Spirit Ascension Platform

An Lan and Na'er followed Bai Haoze and Bai Zhicen, the two sisters, taking the elevator straight to the eighty-eighth floor of the Spirit Pagoda.

"An Lan, Na'er."

As the four stepped out of the elevator, a voice called out right on cue, and three figures emerged from the depths of the Spirit Ascension Room.

"His Excellency Heavenly Phoenix, His Excellency Purple Phoenix, His Excellency Judgment."

Seeing the three appear, the twin sisters bowed respectfully.

"Aunt Leng."

An Lan greeted them with a light laugh, then quickly walked toward his two masters, tilting his head and acting spoiled: "Teacher."

Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao leaned down, one on each side, smiling as they pinched An Lan's cheeks.

Le Lingzhao cautioned: "Little An Lan, the Spirit Ascension Platform uses brainwave connection; if you die inside, your sea of consciousness will suffer a shock and be damaged. If you encounter a soul beast you cannot handle, remember to press the SOS Signal Device in time to exit."

"Understood." An Lan nodded.

Without wasting time, after Leng Yaozhu gave Na'er a few final instructions, she led everyone toward the Spirit Ascension Room.

In the center of the Spirit Ascension Room, two metal cabinets resembling coffins had been waiting for a long time.

Leng Yaozhu spoke: "Na'er, An Lan, the place you are about to enter is the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform. It mostly contains ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts, with the occasional thousand-year soul beast appearing. I will warn you one last time: you are only at the one-ring level, so do not push yourselves. If you encounter a soul beast you cannot match, immediately press the SOS Signal Device and voluntarily withdraw."

"Understood," An Lan and Na'er replied in unison.

An Lan lay down inside the metal cabinet, and instrument suction cups quickly emerged, adhering seamlessly to his body.

The metal cabinet slid into the wall, and the journey to the Spirit Ascension Platform began. The last image in An Lan's eyes was the playful teacher Le Lingzhao blowing a kiss, and then everything turned pitch black.

Almost simultaneously, the soul guidance screen in the room, which was broadcasting the lush green mountains and clear waters inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, switched to An Lan and Na'er.

One red and one silver streak of light descended from the sky, landing perfectly.

Primary Spirit Ascension Platform.

The lingering excitement of the free-fall experience had not yet faded from Na'er's face, but An Lan had already turned to observe the surrounding environment.

Towering ancient trees rose from the ground, their branches intertwined like a canopy. The ground was covered in thick moss and fallen leaves, feeling soft and silent underfoot. Rich, almost tangible life energy flowed slowly through the forest, carrying the crisp scent of grass, trees, and soil.

He took a deep breath, feeling as if every meridian in his body was being nourished by the gentle energy, leaving him feeling completely refreshed.

There were no traces of human activity, only endless greenery and the overlapping sounds of insects and beasts.

Ten thousand years ago, this would have been the most ordinary scenery in the Star Dou Great Forest, but in the present day, this was a true "ancient forest landscape," visible only within the Spirit Ascension Platform.

"Na'er, which way?"

An Lan asked for Na'er's opinion, while secretly observing her to see if she had any reaction to this scenery, which was identical to the Star Dou Great Forest.

The facts proved he had overthought it; the silver-haired girl's face was filled with novelty, reacting just like an ordinary person going on a trip and encountering beautiful scenery they had never seen before.

The reality was as he had expected: although she had only been in the human world for three days, Na'er had already completely cut ties with soul beasts in her heart, considering herself a noble member of the Spirit Pagoda.

As for those soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest that wanted to skin her and use her as material for the Silver Dragon King's fusion, they didn't even count as poor relatives to her.

Loyalty!

Na'er, who was admiring the scenery—so different from the "steel forest" of Shrek City—heard An Lan's question, shifted her gaze slightly, and pointed in a direction: "This way."

With that, she stepped into the dense forest.

Since he didn't know the way either, An Lan had no objections and followed right behind her.

In the outside room, Leng Yaozhu, Leng Qingning, and Le Lingzhao, along with the Bai sisters—five people in total—were staring at the soul guidance screen watching An Lan and Na'er. Thus, even though Leng Yaozhu had cleared out the entire eighteenth floor of the Spirit Pagoda, the Spirit Ascension Room was not exactly deserted.

The Spirit Ascension Platform was a semi-real, semi-virtual space created by the Spirit Pagoda, home to millions of soul beasts, providing combat training for federal soul masters while incidentally earning a tidy sum of money.

In addition to providing combat experience, after a soul master kills a soul beast in the Spirit Ascension Platform, they can absorb ten percent of the soul beast's energy.

An Lan was currently at the one-ring level; if he killed a hundred-year soul beast, his first soul ring would directly gain ten years of cultivation. For a two-ring soul master, it would add five years to each of their two rings, and so on for three-ring, four-ring, and beyond.

Therefore, provided a soul master's physique and mental power could accommodate high-level soul rings, the earlier one performed spirit ascension, the easier it was.

However, An Lan's first soul ring had an initial age of 1,200 years, and Na'er's was 990 years, so even with spirit ascension, it wouldn't add much to their age.

Thus, Leng Yaozhu's goal this time was not to let An Lan and Na'er ascend their spirits, but to observe their actual combat to understand their abilities and cultivate them accordingly in the future.

On the screen, An Lan stood tall like a pine, his right hand gripping the Red Edge Spear, which glowed with a crimson halo. Beside him, Na'er's silver hair hung lightly, and she held the Silver Dragon Spear slanted in her hand, the silver light at the tip restrained yet hiding a murderous intent.

The boy and girl moved through the forest side by side, their steps light yet cautious, constantly monitoring the movements around them.

Suddenly, An Lan stopped. His brows twitched slightly as his gaze swept toward the depths of the dense forest to the left. His soul power tightened quietly, and Na'er also sensed the anomaly, her eyes sharpening.

The five people, including Leng Yaozhu, were also drawn to it, and then they saw the ghostly green beast eyes in the shadows of the dense forest, their brows furrowing involuntarily.

"Purple-Striped Demon Wolf... pack!"

More than thirty ghostly green pupils flickered in the dim forest. They were agile demon wolves, their bodies covered in deep purple fur, with strange dark golden patterns winding along their spines. Their teeth and claws were sharp, their wolf eyes fierce, and they were full of aggression.

"God-Slaughtering Clan, interesting!"

An Lan's expression was calm as he instantly recalled the information about the soul beasts before him.

Purple-Striped Demon Wolf, the most severe father of the Wind Baboon.

Ten thousand years ago, during the first battle of the second-generation Emotion God Huo Yuhao, if the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hadn't arrived in time, he would have been solo-killed by a Wind Baboon.

Since the Wind Baboon of the God-Slaughtering Clan is on the menu for the Purple-Striped Demon Wolf, the Purple-Striped Demon Wolf is naturally the predator of the God-Slaughtering Clan.

"A pack of Purple-Striped Demon Wolves..." Na'er's expression turned grave, but then the corners of her mouth curled up as she sighed, "Good luck!"

Her luck was indeed good; if she wiped out this many Purple-Striped Demon Wolves, she could boost her Golden Hou's cultivation by at least three hundred years.

Her goal this time was to raise the Golden Hou's cultivation to twelve hundred years, which would mean exceeding the mission requirements.

An Lan also wore a faint smile. Although the Purple-Striped Demon Wolf and the Wind Baboon both roamed the outer circle of the Star Dou Great Forest and the wolves were the bane of the Wind Baboons, they weren't much stronger and didn't even qualify as a post-meal dessert for top-tier soul beasts like the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear.

"Awoo--!"