Chapter 236: You Want to Freeload a Spirit Soul? Dream On!
"This is the Spirit Transferring Pagoda!"
It was midday at the Federation's Spirit Transferring Pagoda headquarters. Shen Yi had brought several Shrek Academy students to the tower to finalize their spirit soul contracts—
or more accurately, to freeload some!
Long Yue hadn't needed a spirit soul, and Na'er hadn't come either.
Following behind Shen Yi were Dai Lingyu, Wu Duosi, Dai Yueyan, and Ye Zhi—all new faces from the Star Luo Continent.
Na'er, as usual, was off somewhere mysterious, uninterested in spirit souls.
Long Yue was still recovering, and Yuanen Yehui already had her family's spirit inheritance.
So only these four accompanied Shen Yi to the Pagoda.
"Hello, we're students from Shrek Academy. We're here under Tower Master Qian Gu's invitation to contract spirit souls."
The tower's main hall was vast and bustling, filled with soul masters conducting all kinds of business—
contracting spirit souls, nurturing them, upgrading them, or merging them into new forms.
"Honored guests, please follow me," the receptionist said politely, though her eyes betrayed her annoyance.
This was the Pagoda's headquarters, located close to Star Dou City, where spirit soul resources were most abundant.
Most soul masters came here seeking the ideal soul to match their own martial spirits.
But deep down, the receptionist seethed.
How shameless—didn't everyone in the Federation already know? Shrek Academy was just looking to exploit the tower under the pretense of cooperation, freeloading souls for free. Despicable.
Still, she kept a perfect smile.
"Before we proceed," she said sweetly, "please note that acquiring a spirit soul requires completing our challenge trial. You must defeat and earn the acknowledgment of the spirit you wish to contract."
Ye Zhi frowned. "We have to fight? But didn't you say it's free this time?"
The receptionist's smile stiffened. "The bond between a soul beast and a soul master is mutual attraction. A real connection requires strength and resonance. How else can one earn a soul's respect? A battle is the natural way to show it."
Like every creation of the Pagoda, this headquarters was structured as a tower.
Inside stood several other "towers": the Tower of Ascension for spirit upgrades, the Trial Tower for heritage challenges, and this main Spirit Tower where contracts were forged.
"Each floor is guarded by a resident spirit soul. Defeat one, and you can pay to form a contract—or in your case, the Tower Master has approved complimentary contracts."
"For support-type soul masters, however, you may choose freely based on compatibility."
A spirit's criteria for choosing its master were threefold—compatibility, power, and wealth.
Compatibility determined evolution potential, strength guaranteed survival, and wealth… well, it spoke for itself.
Many spirits longed to be chosen by wealthy clans, to become hereditary contracted souls—ensuring their worship and survival for generations.
But only the most gifted spirits could become "legacy souls" at all.
"The Spirit Tower's first forty floors hold souls between a thousand and ten thousand years old," the guide explained. "Floors forty to eighty house souls from ten thousand to one hundred thousand years. The final twenty levels contain hundred-thousand-year souls, and the last three even have two-hundred-thousand-year spirits stationed within."
"What?! Two hundred thousand years!?" Ye Zhi gasped, jaw dropping.
The others were no less stunned.
Even Shrek students couldn't help but envy the Pagoda's wealth.
"I'm a support-type soul master," Ye Zhi said meekly. "How should I choose?"
"By showing your wealth," the receptionist replied bluntly.
Support-type soul masters rarely attracted spirits—they couldn't protect them, and most had tool-type martial souls, which spirits found distasteful.
But money changed everything.
High talent often meant high resources, after all.
Ye Zhi frowned. "Isn't there another way? You said it was free."
Though she wielded the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, she wasn't a true heir of the clan. She bore her mother's surname, Ye, not Ning, and inherited only the martial soul—without the family's fortune.
The clerk nodded. "There is another option. The Spirit Pagoda offers a three-person team trial specifically designed for support-types. The goal isn't to defeat the opponent but to showcase your value as a support. The spirit must see your potential."
Ye Zhi sighed. This was starting to sound less like contracting and more like speed dating.
Show your best traits, impress your match, maybe flash your wallet.
How shallow had spirits become?!
"Fine… Lingyu, Duosi~"
She turned pitiful eyes toward Dai Lingyu and Wu Duosi, silently begging to be carried through the trial.
"No problem!" Dai Lingyu cracked her knuckles, eager to test her strength and snag her own spirit.
…
Elsewhere, Ye Xinglan had chosen not to participate in the selection at all.
She refused to take Shrek's shortcut—using alchemical pills to break through Rank 50 just to qualify for a new spirit soul.
Even if they claimed those elixirs had no side effects, she was a sword cultivator; her path demanded true strength.
Artificially boosting her level only to lack the power to back it up would make her a joke.
Now she sat cross-legged on her bed, a small wooden sword resting in her lap, her expression vacant.
She wasn't lost in her swordsmanship—far from it. That wooden blade had shown her what real sword intent was, giving her direction on her path.
No, what she was confused about… was herself.
Should she leave Shrek Academy?
Despite its current corruption and injustice, she couldn't fully sever her ties to the place she'd admired since childhood—the home of legends, of the Shrek Seven Monsters.
Her thoughts drifted back to that day by the lakeside… Jiang Chen's calm, infuriating smile.
She clenched her tiny fists and slammed the pillow.
"That bastard! Why does he treat me so well?!"
"Pervert! Creep!"
Sure, she knew she was attractive—but no good man did those kinds of things for no reason!
"Damned weirdo… already tangled with Na'er, and now you're trying to toy with me?!"
She scowled. "Hmph! I'm just too charming, that's all…"
Then she froze, realizing leaving Shrek and joining Douluo University might mean falling right into his clutches.
Her face turned red. "So this was your plan all along?"
(END CHAPTER)
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