As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Liu Ren and a few other classmates excitedly discussing something.
"What's your soul power? Mine's 1.22, hehe!"
Liu Ren grinned foolishly, the corners of his mouth stretching his already round, chubby face into something resembling a flatbread.
Su Hao felt the number suited Liu Er Ren quite well.
He mused that Liu Ren seemed even more anxious than he was.
"Hey, hey, don't tell me you didn't make 1.0? Ahem, bro, don't lose heart. Even if you can't become a spirit master, getting into a good university isn't bad either."
"And then find a 996 job?"
"Ahem." Liu Ren choked for a moment, studying Su Hao's expression. "You don't look like someone who didn't make 1.0, do you? As long as you have 1.0 and can contract a spirit, even if it's a bit low, it's fine. Don't worry, once I become a spirit master, I'll have your back."
Su Hao's face darkened, and he decided not to hold back anymore.
"My soul strength isn't that high, just 1.38."
"1.08... pfft, wait, one point what? One point three eight?!"
Liu Da Lian's expression shifted from confusion to doubt, then to surprise, and finally erupted into a shriek.
"From now on, you're my bro, Liu Ren's sworn brother!"
"No way, get lost~~"
Besides Liu Ren, the other three were also classmates from Class Eight. Counting himself, they were the only five in the class planning to choose the Spirit Department and aspire to become spirit masters.
The tall, sturdy one was Chen Qi.
The one whose handsomeness was second only to his own was Zhou Yuze.
And the only female classmate, wearing glasses, was named Ma something Mei?
Su Hao couldn't recall at the moment.
None of their soul strengths had failed, with the lowest being 1.06.
All could contract spirits. The key question was: which initial spirit to choose?
"It's best to buy spirits from the Spirit Free-Range Center in neighboring Yunhua City. The Spirit Nurturing House in our city is too small and barely has any spirits for sale. I've heard many are leftovers."
The unreliable Liu Ren had actually done some research.
Su Hao pondered.
Most teenagers aged 16 or 17 could meet the soul power requirement. The only factor limiting their choice to pursue the path of a spirit master was money!
An ordinary juvenile spirit cost over a hundred thousand. After contracting, a significant amount of resources would be needed to nurture it, adding up to a hefty expense.
While being a spirit master was a promising and mysterious career, one still had to pass the assessments.
Not every family had the financial means or the courage to let their children choose the Spirit Department. If they spent a large sum only to be barred from becoming a spirit master, it would all be for nothing.
Su Hao felt lucky.
Although his family wasn't wealthy, they could afford to raise one spirit. His parents were also open-minded and agreed to let him choose the Spirit Department.
He'd heard that years ago, before the Alliance's spirit breeding technology breakthrough, an ordinary spirit cost several hundred thousand. Su Hao was glad he was born a few years later.
"Shouldn't spirits at the Free-Range Center be more expensive?" Su Hao asked.
Liu Ren: "A bit pricier, but spending a few thousand or ten thousand more to choose a spirit that suits you is definitely worth it."
Su Hao nodded.
This trip had been worthwhile.
If he hadn't learned about the 'Yunhua City Free-Range Center,' he would have definitely bought from the Spirit Nurturing House in Ancheng.
Chen Qi also nodded. "For ordinary families like ours, wood-type, earth-type, and water-type spirits are definitely the first choice. Oh wait, Liu Ren, your family seems pretty well-off, right?"
"Just moderately rich," Liu Ren said with a feigned troubled expression. "I mean, fire-type, lightning-type, and other rare spirits are definitely powerful, but the Free-Range Center in Yunhua City probably has very few rare ones. They might not suit me."
"Then why don't you go to the capital or Shanghai?"
"Come on, do you think my family prints money? How could my dad spend tens of millions just to buy an ultra-rare spirit? Besides, a spirit's rarity has no direct relation to its growth potential. Many Heavenly King spirit masters' main spirits are just common ones."
Zhou Yuze chimed in: "Exactly, right. Heavenly King Jiang's initial spirit was just an ordinary long-armed ape. That kind of spirit used to be only good for carrying bricks, but his long-armed ape not only evolved into a Power Ape but also broke the limit to evolve into the first Mountain-Carrying Ape in history... Now, even the price of juvenile long-armed apes has gone up a lot."
Aside from Liu Ren, Chen Qi and the others set their initial spirit budget between 150,000 and 500,000.
Expensiveness didn't equate to a spirit's strength; it just meant having more money allowed more choices and the ability to contract a spirit they preferred.
"The earth-type 'Little Stone Elephant' is good. Its initial form isn't weak in combat, and its final evolution, 'Elephant General,' has high potential."
"I'd like to buy a long-armed ape, but I checked and it costs over 500,000. Yunhua might not even have stock."
"Wood-type spirits are good and easy to nurture. Don't forget, we're not even apprentice spirit masters yet. Even if we were given a spirit with limitless potential, we might end up ruining it."
"Wood Cotton Owl, Blade Leaf Lizard, Green Bamboo Leaf—these are all good spirits. The key is their reasonable prices."
...
After saying goodbye to Liu Ren and the others, Su Hao returned home and immediately turned on his computer to look up information about the 'Juvenile Spirit Free-Range Center' in Yunhua City.
Like the 'Spirit Nurturing House,' the 'Free-Range Center' was authorized by the Spirit Alliance and one of the few institutions qualified to sell juvenile spirits.
There might be other channels, but Su Hao's understanding of the spirit world was still patchy.
He mainly searched for information on initial spirit prices, appearances, evolution forms, growth potential, and so on.
He would soon be contracting his initial spirit; he couldn't afford to go into the 'Free-Range Center' completely clueless.
He saw the 'Little Stone Elephant,' listed by his classmates as a candidate spirit. It looked like a small stone elephant sculpture, much smaller, about thigh-high, with an endearing, naive appearance.
Its first evolution, 'Armored Elephant,' stood two meters tall, covered in stone armor, with two tusks thrust forward. Just one glance gave a strong sense of impact.
Its second evolution, 'Elephant General,' had a significantly changed form, shifting from quadrupedal to bipedal. It was said that because of its 'humanoid' form, the Elephant General had good versatility and could learn moves from other types.
But Su Hao couldn't find any scientific evidence online.
"Forget it. Even if the Little Stone Elephant is excellent, I can't afford it. Let's look at something more practical."
After a night of research, Su Hao didn't feel tired at all. He also discussed with his parents, setting a psychological budget of 150,000 to 250,000 for his initial spirit.
That was less than what Chen Qi and the others, who came from 'ordinary families,' had.
Su Hao had no complaints. Compared to classmates who also loved spirits but had to give up pursuing a spirit career for various reasons, he was already lucky enough.
He couldn't let his parents' expectations down.
First, set a small goal: get into a Spirit University and become a full-fledged spirit master.
The next day,
Su Hao went to school again and picked up a soul power test certificate, stamped with approvals from relevant agencies—identity verification, criminal record check, etc.—because not just anyone could buy spirits from the Spirit Nurturing House or Free-Range Center.
He thanked the teacher and confirmed his choice of the Spirit Department. When senior year started, he would move to a new class to learn how to nurture spirits and strive to get into a Spirit University.
For the next three days, Su Hao stayed home, either browsing the internet for information or studying spirit textbooks.
He also occasionally studied the game interface that appeared before his eyes.
The use of intelligence points was still unclear, but the points had grown from 3 to 25.
Besides reading spirit textbooks, browsing online for a while also yielded intelligence points, though less efficiently than reading books.
Indeed, reading brings joy.