Entering the Spirit Ascension Platform (two chapters in one)

"Looks like I lost," Nana said.

Ye Zhiqiu dismissed his Absolute Blade and took two steps back, putting some distance between them again.

He withdrew the Absolute Blade into his body, slipped his hands into his pockets, and grinned with unmistakable smugness.

"Teacher, I've been waiting years to hear you say that."

Nana straightened and moved her right arm. The white mark on it had already vanished completely, leaving her skin as smooth and flawless as before.

She looked at Ye Zhiqiu's smug expression and shook her head helplessly.

"How long can that first Soul Skill of yours last now?"

"Concept Severance? About a second and a half," Ye Zhiqiu said.

Nana fell silent for a moment.

A second and a half?

She remembered their first sparring session, when Ye Zhiqiu's Soul Skill had only lasted half a second after striking her. Six months ago, it had lasted about a second. Now it was up to a second and a half.

A second and a half was already a dangerous span of time for a True God-level powerhouse.

In a clash between experts, a second and a half without Soul Power was enough for an opponent to land a fatal blow.

Although she had not used her full strength just now, an eleven-year-old child had pushed her this far. Anyone else who heard about it would probably find it absurd.

"After your spiritual power broke through, the duration of your Soul Skills increased too," Nana said.

"Yeah. Two thousand points of spiritual power benefited all my Soul Skills," Ye Zhiqiu said casually.

"Two thousand points... and you're only eleven," Nana murmured.

"Yep. Pretty cool, right?"

Nana gave him a look, her expression a little complicated, before finally saying, "Don't get too smug."

"I'll try."

They sparred twice more after that.

Ye Zhiqiu demonstrated every Soul Skill he could use, bringing all eight of his major Soul Skills into play in turn. His combinations grew increasingly fluid.

Nana was forced to use more of her strength to counter him. Her movements were still far faster than Ye Zhiqiu's, but whenever he chained Concept Severance into Absolute Slash, she had to devote several times her usual attention to dodging.

Halfway through the third bout, Ye Zhiqiu suddenly remembered something.

The skin at the center of his forehead shifted slightly and split into a narrow slit. That dark-purple vertical eye slowly opened.

Phantom Eye!

The instant the eye opened, Ye Zhiqiu's spiritual perception expanded sharply. Everything within several dozen meters became clear and three-dimensional.

Nana's movements slowed in his vision. The starting point of every exertion, the rhythm of every muscle contraction, and the direction of every shift in her center of gravity were laid bare beneath the vertical eye's scrutiny.

Using that perceptual advantage, Ye Zhiqiu dodged three of Nana's close-range attacks in succession, then forced her back half a step with a counterstroke of his Absolute Blade.

But that was as far as he got.

Once Nana adapted to the perceptual advantage that vertical eye gave him, she quickly seized control of the rhythm again.

Her speed and strength were still greater than Ye Zhiqiu's. He knew exactly how much Phantom Eye could slow her down in his sight. Against a True God-level existence, this slight perceptual advantage was nowhere near enough.

"Phantom Eye doesn't have much effect on me," Nana said calmly as she blocked Ye Zhiqiu's blade. "My spiritual power is far greater than yours. What your Phantom Eye can capture is only what I want you to see."

Ye Zhiqiu dismissed his blade, and the vertical eye on his forehead closed.

"Figured as much," Ye Zhiqiu said, without sounding particularly disappointed.

Phantom Eye was a godlike skill against opponents of his level, or even those above it. But against someone like Nana, whose spiritual power far surpassed his, its usefulness was indeed limited.

He had anticipated this result long ago. He had only wanted to test it just now.

If it had worked, he would have laughed his teeth out.

"That eye of yours has tremendous potential. As your spiritual power continues to improve, its effects will become increasingly pronounced," Nana said.

"Yeah, I know."

By the time he left Nana's dormitory, the sky had already darkened.

Halfway back to his dormitory, his communicator vibrated. He took it out and glanced at it. Ye Wenduo had sent a message: "Come to my office tomorrow morning. I have something for you three."

Ye Zhiqiu replied, "Got it," and tucked the communicator back into his pocket.

Early the next morning, the three of them arrived at Ye Wenduo's office on time.

Ye Wenduo sat behind his desk. Three thin silver cards lay before him, their surfaces gleaming with a metallic sheen and a ring of fine patterns engraved along their edges.

"Admission tickets to the Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform." He pushed the three cards toward them, arranging them in a row on the desk. "The school paid a hefty price for these. One each, and each can only be used once."

Dong Qianqiu picked one up and turned it over, examining it. "What does the Spirit Ascension Platform do?"

"It's a little like Douluo World, but different," Ye Wenduo said matter-of-factly. "Douluo World is entirely virtual. The Spirit Ascension Platform is half virtual, half real. It contains a simulated Soul Beast forest. Killing Soul Beasts earns you Spirit Energy, which can increase the ages of your Soul Rings and Soul Bones."

He paused, then continued, "Pain is set at fifty percent of normal. If you encounter danger, press your alarm device to exit. You're all smart kids, so I won't waste words."

Ye Zhiqiu picked up his card and weighed it in his hand. It was light, but what it represented was anything but. Every admission ticket to the Spirit Pagoda was built on a pile of cold, hard cash.

As though something had occurred to him, Ye Wenduo continued, "Oh, right. The date for the Second Round is set. It'll take place at Shrek Academy on the Home Planet in a month. Allowing for travel time, you'll need to leave in a little over twenty days. The school will cover all your passage, so you don't need to worry about that."

"Arrange these twenty days yourselves and get into peak condition. I'll also find some time to spar with you for practice."

"All right, Teacher."

The three nodded, put away their cards, and turned to leave.

As they walked out of the office building, Dong Qianqiu tilted her head and glanced at Ye Zhiqiu. "You went to Teacher Nana's yesterday. Did you fuse with the Soul Bone?"

"Yeah."

"How did it go?"

"Not bad. My spiritual power broke through two thousand," Ye Zhiqiu said with a smile.

Dong Qianqiu's steps faltered for a moment before she continued forward, pressing her lips together. Seriously, how does this guy keep getting more absurd?!

Looks like I need to break through to level forty as soon as possible! Otherwise, I really won't be able to keep up.

Walking on his other side, Lan Mengqin glanced at him when she heard this. She said nothing, but her expression had clearly grown more complicated.

Two thousand spiritual power?

An eleven-year-old child with two thousand spiritual power.

Her mother was a Titled Douluo, and even her spiritual power was only in the spirit domain realm, somewhere around twenty or thirty thousand. But that was the accumulation of decades.

And Ye Zhiqiu was eleven, with two thousand?

Lan Mengqin silently turned her gaze forward again, telling herself, I just need to get used to it.

Just get used to it...

Damn it, I can't get used to this...

The next morning, Ye Wenduo brought the three of them to the Spirit Pagoda.

Heaven Dou City's Spirit Pagoda stood just south of the city center. It was a twelve-story silver-gray tower with clean, simple lines, surrounded at its base by a broad belt of greenery planted with neatly trimmed shrubs and several tall trees.

Standing before the tower, Ye Zhiqiu looked up. Its peak gleamed with a cold metallic sheen in the sunlight.

This was his first visit to the Spirit Pagoda.

In the original story, the Spirit Pagoda was an organization founded by Huo Yuhao, dedicated to researching Soul Spirits and Artificial Soul Rings. It later grew into one of the federation's greatest powers.

But to Ye Zhiqiu, all of that had remained words on a page. This was his first time actually setting foot inside.

After all, he did not need to obtain his Soul Spirits here. He already had eight! Six thousand-year ones and two ten-thousand-year ones. There was simply no need for him to visit the Spirit Pagoda.

The Spirit Pagoda's bottom two floors were open to the public. The lobby was octagonal, decorated primarily in stone, with an enormous colored mural overhead depicting a beast tide attacking a human city more than twenty thousand years ago.

Ye Zhiqiu glanced at it. At the very center of the mural, an enormous Golden-Eyed Black Dragon lunged toward a burning city, baring his fangs and claws.

Beast God Di Tian.

He withdrew his gaze and followed Ye Wenduo across the lobby toward the elevators.

The Spirit Ascension Platform was on the fifth floor, and a ticket was required to take its dedicated elevator.

Ye Wenduo could only see them as far as the elevator entrance. As the three stepped inside, he said before the doors closed, "Stay safe."

The elevator rose. When the doors opened, a staff member in a gray uniform was already waiting outside.

"Please follow me."

The staff member led them down a metal-walled corridor and into a spacious hall. More than a hundred Simulation Pods stood in rows inside, larger and more sophisticated than those used for Douluo World, with densely packed ports and pipes covering their walls.

"Would you like to be transported together or separately?" the staff member asked.

"Together," Ye Zhiqiu said.

The three then entered separate Simulation Pods.

As Ye Zhiqiu lay down inside, the lid closed. Slender tubes extended from the inner walls of the pod and pressed against his limbs and torso. A tingling sensation spread over him, as though something were crawling lightly across his skin.

"Relax your whole body. Once you enter, each of you will have an alarm device. If you encounter something you cannot handle or experience severe pain, press it immediately to leave the battlefield. Understood?"

Ye Zhiqiu touched his right wrist. A cold metal band had appeared there, roughly the size of his thumb. That was probably the alarm device.

"Understood."

A faint hum sounded inside the pod. Then the tingling intensified abruptly, and his consciousness sank away in that instant.

He did not know how much time passed. His hearing returned first.

The wind, the rustling leaves, and the sound of flowing water in the distance.

Then came his sense of touch. The soil beneath his feet was soft, damp, and cool. The air smelled of vegetation and earth.

Ye Zhiqiu opened his eyes and found himself standing in a forest.

The trees were tall and thick, their crowns overlapping in layers. Sunlight filtered through gaps between their branches and leaves.

He looked down at himself. His body was exactly as it was in reality—his clothes, his build, even the pen in his pocket.

Dong Qianqiu stood two steps to his left, her dark-blue ponytail tied tightly as she looked around.

Lan Mengqin stood three steps to his right. Her white hair was particularly striking in the dappled light, and her ice-blue eyes narrowed slightly as she surveyed their surroundings.

"We're here?" Dong Qianqiu asked.

"Yeah, we're here." Ye Zhiqiu flexed his wrist, then closed his eyes. Gravity Wave spread out silently.

The terrain, air currents, heat sources, and Soul Power fluctuations within several hundred meters all appeared clearly in his perception.

The forest was quiet, but he sensed at least a dozen Soul Power fluctuations, scattered in different directions and at different distances, varying in strength.

The farthest was about three hundred meters away. Its Soul Power fluctuations were quite robust, suggesting a Soul Beast roughly five hundred years old.

"Fifty meters northeast. A little over a hundred years old. Let's put it under the knife first and test the waters here."

Dong Qianqiu summoned her Ice Spear. Its tip trembled, scattering white frost into the air.

Four Purple Soul Rings rose from beneath Lan Mengqin's feet, and the phantom figure of the Heavenly Snow Woman formed behind her. The temperature around them dropped noticeably by several degrees.

The three moved northeast with light footsteps. Ye Zhiqiu led the way, Dong Qianqiu behind him on the left and Lan Mengqin behind him on the right—a standard triangular formation. None of them said another word.

Less than half a minute later, a patch of low shrubs appeared ahead. Beyond it lay a small clearing, where an ocher-colored pangolin-like Soul Beast crouched. It stood about half as tall as a person, with overlapping layers of armored scales. Its head was lowered as it dug at the ground, its two foreclaws flinging dirt behind it.

Ye Zhiqiu raised a hand, and both girls stopped at once.

He turned his head and lowered his voice. "Earth-Armored Pangolin Beast. A little over a hundred years old. High defense, slow speed. I'll hold it down. Qianqiu, break through its armor from the front. Mengqin, provide ranged coverage. Don't let it burrow underground and escape."

Dong Qianqiu nodded. Lan Mengqin raised a hand, and a row of small Ice Cones formed in the Heavenly Snow Woman's palm, hovering beside her, ready to fire at any moment.

Ye Zhiqiu raised his left hand. A silver-gray orb appeared, and his first Soul Ring flashed.

Absolute Gravity.

The ground beneath the Earth-Armored Pangolin Beast suddenly sank. Its entire body was crushed flat, its limbs splayed and belly pressed to the ground. Its foreclaws clawed futilely at the air twice.

It let out a short hiss and struggled to burrow into the soil, but the gravity pinned it down, leaving its claws unable to exert any force.

By then, Dong Qianqiu was already moving.

Her Ice Spear thrust in from diagonally ahead, its tip driving straight into a gap between the armored scales on the beast's neck. The thrust was not especially powerful, but its angle was precise.

The instant the spear pierced the armor, white frost seeped into the wound. Dong Qianqiu twisted her wrist and poured freezing power into it, freezing a small section of the beast's neck muscles and meridians.

Its struggles weakened abruptly.

Lan Mengqin thrust her right hand forward. Three Ice Cones shot out together, piercing gaps in the armored scales along the beast's back and the side of its belly. Once embedded in its flesh, they did not explode, instead continuously releasing cold.

Ye Zhiqiu walked over and turned his right hand. The Absolute Blade emerged from his palm. He aligned its tip with a seam in the armored scales atop the beast's head and gently pushed down.

The blade met very little resistance, as though cutting into a slightly firmer block of butter.

The pangolin beast's body twitched once, then went still.

Its body began dissolving into motes of light. The motes split into three streams, drifting toward the three of them and sinking into their Soul Rings.

"There isn't much Spirit Energy from a hundred-year Soul Beast once it's split three ways."

"Then let's find a bigger one." Dong Qianqiu withdrew her spear. The ocher-colored blood staining its tip vanished as the pangolin beast dissipated.

Ye Zhiqiu closed his eyes again, spreading Gravity Wave out once more.

This time, he scanned farther, pushing his perception to its limit and covering a radius of roughly six or seven hundred meters.

About five hundred meters to the northwest, he sensed a particularly powerful Soul Power fluctuation. It was more than a full tier stronger than the pangolin beast they had just killed. By his rough estimate, it was over a thousand years old.

Moreover, that fluctuation was moving slowly. Wherever it passed, the other Soul Power fluctuations scattered to either side.

"Northwest, five hundred meters away. Thousand-year level, moving. The Soul Beasts around it are all avoiding it," Ye Zhiqiu said, opening his eyes.

"Head straight there?"

"Straight there. That's our target."