Spirit Sea Realm, Tang San's Gaze

"Then let's test it."

Jiang Jue took the soul guidance helmet and slowly placed it on his head.

The moment the switch was flipped, the numbers on the display shot upward like a rocket. In the span of a single breath, they broke through five hundred, entering the range of the Spirit Sea Realm.

But the speed of the numbers did not slow in the slightest; they continued to climb straight up, and the entire soul guidance helmet began to emit a vast, white halo of light.

No, where is this heading? Isn't Jiang Jue the same age as Na'er?

Vice Pagoda Master Liu watched the numbers, his hands clasped behind his back trembling violently. He shouted in disbelief within his heart.

At this age, one should be content staying in the Spirit Connection Realm!

To think that two geniuses, each appearing only once in a hundred years, had appeared before him.

Is it possible that something was tampered with in secret?

Vice Pagoda Master Liu was filled with suspicion.

"Beep, beep, beep!"

The white halo flickered, and the numbers on the display broke through the one-thousand mark. Even Gu Yue, standing to the side, was stunned for a moment, a ripple of emotion appearing in her beautiful eyes.

At this point, the speed of the rising numbers finally eased, eventually settling at: 1033.

Vice Pagoda Master Liu, who had been holding his breath, finally exhaled, though his throat still felt parched.

At the same time, he felt incredibly fortunate that he had previously taken the initiative to gift the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear External Soul Bone to Jiang Jue, establishing a bond of goodwill. If Jiang Jue continued to grow, the value of that favor would be immeasurable.

It's alright, I suppose, though it's still quite a distance from the Spirit Abyss Realm.

Jiang Jue took off the helmet, a flash of brilliance in his eyes as he whispered to himself.

Although he had been extremely busy over the past four years, traveling between the Douluo Plane and the Abyss Plane, this had significantly bolstered his spiritual power.

While his physical body could not enter the Abyss Plane, his spiritual consciousness could. By extracting Shadow Soldiers from the abyss, the energy would feed back into his shadow, but the spiritual power would feed directly into his consciousness.

Though the Ant Emperor Clan did not possess high intelligence, their numbers added up, making them more effective than ordinary spiritual-attribute treasures. Over four years, his spiritual power had grown to nearly double that of Na'er.

One had to remember that Na'er did not need to cultivate much; she only needed to slowly unseal the Silver Dragon King's origin within her, and the Silver Dragon King had once possessed divine consciousness.

"Gu Yue, it's your turn."

Na'er arched her delicate brows and looked at Gu Yue, a hint of adorable cunning flashing in her purple eyes.

She could tell at a glance that Gu Yue had been maintaining a level just slightly higher than an ordinary genius; in other words, she had been playing the pig to eat the tiger.

But now that she had encountered Great King Na'er and Jiang Jue, Gu Yue could only play the pig to eat the feed.

Gu Yue seemed to have seen through Na'er's thoughts long ago. With a light chuckle, she took the soul guidance helmet.

Immediately, the soul guidance helmet began to bloom with white light, and the numbers on it rose rapidly, reaching four hundred in the blink of an eye, followed quickly by five hundred.

"Oh no!"

Watching Gu Yue's meaningful smile, a sense of foreboding instantly welled up in Na'er's heart. Was Gu Yue going to cheat?

Under Na'er's intense gaze, Gu Yue's spiritual power reached 530, just a hair's breadth away from her own.

"Beep, beep!"

The soul guidance helmet emitted two more soft chirps, and Gu Yue's spiritual power finally settled at: 532.

It was exactly one point higher than Na'er's.

"My foolish Na'er, the moment you chose to test first, you were destined to be defeated."

Gu Yue cast a disdainful glance at Na'er. Even among those with world-shaking wisdom, there were gaps.

"Gu Yue, when you applied to join the Spirit Pagoda a week ago, didn't your test show your spiritual power was only a little over four hundred? How did it increase so much so suddenly?"

Vice Pagoda Master Liu asked, puzzled. Since when did geniuses of the Spirit Sea Realm start appearing in clusters?

"My family found a heavenly treasure for me. After consuming it, I broke through by accident."

Gu Yue smiled faintly. Although she was answering Vice Pagoda Master Liu, her eyes were fixed on Na'er.

"I see,"

Vice Pagoda Master Liu replied with understanding. He knew that Gu Yue came from a mysterious, ancient family. While he didn't know which one, their strength was beyond doubt.

What a convenient "accident"!

Na'er ground her teeth, secretly sending a telepathic message.

"I wonder what kind of waves these three will stir up on the continent in the future."

Watching the three before him, Vice Pagoda Master Liu sighed inwardly before speaking.

"Alright, my task is complete, so I shall take my leave. Pagoda Master Leng is waiting for you in her office."

With that, Vice Pagoda Master Liu turned and left, though he vaguely understood why Leng Yaozhu had asked him to conduct the spiritual power test.

"Creak!"

Just then, the silver-white metal wall opened again, and two soul guidance pods slid out, containing none other than Tang Wulin and Xie Xie.

"Finally out. It feels like there were far fewer thousand-year Soul Beasts in the Spirit Ascension Platform this time."

Xie Xie stepped out of the Soul Guidance Pod, smoothed his hair, and spoke to Tang Wulin with a hint of confusion.

"I suppose it's because too many people entered, but as long as we completed our prior spirit ascension goals, it's fine."

Tang Wulin replied, his gaze then shifting toward Jiang Xiu and the other two in the room.

"Gu Yue, you've come out too."

"How did the spirit ascension go?"

Xie Xie and Tang Wulin's voices rang out simultaneously.

"It was alright. I just forgot to go find you two later on, my apologies."

Gu Yue smiled apologetically.

"It's fine, as long as we can complete Teacher Wu's final exam, that's all that matters."

Xie Xie nodded slightly upon hearing this. This trip was not just for spirit ascension, but also Teacher Wu Changkong's final assessment for them, while the rest of Class Zero were in other rooms.

"Then let's go; Teacher Wu is waiting for us outside."

"You guys go ahead, I still have some things to do."

Gu Yue softly declined Xie Xie, as she still had to go find Leng Yaozhu with Jiang Xiu and the other girl later.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xiu's gaze remained fixed on Tang Wulin, his muscles tensed. His Spirit Sea Realm mental power tracked Tang Wulin's every move, his first and second skills ready to trigger at zero frames.

Because his Shadow Monarch martial soul had sent him a warning: the divine consciousness within Tang Wulin's mental sea seemed to have awakened and was currently observing them.

Gu Yue and Na'er, standing on either side of Jiang Xiu, exchanged a glance. A faint, seven-colored light shimmered in the depths of their eyes, and the phantoms of a silver dragon and a long spear flickered within their pupils.

"Let's go."

At this moment, Tang Wulin spoke, taking the lead as he walked toward the exit. However, his voice was not his usual self; it carried a sense of indifference.

"Hm? Wulin, is this your voice changing?"

Xie Xie, following behind Tang Wulin, was stunned and found it amusing.

But Tang Wulin remained silent. Once the silver Soul Guidance door opened, he simply walked out.

Jiang Xiu and the others kept their eyes locked on Tang Wulin's back. Just a second before the Soul Guidance door closed, Tang Wulin suddenly looked back. A brilliant Golden Trident flickered faintly between his brows, and his eyes were entirely azure as he stared deeply at the three people in the room.

This was something Tang Wulin could never have displayed.

But the next moment, the Soul Guidance door closed, severing all four lines of sight.

"Two Silver Dragon Kings, one variable. Truly, you have already invited your own deaths."

A voice suddenly rang out within Tang Wulin's mental sea.

"Tang San, so this divine consciousness of yours has truly awakened. Then, the next step is to erase you."

Jiang Xiu's purple eyes turned eerie, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.