Douluo: Dragon King's Star Devouring Wings

Chapter 671 The Fisherman's Inevitable Experience of a Series of Losing Opportunities

The Spirit Pagoda's main hall is surrounded by a ring of doors leading to unknown destinations. In front of it is a counter-like area, behind which sits a Spirit Pagoda master dressed in a gray robe.

However, just as Tang Wulin and his son entered, another spirit master came out to greet them. It was the same spirit master who had awakened Tang Wulin's martial soul.

"Master Lin, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Tang Ziran quickly stepped forward and said.

The spirit master who awakened Tang Wulin's martial soul was named Lin Hai. Sometimes Tang Wulin would come to him to ask about some cultivation issues, and the two became quite familiar with each other over time.

"No need to be so polite, please come in," Lin Hai said.

After arriving at Lin Hai's office, he looked at Tang Wulin and smiled, "To have cultivated to level ten so quickly, that's quite remarkable for Blue Silver Grass."

Tang Wulin said, "Although I am not very talented, I will make up for it with two hundred times the effort!"

Although Lin Hai didn't really think highly of Tang Wulin's talent, he had been very polite to Tang Wulin and Tang Ziran for the past three years.

This is simply because it was requested by the Spirit Pagoda Master, Qian Gu Huang Yu, even though Soul Masters are the main characters in the Douluo Continent.

However, it must be admitted that low-level Soul Masters make up the vast majority of the population, and only by leaving a good impression on them can the Spirit Pagoda gain a good reputation among the general public.

That's what makes an organization down-to-earth, rather than a lofty symbol.

Therefore, even though Tang Wulin's talent was poor and his martial soul was weak, Lin Hai never looked down on him.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Lin Hai asked Tang Ziran, "Did you bring enough money this time?"

Tang Wulin answered quickly, "Enough! Enough!"

Lin Hai asked, "What level of soul spirit are you planning to buy?"

Tang Ziran asked somewhat awkwardly, "Master Lin, we don't understand these things very well. Could you explain them to us again?"

Although Lin Hai had told Tang Ziran about the soul spirit before, that was three years ago, and Tang Ziran was worried that something might happen.

Lin Hai wasn't annoyed. He simply explained in detail, "Currently, we can provide hundred-year-old yellow soul spirits, thousand-year-old purple soul spirits, and randomly drawn soul spirits."

"There are 108 choices of 100-year-old yellow soul spirits, with a minimum price of one million Douluo coins. There are 24 choices of 100-year-old purple soul spirits, with a minimum price of ten million Douluo coins."

"Because the school admission season is just around the corner, in order to allow more students to obtain spirits and successfully advance to their studies, the Spirit Pagoda is now launching a special 20% discount for students."

"Any student currently enrolled at the Soul Master Academy can enjoy a 20% discount by presenting their student ID."

"Which type of soul spirit are you planning to buy? If you don't have the type of soul spirit you want, I can apply to borrow a soul spirit from the Spirit Pagoda in a nearby city, but you'll need to pay an extra 10,000 Douluo coins in handling fees."

Since even hundred-year-old spirits are now being offered for free, there's no longer a reason to publicly sell ten-year-old spirits.

Even if an accident occurs during the creation of a soul spirit, resulting in a ten-year-old soul spirit, it will either be thrown into the random draw to accumulate in the prize pool, or it will be directly thrown into the Ascension Platform.

Upon hearing Lin Hai's words, Tang Wulin was stunned and exclaimed, "Master Spirit Transmission, weren't there supposed to be 30,000 soul spirits? How could this be?"

Lin Hai was also stumped by Tang Wulin's question, and said, "The 30,000 one is a random soul spirit; what you get depends entirely on luck."

"You might draw a ten-year spirit, or you might draw a hundred-year spirit. But the type is uncertain, and it's very likely that the spirit you draw won't be suitable for your martial spirit."

Tang Wulin turned to look at his father, all his previous excitement vanishing at that moment.

Tang Ziran squatted down and looked at Tang Wulin, feeling a mix of emotions and unsure of what to say.

“Son, let’s choose a random soul spirit. Your martial spirit should actually be quite adaptable, and you should be able to fuse with most soul spirits.”

If Tang Wulin's martial soul wasn't the useless Blue Silver Grass, Tang Ziran might have chosen to take the risk...

However, the Blue Silver Grass martial soul doesn't really have much room for improvement. Tang Wulin has already given him quite a surprise by being able to cultivate it to level ten.

"I must remind you of something," Lin Hai suddenly said.

“When extracting souls, it is possible to produce defective products.”

Tang Ziran was stunned. "Defective product? What defective product?"

Lin Hai said, "When creating artificial souls, success is not guaranteed every time. Sometimes, defective products may be produced."

"These defective products also took a lot of effort to produce, and they can also be combined, so they were included in the random selection."

"And let me tell you a secret, because the Empire has started giving away 100-year soul spirits for free, no one will actually buy 10-year soul spirits."

"Therefore, although it is called a prize pool, the vast majority of the items are ten-year-old Soul Spirits and defective items. So, I don't really recommend that you obtain Soul Spirits through draws."

Tang Wulin awakened his martial soul with Lin Hai's help. Over the years, Lin Hai had also come to think that Tang Wulin was a very good kid and naturally did not want him to waste his life like this.

In fact, Lin Hai is somewhat numb now. He has seen people from other continents come to live on Douluo Continent before.

However, this was the first time he had ever seen someone from another continent who didn't have money and ended up having to be randomly selected.

If it weren't so inappropriate, he would have even advised Tang Ziran to go back to the Star Luo Continent.

Tang Ziran turned to look at Tang Wulin, whose gaze was somewhat dazed. He never imagined that after three years of hard work, he would be facing such a situation.

Tang Ziran felt a pang of pain upon seeing this, but there was nothing she could do. The Spirit Pagoda no longer sold ten-year soul spirits, which meant that she either had to gamble her life for 30,000 Douluo coins or spend 800,000 Douluo coins to buy a hundred-year soul spirit.

However, Tang Ziran knew that given her current situation, there was no way she could possibly raise 800,000 Douluo Coins.

Tang Ziran gritted her teeth and said, "Linlin, why don't we go back first? Dad will try to think of a solution for you. If all else fails, we can borrow some money from your Grandpa Ha."

Tang Wulin shook his head and said, "Dad, you and Mom have already worked so hard for me. Anyway, my martial soul is just Blue Silver Grass, so why not try my luck?"

"Maybe heaven will be kind and give me a good soul!"

Children from poor families mature early. Tang Wulin wasn't unaware that Halosa was wealthy, but he knew that their two families were actually from completely different social classes.

The bait that Harosa used for just one fishing trip was enough to cover their family's food expenses for a year. Once you owe someone this kind of favor, the debt becomes enormous.

Back then, after Tang Wulin personally witnessed Halosa's continuous air force breaches, he insisted on using a soul bone as bait.

With soul beasts now nearly extinct and protected animals, only soul clans and aristocratic families can produce soul bones.

And that's 800,000 Douluo Coins!
I worked hard for three years, and with the money my parents saved, I finally scraped together 30,000, or 800,000 Douluo coins. I might never be able to pay it back in my lifetime.

Lin Hai was also helpless at the sight. Tang Wulin was a very sensible child, so he actually quite liked him. But rules are rules, and even as a spirit medium, he couldn't give Tang Wulin a free meal. Otherwise, how could he do business with him in the future?

Even if he borrows it, the same problem remains: Lin Hai feels that Tang Wulin cannot repay it, and he understands the principle that great kindness can turn into enmity.

Seeing that Tang Wulin had made up his mind, Lin Hai comforted him for a few moments and then asked, "What level has your mental strength reached?"

Unlike the other timeline, mental strength testing devices are now standard equipment in every Soul Master Academy.

It is provided to students for free during class. Popularizing knowledge about mental power is also one of the tasks of the primary soul master academy, so there will not be a situation where students graduate but do not even know the level of mental power.

Therefore, Lin Hai directly asked Tang Wulin about his mental strength.

“Forty,” Tang Wulin replied.

"Very good data." Lin Hai smiled and nodded at him.

"Now it's up to your luck." After saying that, Lin Hai led Tang Wulin directly to an adjacent room.

This room was much larger, containing a massive instrument three meters tall and six meters wide. Inside, one could see many spherical objects, each about a foot in diameter, emitting a faint glow. Each one was identical.

Lin Hai pointed to the two buttons in front of the instrument and said, "The green button starts, and the red button stops. After stopping, the soul sphere containing the soul you randomly selected will roll out. You can begin once you're ready."

Looking at the unfamiliar and novel machine in front of him, Tang Wulin's heart began to beat faster. He had learned at the Soul Master Academy that the quality of a Soul Spirit would greatly determine the strength of a Soul Master.

A powerful spirit, after fusion, can even help a spirit master increase their spirit power level. However, if the spirit is too weak, the spirit skills it grants the spirit master will also be weak.

Under normal circumstances, a Soul Master can only possess a maximum of nine Soul Skills in their lifetime, and those who can reach the ninth ring are extremely rare. Therefore, for low-level Soul Masters, every Soul Skill is extremely important.

What is supposed to come will always come.

Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and pressed the green button sharply.

Suddenly, a series of lights lit up inside the machine, illuminating the soul orbs with a faint halo.

Inside the machine were at least a hundred spirit orbs, which began to slowly revolve around the track. The speed was incredibly fast, giving the viewer a sense of being overwhelmed.

The Soul Orb's exterior completely isolates the soul within; nothing can be seen with the naked eye, leaving everything to fate.

Tang Wulin's hand rested on the red button. His hand, which was usually perfectly steady even when wielding an eighty-pound, thousand-refined tungsten steel hammer, trembled slightly. He knew that pressing this button might very well determine his fate on the path to becoming a Soul Master!

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes nervously, and finally pressed his right hand down heavily.

"Bang—" The rotation stopped, and a pure white soul sphere fell from the machine's exit, rolling into the metal box next to Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin subconsciously opened his eyes and turned his head to look. For a moment, his heart was pounding like a drum.

Lin Hai walked over, took out the Soul Orb, and handed it to him.

"Let's go out and see."

Holding the Soul Orb tightly in his arms, Tang Wulin breathed heavily, looking at it as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.

I finally got it! This will be my first spirit!

It was under this tense atmosphere that he returned to his father's presence. Lin Hai brought over an oval-shaped instrument and handed it to Tang Wulin.

"Press this button and shine the light of the instrument onto this Soul Orb, and your soul will break free. The right to release your soul belongs to you."

Not to mention Tang Wulin was nervous, even Tang Ziran couldn't help but clench her fists at this moment. What could it be?
Tang Wulin looked at his father, and Tang Ziran nodded encouragingly at him.

Pressing the button, a soft yellow light fell, illuminating the Soul Orb. The Soul Orb itself also emitted a faint glow, and the originally sealed sphere gradually became transparent, making its interior vaguely visible.

Tang Wulin clearly sensed a faint life force emanating from the soul sphere, and then the soul was moving slightly.

What is it?

Just then, the light emanating from the Soul Orb turned white, and a brighter ring of light flashed in the center of the Soul Orb, and the entire Soul Orb slowly opened from the center.

Upon seeing the white light appear, Lin Hai said from the side, "A ten-year-old soul spirit."

Tang Ziran's eyes dimmed. Heaven had not favored her son after all. A hundred-year-old soul spirit, priced at a million, was indeed not so easy to obtain.

Tang Wulin stared intently at the slowly opening Soul Spirit Orb. A ten-year-old Soul Spirit, his first Soul Spirit—what exactly was it?

The white light began to recede, and the entire Soul Sphere fully opened, finally revealing the souls within to him.

Upon first seeing it, Lin Hai's expression changed slightly, and Tang Ziran and his son Tang Wulin were both stunned.

This spirit was actually a small grass snake!

It looked too small, only about ten centimeters long, so slender that it wasn't even as thick as Tang Wulin's finger. Its whole body was yellowish-brown, and its scales were very irregular.

"Master Lin, is this...is this really a spirit?" Tang Ziran looked at Lin Hai beside her in astonishment.

If it hadn't come from the Soul Orb, Tang Ziran would have just mistaken it for a wild animal.

Since awakening his martial soul and gaining soul power, Tang Wulin has had countless fantasies about his first soul spirit.

Examples include the Thunderous Hell Vine, the first soul spirit of the Abandoned Heaven Douluo, and the Light Holy Dragon, the first soul spirit of the Angel Douluo, Le Qianxue.

He desperately wanted a powerful spirit to improve his martial spirit!
He fantasized again, imagining that his first soul spirit was the Thunderous Hell Vine, which would directly awaken the ultimate lightning and crush all his peers.

Lin Hai stared blankly at the little grass snake, sighed, and said bitterly, "Child, your luck is truly..."

"This is indeed a spirit, but this is what I mean by a defective product. Someone once tried to inject the genes of spirit beasts into animals to create spirits."

"But that's the reality... that's how it is."

"It's too weak. The soul that has been extracted and activated needs to be fused within 24 hours."

"Otherwise, it will dissipate into the world and eventually die. I still suggest that you do not merge with it."

"If all else fails, one more try would be good!"

This little grass snake is arguably the weakest spirit in this Spirit Pagoda. Tang Wulin's luck in drawing it was truly terrible.

(End of this chapter)