The entrance was a circular hall with a soaring dome inlaid with countless glowing crystals, like stars in the night sky.
A massive Crystal Stele stood in the center of the hall, covered in ancient writing and emitting a faint golden glow.
Xu Jiujiu walked up to the Crystal Stele and carefully read its contents.
A moment later, her expression changed.
"To increase the age of Soul Rings... it's actually real."
She turned to Shen Zhou, her eyes filled with shock.
"Dean Shen, where did you get this tower?"
Shen Zhou smiled. "Princess, I can't answer that question for now."
Xu Jiujiu stared at him for a few seconds before nodding.
"Fine. I won't ask."
She turned to look at a doorway beside the Crystal Stele.
The doorway was oval, with blue light flowing around its edges as though it led to another world.
"The place beyond that door is the Trial Grounds?"
"That's right."
Shen Zhou nodded. "After entering, a Soul Beast roughly equal in strength to the entrant will appear.
"After it is killed, its energy will be absorbed and converted by the tower to enhance one of the entrant's Soul Rings.
"The tower will decide which one is enhanced."
"A Soul Beast equal to my strength..."
Xu Jiujiu pondered for a moment. "So after I enter, the Soul Beast I encounter will be around level forty-eight?"
"Most likely, it will be a Thousand-Year Soul Beast, but it won't exceed ten thousand years.
"With your current cultivation, dealing with a Thousand-Year Soul Beast shouldn't be a problem."
Xu Jiujiu glanced again at the explanation on the Crystal Stele, took a deep breath, and strode toward the doorway.
"Dean Shen, I'm going in."
"Be careful, Princess."
After speaking, Shen Zhou added, "If you can't defeat it, you can call for it to stop.
"The Spirit Pagoda will automatically send you out."
Xu Jiujiu looked back at him, the corners of her lips curving slightly upward.
"Does Dean Shen think I can't win?"
Shen Zhou froze for a moment, then laughed.
"You misunderstand, Princess.
"I was only reminding you."
Xu Jiujiu gave a soft snort and walked into the doorway.
Blue light swallowed her, and her figure vanished beyond the door.
Trial Space.
Xu Jiujiu opened her eyes and found herself standing on a vast grassland.
The sky was a clear, brilliant blue, while white clouds drifted leisurely overhead.
Several low hills stood in the distance, covered in unknown wildflowers that swayed in the breeze.
The air was filled with the scent of grass, mixed with the smells of soil and sunlight.
This place looked less like the Trial Grounds and more like a secluded paradise.
But Xu Jiujiu did not lower her guard.
Her Martial Soul was the Star Crown, an auxiliary control type, not an assault type.
Although her level forty-eight cultivation was considered outstanding among her peers, she knew her own weakness well—she lacked powerful offensive methods.
In a team, she was the core and the pillar.
But when facing a Soul Beast alone, her combat strength would be greatly reduced.
"Come on."
Xu Jiujiu took a deep breath and released her Star Crown Martial Soul.
Above her head, a dazzling star appeared out of thin air, surrounded by countless smaller stars that radiated soft yet brilliant starlight.
Two yellow and two purple Soul Rings rose from beneath her feet, slowly revolving around her body.
She raised her right hand, gathering starlight in her palm, ready to strike at any moment.
The space ahead twisted.
A figure stepped out of the void.
It was a massive wolf with silver-white fur, more than two meters tall at the shoulder and over four meters long.
Its fur seemed condensed from moonlight, gleaming with a cold sheen under the sun.
Most terrifying of all were its eyes—a pair of blood-red vertical pupils filled with savagery and killing intent.
Four purple Soul Rings circled its body.
A Thousand-Year Soul Beast, between four and five thousand years old.
Xu Jiujiu's pupils contracted slightly.
She recognized the Soul Beast. It was a Silver Moon Wolf, a Soul Beast possessing both Mental Attribute and speed attributes. It was exceedingly rare, and exceedingly troublesome.
"Four thousand years... not bad."
She let out a breath of relief.
With her level forty-eight cultivation, fighting a Soul Beast around four thousand years old would not be easy, but it was not impossible.
The Silver Moon Wolf gave a low growl, kicked off the ground with all four limbs, and pounced at her as a silver-white blur.
Xu Jiujiu neither dodged nor retreated. She swept her right hand.
"Star Shine!"
Her first Soul Ring lit up, and the Star Crown above her head suddenly erupted with intense light.
The radiance spread outward, covering an area dozens of meters wide.
Enveloped by the starlight, the Silver Moon Wolf's speed abruptly dropped.
Star Shine, the Star Crown's first Soul Skill, covered a designated area with starlight, reducing the speed and reaction ability of enemies within it.
The Silver Moon Wolf visibly slowed. Xu Jiujiu seized the opportunity to retreat and widen the distance between them.
She was not an assault-type Soul Master. She could not clash head-on with the Silver Moon Wolf.
Her strategy was simple: use her Soul Skills to restrict the Silver Moon Wolf's movements, drain its stamina and Soul Power, then wait until it was exhausted before finding an opportunity to finish it in one blow.
"Star Chain!"
Her second Soul Ring lit up. Starlight condensed into several long, thin chains of light that flew from the Star Crown and wrapped toward the Silver Moon Wolf.
The Silver Moon Wolf flashed aside, evading two chains, but the third wrapped around one of its hind legs.
The light chain tightened, and the Silver Moon Wolf stumbled, nearly falling.
It let out an angry roar and turned to bite at the chain.
But the chain was formed from starlight and had no physical form. Its teeth bit only air.
Xu Jiujiu's lips curved slightly upward.
Star Chain's effect was restraint. Though it did not hit with absolute certainty, once it ensnared something, it was difficult to break free.
The Silver Moon Wolf's speed advantage had been suppressed by Star Shine, and with its hind leg bound by Star Chain, its combat strength was greatly reduced.
"Starlight Impact!"
Her third Soul Ring lit up. Xu Jiujiu thrust both hands forward, launching a fist-sized ball of light from her palms. Trailing a long tail of light, it blasted toward the Silver Moon Wolf.
The Silver Moon Wolf sensed the threat, and its blood-red vertical pupils abruptly narrowed.
It spun around and took the attack head-on with its back.
Boom—!
The ball of light exploded against the Silver Moon Wolf's back, tearing its flesh apart and scorching a large patch of its silver-white fur.
It let out a miserable howl and struggled to rise, but the restraints of Star Chain prevented it from getting up.
Xu Jiujiu gave it no chance to catch its breath.
"Star Fall!"
Her fourth Soul Ring, and also her strongest Thousand-Year Soul Ring, lit up.
The Star Crown above her head abruptly expanded. Starlight condensed into a massive ball of light nearly a meter in diameter, which crashed down on the Silver Moon Wolf like a falling star.
The Silver Moon Wolf let out one final, despairing howl.
The ball of light struck its body and exploded with a thunderous blast.
A huge crater several meters deep was blasted into the grassland. The Silver Moon Wolf lay at the bottom, its body charred black and devoid of life.
Xu Jiujiu stood at the edge of the crater, breathing slightly heavily.
Using all four Soul Rings had consumed about forty percent of her Soul Power, more than she had expected.
But she had won, at least.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
Just then, a dense orb of Soul Power floated out from the Silver Moon Wolf's corpse.
The orb was pale gold, radiating a warm glow as it slowly drifted toward Xu Jiujiu.
Xu Jiujiu did not dodge.
She could sense that the orb held no malice. Instead, it contained pure, gentle energy.
The orb entered her body.
Then, she felt it.
The energy flowed through her meridians before finally converging on one of her nine Soul Rings—a purple Soul Ring.
That purple Soul Ring began to tremble violently, its color changing at a visible speed, from light purple to deep purple, then from deep purple to purple-black...
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