Tianmeng nodded, then said to the crowd:
"Before we talk about the Spirit Transmission Tower, we need to popularize the concept of soul spirits."
He then explained the nature of soul spirits to everyone present.
When they heard that soul spirits could grow, that one soul spirit could provide multiple spirit rings, possessed consciousness, granted spirit abilities while even manifesting to assist in combat—the traditional soul masters felt as if they were listening to a science fiction story.
After finishing the explanation, Tianmeng continued:
"When we hunt soul beasts to obtain spirit rings, and even slaughter them en masse for spirit bones, have you ever considered two questions?"
"The first question is the retaliation of the soul beasts—exactly what we are experiencing now. Because of this, humans and soul beasts are locked in irreconcilable conflict. Either we win and enslave the soul beasts, or the soul beasts win and enslave us. The second question is even deeper. Suppose humans do triumph and completely enslave the soul beasts. Generation after generation, soul masters still need spirit rings. But have you thought of this: a ten-thousand-year soul beast requires thousands of years to grow. Yet a single Soul King kills it and obtains one ring. That soul master may only live a hundred years, and after he dies, his descendants will continue to slaughter. Within the span of one soul beast's growth to ten thousand years, how many generations of humans will have wiped out how many ten-thousand-year soul beasts?"
"If soul beasts go extinct, what then? With the disappearance of soul beasts, the class of soul masters will also disappear. This is unsustainable."
Tianmeng's words threw many soul masters into deep thought.
One of them stood up and asked:
"So, you believe the soul spirit system will be the mainstream of the future?"
"Of course!" Tianmeng replied.
"But according to you, soul spirits are formed by the fusion of a soul beast's soul with a human's spiritual power. Doesn't that still rely on soul beasts? We still need them for our strength. Yet now they've blocked forests and oceans, preventing us from hunting them. Won't soul masters still head toward extinction?" another soul master questioned sharply.
Tianmeng responded:
"That is where the Spirit Transmission Tower comes in. We've mastered the technology of artificial soul spirits. Artificial ones differ only in consciousness; in every other way, they are the same. They can provide multiple rings, multiple abilities, and can even be raised in age through the Spirit Ascension Platform inside the tower."
"You mean we humans will, from now on, be able to obtain spirit rings entirely within the Spirit Transmission Tower, without hunting in forests?" another asked.
"Exactly." Tianmeng pointed behind him. "These are soul masters trained by Spark Academy. Every ring they bear was obtained inside the Tower. Show them your rings."
The soul masters behind him released their martial spirits—every spirit ring was at least a thousand years, surpassing the average human configuration.
"You may choose to challenge them with soul masters of the same level, and see the difference between a soul spirit master and a traditional ring master," Tianmeng said.
At Bibi Dong's command, an arena was prepared.
The battles began. The soul spirit masters possessed all the abilities a soul master should have, and their power was intact. Against traditional spirit ring masters, they consistently and easily secured victory.
When the duels ended, Tianmeng announced:
"To mark the grand opening of the Spirit Transmission Tower, all of you may freely obtain spirit rings within the Tower today."
Some soul masters went inside to try, while others, holding conservative views, hesitated.
But once the first soul master emerged, displaying great strength after acquiring a new ability, even the conservatives could not resist—they flooded into the Tower as well.
Thus, the first Spirit Transmission Tower on the continent opened within Spirit Hall's city. It did not belong to Spirit Hall, however, but rather to Spark.
After the first wave obtained their spirit rings, the Tower established stricter rules—one of which forbade enemies of Spark, namely members of the Divine Order Alliance, from receiving rings.
Days later, a group of "people" arrived at Spirit City—or rather, not humans at all. Each bore features of soul beasts. Their leader, a black-haired middle-aged man, deliberately revealed the dragon wings on his back.
The powerful aura of soul beasts radiated openly.
These were all super beings over a hundred thousand years old—among them the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, the Emerald Swan, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion…
Yet they had not come as enemies. Pope Bibi Dong met them in Spirit City, where they held a council with her and Tianmeng of Spark's board.
The details of the discussions remain unknown. But afterward, Spirit Hall, the Spark Council, and the soul beasts together issued a "Joint Declaration of Humans and Soul Beasts."
This declaration outlined the framework for coexistence:
Humans are forbidden from recklessly entering the soul beast world to slaughter them for rings. Only with the beast's approval may a soul spirit be obtained.
Soul beasts and humans shall achieve permanent peace. Beasts of over a hundred thousand years must restrain their kind from leaving their habitats and causing chaos in the human world.
Soul beasts shall cooperate with Spark in maintaining the Spirit Transmission Towers, supplying soul spirit genes for their operation.
Humans and soul beasts shall work together to sustainably develop the Star Dou Forest, Sunset Forest, and other natural resources.
Hundreds of such clauses followed. The essence: Spirit Hall and Spark would fully push forward the era of soul spirits, and by decree, the killing of soul beasts for rings would henceforth be considered illegal.
After years of war, and with the rise of the soul spirit system, the soul masters themselves supported this law.
Soon, Spirit Transmission Towers were established across Spirit City and throughout Spark's stable regions. Spirit Hall also restored its local branch halls in these territories.
Thus, with both human giants—Spark and Spirit Hall—choosing to clasp hands with the soul beasts, peace had arrived.
The most awkward party was the Divine Order Alliance. Soul beasts forbade humans from hunting them. The declaration itself made such acts illegal. Artificial soul spirits and spirit bones from the Towers replaced the old ways. But every Tower barred the Alliance from entry.
Under this double squeeze, what future remains for the Divine Order Alliance?
At this time, in the headquarters of the Divine Order Alliance, spies had just brought word of what happened in Spirit City.
Upon receiving this news, the upper echelons of the Alliance were furious.
"Bibi Dong signed a Human–Soul Beast Joint Declaration on behalf of humanity and the soul beast race? That's blatant betrayal—betrayal of human interests!" Dai Tianfeng said bitterly.
"Unforgivable! The Spirit Hall has enjoyed the reputation of being the holy land of the Soul Master world for years, and this is how they repay the Soul Masters who supported them?" Yu Yuanzhen said angrily.
"Hunting soul beasts and acquiring soul rings—this is a divine right granted to humanity, our birthright! Bibi Dong has no authority to abandon this right. No! As Pope of the Spirit Hall, enjoying the obedience of Soul Masters across the continent, she should be leading a war against the soul beasts, defending our right to hunt soul rings!" Even the always-composed Ning Fengzhi was livid.
Of course, what truly enraged them was that the Spirit Hall hadn't acted according to their expectations.
In their plan, Spirit Hall would be far more desperate than them to fight the soul beasts to the bitter end, while the Divine Order Alliance could sit back and reap the fisherman's profit.
But the news from Spirit Hall told a different story: Spirit Hall, the soul beasts, and Spark—the three deadliest threats to them—had instead struck a secret accord and stood together. Nothing went as planned.
With this declaration signed, the ones betrayed weren't humanity as a whole—it was them. Spirit Hall and Spark could directly create artificial soul spirits and contract with soul beasts, but they had no such technology. To grow stronger, they still had to hunt beasts for rings the traditional way. But now, that method was forbidden by Spirit Hall's decree, and forcibly blocked by soul beasts. In the long run, they would head toward extinction.
Yu Xiaogang, sitting in the alliance leader's throne, chewing on a ten-thousand-year lingzhi mushroom while noisily breaking wind, said:
"Bibi Dong disregards the interests of all humankind! She is unworthy of being Pope of the Spirit Hall. We must—"
"Wait, Leader Xiaogang!" Ning Fengzhi stepped forward. "We don't yet know what side effects the artificial soul spirit system might have. We can use our spies to incite unrest among the lower-level Soul Masters, pressuring Spirit Hall into action, turning them into a blade in our hand."
Hearing Ning Fengzhi's suggestion, Yu Xiaogang's eyes lit up. He swallowed the lingzhi with a smack and said:
"Sect Master Ning, that's exactly what I had in mind. We shall proceed with my plan!"
Thus, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect began secretly funding various factions, attempting to stir up rebellion within Spirit City.
But before Ning Fengzhi's money had even finished flowing in, before the plan had truly begun, Spirit Hall struck like lightning. The intelligence network Ning Fengzhi had laid in Spirit City was uprooted entirely, and every coin of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's investment went up in smoke.
When Ning Fengzhi received the news, he was so enraged that he spat blood.
"Sect Master, are you alright?" Gu Rong hurried to calm his qi and blood.
Exhaling heavily, Ning Fengzhi said, "Now I understand. Spirit Hall had been watching our people all along. The reason they acted only now was to tell us—our schemes are nothing but a joke."
At this, Ning Fengzhi felt a splitting headache.
Spirit Hall, Spark, and now even the rising soul beast faction—any one of them was a force the Divine Order Alliance would need to unite against with all their strength.
In Ning Fengzhi's original plan, they would provoke contradictions between these three giants, forcing them into infighting.
But reality was despairing: three completely unrelated forces had somehow banded together as one, leaving not a single gap for him to exploit.
"What do we do, then? We can't just stand by and watch the younger generation live their lives with no soul rings to obtain, wasting their talents in mediocrity!" Chen Xin said.
Ning Fengzhi replied, "Uncle Sword, Uncle Bone—for now, we can only rely on ourselves. Please go invite the Body Sect, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, the Star Luo Empire, and other factions. We'll hold a secret meeting."
"Very well," Gu Rong agreed, then asked, "Should we invite Yu Xiaogang as well?"
"There's no need. He'd only get in the way. Once we've made our plans, we can inform that pig afterwards." Ning Fengzhi sneered. (Though he outwardly respected Yu Xiaogang as Alliance Leader, deep down he looked down on him more than anyone.)
Not long after, the major powers gathered together.
Ning Fengzhi briefly explained the failure of his plan and the grim situation they now faced.
"With Spirit Hall and Spark colluding, and now joined with the soul beasts, we are in grave danger," Dai Tianfeng said with a frown.
Yu Yuanzhen asked, "Sect Master Ning, you're a man of wisdom. In such a predicament, what solution do you propose?"
Ning Fengzhi answered, "At present, I see only two paths: we unite all our forces—either to attack one of the soul beast territories and carve it into a hunting ground, or to launch a surprise assault on the Spirit Transmission Tower and seize their technology. If we master artificial soul spirits, there will be no more soul ring crisis."
Thus, facing annihilation, the Divine Order Alliance was split between two choices: attack soul beasts for rings, or seize the Spirit Transmission Tower's secrets. Each side argued for its own path.
Ning Fengzhi turned to the contemplative Huo Qiqiang. "Sect Master Huo, what are your thoughts?"
The room fell silent. All eyes turned to Huo Qiqiang. The Body Sect held the greatest weight among them; only with the Body Sect's support could they hope to stand against giants like Spirit Hall and Spark. And whatever plan they chose, the Body Sect would bear much of the burden.
"I believe attacking the soul beasts is the safer option," Huo Qiqiang said.
"But Sect Master Huo, if we could seize the Spirit Transmission Tower, we wouldn't need soul rings at all," Dai Tianfeng argued.
Huo Qiqiang replied, "If we can think of this, do you think Spirit Hall and Spark haven't already considered it? Their forces combined are far stronger than ours. If they used the Spirit Transmission Tower as bait, lured us into an ambush, and wiped us out in one strike—what then?"
Hearing his analysis, the gathered leaders fell into silence. Yes… why hadn't they thought of that?
"Compared to that, the soul beasts are far simpler, without such endless human scheming. And they have one fatal weakness."