Returning to the Spirit Pagoda

"Click!"

The door to dormitory 205 creaked open. It was nearing midnight, and the others in the room were already asleep. Tang Wulin walked in and collapsed onto his bed, his face etched with exhaustion.

Over the past few hours, Yao Lao had imparted a vast amount of alchemy knowledge to Tang Wulin. While he could grasp most of it, there was one point Yao Lao emphasized: he needed to find a type of Heavenly Flame, as such fire could significantly elevate an alchemist's standard.

What exactly was a Heavenly Flame? Tang Wulin had no idea.

Yao Lao explained that it was a flame similar to his own Bone Chilling Flame, with each variety possessing unique properties.

Tang Wulin had seen the Bone Chilling Flame before; he had even briefly wielded it while breaking the first seal of the Golden Dragon King. It was a peculiar fire, freezing on the outside yet scorching within—a type of flame he had never heard of in the Douluo Continent.

"Haa~"

Tang Wulin let out a long sigh and lay flat on the bed. He didn't continue his cultivation today, instead drifting off into a deep, heavy sleep... a silence before the storm.

The next morning.

"Smack!"

A palm landed heavily on Tang Wulin's backside.

"Ouch!"

Tang Wulin yelped and bolted upright. When he saw Xie Xie standing by the bed, he flopped back down.

"Xie Xie, what are you doing?"

"I didn't think you were the type to sleep in! What were you doing last night? Coming back so late." Xie Xie said, arms crossed.

"Yeah, Class Monitor, we've never seen you this tired before!" Yun Xiao added while tidying up his things nearby.

Tang Wulin rubbed his eyes, checked the time on his Soul Guidance Communicator, and stretched. If you guys had to listen to hours of alchemy theory, you'd know how exhausting it is, he muttered to himself.

"Let's go, time for class. This is our first lesson since being promoted to Class One! Plus, our rewards for the Class Promotion Tournament should be arriving," Zhou Changxi said.

"You guys go ahead, I'll be there in a moment." Tang Wulin put on his clothes, grabbed his toiletries, and headed for the washroom.

"Alright, we're heading out then."

"Mm." Tang Wulin waved them off.

Inside the washroom, as Tang Wulin finished brushing his teeth, a thought crossed his mind, and a trace of worry clouded his face.

He had been pondering one thing lately: how he could grow stronger faster.

He had arrived at an answer: the Golden Dragon King seals.

Old Tang had said that, barring any accidents, the second seal would likely manifest before he turned fourteen. By then, Tang Wulin would need a cultivation level of at least rank 20 to absorb it.

However, after collecting the four spiritual herbs required for the second seal, a question immediately arose: could he break through to rank 20 within these two years and then absorb the seal on his own?

He hadn't asked Old Tang about this yet, but he felt it was possible. In a sense, he had absorbed the first seal on his own; had it not been for various external stimuli, the first seal wouldn't have loosened for another year.

Tang Wulin needed to be stronger. He still had to find Na'er and gain enough power to rescue his parents.

And the power of the Golden Dragon King was Tang Wulin's "shortcut"!

As the mist on the mirror faded, Tang Wulin's eyes grew resolute. A firm determination had taken root in his heart.

Tang Wulin was the last to enter the classroom today.

Teacher Wu was already sitting at the podium before class started, his eyes slightly lowered, lost in thought.

"Teacher Wu!"

Tang Wulin greeted him softly.

Teacher Wu opened his eyes and gave a slight nod.

"Ring, ring, ring!"

The shrill school bell rang, and Teacher Wu slowly stood up.

"I believe many of you already know what today's lesson is," Teacher Wu said in a deep voice. "Most of you have likely been to the Spirit Pagoda twice before, so today will be your third time."

With that, three exquisitely crafted white cards appeared in Teacher Wu's hand.

"Is this a Spirit Ascension Platform Pass?" A glimmer of light flashed in Tang Wulin's eyes as he looked at the cards.

With a flick of his wrist, Teacher Wu accurately tossed the three white cards to Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue.

A cold, metallic texture greeted Tang Wulin's touch.

"This card is actually made of Hundred Refinement metal."

Tang Wulin's eyes brightened, shocked by the discovery. While Hundred Refinement was merely the entry-level threshold for a blacksmith, it was still quite expensive. The fact that the Spirit Pagoda used it for their cards spoke volumes about their immense wealth.

"Everyone, head downstairs. We are gathering to go to the East Sea Spirit Pagoda."

After dropping this instruction, Teacher Wu walked out of the classroom, and the others followed in small groups.

Today, six classes from the East Sea Spirit Master Academy were heading to the Spirit Pagoda. While only a few would actually be able to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, the others would be there to observe and learn, gaining a bit of experience for their own future entries.

It was the same type of bus Tang Wulin had ridden when he first arrived.

Dean Long Hengxu sat personally on the Class One bus, chatting with Wu Zhangkong at the front, though Wu Zhangkong seemed to pay him little mind.

At this moment, Xie Xie sat down beside Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, smiling as he said, "Do you know? Actually, it's possible to hunt for soul rings in the Spirit Ascension Platform."

"Hunt for soul rings?" The term was somewhat foreign to Tang Wulin; after all, soul beasts were nearly extinct, and with the only path for soul rings being artificial soul spirits, it was impossible for anyone to hunt for them anymore.

Gu Yue's expression was even more shocked than Tang Wulin's as she looked at Xie Xie and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Xie Xie explained, "In a sense, the Spirit Ascension Platform is a replica of the Star Dou Great Forest. Although the soul beasts inside aren't real, they do possess a sliver of self-awareness. So, if you can get them to willingly become your soul spirit, you can actually bring them out."

"If that's really the case, wouldn't the Spirit Pagoda lose a fortune?" Tang Wulin asked.

"You're overthinking it. Since the Spirit Ascension Platform was established, very few people have ever succeeded in bringing out a soul spirit. You have to realize that soul beasts are naturally hostile toward soul masters; the difficulty of getting them to willingly become our soul spirits is unimaginable," Xie Xie said, resting his head on his hands as he leaned back against the seat.

"So that's how it is," Tang Wulin said, lost in thought.

"Of course, I'm just saying. Getting a soul spirit is out of the question; if I'm lucky enough to increase the age of my soul ring, I'll be happy. That way, my first soul ring will also be at the thousand-year level," Xie Xie said with a smile.

Throughout the journey, Xie Xie kept telling Tang Wulin and Gu Yue about various things regarding the Spirit Ascension Platform; anyone who didn't know better would have thought he visited it all the time!

About an hour and a half later, the bus finally came to a slow stop.

The sunlight was blinding today. After Tang Wulin stepped off the bus, what met his eyes was a tower hundreds of meters tall. Extending from the base to the upper levels, the entire structure was built from a deep black metal, exuding an oppressive aura.

The Spirit Pagoda Tang Wulin had visited in Aolai City to awaken his martial soul and obtain his soul spirit was worlds apart from the one before him! Even the Blacksmith Association paled in comparison to it.