The World Outside Has No Rain

The forest gradually grew sparser.

Ziyang and Na'er soon ran into another group of soul masters, three boys all wearing Eastsea Academy uniforms.

Seeing them surround her group, Na'er jabbed her spear repeatedly. The three boys turned into white light and vanished before they could even react.

"Too weak! Way too weak!"

Na'er sounded disgruntled. Ever since leaving the Spirit Pagoda, it seemed that aside from Gu Yue, she had no opponents at all.

The two continued onward and encountered two female soul masters. They had barely leaped out when the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's tail swept them, turning them into motes of light and forcing them out.

"Indeed, it seems the people outside are a little weaker," Ziyang said.

Na'er gave a quiet "Mm," her silver hair brushing across the shaft of her spear.

The third wave was a lone boy. His Soul Ring configuration was decent, and his martial soul, Golden Leaf, was not bad either, but his combat awareness was abysmal.

Na'er forced out all his tricks with three thrusts. Her fourth strike knocked away his martial soul, and her fifth sent him out of the Ascension Platform.

"This one was at least a little interesting."

Ziyang gave a brief laugh.

After dealing with a soul beast, the two found a sun-warmed rock and sat down. Na'er rested her spear across her knees, remaining on guard.

Austin Griffin lay in the rock's shadow, continuing to slack off. As long as there were no classes, anything was fine.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger patrolled the surrounding area, its scorpion tail occasionally brushing through bushes with a rustling sound.

"So boring. These people are all so weak," Na'er said helplessly, propping up her cheek.

Ziyang looked at her and comforted her. "Wait a little longer. Maybe we'll run into someone strong."

At that, Na'er lifted her head. "Then I want to fight ten at once."

Ziyang smiled. Before he could speak, the air abruptly turned cold.

An ice wheel spun out from the depths of the forest. Frost formed over the grass and trees in its wake, carving a white trail through the air.

The ice wheel was more than a meter across, its edge sharp as a blade as it emitted a low howl.

Na'er's eyes instantly cleared. She raised her spear to block, her long hair whipping wildly behind her in the blast.

A crisp impact rang out, and the ice wheel shattered into countless crystal shards that scattered in every direction.

"This person doesn't seem all that strong either?" Na'er was still somewhat disappointed.

She raised her head and looked toward where the ice wheel had come from.

Someone slowly stepped out from the forest shadows. Three Soul Rings rose beneath his feet, two yellow and one purple, slowly rotating in the dim light.

He was a youth of seventeen or eighteen, his face cold and arrogant, lingering frost aura surrounding him. He held a long-handled staff in his right hand. It was snow-white from end to end, with a blue crystal embedded at its tip that glimmered faintly with each step he took.

"Hand over your spiritual power, or else... you know what happens," the man with the ice staff said.

"What a big mouth. He looks like the type who gets humiliated easily." Ziyang was speechless. He glanced toward the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger beside him. Was this guy's luck a little too bad? It always appeared on the opposite side from people.

He would have to find another bodyguard later.

He looked at the youth, and another head appeared behind him. It was a little girl around the same age as Ziyang and the others, with two small braids. Her pale blue hair was nearly transparent in the light. She was adorable and delicate, holding an ice staff as well, though hers was much smaller.

A yellow Soul Ring flickered beneath her feet, its light somewhat unstable.

Her expression was completely different from the youth's. She looked terrified, her eyes wide as though she were seeing real combat for the first time. The ice staff trembled slightly in her hand, and the cold aura at its tip waxed and waned, betraying her unease.

"Na'er, are you going? Or am I?" Ziyang asked helplessly.

He naturally recognized them as Xu Xiaoyu and his younger sister, Xu Xiaoyan.

Na'er shirked it off. "He's so weak. You do it."

The two exchanged a look, sharing the same disdain. Ziyang did not move, and neither did Na'er. The atmosphere around the rock suddenly became strange.

Xu Xiaoyu felt even more insulted. "What do you mean by that? You looking down on me?"

Just then, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger moved.

"Boss, if you don't want to make a move, then I will," it said in beast language. Why were they passing the buck around? In the end, the pressure still fell on it.

It slowly emerged from the bushes, its wings spreading fully as its shadow blanketed the ground in darkness.

Its scorpion tail swayed gently behind it. The frost on the ground melted beneath its aura, then rapidly froze again.

But this time, it had frozen from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's killing intent.

Xu Xiaoyan was so frightened that she nearly dropped her ice staff.

Tears welled in her eyes, her blue braids trembling as her small body shrank backward, almost hiding herself completely behind her brother.

Xu Xiaoyu's expression changed. He held his staff across his chest as his three Soul Rings spun rapidly. Cold air surged forth wildly, forming layer after layer of ice locks before him.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger did not stop. It lifted a front paw and casually slapped down.

The ice locks shattered, the staff flew from Xu Xiaoyu's hand, and his body was sent soaring. He smashed through three ancient trees, rolled several times through a pile of fallen leaves, and turned into white light as he vanished.

The entire process took less than two breaths.

Xu Xiaoyan immediately crouched down with her head covered and pleaded pitifully, "You've already beaten my brother. You can't beat me too!"

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger tilted its head, feeling that she made a lot of sense. It turned to look at Ziyang, confusion written in its pupils. Raising a paw, it asked directly, "Boss, should I slap this one too?"

Ziyang could only say, "Are you leaving on your own, or should I send you out?"

Only then did Xu Xiaoyan realize that she could press the button herself and leave the Ascension Platform.

"I'll go myself, I'll go myself."

She immediately pressed the button and disappeared from the Ascension Platform.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger yawned, folding its wings completely. This trip really was rather boring. Only Gu Yue had seemed fairly strong.

But she had been defeated by the boss.

As for everyone else, only that Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear had been a little more capable.

The two walked around for another while.

The forest became repetitive: trees, fallen leaves, and the occasional low-level soul beast darting out.

"No fun," Na'er said. "Let's hurry up and leave. Those phantoms actually seem pretty strong now."

"Then let's head out first," Ziyang replied, and he and Na'er pressed the red buttons on their arms together.

In the room outside the Ascension Platform, two metal pods opened simultaneously.

The pod lids slid apart, steam hissing out and condensing into white mist.

Ziyang sat up and lazily stretched.

In the pod beside him, Na'er had already jumped out. "Finally out. Tomorrow, I'm definitely going to teach Gu Yue another lesson."

Her voice was still indignant. She remained unconvinced by Gu Yue's strength.

Hearing that, Ziyang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, when his palm suddenly grew hot.

Austin Griffin suddenly burst from his palm, and at the same time, a third black Soul Ring appeared beneath the boy's feet.

He had broken through. He had reached three rings.

Austin Griffin's phantom had already begun expanding in the air.

Its two heads threw back and roared toward the sky, the sound waves shaking the enclosed room and making the metal pods hum.

Austin Griffin seemed about to grow a third head.