Hao Dong Palm—We're Finished!

After arriving in the eastern part of the city, Nan Liujing saw a completely different Spirit Pagoda.

Compared to the several-hundred-meter-tall Spirit Pagodas in Star Luo City and Eastsea City, the Heaven Dou Spirit Pagoda was only barely fifty meters tall.

Coupled with the bustling crowds nearby, one would most likely mistake it for an ordinary office building.

After getting out of the car, Ye Changming explained as they walked, "Heaven Dou City is a historic city. To preserve its original appearance, the authorities have decreed that buildings within the city cannot exceed fifty meters. Even the Spirit Pagoda has to follow this rule."

Nan Liujing listened without speaking, while Na'er looked around with the curiosity of a child.

After entering the Spirit Pagoda, Nan Liujing habitually looked toward the mural that every Heavenly Pillar-class Spirit Pagoda possessed.

The moment he saw it, his vision went dark.

The mural in the center still featured Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao. Opposite him stood a vicious-looking Evil Soul Master. Huo Yuhao's palms glowed with jade-white light, as though he were unleashing some kind of soul skill.

A vividly carved graceful figure stood behind him with her arms spread, embracing him from behind. It made Huo Yuhao's gaze exceptionally gentle, yet a falling tear hung at the corner of his eye.

Hao Dong Palm, for life after life.

Nan Liujing hurriedly looked away, his heart filled with alarm.

He couldn't come to the Heaven Dou Spirit Pagoda anymore. It was far too good at 'seeing people off.'

Na'er was still staring at it when he grabbed her by the back of the neck and took her away.

The Spirit Ascension Platform was located beneath the Spirit Pagoda. Ye Changming took out their entry qualifications and showed them to the guard stationed at the entrance, smoothly obtaining permission to enter.

They entered an elevator and quickly descended.

There was no floor display. Two minutes passed quietly before the doors opened with a ding.

Outside the elevator was a spacious hall. It was predominantly silver, smooth and spotless in appearance. Several passageways lay beyond the hall, leading who knew where.

Aside from the twenty-odd Spirit Pagoda staff members, there were also soul masters like Nan Liujing who had come to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform. Most were older children accompanying younger ones.

Ye Changming swept his gaze over the crowd, his brows furrowing. He found a staff member and asked a few questions, whereupon his vision immediately went dark.

His precious daughter had already entered the Spirit Ascension Platform.

No matter how much he spoiled his daughter, Ye Changming was a little angry now.

The staff member knew nothing about that. After confirming Nan Liujing's identity, he immediately led the three of them into one of the passageways behind the hall.

Rows of elevator doors appeared. They entered one, and the elevator continued downward.

This time, it did not take long. The doors opened after just over ten seconds.

A small room appeared before Nan Liujing, with three staff members inside.

The walls were still made of metal. A massive soul guidance screen hung in a circle high along the walls, flashing with all kinds of imagery. Every image showed a green world, seemingly a jungle.

Occasionally, human figures appeared on the screens. They were clearly soul masters who had entered the Spirit Ascension Platform to raise their spirit souls or temper themselves.

Nan Liujing even saw one unlucky soul master encounter a group of lions wreathed in flames. Right before he was torn apart, he transformed into a streak of light and vanished, leaving the bewildered lion pack standing there in confusion.

"This should be your first time entering the Spirit Ascension Platform, right?" The staff member leading them gave Nan Liujing an interested look, mainly because he was too young and had come alone.

"Yes." Nan Liujing looked at the screen, intrigued. This Spirit Ascension Platform was like the virtual online game novels from his previous life. You put on a helmet and entered a game world. Sword Art Online was a classic example.

The staff member smiled. "Then I'll need to explain a few things to you..."

In summary:

First: The elementary Spirit Ascension Platform was a world that was half virtual and half real. There would be danger inside. If one suffered injuries such as losing an arm or leg, it would cause an immense impact on the brain waves, possibly leaving the soul master with psychological trauma and irreversible mental damage. Therefore, once the situation exceeded one's tolerance, immediately press the distress signal to withdraw.

Second: By killing soul beasts inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, one could absorb one-tenth of the spiritual energy dropped by the dead soul beast and use it to increase the age of one's spirit soul. If it exceeded the spirit soul's tolerance limit, one could forgo absorbing the spiritual energy.

Third: The soul beasts within the elementary Spirit Ascension Platform were mainly ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts, though thousand-year soul beasts occasionally appeared.

"I won't go into further detail. The Spirit Ascension Platform is only interesting when you explore it step by step yourself."

After the staff member finished explaining, Nan Liujing nodded to show that he understood.

One of the staff members stationed in the room pressed a button on a control console. The wall immediately split open, and a metal cabinet slowly slid out. Inside was a recess shaped exactly like a human body, large enough to lie in.

"Go on." Ye Changming gestured.

After rubbing Na'er's head, Nan Liujing quickly lay down inside the metal cabinet.

Soon, instrument suction cups extended from within and attached themselves all over his body, fitting snugly against him.

"The scan may be a little uncomfortable. Bear with it," the staff member's voice reached Nan Liujing's ears.

The next moment, Nan Liujing felt his body go numb. The Soul Power and bloodline within him seemed to be activated by something, becoming incomparably active as they naturally produced fluctuations that were received by the instrument suction cups.

Gradually, as though anesthetic had been injected into him, Nan Liujing's consciousness suddenly went dark.

"Could you help find a soul master named Ye Xinglan? She's my daughter." Ye Changming watched as the metal cabinet containing Nan Liujing slid back into the wall, his tone icy.

One of the three staff members monitoring the screens nodded. "Yes."

One section of the circular soul guidance screen changed.

A figure appeared before everyone.

It was a girl, extraordinarily pretty but still young. At that moment, a lean wolf-type soul beast appeared before her.

Its fur was dark green, and its pitch-black pupils blended with that fur, making it nearly invisible in the dim forest.

A Green Bush Wolf. It was an extremely ordinary soul beast, one of the lowest forms of life even in the ancient era when soul beasts flourished. But no matter how ordinary it was, this one was still at the thousand-year level.

And the opponent of this Green Bush Wolf was a soul master with only one soul ring!

Ye Changming's brows instantly tightened.

Na'er seemed to sense something was wrong and instinctively drew her neck in.

Air carrying a faint scent of blood entered his lungs through his nose. Nan Liujing instantly opened his eagle-sharp eyes, dark-blue lightning Soul Power swirling around the surface of his body as he vigilantly surveyed his surroundings.

There was no threat.

Before his eyes was an ancient, lush forest, something rarely seen on the modern Douluo Continent.

The trees nearby generally stood over eighty meters tall. Their canopies spread wide, their leaves interlocking so densely that sunlight could not penetrate them. A cold, gloomy aura filled the area.

It was like entering a land of giants, where humans were as tiny as ants.

His Soul Power drawn inward and his edge concealed, Nan Liujing's gaze quickly locked onto a patch of blood not far away. He walked over and examined it.

The color was fresh. It had clearly been left behind not long ago.

He looked around, a faint gleam flashing through his eyes. Threads of Spiritual Power began helping him find his bearings in the dark environment.

"Bang, bang, bang."

Suddenly, the abrupt sounds of battle rang out in the deep forest, where not even insects chirped. Nan Liujing glanced at the bloodstain on the ground and ran toward the source of the sounds without hesitation.

A faint glow from his martial soul had long been gathering in his right palm, all to avoid being ambushed by a Man Faced Demon Spider like some sucker.

After sprinting less than two hundred meters, the sounds abruptly grew louder. Through the dense bushes of unknown depth, he could also hear a human voice speaking, though not clearly.

"Roar, roar, roar." Another sound immediately drowned out the human voice. It was clearly from soul beasts, and there were quite a few of them.

Nan Liujing carefully closed the distance. Suddenly, his steps halted as he dodged to the side. With a bang, a long crack like one made by an iron whip appeared where he had just been standing.

Nan Liujing focused his eyes. Ten meters away, a low soul beast resembling a slender willow tree was hiding in the darkness and launching sneak attacks. Its body was covered in long vines.

A plant-type soul beast, a Ghost Vine. Judging by the number of branches, it should be around five hundred years old.

Because the surroundings were so dark, if his eyesight had not been strong enough, he might even have mistaken those branches for snakes.

With a grasp of his right hand through the air, a dark-cyan Coiled Dragon Staff immediately condensed into existence. Nan Liujing stood still, while only the yellow soul ring around his waist emitted an illusory, gentle glow.

Ghost Vines naturally loved sneak attacks. Now that it had been exposed, its feral nature erupted. In an instant, seven branches like long snakes lashed viciously toward him.

Nan Liujing casually swung the Coiled Dragon Staff in his right hand. The branches immediately coiled around it and tightly bound it. A huge force erupted, trying to drag Nan Liujing beneath the tree.

If it had been any other Coiled Dragon Staff, that would indeed have been troublesome. But Nan Liujing's was electrified.

Dazzling dark-blue arcs of lightning suddenly burst from the staff.

The dim forest was instantly illuminated in flickering flashes, reflecting Nan Liujing's handsome yet indifferent face. Following the Coiled Dragon Staff, the jumping dark-blue arcs crawled back along the branches. In an instant, the Ghost Vine hiding in the distance became like a decorated Christmas tree, its entire body flashing with dense electric light.

Crackling currents frantically burrowed into the Ghost Vine. Startled, it tried to sever its own branches, but the powerful paralysis left it in despair. Soon, clusters of flames sprang up across its main body under the electrical assault. In the darkness, fire and lightning formed a brilliant blaze, fueled by the Ghost Vine's abundant life force.

Seven seconds later, the Ghost Vine had burned to ashes.

Heaps of spiritual energy motes peeled away from its corpse and were actively drawn into Nan Liujing.

Just like a kill in The Adventures of Lolo, it left behind spiritual energy while its body dispersed like fine sand.

"I wonder, in terms of lightning-element intensity, is the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon stronger, or is my Thunder Dragon Soul stronger?"

Feeling the warm sensation as the spiritual energy motes entered his body, Nan Liujing clicked his tongue slightly. The age of his first spirit soul had risen to eight hundred and fifty years.

However, the danger of the soul beast forest had truly put him on guard. In the darkness, no one knew what kind of soul beast might emerge. If his Spiritual Power had not been strong enough, he would have fallen for that attack just now.

"I'm still not alert enough. I need more practice." Nan Liujing summarized the lesson from this experience and cautiously headed toward the other side, where the battle was still continuing.

This time, no sucker ambushed him. He smoothly parted the dense bushes, revealing heaps of creatures resembling baboons that were surrounding and attacking two humans.

"Wind Baboons?" Nan Liujing's eyes shifted slightly.

These Wind Baboons were covered in brownish-yellow or dark-yellow fur. Their arms were exceptionally long, their claws bore sharp nails, and canine teeth protruded from their mouths.

An unknown number of brownish-yellow Wind Baboons stood around the perimeter, shouting excitedly. The ones actually hunting were ten baboons with dark-yellow fur.

Brownish-yellow meant ten-year level, while dark yellow meant hundred-year level. The darkest-colored Wind Baboon among them was estimated to be around six hundred years old and was most likely the leader of this soul beast group.

The opponents of this Wind Baboon group were two boys who looked under fifteen. They were twins, nearly identical in appearance. Though they were under siege, they did not panic. Instead, relying on their tacit coordination, they blocked the Wind Baboons' attacks several times. Their thoughts were clear as they fought while retreating, seeking an opportunity to escape.

Nan Liujing lowered his eyes to the Coiled Dragon Staff. A sharp gleam flashed through his gaze.

Although this Wind Baboon group was numerous, their cultivation levels were not high. They were perfect for practice.

"Roar."

Suddenly, an angry roar sounded. Nan Liujing looked closely and saw that the oldest Wind Baboon seemed to have run out of patience. It fiercely pounded its chest with both arms, opened its gaping mouth, and shot out a white ball of light the size of a human head.

The wind-attributed sphere spun like a spiral and moved incredibly fast. As it came hurtling toward them, the Wind Baboons responsible for suppressing the boys quickly scattered, leaving the two boys with almost no time to react.

Their expressions changed slightly as they rolled to opposite sides to dodge.

With a boom, the ground was blasted into a deep crater, grass clippings and dirt spraying everywhere.

"Roar."

In an instant, killing intent flashed through the Wind Baboon leader's eyes. Wind elements gathered around it, carrying it as it charged forward at high speed.

With one dash and leap, it reached the top of the boy who had dodged to the left. Its equally long arms joined behind its head like a war hammer and were about to smash down. If that strike landed in the real world, it would likely shatter the boy's skull.

"Big brother!" The boy on the right paled. Before his brother could respond, trouble came for him as well. The remaining Wind Baboons worked in perfect coordination, charging the boy on the right together, intending to tear this human apart as quickly as possible.

The boy on the left's pupils contracted sharply. He could already smell the stench emanating from the Wind Baboon leader.

Since entering the Spirit Ascension Platform, the brothers had worked together to kill several hundred-year soul beasts. By now, they had very little Soul Power left.

After making his decision, he extended his left hand, about to press the red distress button on his right arm.

Whoosh!

At that instant, a flash of light streaked through the corner of the boy's eye, as though an afterimage had flown past. His movement paused.

Bang! A deep impact rang out. The Wind Baboon leader's nearly two-meter-tall body was sent flying through the air, landing right among the group of Wind Baboons attacking the boy on the right.

Like a bowling ball, it scattered the beast group.

The sudden scene stunned the two boys, but they did not forget to take the opportunity to slip away. When they looked back, they saw a staff covered in fine dragon scales suspended in midair, dark-blue arcs of lightning constantly winding around it as a faint, deep dragon's roar echoed out.

"Roar."

Having been sent flying and electrocuted, the Wind Baboon leader let out an enraged growl. It hurriedly climbed to its feet to see who had ambushed it. Its blood-red eyes fixed on Nan Liujing, who was slowly walking into the battlefield.

"Thump, thump, thump." The Wind Baboon leader fiercely beat its chest, spreading the bloodline aura of its species. The nine hundred-year Wind Baboons nearby immediately seemed to be pumped full of adrenaline, roaring as they charged at Nan Liujing, even ignoring the two humans they had just been besieging.

Nan Liujing grabbed through the air, and the Coiled Dragon Staff turned into a streak of lightning as it flew back into his hand. The dark-blue dragon scales rippled like waves, like a giant dragon waking from slumber to devour everything. Lightning elements from heaven and earth began flowing into it, releasing an extremely oppressive aura.

When the Wind Baboons came within fifteen meters of Nan Liujing, the muscles in his right arm erupted with astonishing strength. He seemed to casually fling the Coiled Dragon Staff in his hand.

The entire Coiled Dragon Staff instantly transformed into a streak of lightning and shot forward.

The Wind Baboon running at the front only felt the world before its eyes distort for an instant, as if something had pierced through its chest. It subconsciously looked down, only to see dark-blue lightning erupt from its body.

With a boom, the lightning elements continuously compressed by the dragon scales exploded inside its body like a miniature bomb. Its entire body abruptly shattered into a thick crimson mist, with flashes of lightning flickering within.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

That streak of lightning pierced through every hundred-year Wind Baboon except the leader at incredible speed, not leaving behind a single one. Dull explosions rang out one after another.

The vast grassy clearing was instantly filled with blood mist. Grass blades were stained crimson, and a thick bloody stench spread through the air, nauseating anyone who smelled it.

In an instant, everything fell silent.

The passive skill provided by the Thunder Dragon Soul: it could rely on dragon scales to draw the lightning elements of heaven and earth into them. It could be used to support soul skill combat or for direct attacks, comparable to an additional soul skill.