Mu Xi

Su Mo knew perfectly well that the Spirit Ascension Platform was of little use to him. After symbolically hunting a few Soul Beasts, he directly began slacking off.

After feeling his way through the forest for a while, Su Mo finally stopped beneath a lone, towering tree.

Su Mo extended his right hand as though sensing something.

Outside the screen,

Wu Zhangkong, who had been following Su Mo's movements, and the Spirit Pagoda staff were utterly baffled by his inexplicable actions.

Since the Spirit Ascension Platform had been established, this was the first time they had seen someone kill Soul Beasts without absorbing their spiritual energy to strengthen himself.

They held their breath and stared at Su Mo, eager to see what he would do next.

"The weather's nice. Wind speed's moderate."

Su Mo muttered to himself, then suddenly pushed off with both feet and leaped onto the tree canopy.

Just as everyone focused on Su Mo's next move, he actually leaned against the trunk and lay down, closing his eyes with a contented expression.

"Idiot!"

Seeing Su Mo simply go to sleep, Wu Zhangkong cursed inwardly with a cold expression.

Although Eastsea Academy had paid for Su Mo's slot in the Spirit Ascension Platform, watching such a precious opportunity be wasted like this left Wu Zhangkong deeply dissatisfied with him.

This was the Spirit Ascension Platform during its unrest period, a place countless people would fight tooth and nail to enter.

Yet Su Mo had come here only to take a nap.

If that was the case, it would have been better to save the slot for Tang Wulin, give him some extra training, and let him catch up with the other students of Class Zero sooner.

Although he had known Tang Wulin for less than half a year, Wu Zhangkong was extremely satisfied with this student.

Otherwise, he would not have so openly given Tang Wulin all of Su Mo's time in the Spirit Ascension Platform.

Meanwhile, Wang Ling and the other Spirit Pagoda staff also began wondering after seeing Su Mo lie down.

Which young master had sneaked out to experience life this time?

Wang Ling dared swear that, in all his years, this was the first time he had seen someone enter the Spirit Ascension Platform during its unrest period purely to sleep.

Not even Mu Xi, the daughter of Mu Chen, the president of Eastsea City's Blacksmith Association and Tianhai Region's only eight-star Saint Craftsman, had ever been so extravagant and wasteful.

Of course, Su Mo had something to say about that. Using such fine weather and such a pleasant environment for cultivation was simply wasting one's life.

Unknown wild grasses sprouting fresh buds swayed back and forth like green waves beneath the caress of the breeze.

Emerald leaves rustled softly, while warm sunlight filtered through layer after layer of canopy, casting mottled patches across his face and making him feel pleasantly warm.

The air was filled with rich life energy, accompanied now and then by the chirping of insects and birds.

In such a comfortable setting, anyone still obsessing over cultivation had to have something wrong with their head.

With the spring breeze brushing his face and the warm sun shining down, Su Mo soon drifted into a gentle dream.

Seeing that Su Mo had truly fallen asleep, Wu Zhangkong knew him well enough to guess that he would probably sleep there until the time was up.

With that thought, Wu Zhangkong stopped paying attention to Su Mo and turned his focus toward Tang Wulin's group.

Just as the Spirit Pagoda staff marveled at Tang Wulin's group's seamless teamwork, someone suddenly cried out, "Wait, that's a Man Faced Demon Spider!!!"

Seeing the century-old Man Faced Demon Spider suddenly block Tang Wulin's group's path, the Spirit Pagoda staff gasped sharply.

Although the Man Faced Demon Spider in the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform only had a hundred years of cultivation, its actual combat strength was enough to rival a thousand-year Soul Beast.

Even a three-ring Soul Elder would only be able to flee in disgrace when facing this Man Faced Demon Spider.

Much less a group of students who had not even reached level twenty on average.

Wang Ling and the others immediately brought over all kinds of medical equipment, preparing to treat Tang Wulin's group the moment they were eliminated.

Unlike the anxious Wang Ling and the others, Wu Zhangkong still had full confidence in Tang Wulin's group despite the recent flaws in Gu Yue's coordination with them. He believed they could deal with this Man Faced Demon Spider.

Just as Tang Wulin's side was locked in fierce battle with the Man Faced Demon Spider, an unexpected situation also arose on Su Mo's side.

A figure flew backward out of the dense forest and slammed heavily into the tree where Su Mo was resting.

After seeing the person's face clearly, Wang Ling immediately recognized her. "That's... Saint Craftsman Mu Chen's daughter, Mu Xi?"

On the screen, Mu Xi's high golden ponytail had become a complete mess. She panted heavily, covered in blood from head to toe and looking utterly miserable.

A claw wound nearly to the bone ran across her chest, blood flowing from it without stopping.

Both her arms had suffered comminuted fractures and dangled weakly at her sides as she leaned against the tree, barely alive.

Although the Spirit Pagoda had equipped every person entering the Spirit Ascension Platform with an alarm device, which could remove them from the platform with a press, Mu Xi was so badly injured that her alarm device had likely been thrown somewhere long ago.

And if he remembered correctly, Mu Xi, the daughter of a Saint Craftsman, should have been a three-ring Soul Elder.

Combining Mu Xi's cultivation with the claw marks on her body, the identity of the Soul Beast that had severely wounded her was obvious—the guardian of this Primary Spirit Ascension Platform, a hundred-year Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear.

A hundred-year Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear was a terrifying existence capable of matching a Spirit King among Soul Masters. Even many ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts would turn and flee upon encountering one.

Thinking of the terrifying habit bear-type Soul Beasts had of eating their prey alive, Wang Ling could not help shuddering at what Mu Xi might suffer next.

Meanwhile, Mu Xi deeply regretted entering the Spirit Ascension Platform during its unrest period for training.

Originally, Mu Xi had thought that with her cultivation as a three-ring Soul Elder, even if she could not run rampant through the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform during its unrest period, she could at least guarantee her own safety.

But what had happened in that lightning-fast instant completely overturned her understanding.

She had merely lowered her head to tie her shoelace, and the companions beside her had turned into bloody corpses cut in half.

Then, before she could even see who had attacked, she was struck with tremendous force and sent flying backward like a deflated ball.

If she had not deliberately worn a protective vest before entering the Spirit Ascension Platform, she would likely have been cut in half at the waist just like her companions.

But after seeing what her opponent looked like, Mu Xi's pretty face instantly turned deathly pale. It was actually a Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear.

Although Mu Xi focused primarily on blacksmithing, she had still heard of a hegemonic Soul Beast like the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear, one that stood at the pinnacle of the continent.

Thinking of what would happen to her next, Mu Xi instinctively wanted to cry out for help, but her body was frozen by overwhelming terror. She could only watch helplessly as the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear emerged from the forest and approached her step by step.

"Roar, roar!"

As if certain that Mu Xi could no longer escape, the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear stopped before her, rose onto its hind legs, and roared toward the sky.

The heavy stench of blood rushed over her, frightening Mu Xi so badly that tears streamed down her face like tiny pearls from a broken string.

Seeing Mu Xi completely engulfed by the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear's massive body, Wang Ling and the other Spirit Pagoda staff all revealed expressions of unbearable pity.