The Spirit Ascension Platform's Underlying Code

As the soul-powered bus sped along, the atmosphere inside grew strange. No one spoke.

They sat in mutual silence, none of them moving. Gu Yue sat quietly in the back row.

Li Qingxun sat several rows ahead of her, while Tang Wulin and Xie Xie sat side by side at the front.

All four wore peculiar expressions. Wu Changkong had naturally noticed the strange atmosphere among the youngsters.

But after a single glance, he decided there was no need to get involved.

He was somewhat curious about what the youngsters were thinking, but he had no wish to join in.

So he sat in silence, sending messages on his phone.

A little over half an hour later, just before the group got off the bus, Wu Changkong stopped Li Qingxun.

He handed Li Qingxun his phone. Seeing that the Tang Sect had withdrawn its investigation and surveillance of him, Li Qingxun breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he felt rather speechless.

The Tang Sect was a civilian organization, yet it acted like a government agency, even setting up a whole system of surveillance and oversight.

Frankly, Li Qingxun found it absurd.

The Tang Sect really was a civilian organization. The Federation even regarded it with suspicion.

Yet it possessed powers of enforcement, oversight, and judgment—powers that normally belonged only to the Federation.

More absurd still, it could surveil and monitor him. Many official bodies did not even have that authority.

Monitoring a Federation citizen sounded outrageous, but the Tang Sect had that power.

And it could exercise that power without hesitation or the slightest fear of repercussions. The thought left Li Qingxun speechless.

As the four of them got off the bus and entered the Spirit Pagoda together,

Li Qingxun's expression grew noticeably more focused.

When Toji Fushiguro had invaded the Tang Sect, Li Qingxun had studied its structure. Now he was studying the Spirit Pagoda's.

His gaze swept through the Spirit Pagoda, mapping out its structure.

His spiritual power had barely recovered over the past two days. He would need to wait several more before creating another clone.

But simply surveying the Spirit Pagoda's structure so Toji Fushiguro could come and rob it later should not be too difficult.

He was in no hurry, of course. He could take his time.

Still, the Tang Sect's visit had served as a warning. For now, the destruction of its branch seemed to have been covered up.

But an investigation was inevitable, even if it was not directed at him.

If Toji Fushiguro struck again, he would easily attract attention.

Li Qingxun needed to guard against other risks as well.

If he went to Shrek Academy in the future, for instance, should he plant an informant there ahead of time?

Someone who could find out what was really going on inside Shrek Academy.

And what about other organizations and areas? Should he send people to watch them too, to learn their inner workings? He also had to think about advancing his own cultivation.

His current pills were enough to reach three rings, but before he broke through, he still needed to stockpile sufficient resources.

Then he could use his Divine Kingdom to refine pills.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, the group took the elevator to the tenth floor.

A staff member was waiting at the entrance to guide them.

They followed the staff member straight to the Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform area.

At the sight of two full rows of hibernation pods, even Wu Changkong looked unusually grave.

"Except for Li Qingxun, this isn't your first trial on the Spirit Ascension Platform."

"You already know some of the rules. If there's a problem, press the small red button in your hand."

"Get ready to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform. Your starting positions still won't be fixed."

"You'll need to find one another, though you won't be placed too far apart."

Wu Changkong looked at the staff member, who smiled and gave them a brief explanation.

Once the explanation was over, the staff member had them lie down.

They had all been here before, apart from Li Qingxun, so none of this felt particularly remarkable to them.

Once everyone was ready,

they waited for drowsiness to wash over them.

As the pod doors closed, an illusory tugging sensation came over them.

The pull was neither obvious nor strong, especially to Li Qingxun.

His Martial Soul was the Fantasy Dragon, which possessed abilities related to spiritual power.

As a result, his spiritual power was exceptionally strong.

That pull would have put an ordinary person to sleep without fail.

But Li Qingxun barely felt it.

The Fantasy Dragon was his greatest trump card, however, and he had no intention of revealing it.

So he slowly closed his eyes and let the spiritual force draw him in.

An unreal sensation swept over him. When Li Qingxun opened his eyes again,

his consciousness had arrived in another space that felt utterly real.

The fragrance of flowers and grass drifted around him, filling his nose.

Li Qingxun took a gentle sniff. In his mind, the Snow Empress spoke with a hint of curiosity.

"What a strange place. Everything here looks so real, no different from a place that actually exists."

"It's almost too real." The Snow Empress wanted to come out, but she did not act rashly.

With her keen senses, she could tell someone outside was watching them.

Li Qingxun, however, did not care about being watched.

The observers were using an all-seeing vantage point to watch the inside of the Spirit Ascension Platform.

That let them track the group's positions and actions.

But none of that mattered much to Li Qingxun.

Even so, he did not rush to evade their gaze and let the Snow Empress come out.

Li Qingxun calmly took two steps forward.

As his formidable spiritual power spread outward, he could feel that it had already reached the Spirit Sea Realm.

For someone at the two-ring level, that was rather terrifying.

His spiritual power was also infused with the Fantasy Dragon's Fantasy Power.

That put it far beyond an ordinary person's.

As his vast spiritual power spread, he easily pinpointed the positions of Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xie Xie.

None of the three was very far away. Under normal circumstances, Gu Yue should have been able to sense him.

But instead of heading toward them, he turned and went straight into the depths.

He moved quickly, and an intangible key appeared in his mind.

It was a brass-colored key: the contingency he had left within the Spirit Pagoda.

Or rather, it was not something he had left for the Spirit Pagoda, but for Huo Yuhao.

After all, when his clone had gone to the Divine Realm, the Spirit Pagoda had only just been founded. Things like the Spirit Ascension Platform had not even existed yet.

Whether Huo Yuhao had died or lived out his life in the lower realm, he was bound to have left something behind.

Li Qingxun only needed to use the key to find a vulnerability. Then he should be able to access the underlying code of the entire Spirit Ascension Platform.

He wanted to see the truth behind the Spirit Ascension Platform—and what contingency Tang San, or perhaps Huo Yuhao, had left behind.