Eve of the Final Exams

Deep within the small woods of Eastsea Park, the surrounding trees blocked out all sounds from the outside world.

"Di Tian, do you know who you nearly offended today?"

Gu Yue stood with her back to Di Tian. The softness in her black eyes from when she faced Xiling had faded, leaving only icy aloofness and lofty authority.

Di Tian remained silent. Even now, he still could not understand why his lord had treated that human with such an attitude.

"Xiling... he is the reincarnation of a God King... and a God King who can restore his strength at any time."

"Now do you understand?" Gu Yue revealed her previous speculation about Xiling.

Those few words struck Di Tian's ears like thunder.

Di Tian's body suddenly stiffened, and his golden pupils contracted to pinpoints. He was no ignorant fool; he knew better than anyone what the words "God King" meant.

He did not doubt her in the slightest. Gu Yue's judgment had never been wrong.

The gods of the Divine Realm possessed long lifespans. There had always been cases of deities who could not endure the loneliness of the Divine Realm and reincarnated to travel through the myriad worlds.

"Now do you understand?" Gu Yue watched his loss of composure, her voice calm and emotionless.

Di Tian lowered his head and knelt on one knee. "This subordinate... understands."

After the Spirit Ascension Platform training ended, entering the Spirit Ascension Platform once a week became a required course for Zero Class's first-year students.

Under the Spirit Ascension Platform's rules, every soul beast they killed would grant them one-tenth of its cultivation-year energy, which would merge into their soul rings.

For this reason, Tang Wulin had gained greatly during this trip to the Spirit Ascension Platform. His ten-year soul ring had evolved into a hundred-year soul ring.

"Tell me how you felt about yesterday's Spirit Ascension Platform." Wu Zhangkong stood behind the lectern and addressed the students below.

Seeing that no one stepped forward to answer, Wu Zhangkong began calling on them directly. "In the order you left the battlefield yesterday. Zhang Yangzi!"

"Yes!" Zhang Yangzi answered awkwardly. "My performance yesterday was absolutely terrible. Teacher Wu, I was wrong."

Wu Zhangkong waved a hand. "You don't need to admit your mistakes to me. Your life is your own. If yesterday had truly taken place in a soul beast forest, you would already be a corpse, perhaps not even leaving behind any bones."

"Tell me how you felt—about the Spirit Ascension Platform, or about yourself."

Zhang Yangzi's facial muscles twitched. "The world inside the Spirit Ascension Platform was too real..."

One after another, they stood up and spoke. Finally, Wu Zhangkong turned to Gu Yue.

Gu Yue rose to her feet and said, "The Spirit Ascension Platform is a real world. It felt as if I had truly entered an ancient great forest. I think I like it there. I like it very much."

"During battle, the soul beasts felt real. Everything seemed no different from reality."

"That's all?" Wu Zhangkong frowned slightly when Gu Yue sat back down.

Gu Yue nodded.

Wu Zhangkong's frown deepened. "Then explain to me how you found Tang Wulin."

Gu Yue froze for a moment. "Maybe it was a coincidence?"

"A coincidence?" Wu Zhangkong narrowed his eyes. "Xie Xie could call it a coincidence, but not you. After discovering the Millennium Crystal Bear, you seemed to have fixed on the direction you needed to flee."

"Your escape route adjusted according to Tang Wulin's position, and you're telling me that was a coincidence?"

Gu Yue fell silent. Tang Wulin also looked at her in surprise.

"Teacher Wu, I was the one who pointed Gu Yue in the right direction." Xiling spoke up then, helping Gu Yue out of the situation.

"Fine." Wu Zhangkong looked at Xiling, then at Gu Yue. He nodded and did not press further.

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the entire class.

"All of you, remember this."

"Soul power, soul skills, and strength are only the foundation. In a true battle of life and death, what matters is judgment, observation, and the ability to react on the spot."

"A large part of why all of you came out alive and intact yesterday was luck. At the crucial moment, you encountered Xiling, who gave you a hand."

"Next time, you may not be so lucky."

All the students lowered their heads. No one dared to argue.

Afterward, Wu Zhangkong gave each of them a summary, and class ended.

Xiling and Wu Zhangkong walked side by side. The latter said, "Even though you and Gu Yue are close, you shouldn't have spoken up for her just now."

Xiling merely smiled and said nothing.

Seeing this, Wu Zhangkong shook his head helplessly and said no more.

In the blink of an eye, the end of the first semester of their first year was approaching.

During this time, Gu Yue had reached the peak of level nineteen and was only one step away from level twenty. Tang Wulin was at level fifteen, and Xie Xie at level twenty-two.

Xiling, meanwhile, was at level thirty-five. His cultivation speed truly made others envious.

"Your final exams will consist of two parts. The first subject is the Spirit Ascension Platform."

"You need to persist inside the Spirit Ascension Platform for one hour. If you do, you will pass your final exam."

"However, I need to remind you that this time, you will be entering the riotous Spirit Ascension Platform."

Inside the Zero Class classroom, Wu Zhangkong spoke calmly to everyone.

Xie Xie asked in surprise, "Teacher, what does a riotous Spirit Ascension Platform mean?" He had never heard of such a thing before.

Wu Zhangkong explained, "The Spirit Ascension Platform has two riot periods every year. At first, they were caused by instability within the energy used to construct it."

"Later, as technology advanced, the riot periods of the Spirit Ascension Platform came under control, and their nature became somewhat special."

"During a riot period, the soul beasts inside the Spirit Ascension Platform become especially active, and their numbers increase as well."

"Whenever it enters a riot period, each of the Eighteen Heavenly Pillars has three hundred slots available for entry. This time, the five of you will receive five of those three hundred slots."

"The academy paid no small price to persuade the East Sea Spirit Pagoda, so you must cherish this opportunity."

"During a riot period, teams may enter the Spirit Ascension Platform together, but they may not exceed seven people. You can be directly teleported in together."

"This will test your teamwork. Remember, inside, you may not only encounter soul beasts, but also other soul masters who have entered."

"To you, they are equally dangerous. During a riot period, after a soul beast is killed, the spiritual energy it produces takes one hundred times longer to absorb. In other words, after you kill a soul beast, it will take one hundred seconds to absorb its spiritual energy."

"If you leave the Spirit Ascension Platform during that process, the remaining spiritual energy will be absorbed by the nearest soul master. This is a special situation that only occurs during a Spirit Ascension Platform riot period."

At that moment, Xiling added, "In other words, during a riot period in the Spirit Ascension Platform, others can steal your spiritual energy, and you can steal theirs."

After that, Wu Zhangkong gave Zero Class three days off so they could relax and prepare themselves.

This delighted Zhang Yangzi and the others immensely. Ever since entering Zero Class, apart from their one day off each week, they had never received any extra holiday. This was their first time.

After Wu Zhangkong left the classroom, the five of them immediately gathered around Xiling. Xie Xie spoke first. "Brother Ling, are you going into the riotous Spirit Ascension Platform this time?"

"Ever since your last time in the Spirit Ascension Platform, you haven't gone in with us again."