Hmm, Nan Fusheng—Spiritual Power: 119 points.
The Spirit Pagoda clerk began tapping away at the console, recording Nan Fusheng's test results, as if he had completely forgotten the shocking reality of what had occurred just moments before.
He had.
Using the ability "Theft," Nan Fusheng had stolen the clerk's memory of his true Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power, replacing it with carefully planted false data.
As a result, the clerk had completely forgotten the staggering scene from earlier.
Even so, his attitude remained warm and respectful—after all, Spirit Connection Realm was already an extremely rare level for a child. Within the Spirit Pagoda's database, only a handful of individuals in the same age group had reached such heights, and every single one of them had left a mark in history.
Once the recording was finished, the clerk led Nan Fusheng into a neighboring room, where several other staff members were stationed.
Upon entering, the clerk called out,
"One hundred-year-grade Moonlight Moth. Quickly."
"Understood."
Another staff member moved swiftly to operate a large device roughly three meters high and six meters wide. Before long, they returned with a transparent orb about one foot in diameter.
The clerk handed the orb to Nan Fusheng. Inside, a small black insect lay curled up, its body emitting a faint white glow. On its back were clusters of shimmering white specks, resembling distant stars in the night sky.
"Once activated, the soul spirit must be fused within twenty-four hours, or it will disperse and perish," the clerk explained carefully, going over the basic precautions and steps.
After wrapping up the procedure, the clerk added with a hopeful smile:
"Nan Fusheng, have you ever considered joining the Spirit Pagoda? You're incredibly talented, and our organization offers many benefits—"
"Thank you for the invitation, Master Spirit Technician," Nan Fusheng replied respectfully, "but I'm still a student. I'd like to take my time and consider such a serious decision."
"Haha, fair enough. You're still young, and it's wise to talk it over with your family.
No matter what, the Spirit Pagoda always welcomes talents like you."
The clerk smiled warmly, unaffected by the polite rejection. After all, the Spirit Pagoda was not some shady organization—it never forced recruits.
And so, Nan Fusheng returned to his dormitory with his newly acquired soul spirit.
"I wonder what kind of soul skill I'll gain from this one…"
Having already fused with a soul spirit before, this process went smoothly for Nan Fusheng. As expected, the spirit's consciousness was swiftly replaced by his own.
"Level 21 already... but this spirit?"
Nan Fusheng extended a hand. With a thought, two hundred-year soul rings floated up around him, marking his ascension to Grand Soul Master. Two bugs appeared on his palm.
One radiated a soft milky white glow, its body semi-translucent: his first soul spirit, Time Worm.
The other emitted a similar gentle radiance, but with countless specks of starlight flickering around its body like a miniature galaxy.
"Not just its abilities... its appearance changed too?"
Indeed, the original Moonlight Moth had been a beetle-like creature, but once its consciousness was replaced and fusion completed, its form gradually changed, eventually morphing into a worm-like body.
"Normally, soul spirits only mutate if the Soul Master's Martial Soul or bloodline is exceptionally powerful. Even then, it's usually just small traits.
But this? It didn't just mutate—it became a completely different species!"
The Moonlight Moth had been handpicked by Nan Fusheng after months of research and memory theft via parasitic dreams on Spirit Pagoda employees. Eastsea City's branch, being one of the eighteen major Pagodas, had an impressive soul spirit catalog, far beyond what a small city like Aolai could offer.
Just in ten-year, hundred-year, and thousand-year spirit grades, they had over a thousand types. Even ten-thousand-year spirits existed in storage.
But of course, Nan Fusheng couldn't afford those.
Though his spiritual power could support it, his physical body was still far too weak.
And as for thousand-year soul spirits, the minimum cost was ten million federal credits. That didn't even include the rare or top-tier ones.
So he had settled for a hundred-year Moonlight Moth, which gave him the strongest resonance among all choices.
For power-attack, control, or agility-type Soul Masters, Moonlight Moths usually offered amplification-type soul skills. Sometimes, it could provide support abilities, too. It was even said that, should the moth reach the ten-thousand-year threshold and awaken its ancient bloodline, it could evolve into a legendary creature: the Moonworm.
"Moonlight Moth" and "Moonworm"—only a single word apart, yet a world of difference.
Just like the difference between a regular Claw Bear and a Dark Golden Terrorclaw Bear.
The Moonworm was a king among insect-type soul beasts, capable of channeling moonlight to battle, and even teleporting. It was fast, deadly, and extremely rare.
But sadly, such creatures had only been documented in ancient times—essentially extinct in the current era. Only faint traces of their bloodline remained in modern Moonlight Moths.
Even if one were available, Nan Fusheng couldn't afford it anyway. The price of top-tier bloodline spirits was beyond astronomical, and connections were often needed just to get access.
But his fusion still yielded remarkable results.
Through merging with the Moonlight Moth, Nan Fusheng gained a new soul skill:
Gate.
Yes, that was its name—Gate.
The ability granted him control over space.
At short range, he could use it to blink repeatedly without pause.
At long range?
He could even teleport from one city to another, as long as he had previously visited the destination and left behind a marker—a clone of his second soul spirit.
Nan Fusheng had renamed his new soul spirit to reflect its transformation:
Star Worm.
It no longer resembled the original moth and instead radiated a unique celestial energy.
Even better—Star Worm could divide into nine clones, each capable of serving as a spatial marker in different locations.
It was essentially a "Flying Thunder God Technique"—just like in Naruto.
And best of all, even if all nine clones were deployed, Nan Fusheng's short-range teleportation remained fully operational.