Word Count: 3,428
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The primeval forest stretched as far as the eye could see.
The air was fresh and pleasant, and ancient trees with tangled roots stood everywhere in thick, knotted clusters.
Eastsea City’s Spirit Ascension Platform looked no different from the one at headquarters.
Both were modeled after the Outer Region of the Star Dou Forest.
Ink-black eyes and silver-white eyes opened at the same time.
The Rebellion Spirit Ascension Platform allowed team entry, so the two of them had been teleported in together.
There was no need to waste time searching for each other.
“Na Er, how much further can your two spirit rings still advance?” Zhao Xuanzhen asked.
“About two hundred years.”
They had lived together day and night for four years and had long since become perfectly synchronized partners.
The instant Zhao Xuanzhen spoke, Na Er understood what he meant.
With the Vice Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda backing them, the Spirit Ascension Platform quotas that outside Spirit Masters fought over desperately were theirs whenever they wanted them.
As long as their bodies and minds could endure it, Zhao Xuanzhen and Na Er could enter the Spirit Ascension Platform and upgrade their spirit rings at any time.
That also meant their spirit rings were already close to their limits.
Today, they had to restrain themselves a little when slaughtering spirit beasts inside the platform.
Zhao Xuanzhen’s Martial Spirit was True Self, a Body Martial Spirit, so his physical constitution far surpassed Na Er’s.
Even so, the burden of carrying two 10,000-year spirit rings was enormous.
At most, he could absorb another three hundred years of spiritual energy feedback, and he still needed to reserve part of that capacity for killing the platform guardian.
It was hardly a problem.
Most of the spirit beasts in the Elementary Spirit Ascension Platform were only 10-year or 100-year class.
Even at a ten percent conversion rate, the two of them together still had a combined quota of five thousand years.
Besides, upgrading their spirit rings was not the true purpose of this trip anyway.
The two walked shoulder to shoulder and headed deeper into the Spirit Ascension Platform.
“Zhao Xuanzhen.”
“Hm?”
“Why did Aunt Leng suddenly tell us to test that Gu Yue?” Confusion shone in Na Er’s eyes.
“Gu Yue is a genius Spirit Master recommended by the Eastsea Branch Master, and she’s willing to join the Spirit Pagoda. Teacher intends to bring her directly into the Phoenix Clan faction.”
Zhao Xuanzhen explained patiently.
“In Teacher’s mind, you, me, and Gu Yue are the three points of her trident. This so-called test is only going through the motions. First, it lets Teacher see for herself whether Gu Yue’s abilities are as real as reported. Second, it gives the three of us a chance to get acquainted. Like the saying goes, no acquaintance without a fight.”
Na Er’s talent was extraordinary, but Leng Yaozhu would never reveal all of her thoughts to her without reservation.
In Leng Yaozhu’s heart, the person who mattered most was still Zhao Xuanzhen, the direct disciple she had personally raised.
Na Er was a powerful and dependable left arm, while Gu Yue would be the right arm of the future.
“Is there any chance we beat Gu Yue up so badly that Aunt Leng gives up on her?” Na Er asked, visibly tempted.
“Gu Yue joining the Spirit Pagoda is already a done deal. There’s a powerful hidden clan behind her, and Teacher is planning to meet her mother, Purple Dragon Douluo.”
Zhao Xuanzhen continued, “Talent, strength, background—she has all three. If a genius young mistress like that is willing to join, the Spirit Pagoda would never let her slip away. Even if Teacher refused, the Four Spirit Envoys, Vice Pagoda Master Zhang Geyang, and even the Pagoda Master’s Qiangu faction would all do everything they could to win her over. Na Er, the Spirit Pagoda isn’t united from top to bottom. It’s full of internal factions. Rather than letting Gu Yue stand with another side, it’s better to absorb her into our own ranks and put her to work for us. That way, whatever she does, we’ll know about it.”
“Fine…”
Na Er let out a long sigh brimming with frustration.
Then she circled around in front of Zhao Xuanzhen, lifted her face, and stared straight into those pitch-black eyes.
Her tone turned utterly serious.
“We’ve lived together for four years. We’ve gone through wind and rain together every single day. When that Gu Yue comes, you absolutely cannot help her bully me. And it’d be best… best if you don’t get too close to her either!”
“So you want me to fake being friends with her?”
“Exactly!”
Na Er was overjoyed.
For the first time, she felt that something human had actually come out of Zhao Xuanzhen’s mouth!
“Alright. Three 100-year spirit beasts are closing in. Get ready,” Zhao Xuanzhen said helplessly.
“Just a few 100-year spirit beasts? You handle them!”
Na Er formally applied to slack off.
They were regular challengers of the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform.
Coming to the Elementary Spirit Ascension Platform was basically smurfing on beginners, so she had decided to lie back and enjoy the carry for once.
From several hundred meters away, three 100-year spirit beasts closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
They grabbed ancient branches with both hands and swung through the canopy like pendulums.
Ape-type spirit beasts: 100-year Iron Armed Apes.
‘How strange.
Why do I spend every day beating up gorillas, baboons, and monkeys…?’
Zhao Xuanzhen fell into brief contemplation.
At headquarters, he had hammered Wind Baboons in the Spirit Ascension Platform.
In the True Illusory Realm, he had beaten up Vigorous Gorillas.
And now, in Eastsea City, he was fighting Iron Armed Apes!
During the Rebellion Period, spirit beasts were far more violent than usual.
The three Iron Armed Apes closed in on Zhao Xuanzhen at high speed, savagery flashing through their beast eyes as they pounced from three different directions.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The Iron Armed Ape trio hit nothing but empty air and kicked up a cloud of dust.
From their perspective, the prey had vanished almost like a teleport.
Then one ape’s arm was caught in a pale hand.
An unimaginable force pulled and wrenched, dragging the entire beast’s body into a full airborne twist!
Rip—
Iron Armed Apes were famed for copper skin and iron bones, yet under Zhao Xuanzhen’s hidden force, its steel-like body was wrung into a knot.
Its gaping mouth never even managed a scream before it died on the spot.
The other two met the same end.
One took a devastating blow to the throat, the other to the heart.
Neck snapped, heart ruptured—they followed their companion into death.
The entire kill took less than ten seconds.
Zhao Xuanzhen had not even used his Martial Spirit.
He had relied purely on his ferocious physical strength and Tai Chi.
Three 100-year spirit beasts dead, thick yellow spiritual energy drifted outward.
During the Rebellion Period, the fusion time was a hundred times longer than usual, so Zhao Xuanzhen slowly absorbed it and raised his spirit rings by an amount so small it was almost not worth mentioning.
BOOM—
A crimson beam tore across the distant sky.
The scorching heat twisted the surrounding air as it shot straight toward Zhao Xuanzhen and Na Er.
Neither of them bothered to dodge.
That attack was nothing more than an intimidation tactic, a show of force.
Two boys and a girl stepped out through the fire, all around fifteen or sixteen years old.
The two boys looked ordinary and thoroughly unremarkable, but the girl was strikingly beautiful.
Golden hair tied into a ponytail, fitted combat clothes giving her a valiant, sharp-edged air.
The warning had come from her.
A blazing fireball as hot as a miniature sun floated above her head.
Two yellow and one purple spirit rings shone brilliantly around her as she spoke coldly:
“Leave the spiritual energy behind and get out of the Spirit Ascension Platform. Otherwise, the next Shining Sun will land on you.”
After years of tacit understanding, Zhao Xuanzhen and Na Er moved in perfect unison.
They turned and locked eyes, and both saw the same thing reflected in the other’s gaze: sincere admiration for the girl’s courage.
Eastsea City truly had hidden talents everywhere!
“I’ll be right back.”
Zhao Xuanzhen did not bother to lower his voice.
The girl heard him clearly, and her delicate brows shot upward at once.
The Rebellion Spirit Ascension Platform was, in essence, a slaughter-ground and a tempering field.
Everyone who entered had to face both spirit beasts and Spirit Masters.
One look at how young Zhao Xuanzhen and Na Er were, and she felt she had already shown mercy.
Yet the other side clearly had not taken her seriously at all!
“Sister Mu Xi?” one of the boys asked tentatively.
“Take them out!”
Mu Xi gave a cold snort.
The first spirit ring of her Shining Sun Martial Spirit blazed to life, and clusters of scorching fireballs condensed in the air, laced with the fury of a girl who had just been ignored!
The next second, something happened that shattered Mu Xi’s understanding of the world.
Zhao Xuanzhen tapped the ground with his toe and drifted like a willow catkin.
His footwork shifted with supple, flowing grace as he skimmed past the Shining Sun fireballs so close he was almost brushing them, yet he took not the slightest bit of damage!
“Sister Mu Xi, I’ll help you!”
One of the boys roared as three yellow spirit rings rose around him.
Purple-black dragon scales crept along the side of his face, and a heavy spiritual fluctuation expanded outward.
Terrifying Demon Dragon!
Among dragons, a race that revered strength above all else, the Terrifying Demon Dragon had never stood out.
Its bloodline was mediocre and its body frail, but as a rare spiritual-attribute spirit beast, its spiritual attacks were hard to guard against and perfect for ambushing others.
“Third Spirit Skill, Spiritual Fear!”
The Terrifying Demon Dragon Spirit Elder immediately played his strongest trump card.
A bizarre, disorienting wave of spiritual fear crashed toward Zhao Xuanzhen.
He was brimming with confidence.
As long as Spiritual Fear took effect for even one second, Zhao Xuanzhen would be swallowed by the Shining Sun’s flames!
“Pffft—”
A huge mouthful of blood burst from the boy’s lips instead.
His Spiritual Sea trembled violently and blood poured from all seven orifices.
The gap between their spiritual powers was simply too vast.
Instant backlash!
“S-Spirit Sea Realm!”
Years of hard cultivation combined with the talent granted by his Martial Spirit had only raised his spiritual power to the Spirit Connection Realm.
For someone to shrug off Spiritual Fear entirely and even turn the backlash on him, that person had to possess at least Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power!
Then Zhao Xuanzhen’s True Self Martial Spirit manifested.
A single strand of black hair at his forehead turned pale white, and his entire aura surged skyward like a storm unleashed!
Pitch-black.
Pitch-black!
Two 10,000-year spirit rings emerged like twin black suns, as if they were devouring every trace of surrounding light.
Mu Xi and the other two froze where they stood.
10,000-year spirit rings!
“Run!”
Every thought in Mu Xi’s mind evaporated on the spot.
She flung out a wall of fire with her Shining Sun to cover their retreat.
The last boy received the signal and hastily released his Martial Spirit.
A pair of enormous wings sprouted from his back, and countless iron-black feathers folded together as he scooped up both companions and launched into the air!
Martial Spirit: Giant-Winged Griffin.
First Spirit Skill: Charge!
Second Spirit Skill: Wind Protection!
The instant Zhao Xuanzhen manifested his Martial Spirit, all three of them understood they had kicked an iron plate today.
Two 10,000-year spirit rings plus Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power.
This was a monster they had never even heard of!
“Good thing we can fly…”
The Terrifying Demon Dragon Spirit Elder was still shaken.
“Sister Mu Xi, let’s just hunt spirit beasts honestly. We might run into another freak otherwise…”
“You’re right, but…” Mu Xi’s expression was grim.
“That freak down there doesn’t look like he has any intention of letting us go!”
The Terrifying Demon Dragon Spirit Elder lowered his head and looked.
Two figures were racing through the forest at high speed, nearly matching the Giant-Winged Griffin’s flight.
A black-and-white Taiji Diagram had somehow already threaded through the dense canopy and was now hurtling toward the Griffin!
Qi Engulfing Mountains and Rivers!
“Ahhh—!”
The Giant-Winged Griffin Spirit Elder let out a miserable scream.
Both wings were heavily damaged by Yin-Yang Qi, and he lost the ability to fly, plummeting straight from the sky!
Dizziness flooded their minds.
Mu Xi’s group shook their heads, pain tearing through every inch of their bodies.
The trees broke their fall just enough to keep them from being expelled from the Spirit Ascension Platform.
“Mu Xi?”
Mu Xi took about two and a half seconds to recover.
She turned toward the voice and found that quite a few people had gathered nearby.
All of them were students from different year groups of Eastsea Academy.
Eastsea Academy was the premier Spirit Master academy in Eastsea City, and many children of the city’s upper echelon studied there.
The Rebellion Spirit Ascension Platform opened only twice a year, and the forces behind those students all pulled strings to secure entry quotas for them.
They had happened to converge inside the platform, and since classmates shared at least a basic degree of trust, they had decided to form a team and improve their odds of a successful hunt.
Two yellow rings and one purple ring encircled him, and in his hand he held a long, snow-white staff topped with a blue crystal.
Behind him stood a little girl holding an identical ice staff.
A single yellow spirit ring hung around her, lonely and solitary.
Her pale blue hair was tied into cute twin ponytails, and her lively, delicate little face was curiously studying the three people who had just fallen from the sky.
“Senior Xu Xiaoyu!”
Mu Xi recognized the young man at once, and a trace of delight appeared on her face.
“What happened?” Xu Xiaoyu asked with a frown.
Mu Xi gave a bitter smile.
“You could say we brought it on ourselves. We spotted two young Spirit Masters kill three 100-year Iron Armed Apes and thought we could pick up an easy bargain. Turns out one of them has two 10,000-year spirit rings and Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power. We turned and ran, and then that guy blasted us out of the sky with a spirit skill. They should be here any second now.”
Two 10,000-year spirit rings.
Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power!
The words hit the Eastsea Academy students like twin bolts from a clear sky.
Xu Xiaoyu and the twin-tailed little girl were equally appalled.
Mu Xi had not picked a soft persimmon to squeeze; she had grabbed a rank-nine Stationary Spirit Cannon shell!
“Sister Mu Xi, setting the facts aside, aren’t they the ones in the wrong here?” someone suddenly shouted.
“Exactly! Even if you take ten thousand steps back, everybody’s a little at fault. Why do they have to keep pressing so hard?”
“Brothers will get justice for you!”
The crowd’s passion surged, but underneath it all lay pure social calculation.
Mu Xi was a genius Blacksmith, and her father was the 8-star Rank Saint Craftsman Mu Chen.
Currying favor with Mu Xi now was like sending charcoal in a snowstorm.
It could only benefit them and their families down the line!
“So what if he’s got two 10,000-year spirit rings? His spirit power can’t be higher than Rank 29 at most. I refuse to believe he can take all of us!”
A burly youth slammed a fist against his chest.
“Brother Xiaoyu, I’m a Defense System Spirit Master. I’ll go first!”
Xu Xiaoyu gave a silent nod.
The Xu family was one of Eastsea City’s foremost great families, and his father, the city’s chief financial administrator, had long told him to maintain a good relationship with Mu Xi whenever possible.
Xu Xiaoyu was close to graduation, and getting on the good side of Saint Craftsman Mu Chen had only benefits and no drawbacks.
The Eastsea Academy students quickly formed up and braced themselves, waiting for the ‘BOSS’ to arrive.
A short while later, Zhao Xuanzhen and Na Er emerged from the tree line.
The moment everyone caught sight of their faces, eyelids twitched instinctively all around.
Their first impression was of two people so clean and bright they looked like morning sunlight given form, nothing at all like the monsters Mu Xi had described.
“So you’ve teamed up?”
Zhao Xuanzhen’s voice was flat.
“In that case, let’s clear the field.”
“Heh heh heh, just what I wanted!”
Na Er radiated the full aura of a villainous demon queen.
“Get revenge for Sister Mu Xi!”
The burly youth charged out first.
He raised a huge earth-yellow shield in each hand, and two yellow rings and one purple ring lit up one after another.
High-level defense-type Martial Spirit: Rock Giant Shield!
First Spirit Skill: Harden!
Second Spirit Skill: Expand!
Third Spirit Skill: Power of Bedrock!
Solid as a fortress.
Unbreakable!
“Brothers, get in there! I’ll hold him off!”
…
“Wulin, there are a lot of Spirit Masters fighting up ahead.”
A five-man group was picking its way through the forest.
A black hawk circled overhead, and one of them suddenly spoke up.
“Let’s go have a look. Stay alert.”
Team leader Tang Wulin made the call, and the five moved toward the source of the battle.
One detail about their formation was especially strange: the rear and middle sections always kept an oddly large gap between them, and the black-haired girl bringing up the rear wore a cold, indifferent expression.
They carefully approached the battlefield and witnessed the entire fight from start to finish.
A crowd was besieging two people.
The burly youth carrying twin shields charged at the boy with black-and-white hair.
The boy’s answer was simple and brutal: black-and-white currents wrapped around his elbow as he spun and smashed forward!
“Run, brothers! One elbow sent me flying!”
The Rock Giant Shield shattered.
The burly youth flew backward, shouting retreat.
A massive crater had caved into his chest, and he was expelled from the Spirit Ascension Platform on the spot!
The boy pulled his elbow back just as two Assault System Spirit Masters rushed him from left and right.
He did not even bother lighting up those terrifying 10,000-year spirit rings before meeting them head-on.
Fist, palm, elbow, shoulder strike.
Every blow cracked through the air like a thunderclap.
Every move targeted a vital point on the human body.
Whoever took a hit looked as though they had been rammed by a truck, their body pitching violently backward before slamming into the ground, pinned and unable to move.
Tang Wulin watched the scene below descend from a group siege into a panicked rout.
Then he spotted a familiar senior sister, Mu Xi.
She and the boy with the Ice Staff were combining fireballs and frost in a desperate attempt to halt the black-and-white-haired boy’s advance.
Yet before their attacks could even reach him, a black-and-white vortex swallowed everything and hurled it back with doubled force, chasing the pair into a headlong retreat.
Zhao Xuanzhen used Yin-Yang Reversal to reflect the fire of the Shining Sun and the rings of the Ice Staff.
Against him, their human-wave tactics were nothing more than a clumsy farce.
Every time he struck, another person dropped.
Bodies hit the ground with the muffled heaviness of hammers slamming into earth.
Then, as if he had sensed something, he turned and looked toward a particular spot.
There, he found a row of slightly stunned faces.
“He spotted us.”
The black-haired girl standing apart from the rest of the group said quietly.
The other four exchanged glances.
A handsome boy gripping a golden dagger in a reverse hold said miserably:
“Wulin, I think our final exam just got a whole lot harder…”
Tang Wulin nodded with deep conviction.
Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi covered their faces in anguish.
A god-tier smurf in their promotion match.
They were utterly, completely doomed!