Ultra X-Ray Vision, Kid!

The Spirit Ascension Platform did provide Soul Masters with a safe starting point, but the safe period didn't last long.

To ensure Soul Masters could gain at least something inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, a few Soul Beasts would appear near them within half a minute of their arrival.

The specific age of the Soul Beasts depended on the Soul Master's own strength. A One-Ring Soul Master wouldn't have a top-tier Hundred-Year Soul Beast—or even a thousand-year Soul Beast—right in their face.

Still, during that half-minute, Lan Kai had quickly completed the experiment he wanted to conduct and gotten a basic understanding of the Spirit Ascension Platform's current state.

After entering the Spirit Ascension Platform, Gu Yue had been astonished by how realistic its simulation was. She'd also been shocked by the new "Self-Created Soul Skill" Lan Kai used, so she hadn't noticed the Soul Beasts drawing near.

But as soon as she came to her senses, she raised a hand. Several wind blades swept past Lan Kai and beheaded all the Green Wolves behind him.

Ten seconds later, the battle finally ended. The few Soul Beasts around them had all turned into warm spiritual energy.

Lan Kai had also shaken off Gu Yue's hands and put some distance between them.

"Teacher Juggler and Vice Pagoda Master Leng told us to work together, but if you keep acting so clueless, I won't hesitate to take you out and go through the Spirit Ascension Platform alone.

"For what comes next, I'm not asking you to follow my orders blindly. But when it comes to major decisions, I don't want you going against me. Any problems with that?"

Lan Kai let out all the frustration he'd been holding inside. He didn't want to fight alongside Gu Yue like that again—both of them taking care to avoid hitting each other, only to bring down the enemies behind them.

They didn't trust each other enough for that.

Besides, Lan Kai had noticed that, for some reason, Gu Yue's stunningly poor judgment was getting worse and worse.

If he hadn't been considering Juggler and Leng Yaozhu's feelings, he wouldn't have fired a beam at Gu Yue, but he definitely wouldn't have worked with her, either.

He wasn't as soft-hearted as Hokuto Seiji, who could put up with Yamanaka's nonsensical remarks.

Gu Yue immediately felt terribly wronged, and she almost burst into tears.

Back when she hadn't split herself apart and had spent time with Lan Kai as Na'er, he had never been this harsh with her.

Now, though, she'd only been a little too eager, and Lan Kai had treated her in a way that hurt so much. Naturally, she felt even more wronged.

But inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, Gu Yue couldn't beat Lan Kai. Outside it, even if she could defeat him, he could still transform.

And even if she briefly reclaimed the Silver Dragon King's power and defeated Lan Kai in his transformed state—or the Ultraman Orb he called himself—Juggler would still be there afterward.

According to Di Tian and the others, Juggler could take out the Ferocious Beasts that had clung to life in the Star Dou Forest with a single blow. Gu Yue as she was now couldn't deal with him.

So even though she felt wronged, Gu Yue had no choice but to swallow it.

"Fine. I'll listen to you."

Gu Yue raised a hand to wipe her eyes, then looked at Lan Kai with a determined gaze.

"Were you so wronged you almost burst into tears? Your stunning wisdom really is something, Gu Yue."

Lan Kai didn't notice the change in Gu Yue's thoughts at all. He still assumed her actions were part of some scheme. But since she'd agreed to follow his lead, he let the matter go.

After briefly scanning the area, Lan Kai strode off in one direction.

The direction seemed unusual. It didn't look like one of the forest paths that had formed to make it easier for Soul Masters to travel. Gu Yue was curious, but she quickly followed.

Before long, a towering figure appeared in their field of vision.

"A thousand-year Crystal Bear... Lan Kai, did you spot it a while ago? It's nearly a hundred meters away, and there are all those trees in the way. How did you manage that?"

Seeing the Soul Beast, Gu Yue realized that the two of them had been heading almost straight toward the Crystal Bear.

That meant Lan Kai had spotted it from nearly a hundred meters away, then pinpointed its location through the trees in the forest.

Gu Yue could do the same with her elemental marks, but she obviously couldn't mark Soul Beasts inside the Spirit Ascension Platform in advance.

Could Lan Kai actually have Twin Martial Souls, with his Second Martial Soul being the same Spirit Eye as Huo Yuhao's from ten thousand years ago? And did he have a detection-type Soul Skill, too?

"Would you believe me if I said it was a coincidence?"

Lan Kai clearly didn't want to reveal any more of his abilities to Gu Yue or Leng Yaozhu outside the Spirit Ascension Platform. Otherwise, his answer would have been six words:

Ultra X-Ray Vision, kid!

With Ultra X-Ray Vision, spotting a powerful Soul Beast around a hundred meters away was no challenge for Lan Kai.

At first, though, if he couldn't control how deeply he saw through things, it was all too easy to see what he shouldn't. That was why he hadn't demonstrated the ability in front of Na'er when he was first practicing Ultra X-Ray Vision. It was perfectly normal that Gu Yue didn't know about it now.

"Besides, isn't our job to turn this cold Soul Beast into warm spiritual energy?"

The moment Lan Kai finished speaking, the thousand-year Crystal Bear spotted them. It let out a roar and charged.

Lan Kai and Gu Yue immediately dodged to either side, but the Crystal Bear slammed straight into a tree, showing just how powerful its charge was.

What's more, the tree it had knocked down was instantly covered in crystals, then crumbled into dust.

That was the Crystal Bear's special ability: anyone it attacked would have their body crystallized, and any crystallized part would shatter if struck.

The only way to limit the damage was to resist the crystallization from the start with powerful Soul Power, or kill the Crystal Bear as quickly as possible.

At the sight, Lan Kai's eyes narrowed. He aimed at the thousand-year Crystal Bear's neck and fired several Arrow-shaped Beams in succession, testing its defenses.

The Arrow-shaped Beams hit near the Crystal Bear's neck and exploded. Much of its fur was blown away, and even flecks of flesh and blood sprayed out. Lan Kai had clearly broken through its defenses.

The Crystal Bear painfully raised a paw to cover the wound on its neck, then turned to face Lan Kai, its gaze growing even more vicious.

On the other side, Gu Yue saw that the Crystal Bear had turned its back to her, and fury surged through her.

How dare it turn its back on me? It's looking down on me!