Douluo Continent III Haotian Wulin

The heavy metal door slowly closed behind us, as if the hall outside and the sound of footsteps had been shut out all at once.

The White Decade Soul Selection Area was much quieter than Tang Wulin had imagined.

This wasn't the kind of place he'd imagined, filled with spirits and shimmering with light. Instead, it felt more like a space somewhere between a laboratory and a meditation room. Several rooms branched off at the end of the corridor, with faint soul-guiding patterns flowing across the walls. The air was filled with the scent of plants, minerals, and some kind of special energy, making one unconsciously slow their breathing upon entering.

The grey-robed spirit medium led them to a door and stopped.

"Before officially selecting a soul spirit, a mental strength test must be conducted." He turned to look at Tang Wulin. "This is a necessary procedure before the first soul spirit fusion."

Tang Ziran nodded immediately.

"Of course, of course."

Tang Wulin blinked.

"Spirit Master, why do we need to test your mental strength first?"

The gray-robed spirit medium glanced at him, his tone much calmer than when they first met.

"Because a soul is not an inanimate object," he said. "Although it is preserved, nurtured, and guided by the Spirit Pagoda, it still retains some of the original spirituality of the soul beast. Whether you can fuse with it depends not only on your martial soul, but also on the strength of your mental power and your mental state."

He paused slightly as he said this.

"Especially for the first time fusing souls, the mental strength test is the most basic requirement. If the mental strength is insufficient, even if it is only a ten-year-old soul, the fusion may not be completed smoothly; if the mental strength is sufficient, it is easier to choose the one that is truly suitable for you."

Tang Wulin listened very attentively.

He was actually quite familiar with the term "spiritual power," and Lin Ximeng had mentioned it a few times in her Soul Master knowledge class. However, he had never realized so clearly today that it was directly related to him.

"Does mental power, like soul power, have levels?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Of course there are," the Spirit Master nodded, "but they're not as finely divided as soul power. According to the current standards of the Spirit Pagoda, spiritual power is divided into six major levels from low to high—Spirit Origin Realm, Spirit Connection Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Spirit Abyss Realm, Spirit Domain Realm, and the legendary Divine Origin Realm."

"At your current age, you're normally only at the most basic Spirit Origin Realm. As for where you are within the Spirit Origin Realm, we'll have to test you to find out."

Tang Wulin's eyes lit up as he listened, as if he had opened a new door.

"If one's mental strength is strong, will they become even more powerful in the future?"

The gray-robed spirit medium smiled faintly.

"For ordinary low-level Soul Masters, no matter how strong their mental power is, it may not immediately show much advantage at the beginning. But if you want to go far, mental power becomes more and more important as you progress. Especially when you want to fuse with higher-level Soul Spirits, master more complex Soul Skills, or even pilot Battle Armor and Mechs, mental power will become a real threshold."

Although Tang Ziran couldn't understand such details, he remained quietly standing by, not uttering a sound to disturb him. He knew that these were things his son would truly face in the future.

The gray-robed spirit medium pushed open the door.

"Come in."

Behind the door was a smaller testing room that was clearly more modern.

Unlike the solemn and ancient style of the Spirit Transmission Tower outside, this place is filled with several sophisticated soul-guiding instruments, with metal and light screens tightly integrated. In the center is a silver-gray metal chair fixed to the ground, with several slender metal arms connected to the back of the chair, and a semi-helmet-shaped testing device suspended at the end of each arm.

"Sit down," the spirit medium gestured to Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin glanced at his father subconsciously.

Tang Ziran gave him an encouraging look.

"Go ahead, don't be nervous."

"Um."

Tang Wulin nodded, walked over and sat down in the metal chair. The chair surface was slightly cool, but the backrest was very stable. After he sat down, the metal arm automatically sank slightly, and the helmet-shaped device slowly descended, stopping a few inches above his head.

"Relax," the gray-robed spirit medium said as he adjusted the equipment. "You might feel a little dizzy later, but don't resist it. Just let your mind relax naturally."

Tang Wulin immediately and obediently agreed.

"Yes."

As soon as he finished speaking, the device above his head emitted a soft buzzing sound.

Immediately afterwards, a soft white light shone from the edge of the metal helmet, like a ring of gentle moonlight, slowly enveloping Tang Wulin's head. The light wasn't hot; instead, it carried a slight coolness, causing his forehead, which had been slightly tense due to nervousness, to relax a little.

At first, it felt very light.

It was as if a very faint breeze had gently brushed across his forehead and then seeped into the depths of his mind. Tang Wulin subconsciously closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually calmed down.

The gray-robed spirit medium turned his head and looked at the soul guidance screen next to him.

The values ​​on the screen initially fluctuated rapidly, surging upwards from a low level, before slowing down as if searching for a truly stable range.

The spirit medium's expression was initially just that of a normal, businesslike person.

But as he looked at it, his brows gradually furrowed.

Because the child's mental strength was clearly much higher than he had expected.

At nine years old, a child fusing with a spirit for the first time, even if they come from a Soul Master class and have a Soul Power of Level 10, would mostly be hovering in the most basic range of the Spirit Origin Realm. But the numerical curve in front of him did not stop quickly, but instead rose steadily and solidly, even showing a certain unusually stable trend.

This is not an inflated figure.

It's not a random fluctuation.

Rather, it is the result of being truly honed by prolonged meditation, long-term high concentration, and some deeper power.

The spirit medium subconsciously glanced at Tang Wulin sitting in the chair again.

The boy had his eyes closed, his expression calm, and his breathing even. He showed none of the obvious tension and unease that a typical child would have when entering a testing room for the first time. His tranquility even seemed somewhat beyond his years.

The numbers on the screen finally came to a slow stop.

A clear look of surprise flashed in the Spirit Master's eyes.

"This child..." he muttered to himself.

"What's wrong?" Tang Ziran, who had been standing quietly by the door waiting, felt a pang of anxiety and asked instinctively.

The gray-robed spirit medium did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned down the power of the testing device and, after confirming that the value was no longer fluctuating, turned around.

"Don't worry, it's not a bad thing," he said.

Hearing this, Tang Ziran finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

At the same time, the metal helmet slowly rose, and the white light subsided. Tang Wulin opened his eyes, feeling as if his mind had been gently wiped clean, experiencing an indescribable sense of clarity.

"Spirit Master, are you done with the test?" he couldn't help but ask.

"The test is complete." The gray-robed spirit master looked at him, the initial indifference in his eyes had faded considerably. "Your spiritual power value is thirty-eight. In the Spirit Origin Realm, that's already firmly in the middle stage. For your age, and this being your first time fusing with a soul spirit, this value is quite outstanding."

Tang Wulin was taken aback.

"Thirty-eight...is that very tall?"

"That's very high for an average nine-year-old." The Spirit Master nodded. "The Spirit Origin Realm ranges from one to one hundred. Below thirty is considered the initial stage; thirty to sixty is the intermediate stage. Your current spiritual power is not only sufficient to support the fusion of ten soul spirits, but you can even stably communicate with slightly stronger, lower-level soul spirits."

Hearing this, Tang Ziran's previously anxious heart finally relaxed a little.

He had already raised enough money, and his soul power had stabilized at level ten. If he were to be turned away at the door now because of insufficient spiritual power, it would be too cruel for Tang Wulin.

Fortunately, no.

As for Tang Wulin himself, although he didn't quite understand what "mid-stage Spirit Origin Realm" really meant, he at least understood one thing:

My mental strength is enough.

At this moment, the tension he had been hiding so deeply finally subsided.

"Are you usually very good at calming down? You must meditate for quite a while," the spirit medium suddenly asked.

Tang Wulin nodded obediently.

"I meditate every day. And... I also practice forging."

"Forging?" The spirit master was clearly taken aback.

"Hmm." Tang Wulin's eyes lit up, and his tone always unconsciously carried a hint of pride when he mentioned this. "I've been learning from my teacher for three years. My teacher said that when forging, you can't just rely on strength; you also have to concentrate all the time, otherwise the result won't be right."

Upon hearing these words, the spirit medium's expression became even stranger.

A nine-year-old child with level ten soul power, a weapon spirit, and mental strength significantly higher than his peers, and who has been undergoing high-intensity forging training for a long time, is beyond what can be simply described as "good" in a place like Aolai City.

He nodded slowly.

No wonder.

Often, the enhancement of mental strength comes not only from simple meditation. Sustained high-concentration training, the refinement of one's will, and maintaining a state of high concentration over a long period of time will naturally make the mental world more stable.

"Very good." The gray-robed spirit master looked at Tang Wulin, his tone carrying a genuine hint of appreciation for the first time. "Your foundation is even more solid than I originally imagined. This will give you more leeway when choosing a spirit."

Tang Wulin immediately perked up.

"real?"

"Really," the spirit master said calmly. "At least, you don't need to worry about not being able to control an ordinary ten-year-old spirit because your spiritual power is too weak."

Although these words were spoken calmly, they made Tang Wulin feel much less tense, which he had been hiding.

What he feared most along the way was not that his soul was not strong enough, but that he had finally made it this far only to find that he was not even qualified to merge with it.

It seems that he has at least passed the most basic hurdle.

The gray-robed spirit medium put away the data tablet and turned to walk towards the door on the other side of the testing room.

"Come with me."

Tang Wulin jumped off the metal chair and subconsciously clenched his fist when he stood still.

Perhaps because he had just finished a mental strength test, he suddenly felt that the heavy star hammer inside his body had become exceptionally clear, as if it was pressing heavily on the most stable part of his consciousness, motionless, yet with a reassuring sense of presence.

And for some reason, the image of that small group of ants moving between blades of grass and cracks in the rocks during his meditation last night flashed through his mind again very lightly.

But that feeling never completely disappeared.