It had to be said, the system's level increase really packed a punch.
Previously, Yan Qing's spiritual level had barely passed a hundred, just over the threshold of the Spirit Connection Realm.
After the beginner gift pack's one-level increase, he had jumped straight to the Spirit Sea Realm.
So that was how this plus-one worked!
If I'd known it was this powerful, couldn't I have waited until the Spirit Domain Realm to complete an upgrade mission and taken my mind straight to godhood?
"Now that you all know your realms, you need to cultivate even harder."
Wu Changkong's tone was casual, showing little reaction to the six students' test results.
Yan Qing knew that Teacher Wu was the one who cared most about their results.
He could see that Wu Changkong's arm holding the report was actually trembling slightly, and even his eyes were a little red.
Teacher Wu probably wanted his students to return to Shrek and prove themselves too.
The next day, at Eastsea Academy, first-year Class Zero.
"For this lesson, we're going to the Spirit Ascension Platform," Wu Changkong announced from the podium.
Wu Changkong's words sent the whole of Class Zero into a buzz.
Admission to the Spirit Ascension Platform alone cost five hundred thousand Federation coins. Even among Class Zero's students, few had ever been.
"The academy really is a rich sugar daddy," Xie Xie marveled sincerely.
Yan Qing, on the other hand, was no stranger to the Spirit Ascension Platform.
Strictly speaking, this was his fifth visit this month.
More than half the money he had earned from forging commissions lately had gone toward buying Spirit Ascension Platform tickets.
The Soul Ring for Yan Qing's second Martial Soul had now reached around three thousand years.
Although his Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power allowed him to absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, his Soul Power was currently at rank twenty-two, and his physique simply could not keep up.
Training in the Spirit Ascension Platform could no longer improve it.
Of course, Yan Qing would never do business at a loss. All these visits that burned through Federation coins could be considered scouting trips.
Of the three missions the system had given him, one concerned the Man Faced Demon Spider.
On his first trip to the Spirit Ascension Platform, he had happened to hear that certain Soul Beasts were gradually heading toward extinction because of their own characteristics.
The Man Faced Demon Spider was among them.
In the entire Federation, only the Spirit Ascension Platform at Eastsea City's Spirit Pagoda still preserved two Man Faced Demon Spiders.
So Yan Qing made a bold assumption: what if all the Man Faced Demon Pearls on the continent went extinct?
If no one in the world could defeat a Man Faced Demon Spider anymore, would the system judge that Tang San could no longer obtain the Eight Spider Lances either?
And thus mark his mission as complete!
It seemed workable.
And according to the plot, Tang Wulin's group would encounter a Man Faced Demon Spider on their trip to the Spirit Ascension Platform!
Soon, Yan Qing and the others arrived inside the Spirit Pagoda, where they saw a familiar face-Dean of Students Long Hengxu.
Clearly, Eastsea Academy was footing the bill for this spirit ascension trip.
After taking in the magnificent, gilded hall, everyone was soon drawn to the gorgeous colored mural on the first-floor dome.
At the very center of the mural, a man occupied most of the space.
Six great Soul Spirits, including the Tian Meng Ice Cicada, Ice Empress, and Snow Girl, surrounded him.
"This is the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, who also invented Soul Spirits."
Wu Changkong explained from beside them.
"Legend has it that Spirit Ice Douluo ascended to godhood after his battle with Di Tian back then and never appeared again."
Beside Huo Yuhao stood a girl with bright eyes and pearly teeth, long azure butterfly wings spread behind her.
It was none other than Dragon Butterfly Douluo Tang Wutong.
Yan Qing silently marveled. Same father, different fates: Tang Wulin's older sister had started with the Light Goddess Butterfly, the Clear Sky Hammer, the Golden Dragon Spear, and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
The whole complete set.
By the time the second child came around, all that remained was Blue Silver Grass.
Put plainly, four generations of one family had used four books to prove that Blue Silver Grass was pure trash Martial Soul.
Tang San supposedly used Blue Silver Grass, but later switched straight to the Sea God, alternating between Divine Slaughter's Domain and the Sea Cucumber Trident. Most people's lasting impression of his Blue Silver Grass Soul Skills was still Wood Release: Entanglement.
Tang Ya from Peerless Douluo also had Blue Silver Grass. She cultivated so slowly that she could not keep up with anyone, could not even graduate from the Shrek Outer Court, and finally cultivated herself into an Evil Soul Master.
Tang Wulin from Douluo: Dragon King mostly relied on the Golden Dragon King Bloodline. Apart from battering his confidence at the start and making him suffer a little more, Blue Silver Grass did him no good at all.
Put plainly, even if Tang Wulin had awakened a toilet brush like him, his ending would not have been much worse.
There was even less to say about Lan Yuxuan from Douluo IV. Blue Silver Grass served the purpose of giving him a Martial Soul-a lifelong stain on the little Dragon King.
The others around him were still discussing how much the girl in the picture resembled Tang Wulin.
Both their names and their looks seemed cast from the same mold.
Wu Changkong interrupted them.
"Focus your minds. Once you enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, you'll have to face the Soul Beasts alone."
"Teacher Wu, aren't you leading us this time?"
Tang Wulin asked.
Yan Qing answered for Wu Changkong.
"Only Soul Masters below four rings can enter the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform."
Long Hengxu continued, "We'll observe your situation from outside. Try to act as cautiously as possible in there, and withdraw immediately if you encounter danger."
A Spirit Pagoda staff member added the precautions from beside them.
Aside from Yan Qing and Gu Yue, the members of Class Zero were all itching to try. They had never seen real Soul Beasts before.
Taking a long elevator down, they arrived in a room filled with soul tool screens.
Six spirit ascension pods stood in a row.
Yan Qing lay down in the familiar metal box, received another round of electric shocks as usual, and his vision sank into darkness.
Before long, light appeared, and Yan Qing arrived at the Eastsea Spirit Ascension Platform once again.
He jumped up, his first reaction being to check the surrounding trees for marks.
During his previous visits to the Spirit Ascension Platform, he had not gone around clearing out Soul Beasts, instead focusing entirely on figuring out how to leave marks on the trees.
The Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform did not dynamically refresh. A mark left at a location on one visit would still be there the next time he entered.
The downside, however, was that the spawn point changed every time.
After several rounds of exploration, Yan Qing had marked nearly ninety percent of the outer region.
Fortunately, he had marked the spawn point before him too.
Yan Qing took out a rough map and used the marks to determine his approximate location.
There were five points marked in red on the map.
Now that he had his location, his next step was to find Wang Jinxi.
Hopefully, the butterfly effect would not have too much influence.
In the original plot, Wang Jinxi had been the unlucky fellow who ran into the Man Faced Demon Spider first.
He was only a supporting character with too little page time, after all. Yan Qing only remembered that he encountered a pack of Gentle Breeze Wolves first in the Spirit Ascension Platform, exhausted his Soul Power fighting them, and then got looted by the Man Faced Demon Pearl.
Gentle Breeze Wolves were pack-dwelling Soul Beasts. Their habitats were relatively stable, and they did not move easily.
The red points on the map were precisely the habitats of the Gentle Breeze Wolves in the Eastsea Spirit Ascension Platform.
Yan Qing checked two marked locations in a row without finding any signs of battle.
Not daring to waste any more time, he immediately rushed toward the next one.
At last, at the third red point, he spotted Wang Jinxi fiercely battling the Gentle Breeze Wolves.
Seeing a figure running toward him, Wang Jin instantly grew wary. He had little Soul Power left. If another Soul Beast came, this spirit ascension trip would have to end in a hurry.
Yan Qing shouted:
"Don't panic! I'm here to help you."