章 20: Spirit Soul
Author’s note: Don’t cry Wulin. Stand up… cough cough. I request collections, I request recommendation tickets, then I will treat him a bit nicer. (Guide on how to stop Wulin Cruelty here, courtesy of CKTalon and Etvolare)
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Within the white spirit soul ball, a little fellow was quietly crawling.
It really was too tiny, measuring only about ten centimeters in length and was about as thin as a child’s finger. Its body was an earthen yellow color, and if you looked at it closely, a tiny rhombus shaped scale could be seen.
“This is a spirit soul?” Tang Ziran raised his head and looked towards the Spirit Master as he asked with a dubious voice.
Nearly everyone would recognize what this tiny thing was. This was because it was the commonly seen Grass Snake, a type of harmless, small animal. Although it was a type of snake, it was definitely the weakest of its species.
A fully grown Grass Snake would be about twenty to thirty centimeters in length and about as thick as a finger. It would only be able to feed on some puny insects.
If it was to be described in the simplest of words, only four were needed. Harmless human raised livestock!
Ever since his martial soul awakened and he found that he possessed spirit power, Tang Wulin had countless fantasies as to what his first spirit soul would be. He fantasized that after combining his martial soul with a spirit soul, his martial soul would improve and become powerful. It would bestow upon him a dazzlingly powerful spirit skill, and he would officially become a Soul Master.
Fantasies were fine, but reality was cruel.
Grass Snake? This wasn’t even a question of its strength, but whether or not it was actually a spirit soul.
The Spirit Master was also staring blankly at this Grass Snake. He let out a gentle sigh and said somewhat bitterly, “When it rains, it pours. Child, your luck really is…”
He knew that artificial spirit souls were still reliant on the genes of the soul beast they were created from. As a result of the gradual extinction of soul beasts, soul beast genes had also unceasingly depleted. The researchers of the Spirit Pagoda had tried many times to use non-soul beast genes to create a spirit soul and see if the result was acceptable.
The experiment was a success, but the fact was, the spirit souls made from those genes were pitifully weak. Basically, no one would be willing to buy them.
Without a doubt, this Grass Snake was one of the defective goods he had spoken of earlier. What’s more, it wasn’t just any defective goods, it was a spirit soul that lacked the slightest bit of soul beast genes. This spirit soul occupied the hundredth position in the spirit soul extraction machine, and there was a constant number of a hundred spirit soul balls in the machine at all times…
The Spirit Master sighed then nodded his head. “I’m certain that it’s a spirit soul, but it’s a weak spirit soul. The spirit soul has already been activated after its extraction, so you must fuse with it within twenty four hours. If not, it will die. You can decide for yourself if you want to fuse with it. If you don’t wish to, then you can return in the future to select another spirit soul.”
Tang Ziran looked at his lifeless son and was barely able to suppress the pain in his heart. He held his son’s shoulders and said, “Lin Lin, let’s go home.”
Tang Wulin remained silent as he began walking away.
“Wait a moment.” The Spirit Master couldn’t bear it anymore, and called out to them.
“You should renounce this spirit soul. Although it was a successful product of the experiments, but it’s still…” Out of compassion, he still continued to explain the origin of this Grass Snake.
Tang Wulin didn’t know how he had gotten home, but he had been holding the spirit soul ball close to his heart the whole time. That Grass Snake spirit soul had a very lovable appearance and wasn’t afraid of slithering out of the spirit soul ball at all. In fact, this kind of low level spirit soul didn’t have any sort of intelligence. Before fusing with a martial soul, it wouldn’t even be able to react to its environment.
“Don’t be sad, son. Dad will think of a way to make enough money. You can be relieved. I’ll definitely be able to make enough money in a short period of time and help you buy a suitable spirit soul.” Tang Ziran’s eyes flickered with a resolute light. For the sake of his son, he had steeled his resolve to face this matter head on.
Tang Wulin gently shook his head. “Dad, I’m going to my room first.”
Sitting quietly to the side, Na’er got up and followed Tang Wulin to their room.
He sat on his bed and gazed at the spirit soul in his hands, then looked to his own callused hands. In the end, tears began to stream uncontrollably down his face.
Even after his martial soul had awakened, only to discover it was a trash spirit like Bluesilver Grass, he didn’t cry. After all, he possessed spirit power. As long as he had spirit power, he still had a chance.
His father had told him that his family’s conditions weren’t too good. Even when he was told that they had no money to buy a spirit soul for him, he still hadn’t cried. His father had said before that one must take responsibility for one’s own matters. He could earn the money himself, while also helping his parents.
When he first arrived at Mang Tian’s workshop and had to swing the the hammer for a thousand times, resulting in aching arms that desired to break and prevented him to even lift his arms to feed himself, he still hadn’t cried. He had invested all of his efforts into it and had passed the test, giving him some more hope. As long as he had hope, then there was a chance that he could succeed.
Countless liters of sweat had been shed as he continually forged everyday for the last three years. When his classmates were at home playing, he would be pounding metal again and again. He would meditate for longer periods than the others, bearing through the pain and suffering, not shedding a single tear. He had smiled in the face of everything each and every day, and would always tell his parents to relax.
But now, he cried.
He had finally saved enough money after three years, and his spirit power had also reached the 10th rank. He was just about to succeed. Thirty thousand coins. All of his sweat had condensed into those thirty thousand coins. In the blink of an eye, those thirty thousand coins had transformed into this spirit soul with next to nothing in soul beast genes. All of his efforts were like bubbles that easily popped.
All of his toughness, his strength, and his determination, had been crushed in a moment and turned into tears. Drop by drop, they flowed.
Teardrops dripped onto the spirit soul ball one after another, gradually soaking that tiny Grass Snake. The Grass Snake writhed a bit, as if enjoying the taste of the salty tears.
A delicate hand extended towards him, intending to wipe away his tears. Na’er stood in front of him with puffy red eyes.
In this moment, it was as if their hearts were linked together. She could feel the pain and suffering in his heart in its entirety.
Despair, sorrow, and all sorts of dark emotions lingered within Tang Wulin’s heart.
Tang Wulin wanted to cry out, but it was as if he was drained of all the strength necessary to scream at this moment.
“Big brother, big brother, don’t cry.” Without wiping away the tears, Na’er went forward and brought his head into her embrace.
Tang Wulin was choking on sobs as he cried, “Why? Why do the Heavens treat me so unjustly? Even after all my efforts, there isn’t a single opportunity for me to grasp. I want to become a Soul Master. I want to become a powerful Soul Master!”
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