Simulated Star Dou Great Forest Zone

"Phew, finally done."

In the room provided for the new students to rest.

Li Changsheng slowly withdrew the Mysterious Heaven Skill internal energy he had been projecting.

Beads of sweat the size of beans already dotted his forehead, and the Night-Startling Spear mark between his brows had actually dimmed bit by bit, losing that intense, murderous aura it had possessed before.

He looked down at Li Zishuo, who was sitting cross-legged and circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

Li Changsheng nodded with considerable satisfaction.

Just moments ago, taking advantage of his leisure time and under the step-by-step guidance of the God of Wisdom, he had opened up a cultivation route for the Mysterious Heaven Skill for Li Zishuo, taught him the mental cultivation method, and offered pointers on the specific practice of the Mysterious Heaven Skill in somewhat straightforward terms.

Although he didn't fully understand it himself, with the God of Wisdom present, nothing was a problem.

Li Changsheng was not a stingy person; in his view, a genius was a genius precisely because, given the same opportunities, they would certainly be able to far surpass others. If they could not, then they could not be called a true genius.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill was formidable. By mobilizing one's own spirit power to reach a near-ultimate state of meditation, and even connecting the meridians and the dantian, it was likely an extraordinary technique even in a world where one could draw energy into the body.

Li Zishuo was still in the midst of cultivation, having already entered a state of deep meditation.

Li Changsheng turned around and only then realized that it was nearly midnight.

He did not disturb Li Zishuo, turned, and returned to his own room.

Through several days of meditative practice, Li Changsheng's own improvement had not been particularly rapid.

He stayed in his room, sat cross-legged, and entered a state of deep meditation almost instantly.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning.

When a dazzling, leaping spot of light faintly emerged from the distant mountain ranges, Li Changsheng stopped his meditation early and came to the window, staring at the endless, surging currents of energy in the distant sky. The vast and mighty aura flowed continuously, transforming into pure power that poured into his eyes, converting into wisps of purple radiance.

The practice of the Purple Demon Eye had allowed Li Changsheng's eyes to evolve to an exaggerated degree.

But it was still far from enough.

Under the drive of the God of Wisdom, the Purple Demon Eye could even manipulate a person's soul.

Yet, Li Changsheng used it only for observation.

A quarter of an hour later, only when the sun broke through the shell of the distant firmament and descended upon the earth did Li Changsheng withdraw his gaze with a hint of reluctance.

He prepared himself and then walked out the door.

The moment he stepped out.

Li Changsheng encountered someone.

The Seven Absolute Zither Master.

She stood at the doorway, seemingly having waited there for a long time.

Li Changsheng was taken aback, his brows furrowing beneath his mask. "Something the matter?"

The Seven Absolute Zither Master did not speak; she lightly swiped her palm across her fair, translucent wrist, took a short sword from her storage spirit tool, and handed it to Li Changsheng.

"This is?" Li Changsheng took the short sword.

It felt icy to the touch. The short sword remained sheathed, yet he could perceive a hint of sharpness, and at the same time, it retained traces of fluctuating spirit power.

"Don't die."

The Seven Absolute Zither Master said something inexplicable, then walked away down the adjacent corridor with light, brisk steps.

Li Changsheng felt baffled.

At the same time, he noticed that the Seven Absolute Zither Master's silver-white hair was not loose today, but tied into two braids with light purple silk cords, which looked quite beautiful as they bounced with her steps.

"This seems to be a spirit tool?" Li Changsheng had read the Level 10 Spirit Master's Notes and had a certain understanding of offensive spirit tools.

He immediately injected his own spirit power.

Pfft!

The air hissed, and a series of sounds resembling bird cries rang out instantly.

At the same time, the air suddenly turned somewhat chilly.

On the spirit tool he held, an Ice Bird with wings spread wide instantly took form, gliding through the air in several arcs. It seemed to find no danger, and subsequently, it actually flew straight back into the short sword.

"Eh? What kind of spirit tool is this?" Li Changsheng was delighted by the discovery and tried it a few more times.

The consumption of spirit power did not seem very high, and as for the attack power...

The Ice Bird that formed seemed to possess intelligence; it would not launch an attack as long as it did not detect anything that would cause harm to Li Changsheng.

Just as Li Changsheng was about to head out to assemble.

From the room next door—Li Zishuo's room—a shrill, childish, and incredibly excited scream suddenly rang out.

"I succeeded! Level 10 spirit power! Yay!"

Sounds of this nature grew closer, and following that, the door opened.

Li Changsheng saw Li Zishuo, who looked exhausted but was in an incredibly excited state of mind, trot out.

He first ran straight to Li Changsheng's room, only to discover that Li Changsheng was out.

Immediately, he lunged forward, dropping directly to one knee and looking up at Li Changsheng. The excitement stirred once more on his pale face as he hugged Li Changsheng's leg, rubbing his small face against it. "Big Brother, I truly admire you so much."

Li Changsheng was stunned.

That was right, he was completely dumbfounded.

It wasn't because he was shocked by how quickly the other had broken through.

Rather, he was taken aback by Li Zishuo's sudden display.

The cultivation speed of a Spirit Master at the Spirit Scholar level was naturally fast, and when combined with special methods, the results were doubled with half the effort.

Indeed, when Li Changsheng had opened the meridians for Li Zishuo, he had used a small amount of the blood energy stored within the Night-Startling Spear to assist him, which had helped him improve a great deal—a very great deal.

Li Zishuo was clever and bright, but his innate talent was slightly lacking.

Li Changsheng's decision to help Li Zishuo wasn't purely because he was his descendant; he also felt a sense of kinship with the boy. He wanted to help, so he did—that was enough.

Was this not a beautiful scene to behold on the path of cultivation?

"Alright, get up, get up. You can admire me even more in the future." Li Changsheng pulled Li Zishuo to his feet. Looking at the young, innocent, and guileless face revealed now that the mask was off, Li Changsheng offered a faint smile and teased, "Don't tell me this kneeling business was also taught by your father?"

Li Zishuo straightened up, startled for a moment before he began fiddling with his fingers, looking slightly embarrassed. "Actually, I learned it from that part where Ancestor Tang San took on his master..."

Although Li Zishuo didn't know much, he was certainly aware that it was only with Li Changsheng's help that he had reached his current level. It had only been a few days! His rank had reached such a standard, so he naturally admired Li Changsheng from the bottom of his heart. He swore to himself that he would protect Big Brother! Yes, Big Brother!

Li Changsheng shook his head with a chuckle upon hearing this.

It was true; Tang San's growth journey had been sung as a classic over the past ten thousand years, and there was no shortage of storytelling-style accounts of it.

"Alright, now we can hunt spirit beasts together; it'll be good to have someone to look out for. Let's go quickly, or we'll miss breakfast."

"Okay!" Li Zishuo nodded heavily, the excitement on his face still incredibly intense, with a faint tremor visible in his cheeks.

"Put on your mask."

Stowing away the spirit tool given to him by the Seven Absolute Zither Master, Li Changsheng and Li Zishuo, who had retrieved his mask, walked outside together.

Because they were staying in a dormitory building similar to a tenement, they still encountered several people wearing different masks as they headed downstairs.

Through his observations, Li Changsheng had figured it out.

At the Pre-Education Academy, masks were categorized by grade.

First to third years wore white masks.

Fourth years wore yellow stamen masks.

Fifth years wore purple masks.

Ordinary sixth-year students wore black masks. Those like the Centrifugal Killing Mirror, who were sixth-year prodigies, could wear their masks as they pleased.

And although the Seven Absolute Zither Master was a new student like Li Changsheng, she enjoyed priority because she was the disciple of the Pre-Education Academy's headmaster.

These upperclassmen all hurried downstairs one by one and then left in a rush; it was rare to see anyone interacting.

This might have had a lot to do with the fact that each dormitory only housed one person.

When Li Changsheng and Li Zishuo arrived, the Centrifugal Killing Mirror and the Seven Absolute Zither Master were already waiting by the path.

This time, the instructor Gu Feibai, whom they hadn't seen in a while, had also come.

As an aside, the elegant, wealthy young woman was not there.

After Li Changsheng and Li Zishuo explained the situation to Gu Feibai and received his confirmation, Li Zishuo was also permitted to enter the Simulated Star Dou Great Forest zone to hunt a spirit beast and attach a spirit ring to his martial soul.

Gu Feibai did not seem surprised that Li Zishuo had improved so quickly.

Indeed, for a Spirit Master at the Spirit Scholar stage, the rate of improvement was quite fast under normal cultivation conditions.

There were over thirty new students gathered for the assessment.

It seemed this was the current batch of students; a portion of other Spirit Masters would likely arrive after some time.

Led by Gu Feibai, Li Changsheng and the others arrived at the Simulated Star Dou Great Forest zone.

Once they were close, Li Changsheng realized that his previous observations had been slightly off.

Behind the heavy spirit tool railings, what was blocked off was not merely a forest, but a terrifying, man-eating forest that raged incessantly, quiet yet horrifying, with clouds churning in a sinister manner!

Gu Feibai was quite solemn as he faced the new students this time. He said in a deep voice, "You can still choose to give up now. Once you enter the simulated forest, your life and death are in your own hands. Saying this might violate school rules, but I still want to offer a reminder: don't be too stubborn, thinking only of hunting a spirit beast by yourself. That is the thought of a fool. You can form teams, and you can snatch spirit beasts from others—all of that is allowed. The only thing you cannot do is kill. Of course, that depends on your own self-discipline..."

"However..."

At this point, Gu Feibai took out something resembling a sphere and presented it to everyone.

"Each of you must wear this Spirit Power Recording Device. If any of you die, it will be easier for us to retrieve it and see whether you were killed by a spirit beast or by another person. You might get away with it if you aren't discovered, but if you are caught torturing or killing an examinee, then I'm sorry—your little head will be placed in front of the victim's tombstone."

He then distributed the strange spirit tool to everyone.

"By the way, this thing cannot be damaged or discarded, and it must be returned afterward. Whoever loses it, hmph, can go pay the fine themselves."

"Also, there is no specific time limit for the assessment. As long as you can walk out of here alive, any time is fine, but it would be best not to keep me waiting too long."

Li Changsheng had been listening from start to finish.

This Gu Feibai was definitely here to stir up trouble.

Inciting others to not only hunt soul beasts themselves but also to snatch those left on the brink of death by others...

Of course, the prerequisite was that one's martial soul had to be compatible enough to absorb a dying soul beast for such a theft to be possible.

However, after Gu Feibai's explanation, the difficulty level had undoubtedly spiked.

Naturally, this had nothing to do with Li Changsheng; he was simply here to crush the weak.

After all, he was already nearing level fifteen.

Soon after, they lined up in turn to enter the Simulated Star Dou Forest zone.

Before they had even fully entered, several fellow townsmen had already begun forming teams.

When it was almost time for Li Changsheng and Li Zishuo to enter, the Seven Absolute Zither Master walked over once again, this time handing Li Changsheng another piece of paper.

Li Changsheng glanced at it and discovered it was a map, marked with the habitats of various soul beasts within the Simulated Star Dou Forest, as well as their age ranges.

Why are you helping me?

Li Changsheng certainly wouldn't ask such a tactless question.

He nodded at the Seven Absolute Zither Master as a gesture of thanks; although he might not necessarily need this, he still appreciated the sentiment.

As the Seven Absolute Zither Master turned to leave, she repeated the same words as before: "Stay alive."