Soul Perception

At the same time, Gu Yuena strolled through the forest, her gaze slightly dazed. Whether it was the dense trees around her or the fresh air, everything gave her the feeling of having entered another world.

She continued in one direction and encountered several Soul Beasts along the way. None of them were particularly powerful, and she killed them with casual ease. After being killed, the Soul Beasts left no corpses behind, only strange glimmers of light and shadow.

As she walked forward, the bushes ahead suddenly rustled. Immediately afterward, a massive figure appeared before Gu Yuena.

It was a bear over three meters tall, covered in brownish-yellow fur. Its paws were especially huge, and its eyes shone a bright yellow.

The instant it saw Gu Yuena, it let out a thunderous roar and lunged at her.

"A Thousand Year Soul Beast has appeared. Should we remind her to teleport back?" The staff member was startled and turned to Wu Changkong.

"Wait and see." Wu Changkong kept his eyes fixed on the screen.

A Thousand Year Crystal Bear possessed a special ability. Anyone struck by it would suffer crystallization, and if the crystallized part was attacked again, it would shatter outright.

Of course, the Crystal Bear had weaknesses as well. Its weakness was its lack of long-range attacks. Wu Changkong wanted to see how Gu Yuena would deal with it.

A flash of silver light appeared, and Gu Yuena vanished from where she stood, dodging the Crystal Bear's pounce and slipping past it. Then a flash of green light passed over her body, making her lighter as she began running forward.

Wu Changkong nodded in satisfaction. As he looked at everyone else's positions, he suddenly realized that Gu Yuena had been heading toward An Ping the entire time.

Meanwhile, An Ping appeared to be wandering aimlessly through the forest. Of course, he was not actually doing nothing. Every so often, he would cast a Soul Beast Detection Spell and decide whether to fight or go around based on the information it returned.

Seeing this, Wu Changkong was somewhat surprised that An Ping had not encountered a Soul Beast beyond his ability to handle for so long.

Another Soul Beast Detection revealed a situation that made An Ping's expression turn strange. One humanoid and one non-humanoid presence were heading straight toward him.

Before he could make a choice, he saw two figures, one large and one small, rapidly approaching. They were Gu Yuena and the massive Crystal Bear.

With another flash of silver light, Gu Yuena arrived before An Ping. "Help me, quickly."

An Ping's tone was a little strange. "So the marks on us are for this?"

Gu Yuena's face reddened at his words. She hurriedly said, "It's coming. Be careful."

Watching the Crystal Bear already pouncing through the air, An Ping calmly constructed a Spell Model. Against creatures made of souls and energy, soul-type spells were naturally easier to use. However, An Ping did not dare use them. He did not know whether the Spirit Ascension Platform monitored such things, and if it did, he had no idea what consequences it might cause.

An Ping used Cutting Technique. Against this kind of energy body, as long as Cutting Technique struck the core, its effect was not much worse than a soul-type spell.

After casting Cutting Technique, An Ping pulled Gu Yuena aside. With a boom, the Crystal Bear missed and crashed onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Then it split in half, blood spilling across the ground as its soul rapidly dissolved into a yellow halo.

Gu Yuena looked astonished. "That simple? How did you do it?"

An Ping said, "I used the Power of Space to cut it. You can try it."

"With so much spiritual power, we should be able to increase our Spirit Ring Years by quite a bit. Let's absorb it quickly."

An Ping nodded.

After some more time passed, Gu Yuena discovered that ever since she had joined An Ping, they had never encountered any Soul Beasts that were difficult to deal with. Curious, she asked, "How do you do it?"

An Ping froze. "Do what?"

Gu Yuena said, "I noticed that whenever I'm with you, we never run into pack-dwelling Soul Beasts. How do you avoid them?"

An Ping said, "You mean that? Soul Fluctuation."

"Hm? Soul Fluctuation? Why can't I sense it?"

"Uh, maybe it's talent?"

And so, the two wandered through the forest, occasionally killing one or several Soul Beasts. Until they were forcibly awakened, An Ping opened his eyes and looked at the people surrounding them. "What happened? It hasn't been that long, has it?"

Wu Changkong said, "Tang Wulin's Spirit Soul evolved. We need to leave immediately."

After returning to the academy, Wu Changkong carried Tang Wulin back to his dormitory. Afraid that something might happen to him, he stayed by his side the entire time.

The next day, classes resumed as usual.

Wu Changkong walked up to the podium, looked at the Cadets below, and said flatly, "Tell me what you felt about the Spirit Ascension Platform."

After waiting for a long time and finding that no one volunteered to speak, Wu Changkong said coldly, "Does no one have anything to say? In the order you withdrew from it, Zhang Yangzi, you first."

"Yes." Zhang Yangzi stood up, looking somewhat awkward. He had performed terribly yesterday. "My performance yesterday was awful. I'm sorry, Teacher Wu."

Wu Changkong said, "You do not need to apologize to me. Your life is your own. You still have a chance to recognize your mistake because it was inside the Spirit Ascension Platform. If it had been a real Soul Beast Forest, you would truly be dead. Tell me how you felt, about both the Spirit Ascension Platform and yourself."

The awkwardness on Zhang Yangzi's face deepened. "Uh, the world inside the Spirit Ascension Platform was far too real. I could not sense anything virtual about it. Also, I should not have rashly attacked when I had not properly assessed my enemy's strength. Next time, I will be extra careful, preserve myself as much as possible, and strive to survive longer."

Wu Changkong nodded, then turned to Wang Jinxi. "What about you?"

Thinking of being killed face-to-face by the Man Faced Demon Spider, Wang Jinxi's body could not help trembling. With a bitter smile, he said, "I don't remember much else clearly. I only remember that descending face and the coldness that seemed to freeze my soul. It clings to me like a nightmare. I don't know what will happen if I encounter it again."

Wu Changkong said, "What you need to do now is relax your mind as much as possible. It will gradually get better after a few days. Your situation was rather special. The Man Faced Demon Spider is also an extremely powerful Soul Beast. Even one with a hundred years of cultivation can kill a Thousand Year Soul Beast. There is no shame in being killed by it. If you encounter such a situation again, remember to press the Eject Button immediately. Being directly killed by it this time was dangerous."

After comforting Wang Jinxi, Wu Changkong looked at Xie Xie.

Xie Xie looked somewhat excited. "I think I really like that place. It feels very suitable for Agile Attack System Soul Masters. I've always had trouble finding a place to practice different combat methods, but now I think the Spirit Ascension Platform is perfect."

Then it was Tang Wulin's turn. "It felt very real. Even knowing it was an illusion, I still could not help becoming immersed in it and treating it as reality. Injuries really hurt, and fighting Soul Beasts felt real too. Training in a place like that, I believe we can definitely become true Soul Masters."

Wu Changkong looked at Gu Yuena again. "What about you?"

Gu Yuena said, "It was beautiful and very real, like being in a genuine ancient forest. I liked it very much."

Wu Changkong frowned slightly. "That's all?"

"That's all." Gu Yuena nodded.

Wu Changkong said, "Then tell me how you found An Ping."

Gu Yuena paused, but she still answered, "Elemental Mark."

Wu Changkong said, "Since you have that ability, why did you not gather everyone together? That way, if you encountered powerful Soul Beasts, you could deal with them together."

Gu Yuena pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Seeing Gu Yuena's expression, Wu Changkong shook his head and said no more. He turned to An Ping. "Your turn."

An Ping stood and said, "It looked beautiful."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

Wu Changkong said, "Fine. Then tell me how you avoided those pack-dwelling Soul Beasts. I noticed that you appeared to be wandering around aimlessly, yet you precisely avoided every pack-dwelling Soul Beast."

"My Second Spirit Skill, Soul Perception. Soul Perception allows me to sense Soul Fluctuations."

An Ping's words startled Tang Wulin and the others. Avoiding every pack-dwelling Soul Beast—if they had such an ability, would that not mean they could survive in the Spirit Ascension Platform for as long as they wanted?