaboration ended, both sides immediately began to establish an organization to manage and regulate the Soul Spirit System.
This organization was given a name by Zhu Ziyang that would become exceptionally famous in later generations: the Eternal Soul Tower!
Why such a name? The reason was simple. Zhu Ziyang once heard Electrolux mention that in his previous life, he possessed a divine artifact, something called the Tower of Eternity, but he couldn't remember it clearly.
Zhu Ziyang named the Soul Spirit organization the Eternal Soul Tower actually to commemorate Electrolux, the true creator of the Soul Spirit System. Although this matter was not to be revealed to outsiders, Electrolux was very happy about it.
If people of later generations knew that the answer they had debated for thousands of years was actually like this, they wouldn't know whether to cry or laugh.