Leng Yaoyu looked at the spiritual power reading frozen at 255 on the crystal ball, her thoughts churning.
A six-year-old child with seventy or eighty points of spiritual power? Even a twelve-year-old might not reach that.
Yet Xiao Chen's spiritual power had completely shattered her understanding of ordinary geniuses.
She suppressed the wonder in her heart, turned toward the two children beside her, and said seriously, "You've passed the Spiritual Power Test. It's enough to support your entry into the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform. Next, I'll take you to the pods."
"The Spirit Ascension Platform is built upon the Spirit Transferring Pagoda's Soul Spirit Formation. It only draws your consciousness inside; your physical bodies remain in the pods."
"All the Soul Beasts and scenery inside are simulated manifestations. Pain and perception are completely realistic, so you can train in actual combat without worry."
Na'er listened with a look of wonder, nodding her little head repeatedly, her sparkling silver eyes full of anticipation.
"Wow! That sounds so fun! Way more interesting than reading!"
Compared with Na'er's innocent curiosity, Xiao Chen was much more composed.
So far, his Wither Martial Soul had only undergone simple tests. He had never truly unleashed it without restrictions in actual combat. Now, he could finally sound out Wither's combat capabilities.
Soon, Leng Yaoyu brought the two of them to the Spirit Ascension Platform's dedicated area.
Several sealed Spirit Ascension Pods stood in neat rows, their surfaces lustrous white and covered in patterns, faint glimmers of soul power flowing over their bodies. These were the Spirit Transferring Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Pods.
"Get in and lie down. Relax your minds, and don't resist the formation's guiding force."
As Leng Yaoyu calibrated the equipment, she gently reminded them, "You two will be randomly transported to different areas of the Spirit Ascension Platform to train separately. I'll monitor the entire process outside. If any danger arises, I'll end the training immediately."
"Got it!" Na'er answered obediently, opening a pod first. She curled her little body up as she climbed inside, then obediently closed her eyes and lay flat.
Xiao Chen followed close behind, lying down in another Spirit Ascension Pod. He closed his eyes and focused, quietly awaiting the formation's activation.
Hum-
A low hum rose from the formation. Both Spirit Ascension Pods lit up with gentle white light, fine soul power patterns spreading across their bodies.
A gentle pulling force enveloped their consciousnesses, instantly separating them from their physical bodies and rapidly uploading them into the Spirit Ascension Platform's virtual space.
Outside, in the monitoring room.
Leng Yaoyu sat upright before the screens, her gaze fixed on two separate surveillance feeds. Each child occupied a screen of their own, allowing her to clearly observe their every movement within the Spirit Ascension Platform, every fluctuation of soul power, and every instance of combat.
Inside the Spirit Ascension Platform.
Two faint lights appeared in separate forest clearings. Xiao Chen and Na'er materialized simultaneously in completely different areas.
The instant Xiao Chen landed, his feet planted firmly on the soft layer of fallen leaves. Ancient trees towered around him, vegetation flourished, and the air was thick with the scent of plants, almost indistinguishable from the real Star Dou Great Forest.
Without the slightest hesitation, he summoned his Martial Soul with a thought.
Pitch-black soul power instantly surged from his body. Dark, deathly black light swept around him, carrying a bone-chilling aura of withering.
His First Martial Soul-Wither-was fully activated.
Hum.
Invisible ripples of deathly stillness quietly spread outward from Xiao Chen.
The next second, an astounding scene quietly unfolded.
The weeds growing wild nearby, the low shrubs, the young saplings-all the plant Soul Beasts possessing signs of life-rapidly yellowed in branch and leaf the moment they touched the withering ripples. Their vitality drained away at tremendous speed, and in a mere instant, they withered completely and crumbled away.
Countless tiny motes of spiritual energy drifted from the dead plants, streaming endlessly into Xiao Chen's body through his pores and increasing his Soul Spirit Age.
In the blink of an eye, the entire forest clearing became a yellowed, deathly wasteland.
Outside, before the surveillance screens, Leng Yaoyu stared at Xiao Chen's feed and froze on the spot, her delicate brows and eyes twitching slightly, her head full of question marks.
She had imagined that Xiao Chen's Martial Soul would be extremely powerful and that his combat talent would be monstrous, but she had never imagined such an outrageous method of harvesting.
Other people entered the Spirit Ascension Platform to seek out Soul Beasts, battle them, and pit their skills and soul power against them.
Xiao Chen simply stood in place, activated his Martial Soul, and mowed everything down indiscriminately over a wide area!
Watching the entire stretch of woodland rapidly turn yellow on the screen, Leng Yaoyu's mouth twitched slightly as she silently grumbled to herself. Isn't this Spirit Ascension Platform far too unchallenging for him?
Why not just shut it down? Mowing everything down like an unstoppable warrior really isn't interesting.
Inside the Spirit Ascension Platform.
Feeling the soul power slowly increasing within his body, Xiao Chen's eyes flashed with unexpected brightness, and he secretly rejoiced.
I never expected the Wither Martial Soul to come with a pleasant surprise like this. Passive, area-wide withering-as long as something is alive, its life automatically drains away. But it seems only those weaker than me are affected.
Hiss... why do I feel like an Evil Soul Master? No, I'm a darkness-attribute Soul Master.
But after a moment, he reined in his delight.
Unfortunately, these low-age plant Soul Beasts were far too low-level, and the spiritual energy they provided was negligible. Even harvesting an entire stretch of woodland was only a cup of water against a burning cartload of firewood for him; the improvement was slight.
"Looks like I'll have to find some older Soul Beasts."
Xiao Chen murmured under his breath, drew in the withering aura spreading around him, and stepped toward the depths of the forest, intending to seek out Soul Beasts of greater age.
Wind rustled through the woods, and tree shadows lay dappled across the ground. The quiet forest held traces of lurking danger.
Just as Xiao Chen had taken a few steps deeper into the woods, an icy rush of air suddenly shot from the dense trees beside him!
Hiss-!
A piercing snake hiss rang out as a long, mottled dark shape lunged ferociously toward him, bringing a rank gust with it!
A slender serpentine body, mottled markings, upright slit pupils-it was none other than that indispensable veteran Soul Beast of the Douluo Continent, the Mandala Snake!
Xiao Chen stopped. Looking at that incredibly familiar figure, he felt at ease.
Sure enough, every version has its big snake, the same old acquaintance unchanged for ten thousand years.
Tens of thousands of years ago, the Mandala Snake could have been called a beginner's nightmare. Highly venomous, extremely fast, and fiercely aggressive, it had stumped countless Soul Masters entering the forest for the first time.
But at this stage, after several generations of version updates, the Mandala Snake had been nerfed into a bottom-tier mob, its intimidation factor greatly reduced.
Yet while Xiao Chen remained calm, Leng Yaoyu, who had been relaxed in the monitoring room outside, suddenly tensed, her brows knitting tightly.
The Mandala Snake!
Even as a Soul Beast inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, it retained its venomous, swift, and highly aggressive characteristics, making it extremely dangerous to low-level Soul Masters.
Xiao Chen currently had only rank 17 soul power and had only just crossed the threshold of becoming a Soul Master. By all reason, he could not possibly contend with such a highly aggressive Soul Beast.
"Oh no, how did he run into a Mandala Snake so soon!"
Leng Yaoyu's heart tightened, and she instantly went on full alert. Her eyes locked onto the surveillance feed, ready to intervene and halt the training at any moment, terrified that Xiao Chen would suffer spiritual trauma inside the Spirit Ascension Platform.
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