Before the Exam

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Changkong paused, then continued:

"During the Riot Period, teams may enter the Spirit Ascension Platform together, but no team may exceed seven people. The six of you are just right, and you will be teleported in together.

"This will test your teamwork. Remember, inside, you may not only encounter Soul Beasts, but also other Soul Masters who have entered. To you, they are equally dangerous.

"Because after Soul Beasts are hunted during the Riot Period, the time required to absorb the Spirit Power they produce becomes a hundred times longer. In other words, after you kill a Soul Beast, it will take one hundred seconds to absorb its Spirit Power.

"If you leave the Spirit Ascension Platform during that process, the remaining Spirit Power will be absorbed by the nearest Soul Master. This is a special circumstance that only appears during the Riot Period of the Spirit Ascension Platform."

After Wu Changkong finished speaking, Zhang Yangzi spoke again.

"So that means other people can steal our Soul Beast Spirit Power, and we can steal theirs too?"

Hearing Zhang Yangzi's words, Wu Changkong nodded and said calmly,

"If you are confident, then of course you can steal from others as well. But I need to remind you that the entry limit for the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform is the peak of Three Rings.

"And entering the Spirit Ascension Platform during the Riot Period comes at a very great cost. Therefore, many Soul Masters only come to take a gamble when they reach the peak of Three Rings, to see whether they can kill more Soul Beasts and advance their Soul Spirits.

"So the opponents you will face will be very strong."

Tang Wulin fell into thought after hearing this, but said nothing.

Seeing that everyone understood, Wu Changkong added one final sentence.

"Three days from now, you will enter the Spirit Ascension Platform. You have the next three days off. Relax, but also make your preparations."

Upon hearing that they had three days off, Zhang Yangzi and Xie Xie immediately cheered.

After school, Su Hao and the others left the classroom together. On their way to the dormitory, Xie Xie made a suggestion to everyone.

"Wulin, where should we go have fun during these next three days off?"

Zhang Yangzi, standing nearby, also came over after hearing that.

Before Tang Wulin could answer where he wanted to go, Xie Xie asked another question: did anyone know what Wu Changkong's second test would be?

Everyone immediately shook their heads, indicating that none of them knew.

Then Wang Jinxi brought up Soul Spirit evolution. At once, everyone stopped walking and imagined what their Thousand Year Soul Spirits might be like.

Su Hao did not react much to this. He merely suggested to Tang Wulin and the others,

"Wulin, you do not need to worry about that. As long as you seize every opportunity to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, your Soul Spirits will evolve into Thousand Year Soul Spirits sooner or later."

Hearing Su Hao's words, Tang Wulin and the others realized that they had been worrying too much. The academy gave them one opportunity to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform each week. As long as they survived inside long enough and cooperated with others to hunt Thousand Year Soul Beasts, their Soul Spirits would soon be able to evolve into Thousand Year Soul Spirits.

With that thought, Tang Wulin and the others suddenly saw the light. Tang Wulin then responded to Xie Xie's suggestion.

"I won't be going out to play. I want to go to the Blacksmith Association to train some more over the next few days."

Gu Yue followed by saying that she wanted to meditate.

Wang Jinxi looked at Tang Wulin with a somewhat resentful gaze. In the end, Tang Wulin could not bear it any longer and had no choice but to agree to return at night to cultivate with him. Only then did Wang Jinxi let the matter go.

Although Xie Xie, Zhang Yangzi, and the others knew about Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi cultivating together, they still could not help egging them on when they saw Wang Jinxi's expression.

In the end, Xie Xie and Zhang Yangzi finally stopped teasing them after Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi began roughhousing.

Soon afterward, Tang Wulin and the others stopped fooling around. Then, at Tang Wulin's suggestion, everyone settled on the direction of their own Second Professions.

When they learned that Su Hao planned to study every Second Profession, they all tried to dissuade him.

Then, as Tang Wulin and the others watched in astonishment, Su Hao took out his Level 4 Medal as a Blacksmith, along with Level 3 badges for Mecha Manufacturing repair and design. They were so shocked that they could not say a word.

They had known that Su Hao already had Second Professions, but they had never imagined that he had studied every one of them, and none of them was below Level 3.

Thus, everyone dispersed with complicated feelings, each going off to attend to their own business.

Su Hao reserved only the last day of the three-day break for cultivation. He spent the first two days resting properly, recovering his mental energy, and relaxing.

The three days passed quickly. On the night before the assessment, Tang Wulin called everyone out and brought them to his room.

After seeing that everyone had arrived, Tang Wulin hurriedly pulled out a pile of iron plates from his Soul Tool and said,

"I have something for everyone. Try them on quickly. If anything doesn't fit properly, I'll adjust it."

Everyone picked up one of the iron plates and discovered that it was a vest—a metal vest. It was made of thumb-sized silver metal pieces cleverly linked together at the joints.

Moreover, the metal vest was extremely light in the hand, with very little weight. It looked somewhat like chainmail. Looking closely, they could see faint cloud patterns on every metal piece, giving off a strange aura.

Su Hao said in surprise,

"Wulin, you really put a lot of thought into this final exam. You actually used the Rare Metal Cloud Titanium to make each of us a vest!

"And you even purified it to Thousand Refinements. It seems your blacksmithing skills have improved quite a bit recently, Wulin."

Tang Wulin scratched his head and said,

"I just wanted us to last longer inside. Cloud Titanium is especially suitable for Thousand Refinements purification. After that, it becomes very light, while its hardness and toughness are both extremely high. When we enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, the instruments will scan us and completely replicate everything about us inside it. Wearing these will give everyone an extra layer of protection."

After hearing Tang Wulin's explanation, Wang Jinxi said somewhat blankly,

"Does this count as cheating?"

Zhang Yangzi, standing nearby, said with exasperation,

"How can this be called cheating? We're just making better use of the Riot Period Spirit Ascension Platform to improve ourselves."

As he spoke, Zhang Yangzi had already taken off his coat and put on the Thousand Refinements Cloud Titanium Vest Tang Wulin had given him.

Then Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi tested them out and found that there was no discomfort. The defensive power was more than enough for their current level.

Thus, everyone changed into the Thousand Refinements Cloud Titanium Vests Tang Wulin had forged. They all fit fairly well. Although Tang Wulin did not have much understanding of making clothes, something as simple as a vest was still barely passable.

Tang Wulin had deliberately made Wang Jinxi's vest larger. Once he expanded it by using his Martial Soul, it would fit perfectly.

Tang Wulin then said,

"Alright, that's it. Let's all do our best tomorrow."

Then everyone said together, "Let's do this!"