Classic Match: Eastsea Academy Class 0's First Spirit Ascension Platform Battle

Eastsea Academy Class 0's first practical battle in the Spirit Ascension Platform.

Director Long Hengxu and Teacher Wu Changkong watched the battle in real time from outside.

The four were placed into a virtual forest map, their landing points separated from one another.

Four giant screens streamed their individual perspectives in real time.

The camera turned to Chen An.

He lowered his head and glanced at the conspicuous red emergency exit button on the back of his hand.

It was an emergency device designed specifically for Soul Masters. In a life-threatening crisis, they could leave with a single press. Many students with weaker nerves relied on it to protect their minds. It was basically the emergency withdrawal button in a game.

They had come here to hone themselves in actual combat, accumulate battle experience, and elevate their Soul Rings.

But when it came to battle, Chen An had long since accumulated more than enough in his mind.

The Junior Spirit Ascension Platform also offered very little spiritual power. Coming here gave him only two options: kill time or see whether there was anything that could affect the Roulette.

Towering ancient trees stood densely packed together, while the chirping of insects and birds rose and fell through the forest.

There was no sign of the other three anywhere nearby.

Chen An simply adopted the mindset of a tourist and strolled leisurely through the woods, as though he were taking a walk through his own backyard.

The camera shifted to Tang Wuling.

A vast expanse of vibrant Bluesilver Grass spread around her. She simply sat down cross-legged amid the grass and closed her eyes to enter meditation.

"Is she asleep?"

On the viewing platform, Wu Changkong quietly explained to Long Hengxu beside him.

"It's Martial Soul resonance. Tang Wuling's Martial Soul has a natural affinity with Bluesilver Grass. Staying here can slightly accelerate her cultivation."

It seemed that right from the start, someone had chosen to go AFK and farm. She was remarkably relaxed.

The view shifted to Xie Xie, the first person in this match to encounter a potential opponent.

From the moment he entered the virtual forest, Xie Xie had remained extremely tense.

He had long heard countless rumors about the Spirit Ascension Platform. He was eagerly hoping to gain something here—hunt Soul Beasts and improve the quality of his Soul Spirit and Soul Rings.

He fully utilized the advantages of an agility-type Soul Master, lightly concealing himself among the high branches. He deliberately softened his footsteps and kept even his breathing faint as he cautiously scanned his surroundings.

He silently calculated, It'd be best to run into a lone Soul Beast. A successful ambush would be simple and efficient.

"Hm?"

A glint flashed through Xie Xie's eyes as a clear disturbance came from behind a tree.

Excitement welled up in his heart. He quickly adjusted his position to prepare an ambush, leaping onto another branch and peering down.

The bushes below shook wildly. There was definitely some clumsy, hulking creature hiding inside!

The Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger appeared in his hands at the same time as his entire body tensed in readiness.

Just then, something lightly poked his back.

Without turning around, Xie Xie casually swatted backward.

"I'm busy. Quit messing around."

It poked him again.

Xie Xie impatiently swatted again. "Hey, I said I'm busy."

The moment the words left his mouth, a chill shot up his spine.

They had been scattered at the start of the Spirit Ascension Platform. There were no teammates anywhere near him!

Xie Xie's entire body stiffened as he slowly turned around.

It turned out to be a thick branch extending from the large tree beneath his feet.

Xie Xie blinked, expressionlessly put away his Martial Soul, and silently prepared to slip away.

He had been so focused on the movement in the bushes that he had completely failed to realize he was standing atop a Soul Beast.

Cracks slowly split open across the surface of the trunk. More than a dozen crimson eyes opened one by one from within the fissures in the bark, glowing faintly red as waves of soul power rapidly gathered.

A plant-type Soul Beast—the Crimson Demon Tree.

And this thing was a social species!

Boom—! Boom!

Several loud explosions erupted in the distance, sending flocks of birds soaring from the forest in panicked flight.

Gu Yue was slowly making her way through the woods while massive flying Soul Beasts occasionally swept overhead.

Hearing the explosions, she instinctively turned toward their source. But the trees blocked her view, and she could only see several dozen meters ahead.

The next second, Xie Xie's scream carried through the forest from afar.

"I didn't provoke you guys, did I?!"

It was clear that someone had already entered the desperate escape phase.

Gu Yue remained calm, with no intention of going over to help. She coldly turned away and continued in another direction.

The camera shifted back to Chen An.

Three minutes had passed since he entered the Spirit Ascension Platform. It had been quiet all along, and he had not encountered even a single Soul Beast. The surrounding silence was a little too excessive.

Meanwhile, Wu Changkong and Long Hengxu, watching from outside, both looked slightly grim.

On their observation screens, a fairly powerful Soul Beast had already been lurking in the shadows around Chen An for quite some time.

But no warnings could be transmitted into the Spirit Ascension Platform from outside. They could only watch helplessly.

What they did not know was that Chen An could still activate his soul skills even without releasing his Soul Rings.

Second soul skill—Insight.

Chen An's pupils flickered slightly. In his eyes, anything without life was black and white.

Everything in the world was layered in his vision. All living beings and objects containing soul power appeared in distinctly bright colors, much like thermal imaging.

He knew perfectly well whether there were Soul Beasts within several hundred meters.

The hunter lurking in the dark was practically naked before him.

A Hundred-Year Human-Faced Demon Spider, known as the killer of Soul Beasts in the forest.

All the other small Soul Beasts in the surrounding area had vanished without a trace. The reason was self-evident.

The ground beneath his feet was suddenly swallowed by darkness as an enormous web that covered the sky shot forth with a howl.

The soil beneath Chen An's feet exploded, and his body instantly launched sideways like an arrow released from a bowstring.

The web slammed heavily into the patch of ground where he had just been standing, directly corroding the earth into a charred black patch.

Chen An twisted his upper body with the motion and suddenly braked with both feet, carving a long trench into the ground with his soles.

A purple Millennium Soul Ring rose beneath his feet as Crimson Fish Scales emerged across his body, layer after layer forming a sharp array of blades before him.

With a flick of his finger, the sharp scale blades flew out and slashed in the direction of his gesture.

The Man-Faced Demon Spider was enormous and had no time to dodge. The scale blades sliced through it as though cutting soft mud, directly cleaving half its body in two.

The massive Soul Beast's body transformed into scattered motes of spiritual power.

In the viewing seats, Wu Changkong and Long Hengxu had believed Chen An could put up a fight and had prepared to watch an intense struggle. They never expected the battle to end in an instant kill.

The speed at which Chen An controlled the scale blades, along with the hardness of the scales themselves, far exceeded both teachers' expectations.

He had clearly held back during the Class Advancement Tournament.

The fish scales could be remotely controlled for attacks at range and stacked into armor at close quarters. There was far too little information about this type of Martial Soul.

If he used that kind of speed against children of the same age, it was simply unimaginable!

After absorbing the spiritual power, Chen An took a deep breath.

There had not been much improvement, but even a mosquito was still meat.

There would be a rampaging Spirit Ascension Platform later. No rush—he might as well go find Wuling or Gu Yue. That would be more interesting than wandering around.