Faced with Tang Wulin's question, Jiang Xia naturally had no intention of explaining too much to him.
Although Tang Wulin would inevitably find out in the future, Jiang Xia had no need to explain it to him.
"I already knew how."
He said nothing more.
Gu Yue, standing nearby, was actually curious about this too. Seeing that Jiang Xia had no intention of talking, she could only think it over herself.
Unlike Tang Wulin, who was completely in the dark, Gu Yue could work out quite a few things.
Jiang Xia can support me because he probably mastered most of his Elemental Control techniques in Broken Dream. Those techniques can ultimately only be used within Broken Dream, but the Spirit Ascension Platform is a virtual space, allowing his abilities from Broken Dream to manifest here in another form.
Gu Yue quickly came close to the truth in her analysis of Jiang Xia's ability.
But she did not understand something. Although this ability could be used within the Spirit Ascension Platform, was there really any point in cultivating it?
Now that the three had gathered, they naturally would not simply split up again.
Wu Zhangkong had not strictly required everyone to undergo spirit ascension alone, either.
Jiang Xia did not ask Tang Wulin to leave, either.
With such a good meat shield right here, he might as well use him.
Thus, the three underwent spirit ascension together.
Tang Wulin served as the front line, while Jiang Xia and Gu Yue used Elemental Control to swiftly slaughter one soul beast after another.
During that time, most of the soul beasts they encountered were ten-year soul beasts. Few even had cultivation exceeding fifty years.
There were no more hauls like that pack of five hundred-year Flame Lions.
Jiang Xia could not help asking Tang Wulin just how he had provoked those five Flame Lions.
But Tang Wulin merely scratched his head and said he had run into the five Flame Lions while walking along.
Jiang Xia was quite speechless at that.
Wasn't Tang Wulin's luck a little too good?
Right up until their spirit ascension ended, the three never encountered another hundred-year soul beast.
"What a pity."
Su Yu sighed inwardly. The spiritual power he had gained this time totaled less than 150 years.
Gu Yue had gained 100 years, while Tang Wulin had gained much less, only 60 years.
This naturally was not because the two had treated him unfairly. They had simply divided it according to contributions.
Even so, after the allocation among Soul Rings, Tang Wulin had gained the most years of spirit ascension.
After all, he only had one Soul Spirit and one Soul Ring, so his Soul Spirit's cultivation had increased directly by 60 years.
As for Jiang Xia and Gu Yue, one had three rings and the other two, so their Soul Spirits had only gained 50 years of cultivation each.
However, both of Jiang Xia's Soul Spirits had gained 50 years of cultivation at the same time.
His two Soul Spirits now each had roughly 1,550 years of cultivation.
As he stepped out of the pod, the first thing Jiang Xia heard was Wu Zhangkong's question.
"You can control the power of the elements inside the Spirit Ascension Platform?"
Jiang Xia nodded.
"But not in reality?"
"Not for now."
Jiang Xia spoke calmly.
At his words, everyone's gaze shifted slightly.
What did he mean, not for now?
Did that mean that once his cultivation entered the next stage, this Elemental Control ability would no longer be limited to virtual spaces like Broken Dream and the Spirit Ascension Platform?
Wu Zhangkong recalled what Jiang Xia had said when he first joined the class: his cultivation offered no combat strength in its early stages.
Could this be the reason?
But how could making everything in a dream happen in reality be easy?
What realm would his spiritual power need to reach to accomplish that?
At the very least, even the Spirit Domain Realm as Wu Zhangkong understood it could not accomplish this.
The Spirit Domain Realm should only involve giving concrete form to the spirit, rather than turning illusion into reality.
Unfortunately, he had no way to ask Jiang Xia about such things.
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye, a semester had passed.
Jiang Xia lived at the Spirit Pagoda. Aside from attending classes, he cultivated Soul Power and studied his secondary professions.
Although he cultivated three secondary professions simultaneously, the total time he invested in all three barely equaled what others invested in a single secondary profession.
Even so, his achievements in any one of those secondary professions were record-breaking!
Even Han Tianyi, who felt that Jiang Xia's Broken Dream Martial Soul gave him an advantage in pursuing three professions at once and could relieve much of his burden, found it incredible.
His Martial Soul could improve efficiency, but his time had also been compressed.
To achieve so much under these circumstances could only mean that Jiang Xia's talent in all three secondary professions was exceptional.
Truly at the pinnacle of the continent!
Aside from Class Zero's weekly spirit ascension day, Jiang Xia spent the other six days immersed in the Spirit Ascension Platform, comprehending and replicating Gu Yue's techniques, and even attempting to imitate Tang Wulin's Blood Essence Power.
"Another failure."
Jiang Xia could not help frowning.
With one visit to the Spirit Ascension Platform each week, they had made nearly twenty visits over the semester.
And within the Spirit Ascension Platform, Jiang Xia had met up with Tang Wulin no fewer than five times.
He had ample opportunities to sense the circulation of Tang Wulin's blood essence and probe its mysteries.
Yet every time he attempted to imitate it, he could not replicate it.
"Even with three layers of dreams superimposed, I can't imitate that power structure out of thin air."
Jiang Xia had even wondered whether he was eating too little.
But he ate quite a lot every day. Within Broken Dream, he even manifested all kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures to feed himself, merging their essence into his body before stimulating his own Blood Essence Power.
Yes, he could already imitate Blood Essence Power within Broken Dream. He had slowly worked this out using Mu Ye as a reference.
In reality, Jiang Xia had yet to successfully condense Blood Essence Power, but within Broken Dream, he could already condense it with ease.
He condensed Blood Essence Power within Broken Dream and fused it with all kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, hoping to elevate it into the Golden Dragon King's blood essence, only to fail time and again.
"Ah, I can only set it aside for now."
Attempt after attempt, over the course of a semester, he had spent far too much time on this.
If he could not replicate it, then he would stop trying.
Condensing Blood Essence Power had already benefited him greatly. Although it was still confined to Broken Dream, his experience in circulating Blood Essence Power was branded deep within his soul.
In reality, he could absorb all kinds of medicinal meals and high-grade nourishing foods he consumed with the greatest efficiency and speed.
He left the Spirit Ascension Platform, and the night passed without incident.
Eastsea Academy.
Class Zero.
The six gathered together.
The semester had ended, and next came the final exam.
"This final exam will be divided into two stages. The first stage will take place in the Spirit Ascension Platform you're familiar with."
"This time, you will enter the Spirit Ascension Platform during its unrest period. During the unrest period, the Spirit Ascension Platform allows teams, and the absorption of spiritual power after killing soul beasts will become slower."
"..."
After hearing Wu Zhangkong finish introducing the characteristics of the Spirit Ascension Platform's unrest period, everyone in Class Zero looked troubled.
Without question, this time they would not only have to find ways to hunt soul beasts within the Spirit Ascension Platform, but also contend with an unknown number of soul masters from across Eastsea City fighting over spiritual power.
"Teacher Wu, what about the second stage of the exam?" Tang Wulin asked.
Wu Zhangkong glanced at him.
"You'll know when the time comes."
He had dodged the question, but it was no secret to Jiang Xia.
They were probably going to the Tang Sect's Hall of Heroes.
The Hall of Heroes is a pretty good virtual space too. I wonder how it differs from the Spirit Ascension Platform, Jiang Xia thought to himself.
Virtual spaces built by different factions served different purposes and naturally had entirely different underlying structures. Jiang Xia was quite curious about the underlying structure of the Tang Sect's Hall of Heroes.