Spirit Ascension Platform

"All right, let's go." Long Hengxu's voice roused them. He smiled and said, "When I first came to the Eighteen Sky Pillars, I felt the same way you do."

"But after coming here many times, the feeling faded. Still, the murals on every one of the Eighteen Sky Pillars are especially worth admiring."

Wu Zhangkong added, "Steady yourselves. Once you enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, you will have no one to rely on but yourselves."

Led by Long Hengxu and Wu Zhangkong, they entered an elevator. It descended for a full three minutes before coming to a stop.

Afterward, Long Hengxu took out a strangely designed card and handed it to the staff here. They were then brought into a circular room.

Then they heard a staff member say, "There are five slots for entering the Junior Spirit Ascension Platform, with no time limit."

"When you can no longer withstand the dangers inside, press your distress signal device and you will return here."

"Five slots? But there are six of us!" Xie Xie asked in confusion.

His question immediately made the others realize it as well. "Yeah, why are there only five slots?"

The staff member did not immediately answer their question. Instead, he looked toward Xiling at the back, his tone becoming somewhat respectful. "Lord Xiling, will you be entering the Junior Spirit Ascension Platform this time?"

Xiling's identity within the Spirit Pagoda was no secret, but to the others, that "Lord" was like a thunderclap from clear skies, leaving Gu Yue and the rest stunned.

Other than Long Hengxu, not even Wu Zhangkong knew that Xiling was from the Spirit Pagoda.

Under everyone's astonished gazes, Xiling smiled faintly. "Don't look at me like that. Keep it low-key, low-key."

Then he looked at the staff member and said, "I'll go in and have some fun this time. Sorry to trouble you."

"Not at all. It's my duty." After explaining a few precautions, the staff member immediately pressed a button, and six metal pods slowly slid out from the wall beside them.

The six of them lay down inside. Darkness fell before their eyes, followed by an intense sensation of spinning, and the surrounding scenery instantly lit up.

What came into view was a vast primeval forest.

Xiling shook his head and began surveying the surroundings. Ancient trees towered around him, while grass and foliage grew thickly everywhere. Dense vegetation tangled together, making it impossible to tell where any path might be.

As his gaze swept over the area, Gu Yue and the others were already nowhere to be seen.

"Looks like we were randomly scattered during teleportation."

As he thought this, Xiling took one step forward and vanished from where he stood, appearing in midair.

Looking down at the endless sea of green below, Xiling sighed inwardly. The greed of the human heart...

Just then, a dark mass swept rapidly toward him above the layered forest canopy in the distance. They were Black Feather Birds, no fewer than thirty or forty of them!

As common flocking flying soul beasts in the Junior Spirit Ascension Platform, they generally possessed ten- to hundred-year cultivation. They were incredibly fast and vicious by nature. When gathered in flocks, even Great Soul Master-level soul masters could only flee in disarray upon encountering them.

Clearly, this airspace was their hunting ground.

To the Black Feather Birds, Xiling, hovering in the air, had already become a lamb awaiting slaughter.

"Chirp! Chirp chirp!!"

Several leading Black Feather Birds at the front had blood-red eyes. They screeched sharply and led the entire flock in a frenzied dive!

Xiling was speechless. Were they really this eager to come and throw their lives away?

He merely glared at the flock. Invisible spatial power spread outward, and before the Black Feather Birds could even react, they turned into a cloud of spiritual energy that scattered through the air, leaving not even bones behind.

Outside, Wu Zhangkong and Long Hengxu watched the giant screen in silence. Even they, who had been observing all along, had no idea how Xiling had acted.

At that moment, Zhang Yangzi was the first to be eliminated. He sat up blankly.

Seeing this, Long Hengxu glared at him irritably. "Look at Xiling, then look at yourself. You dared to fly around everywhere without the strength to back it up."

Inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, Xiling was walking through the air. With every step, his figure appeared hundreds of meters away.

His gaze continually swept over the ground below. Any soul beast that attacked him exploded into a cloud of spiritual energy before it could even get close, creating an exceptionally spectacular sight.

Wang Jinxi leaned against a large tree, gasping for breath. Having just gone through a fierce battle, his stamina had plummeted, and less than forty percent of his soul power remained.

What he did not see was a massive figure slowly descending toward him from the branches overhead. "Why did it suddenly get so dark?"

Wang Jinxi found it strange and instinctively looked up. He saw a human face rapidly dropping toward him.

It was a woman's beautiful face, except it was growing from the abdomen of an enormous spider!

A Human-Faced Demon Spider, known as a soul beast killer. At a hundred years of cultivation, it could contend with ordinary thousand-year soul beasts. An old friend from the Douluo series.

Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Jinxi rolled and lunged away. Before he could get back to his feet, his entire body suddenly tightened, as if something had wrapped around him.

No matter how he struggled, he could not break free. He could not even reach his distress signal device.

Just as he thought he was finished, a black-and-white spear with sharply distinct colors pierced through the Human-Faced Demon Spider's head.

Sshhk—!

Dark green viscous venom mixed with fragments of spider shell splattered everywhere, while the Human-Faced Demon Spider's life force rapidly dissipated at a visible rate.

Its enormous body crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up dust across the forest floor. It went completely still.

The spider silk binding Wang Jinxi also instantly lost all its toughness with the soul beast's death, falling limply away.

He had escaped death!

Wang Jinxi froze completely in place. His back was already soaked with cold sweat, and his heart pounded wildly.

He stared blankly at the fallen Human-Faced Demon Spider before him, his mind completely empty. He had not even recovered from the terror of moments ago.

"What are you standing there for?" A familiar voice rang out, jolting Wang Jinxi back to his senses. He looked at the white-haired figure before him, his eyes filled with shock and reverence.

Xiling put away the Subspace Spear and glanced at him. "Be careful. You will not be this lucky next time."

"Also, although the Spirit Ascension Platform is virtual, your senses are real. You will still feel pain when you are injured."

"If the Human-Faced Demon Spider had eaten you just now, then you really would have been eaten. That would deal an enormous blow to your mental will. Do you understand?"

Wang Jinxi shuddered and hurriedly nodded hard. "I understand! Thank you, Brother Ling!"

Xiling shook his head, not taking such a small matter to heart. "No need to thank me. We're teammates."

"From here on, you'll have to rely on yourself. I won't act again."

With that, he vanished from where he stood, coming without a trace and leaving without one.

The Spirit Ascension Platform was itself a trial for them. If he had to step in for everything, then this trial would be meaningless.

Elsewhere, Gu Yue strolled through the forest. Her eyes were slightly unfocused. The dense vegetation and fresh air gave her a feeling as though she had been transported into another lifetime.

She greatly enjoyed the feeling. "The Spirit Ascension Platform... what a miracle."

When she had fused with Na'er, she had gained part of Na'er's memories, including the knowledge Xiling had explained to Na'er about the Spirit Ascension Platform.

Compared with the original story's shut-in of ten thousand years, Gu Yue knew and understood far more.

But knowing something and experiencing it were two entirely different things.