"There's really no need for that. We came here specifically to buy a spirit, so of course we're going to pay for it."
"Besides, even if it's a slightly more expensive ten-thousand-year spirit, our family can afford it. A mere thousand-year spirit is nothing."
Yuan Bao'er naturally understood that the Spirit Master was trying to do them a favor, and she refused without hesitation.
Favors are much harder to repay than money.
A thousand-year spirit might not mean much to an adult like Yuan Bao'er, but in a child's heart, it was easy to spark feelings of gratitude or indebtedness, making them an easy target for recruitment by the Spirit Pagoda down the line.
Yuan Bao'er always believed that a child's future should be decided by the child herself, rather than being sucked into the whirlpool of major factions at such an early age and becoming trapped. Therefore, to ensure Heita's future remained unburdened, she couldn't afford to accept even the smallest favor!
"Alright, then please follow me, the three of you. I'll take you to where the thousand-year spirits are kept."
Since Yuan Bao'er had refused, the Spirit Master had no choice but to follow protocol and lead them to the thousand-year spirit holding area. However, he had already uploaded the information about this child, believing that it wouldn't be long before the Spirit Pagoda sent someone over.
After that, it wouldn't be something a lowly Spirit Master like him needed to worry about.
The moment the heavy doors swung open, an array of shimmering spirit spheres caught everyone's attention. The two adults were fine, but the two children were completely captivated by the glowing items, even Muxi, who had visited once before, couldn't resist their allure.
"This is where the hundred-year spirits are kept. Every single one of them is of top quality. If put on the open market, they would sell for at least one million Federation coins."
The Spirit Master's voice drifted from ahead, laced with pride, clearly excited to be part of such a powerful organization as the Spirit Pagoda.
"However, given this little one's exceptional talent, hundred-year spirits are no longer suitable. Only a thousand-year spirit is worthy of her."
"Hmph! Of course!"
Heita proudly tilted her chin up once more, drawing a round of amusement from those around her. Muxi was no exception, though a hint of other emotions seemed to linger in her eyes.
"We've arrived! This is the room where the thousand-year spirits are stored. There are plenty of high-grade spirits in here. Please, follow me!"
Inside the massive circular room ran a ring-shaped corridor. Spaced every meter along both sides of the walkway were glowing spirit spheres, each accompanied by a compact spirit-guidance screen displaying detailed information about the spirit within.
Judging by the scale of the room, there were at least a hundred thousand-year spirits housed here!
"Could you explain the characteristics of this young lady's Martial Soul? If it's convenient, I can recommend a suitable spirit for her."
"Naturally, it's a mental attribute. Please, go ahead and introduce us."
This came as no surprise to anyone; the child's abnormal mental power alone was enough to determine the attribute of her Martial Soul.
"Of course. Since it's a mental attribute, what do you think of this Purple Spirit Weasel?"
As the group approached a spirit-guidance screen, the image of a soul beast materialized immediately—a small beast covered in dark purple fur, bearing a slight resemblance to a wolf.
"Spirit rings and spirits produced by the Purple Spirit Weasel are compatible with almost most mental-attribute Martial Souls. It is said that ten thousand years ago, the Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao—that great figure—had a Purple Spirit Weasel for his third spirit ring with his Spirit Eye Martial Soul."
As a competent Spirit Master, he led with his best recommendation right out of the gate, bolstered by the celebrity endorsement of the Ice Douluo. Hardly anyone would refuse such an offer.
"What do you think? I also feel this soul beast is a very good match."
It wasn't just the Spirit Master who thought so; Yuan Bao'er agreed as well. To everyone's surprise, however, Heita shook her head.
"Aunt Bao'er, let's keep looking... I feel like there's a certain spirit here calling out to me, but it doesn't seem to be this one."
At these words, the other three froze, clearly not expecting Heita to say such a thing. But since the child had spoken, they had no choice but to press on. "Alright then, let's keep going."
"How about this mermaid? As a rare humanoid soul beast, her kind is very scarce even within our Spirit Pagoda. She is also a top-tier mental-attribute spirit."
Looking at the unique spirit before them—upper body human, lower body fish—both Yuan Bao'er and Muxi lit up. Compared to the purple beast-like soul beast from earlier, the mermaid was undeniably much prettier and far more fitting for a young girl.
After all, humans are visual creatures. Having something like an Evil Eye—a creepy, floating eyeball—hovering around a little girl would be downright spooky.
Yet neither Heita, nor Yao Lan hidden within her body, was satisfied with this spirit, because the intensity of this spirit's mental power was actually inferior to the wolf from before!
In response, Heita simply shook her head silently, then bypassed Yuan Bao'er and the Spirit Master to walk ahead on her own.
"This is..."
"Let's just follow Heita for now. She must have her reasons for doing this!"
The Spirit Master was at a loss, but Yuan Bao'er quickly stopped him.
Her name is Heita? The Spirit Master noted the name in his mind, then followed slowly behind Heita alongside Yuan Bao'er.
As for Muxi, trailing at the very rear, she looked at the three people ahead of her, then glanced to her sides and behind herself, unable to suppress a twinge of awkwardness.
It seemed like coming here was completely pointless for her! She had originally intended to help her little sister pick out an outstanding spirit, only for her sister to waltz off and start choosing on her own?
"Well, Little Sister Heita is a genius spotted by Dad after all... It's only normal that she's better than me." Muxi sighed helplessly, keeping her mouth shut as she quietly followed in the others' footsteps.
Up front, after walking about twenty paces, Heita finally came to a halt and turned to look at the spirit sphere beside her. Evidently, she had found the spirit that had been calling to her.
"Please introduce this spirit to us!"
Seeing Heita stop, Yuan Bao'er immediately understood her choice and spoke to the Spirit Master at her side.
"Very well." The Spirit Master sighed and walked over to the spirit-guidance screen.
"This spirit is somewhat special because its species is not actually mental-attribute, but earth-attribute, known as the Black-Velvet Lion..."
"A Black-Velvet Lion? But isn't it white? And why does it look so strange?" Heita interrupted before the Spirit Master could finish, though he didn't mind and continued his explanation.
"An ordinary Black-Velvet Lion is naturally pitch-black all over, but this is a mutated spirit. It likely harbors a trace of dragon bloodline, which caused its appearance to change and even converted its attribute to mental."
On the spirit-guidance screen, the image of a soul beast gradually took shape: a head and body like a lion, a dragon tail at the back, and a coat of pure white fur. Most importantly, a crystal-clear, translucent horn grew from its forehead.
Overall, it possessed a bizarre kind of beauty!
Virtually no one present recognized this soul beast, for soul beasts, much like Martial Souls, could undergo continuous mutation; no one in the world could claim to know every single soul beast.
Yet there was one person who recognized the unique nature of this spirit: Heita!
Because the very moment she laid eyes on this spirit, she thought of a certain auspicious beast from mythology...
Bai Ze!