Chapter 177 — Birth of the Little Sword Spirit

It seemed Mu Huiyin had, whether intentionally or not, been pushing him to fight beyond his limits by borrowing the sword spirit's power.

After the battle, now that Shi Jin had recovered, he could clearly sense that there were not many negative effects left on him.

On the contrary, his condition in every respect was now stronger than before the sword spirit had possessed him.

That state of being wrapped in flames just now had seemed to make him reborn through fire.

After his flesh had endured immense agony, a more perfect body was born.

His physique, spirit, soul—even the strength of his beast-taming space—had been enhanced across the board.

"The sun... the phoenix?" Shi Jin was bewildered.

His curiosity about Mu Huiyin's origins only deepened.

How could such an absurd bloodline, one close to myth, have been born in a human?

How could Shi Jue not be curious? The empress who founded the third-generation peak Eastern Brilliance Dynasty seemed to have possessed phoenix blood as well—she had been of mixed blood.

Once might be coincidence, but for such mixed blood to appear twice in history—both times in someone who became a great figure—the odds of coincidence were much smaller.

"Looks like I'll have to go ask the little female dragon in detail," Shi Jin muttered.

Maybe she knew something...

Meanwhile, Shi Yu made a new discovery.

After the heroic spirit had transformed into a soul seed, it seemed to have been recognized as a special life form.

In the Shi Ying Codex, its information could now be viewed.

[Name]: Soul Seed

[Attribute]: Undead, Fire

[Race Level]: ???

[Growth Level]: Unawakened

[Energy Value]: 100

Good heavens, Shi Jin exclaimed in his heart—good heavens, what was he supposed to say to this?

It was even more absurd than the cocoon of a green silk bug.

This was equivalent to the infant spirit being detected before it was even born, while it was still in egg form?

And its energy value was not low at all—it utterly crushed a normal green silk bug at awakening level ten.

"Ying!" "Yi!"

At this moment, seeing Shi Shuo staring fixedly at the soul seed, Eleven and Ginseng Baby also looked toward the soul seed and began to inquire.

Was this ball of light that big sister from before?

"Er." Shi Heng nodded and said, "More or less, but not entirely."

Still, whether it was or not, the little sword spirit to come should be female, right?

Eleven, Buggy, Ginseng Baby... Shi Jin felt that it really was about time for a female pet beast to join his side and balance things out.

Shi Qi gazed at the ball of light and sensed his own current condition.

After a moment's thought, he decided to awaken the soul seed right then.

He also knew the special nature of heroic spirits—their loyalty was extremely high, and even without a contract, both sides could communicate heart to heart.

The prerequisite was that the beast tamer had to use his own power to hatch it.

Holding the ball of light, Shi Jin slowly sank into a meditative state.

However, just as Shi You entered meditation and tried to hatch the soul seed, he was immediately interrupted by the awakened Buggy!

"What are you doing..." Seeing that Buggy would not sleep properly and wait for its evolution, and instead wanted to run out and watch the excitement, Shi Jin could not help but say with distaste.

"I know, I know, just this once."

Unable to withstand Buggy's relentless pestering, Shi Jin summoned Buggy in its cocoon form.

Once out, Buggy immediately looked over excitedly—was a new teammate about to join the team?

Or was it a little baby that had not even hatched yet?

It had been sleeping just now, knowing nothing; it had only woken with a start because Shi Jin was injured and had fallen unconscious.

It had nearly forced its own evolution to save Shi Jin.

Only after learning from Eleven and Ginseng Baby that Shi Jin was fine did it relax.

"Ying." Eleven told Buggy not to celebrate too early.

"Eek," the ginseng baby chimed in, also urging Buggy not to celebrate too soon.

A fire-type teammate suspected of being a high-tier overlord species—are you sure that after allocating points, you can beat it??

The ginseng baby looked deeply worried. Fire-type, and a high-tier overlord at that.

Just roast the ginseng baby alive and be done with it!

"!!!" Buggy was startled too, and looked toward the soul seed. You two aren't joking, are you?

As a bug, it was afraid of fire too, after all.

Among the three beasts, even Eleven could not keep a steady heart.

Because Eleven could sense that Shi Jue's little sword spirit was utterly delighted. Eleven pictured it, and its expression gradually turned grave.

This was the prelude to the Iron-Eating Beast Knight being permanently on duty!

From now on, it feared it would go from main damage dealer to a walking battery support.

All its strength would be drained away by Shi Jin...

"Quiet, all of you," Shi Qi said, glaring at the three beasts while the soul seed floated above his palm.

The three beasts' worries were, in the short term, entirely unnecessary.

He had already sensed it just now—in the sword-spirit-possession state, the burden on the beast tamer was enormous.

That clash of sword pressure just now had looked powerful... but in truth, the sword spirit's growth tier at that moment was only at the extraordinary level standard.

That was absurd.

If the sword spirit were to grow to commander tier, Shi Jin felt he would probably be wrung dry before he even swung his sword.

So, as a proper beast tamer, he absolutely had to control the sword spirit's growth tier and not possess it recklessly.

The Iron-Eating Beast Knight—whoever wanted to be it could be it; he had no interest whatsoever.

Best of all... if the sword spirit stayed forever one tier below Eleven and the others, then he could ensure that on some future day when inspiration struck, he would not suddenly be drained dry.

Even if Shi Jin's constitution grew stronger, and the ginseng baby grew more capable, Shi Cen was quite certain that in his current state, he absolutely could not contract and command a high-tier overlord species, commander-tier sword spirit.

Shi Jin chickened out.

He closed his eyes again and entered a meditative state.

He tried to communicate with the soul seed through his mind.

In the darkness of his vision, he searched for that wisp of firelight.

One second... two seconds... three seconds...

Outside, the three beasts stared fixedly at Shi Jin as he incubated the soul seed in his palm.

After roughly several minutes, Shi Jin finally established a certain connection with the soul seed.

At the same moment, through Shi Jue's unceasing efforts, the light on the marble-sized red orb grew ever more dazzling.

Its form, too, slowly began to change beneath the glow.

Eleven and the other beasts kept their eyes fixed on the soul seed as its form gradually shifted, holding their breath and not daring to make a sound, lest they disturb Shi Yan's soul seed.

And at this moment, though Shi Jin's eyes were closed, in the darkness of his vision he too could sense the changes in the soul seed.

But moments later.

Shi Jin opened his eyes in bewilderment and looked at the little undead before him.

By now, there was no longer any soul seed before Shi Jin.

In its place was a "little sword spirit"—ethereal in form, with a deep crimson hilt and a red blade.

Its overall shape was similar to Mu Huiyin's Red Sparrow, but perhaps because it was young, it did not yet bear so many markings.

So it really was a sword spirit, but...

Shi Qi stared at the sword spirit before him, no bigger than a fruit knife or dagger, and fell silent.

No way—did sword spirits also have to grow up slowly from infancy???

"Mew~~~?"

The little sword spirit floated in the air, timidly turning in a circle, seemingly at a loss as it sensed its surroundings.

"Why 'mew'? But that's not important..."