(Gu Yue's Illustrated Record)
After breakfast.
Su Chen contacted Xie Xie and Tang Wulin through his Communication Soul Tool.
Tang Wulin was rather frugal, and on top of that, he was unfamiliar with the area and hardly had any friends. He simply couldn't bring himself to buy a Communication Soul Tool.
Su Chen happened to have a spare, so he gave it to Tang Wulin. That way, they could easily get in touch whenever something came up.
It was like the mobile phones from his previous life: every year, a new generation came out, each one better than the last.
Su Chen's Communication Soul Tool had more advanced features. The one he gave Tang Wulin was from an earlier generation and lacked some functions, but it could still handle communication without a problem.
Half an hour later.
A sports car pulled up in front of the East Sea Spirit Pagoda.
"Is this the East Sea Spirit Pagoda? It's amazing..."
It was Tang Wulin's first time visiting the East Sea Spirit Pagoda. As he gazed at the towering structure, which rose who knew how many meters into the air, he couldn't help feeling his blood stir.
This was what a big city was like.
High technology was everywhere.
It was countless times more advanced than his little Red Mountain City.
Especially this Spirit Ascension Platform. He'd never even heard of it back in Red Mountain City.
"Let's go."
Su Chen beckoned for everyone to follow.
Su Chen soon entered the Spirit Pagoda.
"Young Master Su, please come with me."
As soon as Su Chen walked through the door, a staff member led him and the others toward the Spirit Ascension Platform.
Su Chen came here almost every month, though he always went to the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform.
The Soul Beasts inside the Spirit Ascension Platform were mindless. Whether they were Millennium Soul Beasts or Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, Su Chen could easily kill them in a single move.
Still, to avoid attracting too much attention, Su Chen concealed his face. After all, he wasn't truly invincible yet.
If he showed off too much—say, a Soul Elder slaughtering Soul Saints and Soul Douluos...
There was still a one-in-ten-thousand, or even one-in-a-million, chance that someone would set their sights on him.
Evil Soul Masters still existed in this world. Their methods were bizarre, and they fought dirty.
What if the Demon Empress happened to target him? Wouldn't he be done for?
Before long, the staff member led Su Chen and the others to a special room. Four pods stood inside, used for entering the Spirit Ascension Platform.
"Young Master Su, since you brought friends this time, I take it you're going to the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform?" the staff member asked with a smile.
"That's right. Sorry for the trouble."
Su Chen nodded, then lay down in a Connection Pod.
Gu Yue and Xie Xie were already familiar with the process. Only Tang Wulin looked confused.
"This is your first time here, isn't it, kid? The Spirit Ascension Platform is a virtual world. You need to enter through a Connection Pod."
"Everyone has an SOS Button on their arm after entering. Dying in there won't affect your real body, and it won't hurt too much either. So if you encounter an opponent you can't beat, it's best to call for help right away."
The staff member explained, then gestured for Tang Wulin to lie down in a Connection Pod.
Tang Wulin was curious and a little nervous, but he obediently did as he was told.
"The Primary Spirit Ascension Platform is huge. I can't promise we'll run into each other, and how long you survive will depend on your luck~"
Su Chen smiled faintly, then closed the pod door.
Only the Spirit Ascension Platforms during a Riot Period allowed teams to enter together. Under normal circumstances, people were sent in at random, so whether you ran into your teammates was entirely up to luck.
Inside the Spirit Ascension Platform.
Gu Yue's vision blurred, and she found herself in a forest.
The forest stretched as far as the eye could see. Its smells and textures were indistinguishable from reality, and she lost herself for a moment.
Her gaze swept across the towering ancient trees. It was as if she had pierced the barrier of time and space, recalling the Star Dou Great Forest of old...
That familiar yet strange aura stirred a faint ripple in her heart.
"Human technology has advanced far too quickly..."
Gu Yue sighed inwardly, feeling the pressure keenly.
For Soul Beasts to defeat humanity, which was developing at such a breakneck pace, would be no easy feat.
Fortunately, she was cautious by nature. She hadn't rashly gone to war with humanity; instead, she had chosen to first blend into human society and learn about humans firsthand.
And now, she was lying low among humans like an ordinary student, quietly growing stronger with the resources of the human world.
No one knew who she really was.
Although something had gone wrong when she first took human form, causing her to split apart...
Everything was still under control, and things were going smoothly.
"Roar—"
Suddenly, the bushes to her side burst open, and a wolf-shaped Soul Beast with shimmering silver-blue fur charged out.
It was a Silver Wolf with a hundred years of cultivation, and it was extremely fast.
A cold glint flickered in Gu Yue's eyes.
The next moment.
Two purple Soul Rings rose from beneath her feet.
The air temperature plunged. Several sharp ice spikes condensed out of thin air and shot toward the Silver Wolf with a piercing whistle.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The ice spikes easily pierced the Silver Wolf's skull.
Its charge came to an abrupt halt. Before it could even howl, its massive body crashed to the ground and dissolved into specks of light.
The next moment, a stream of pure energy flowed into her body, slightly increasing the age of her Soul Rings.
"The increase is so slight."
Gu Yue sensed the change and shook her head lightly.
Both her Soul Rings were at the thousand-year level. After killing this two-hundred-year-old Silver Wolf, the increase was divided between the two rings, adding only about ten years to each—almost negligible.
But she knew that increasing a Soul Ring's age was always difficult.
Ordinary students weren't even qualified to enter this place.
Those with family connections or powerful backgrounds could only come once a month.
But as long as she wanted, she could come here to hunt Soul Beasts almost every day.
The Soul Beasts here were illusions formed from virtual energy, not real living beings.
She wasn't softhearted. Killing these phantoms didn't weigh on her conscience at all.
And yet this "hunting ground," created by humans to make the most of Soul Beasts, only deepened her hatred of humanity.
Humans hadn't developed something like this out of some "kindhearted" desire to protect Soul Beasts.
They had simply feared that Soul Beasts would go completely extinct.
"I have to get stronger quickly..."
The thought grew ever more resolute in her heart.
Only absolute power could change the fate of the Soul Beasts.
She didn't linger. Her figure darted through the forest as she began searching for her next target.
Elsewhere.
"Help—"
Xie Xie fled through the forest in a sorry state.
At that moment, a pack of Two-Headed Wolves with blood-red eyes was chasing him. They had only a little over a hundred years of cultivation, but there were too many of them. He was no match for them alone.
"Okay, okay, I get it... Stop chasing me, will you? I was just passing through!"
Xie Xie hid in a tree dozens of meters tall.
Below, the Two-Headed Wolves gnawed at the trunk. They couldn't climb, but their teeth and claws were sharp enough to cut through the tree with ease.
"Seriously? I haven't killed a single Soul Beast yet. I can't accept this... Young Master Su... Big Sister Gu Yue, where are you? Come save me, will you..."
Xie Xie was on the verge of tears.
The tree he was in was about to topple.
Unable to contain his fear any longer, Xie Xie pressed the SOS Button.
Before you continue