Did Someone Exist?

Li Qingxun was looking forward to the contingency Tang San—or rather, Huo Yuhao—had left behind.

Finding it, however, would be difficult.

Of all the ways into the underlying Code of the Spirit Ascension Platform, entering through the Elementary Spirit Ascension Platform was undoubtedly the hardest.

If he could enter through the Advanced Spirit Ascension Platform, it would be much easier.

There was no way around it.

The outermost layer was always the safest and most stable.

The farther inward one went, the stronger the Soul Beasts it housed became, and the greater their fighting power grew.

That made errors or disruptions in the Code more likely.

Of course, if he could use the power of the Error Path directly, none of that would matter.

But since he could not, he had to look for vulnerabilities.

After all, fragments of the Divine Realm remained within the Spirit Ascension Platform.

There could not be many, but those fragments were still there.

After humans had modified it for so long, the place had taken on some properties of those Divine Realm fragments.

That was why entering from the outside was so difficult.

With a quick sweep of his senses, Li Qingxun barely found three small vulnerabilities.

Only by breaking through all three would he have a chance to use the key to open a breach.

Then he could enter the Spirit Ascension Platform's underlying Code.

As he thought, Li Qingxun walked swiftly onward.

Outside, Wu Changkong stood silently with his arms folded.

He was somewhat puzzled by Li Qingxun's actions.

But when he recalled the formidable strength the boy had shown, his puzzlement faded.

He did not stop Li Qingxun from exploring. He simply waited in silence while Li Qingxun hurried on.

Since Li Qingxun knew where the other three were, he avoided the routes they might take.

Gu Yue could sense his presence, but she did not approach him either.

As Li Qingxun pressed on, he moved deeper into the area.

A faint golden light continually shifted in his eyes.

He searched for the locations of those three small vulnerabilities.

He moved quickly. All three were in the middle region; there was not a single one in the outermost area.

He would have to reach the middle of the Elementary Spirit Ascension Platform to find them.

As he sped onward, he encountered a few Soul Beasts.

Most were Ten-Year Soul Beasts. Even Hundred-Year Soul Beasts were scarce.

Most did not attack. Only three horned wolves charged him.

Li Qingxun's First Soul Ring lit up, briefly amplifying the power of his Heavenly Snow Woman Martial Soul.

He thrust out a palm, and a terrifying seal of ice and snow came crashing down.

The three charging horned wolves died to that single blow.

Three streams of power entered his body, but in truth, Li Qingxun felt nothing.

After all, his Soul Spirit was the Snow Empress.

For roughly his first four Soul Rings, he had no need to worry about choosing a Soul Spirit.

Those Soul Rings were all Orange Soul Rings bestowed by the Snow Empress, his Soul Spirit.

The benefits of adding a few years here and there—

Even calling them negligible to the Snow Empress would be an exaggeration.

They might as well not exist.

Most of the Soul Beasts he encountered along the way were ordinary ones.

Soul Masters were few and far between; he had barely seen any.

Only as he headed deeper did Li Qingxun encounter two Soul Masters from another school.

They were struggling desperately against several Hundred-Year Soul Beasts.

Li Qingxun had no intention of helping them.

He hurried onward and soon reached the middle region.

Along the way, his pace alternated between fast and slow without any discernible pattern.

He could not let Wu Changkong or the Spirit Pagoda staff notice that he was searching for something in a systematic way.

So his movements appeared erratic, though his overall course drew him quietly toward his target.

The first small vulnerability was a tree—a very large tree.

The tallest trees in this area stood only three or four meters high.

This one, however, was at least eight or nine meters tall, perhaps nearly ten.

Its height was extraordinary for this place.

As Li Qingxun stepped forward, he raised the Extreme Cold Ice Sword.

With a slight sweep of his hand, the sword pierced straight through the tree.

The trunk snapped in two, and several birdcalls rang out.

Two small shapes immediately darted toward him. They were birds.

At the sight of them, Li Qingxun raised his hand.

Two more Ice and Snow Long Swords formed beside the sword he held.

They shot forward and pierced the birds' heads.

With both bird-type Soul Beasts dead, Li Qingxun picked up his pace.

The second vulnerability he encountered was a Soul Beast: a peculiar rhinoceros.

It had a hundred years of cultivation.

But its size and weight seemed far beyond those of an ordinary Hundred-Year Soul Beast.

It might have been three to five hundred years old.

After Li Qingxun killed it just as easily, he slowed noticeably.

He had reason to worry.

The vulnerabilities were small, but once he broke through all three—

The larger vulnerability they formed would pose a serious problem.

Searching for vulnerabilities in another area might be safer.

But that would take time, and he had little to spare.

Other complications were bound to arise as well.

The two small vulnerabilities he had created might already have been detected and repaired by the Spirit Pagoda.

He had to move quickly.

Li Qingxun swiftly approached the final vulnerability. Unlike the first two, it was not tied to a visible object.

It lay in a clearing that looked entirely unremarkable.

Unless someone actively released energy or activated a Martial Soul while crossing it—

The vulnerability would show no sign of itself.

Even then, only a tiny discontinuity would appear.

But with the other two vulnerabilities already open, that discontinuity would become conspicuous.

As Li Qingxun approached, his First Soul Ring lit up.

The instant he reached the small vulnerability, his Soul Power broke through it.

The three vulnerabilities immediately joined into a larger one.

Larger though it was, it remained an ordinary vulnerability.

Given some time, the Spirit Pagoda staff could repair it completely.

New vulnerabilities would still appear afterward. Such flaws were nearly impossible to eliminate for good.

As the larger vulnerability appeared, Li Qingxun stepped forward.

He slipped beneath a broad tree.

Once he was sure it completely blocked Wu Changkong and the others' view, Li Qingxun pretended his Soul Power was badly depleted.

He sat cross-legged while his consciousness quietly began probing the vulnerability.

An eerie mist gathered around him and swiftly formed the key.

Sensing the illusory vulnerability, something no ordinary person could perceive—

Li Qingxun activated the power of Reality Distortion at the same time.

With Reality Distortion and the key working together, his mental power poured into the vulnerability in an instant.

He forced his way along the underlying Code of the Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform and descended beneath it.

There lay a vast ocean stretching beyond sight.

Countless streams of information filled it.

An immense, terrifying power was hidden within it as well.

At the deepest point of that ocean, beneath Li Qingxun's curious gaze—

A human figure appeared out of thin air, sitting cross-legged.