Because of Money

Inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, blood stained the earth, and the corpses of their kin lay scattered everywhere. Yet, the young boy and girl before them stood as immovable as mountains. Even the Purple-Striped Demon Wolf clan, which viewed the God-Slaying Wind Baboon as mere prey, was now trembling in terror, their courage shattered to the core.

Witnessing their subordinates falling one after another into pools of blood, the remaining pack members lost all will to fight, thinking only of escape. The nine-hundred-year-old Purple-Striped Demon Wolf King threw its head back and howled, its voice filled with rage and resentment.

It lunged, biting down on a fleeing pack member to force the survivors to continue their charge in the most brutal manner possible.

"Sun Piercer!"

At that moment, An Lan let out a sharp shout that echoed like thunder across the sky, and the light from his first soul ring surged instantly.

A sharp, crimson glint flashed in his eyes. The Red Edge Spear in his hand ignited with a raging, scarlet brilliance, and violent, peerless soul power surged along the shaft, compressing entirely into the razor-sharp tip.

The power of the Sun Piercer condensed to its limit. A dazzling red light erupted from the spearhead, and a crimson lance of light, fully half a meter thick, tore through the air. Like a scorching sun falling to earth or a rainbow piercing the heavens, it shredded the air instantly. The airflow along its path was pulverized, emitting a series of explosions as it struck directly toward the Purple-Striped Demon Wolf King with the unstoppable force of a world-burning cataclysm.

The terrifying spear tip bore down on the pack. Seeing the light of the spear that seemed capable of tearing the heavens asunder, the Purple-Striped Demon Wolves turned pale, their eyes filled with nothing but despair. Yet, the instinct to survive ultimately overcame their fear; they spat out wind blades, purple lightning, and other innate soul skills, making a final, futile struggle.

An Lan flicked his wrist, and the spear tip swept horizontally. The power of the Sun Piercer swept outward, and wherever the crimson light passed, the demon wolves were annihilated, transforming into specks of soul power that filled the sky.

A massive wave of soul power poured into An Lan's first soul ring, making its glow even more brilliant. He tilted his chin slightly toward Na'er and said, "Finish it off. The Wolf King is yours."

"Oh." Na'er snapped out of her daze. She gripped the Silver Dragon Spear tightly with her small hands and gave a light flick of her wrist. The Silver Dragon Spear shot out, piercing with pinpoint accuracy into the skull of the Purple-Striped Demon Wolf King, which had one last breath remaining, extinguishing its life completely.

With the death of this nine-hundred-year-old Purple-Striped Demon Wolf King, a concentrated orb of pure soul power condensed instantly. Based on the ten-percent conversion rate, it was enough to increase the cultivation of Na'er's soul spirit, the Golden Hou, by ninety years.

An Lan was very considerate of the white-haired girl. Since they had agreed to split everything fifty-fifty, he had used his ultimate move to clear the field, naturally leaving the most bountiful soul power of the Wolf King for her as compensation.

Na'er's first soul ring had already reached the thousand-year level in previous battles, so she absorbed less than a third of the orb, and the remaining majority dissipated into the Spirit Ascension Platform.

She scratched her head awkwardly, her silver hair swaying gently, and whispered, "There's too much. I can't absorb it all."

An Lan was speechless. As the half-body of the Silver Dragon King, how could she possibly be unable to absorb a mere few decades of cultivation? She was clearly feigning incompetence on purpose.

However, he wasn't foolish enough to point it out. He simply shook his head gently and asked, "It's fine. How many years of cultivation does your Golden Hou have now?"

"One thousand two hundred years," Na'er blinked and replied truthfully.

An Lan nodded, calculating to himself. The quality of this Purple-Striped Demon Wolf pack was truly excellent. His Phantom Sea Spirit Kun had also gained two hundred years of cultivation from this hunt. Counting the soul power Na'er had wasted, their two soul spirits had gained a total of nearly five hundred years of cultivation.

"Let's head out," An Lan said, retracting his martial soul.

Na'er rubbed her little belly, suddenly feeling hungry, and nodded vigorously. "Okay!"

In the Spirit Ascension room, a crisp metallic sound rang out suddenly.

"Click, click..."

The two metal pods embedded in the walls slid out slowly, and the hatches opened steadily. An Lan and Na'er sat up from their respective pods one after the other.

Before An Lan could adjust to the light of the outside world, he felt a cool fingertip gently poke his cheek.

He opened his eyes to see a pair of lively, emerald-green eyes. Bai Zhicen was leaning in extremely close, her face filled with disbelief as she exclaimed, "A nine-hundred-year-old Purple-Striped Demon Wolf, and you just insta-killed it? You're not even pretending anymore, are you?"

She had been monitoring the battle inside the Spirit Ascension Platform the entire time and was amazed by the power of An Lan's first soul skill.

As hundred-year soul beasts, a nine-hundred-year-old Purple-Striped Demon Wolf King was not in the same league as an ordinary hundred-year Purple-Striped Demon Wolf; there was a world of difference between them.

Judging by how easily An Lan had struck, Bai Zhicen did not doubt for a second that with his current strength, he could already go head-to-head with a thousand-year soul beast.

"Sister Bai, you should learn more from Aunt Leng and my teacher. You're not a child anymore; be dignified." An Lan remained calm, reaching out to gently push away her face, which was leaning in so close he could feel the girl's warm breath on his nose.

Though he appeared lighthearted on the surface, he felt a small sense of pride seeing Bai Zhicen so shocked.

One had to know that Bai Zhicen and her sister Bai Haoze were no ordinary geniuses. When they were Title Douluo, they could use their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, "Instant Light," to hold their own against the semi-god-level Qiangu Dongfeng.

Moreover, Qiangu Dongfeng couldn't defeat them quickly and could only wait for their soul power to slowly exhaust itself.

In this era, the most threatening Martial Soul Fusion Skill was undoubtedly "Emotion Moves Heaven" by Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi. If they paid the price with their lives, they could forcibly seal the Abyssal Holy Monarch, who was at the level of a first-tier god, for three days.

Next was the Bai sisters' "Instant Light." If the two could grow to the Limit Douluo level, they would surely become the nightmare of all enemies.

Seeing that a little brat like An Lan dared to look down on her, Bai Zhicen felt a flash of annoyance and launched a sneak attack. With a 'smack,' her red lips pressed against his cheek as a small act of revenge.

After the kiss, she lifted her chin triumphantly, then curiously asked, "Little An Lan, how many years of cultivation does your soul spirit have now?"

"One thousand four hundred years."

An Lan reached up to wipe his cheek. While he felt a bit helpless about Bai Zhicen's flighty personality, he didn't mind being kissed by a beautiful white-haired girl with heterochromatic eyes.

Bai Zhicen couldn't help but click her tongue at the news. However, thinking that his Phantom Sea Spirit Kun already had twelve hundred years of cultivation, an increase of two hundred years this time was reasonable, so she continued, "Na'er's soul ring limit has already reached her body's capacity, but I see you still have room. Why not continue increasing your soul ring age in the Spirit Ascension Platform?"

"Because it costs money," An Lan said flatly.

A single spot in the primary Spirit Ascension Platform cost five hundred thousand federal credits, and even then, it was a case of demand far exceeding supply.

Each Spirit Ascension Platform only offered one thousand spots per month. With only eighteen Spirit Ascension Platforms in the entire Spirit Pagoda, soul masters across the entire Federation fought for these eighteen thousand spots. Even if ordinary people had the money, they couldn't get one.

As for the higher-tier intermediate and advanced Spirit Ascension Platforms, it went without saying—those without a background shouldn't even bother dreaming about them.