Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Power spread like a fine-meshed net, covering a vast area around them.
When he focused his senses on a spot about a kilometer to the east, as Yu Longyue had instructed, he immediately spotted a familiar figure cautiously feeling his way around.
"Tang San? What's he doing here?" Surprise flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes, and his brow furrowed.
An amused smile curled across Yu Longyue's lips. "Looks like our luck is good. We ran into him as soon as we came in. This is a rare opportunity."
Huo Yuhao withdrew his Spiritual Power and looked at Yu Longyue. "What are you planning to do?"
"I don't know what he came to the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform for, but we should at least make sure he can't accomplish it. Don't you think?"
"I agree with that."
In the primeval forest, Tang San moved with light, cautious steps, his eyes sharp as an eagle's as they constantly swept over the surrounding trees and bushes.
The environment here was entirely different, full of unknowns and dangers. A threat could lurk behind every step.
Tang San took a deep breath, and the Eight Spider Lances on his back spread out fully. He was going all out right from the start.
After all, this place was comparable to the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, where powerful Thousand-Year Soul Beasts and Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts usually roamed.
He was only a minor Soul Elder. He could manage if he ran into a weaker thousand-year beast, but if he encountered a ten-thousand-year one, he probably wouldn't even be able to fight back.
With the ten thousand contribution points he had gotten from Yu Longyue, Tang San had immediately bought a ticket to the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform to raise the upper limit of his Soul Spirits.
His current Soul Ring Configuration was white, yellow, yellow. To be honest, he had only managed to get into Shrek Academy because of his high Soul Power Level.
After all, he was a thirteen-year-old, rank thirty-eight Soul Elder with the trash Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. To have cultivated to this level, he naturally had his own extraordinary qualities.
But he had been poor before, with no money to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, and the academy hadn't sponsored him either. With no other choice, Tang San had put it off until now, when he had finally found an opportunity.
The advantage of the intermediate platform over the beginner one was that he could obtain more Spiritual Energy, giving him a chance to raise both of his existing Soul Spirits to the thousand-year level as soon as possible.
As for his current Eight Spider Lances, he had happened to run into a hundred-year Man Faced Demon Spider just after entering and had killed it with Hidden Weapons without hesitation.
As the saying went, enemies saw red when they met. Tang San hated this evil Soul Beast to the bone, and after killing it, he was surprised to discover that his Eight Spider Lances were gradually recovering too.
It seemed that as long as he kept growing stronger, he would soon be able to return to being the Blue Silver Emperor, and the Clear Sky Hammer's power would gradually return as well. After all, this sliver of his divine consciousness could still retain most of his power's characteristics; he only needed to recover his Soul Power.
This is my opportunity.
The longer he lived, the more he could gain.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, falling in mottled patches across Tang San, while his shadow shifted shape on the ground as he moved.
Tang San's ears twitched slightly, catching the faintest sounds around him. Birds chirping, insects buzzing, leaves rustling against one another, even the distant murmur of flowing water-all fell within his range of hearing.
Suddenly, a tremendous commotion came from ahead, as though something were violently clashing and fighting.
The sound stood out in the tranquil forest and drew Tang San's attention.
"Is someone else nearby?"
A hint of wariness flashed in Tang San's eyes, but he also hoped he might be able to pick up some scraps, so he cautiously approached the source of the sound.
He slipped silently through the woods, and as he drew near the source, he saw a scene that shocked him.
In the middle of a wide clearing stood Yu Longyue, a figure all too familiar to him, surrounded by surging lightning. Flashes of electricity flickered, and thunder roared.
His white robes looked even more dazzling in the lightning's glow. His dragon hands, dragon wings, and dragon tail all showed that his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul had long since possessed him.
Three or four powerful Soul Beasts were surrounding and attacking Yu Longyue.
"All four are Soul Beasts over five thousand years old." Tang San's expression grew somewhat grave. If those Soul Beasts had been targeting him, he reckoned he would already have turned and run.
Yet against Yu Longyue's lightning, they did not seem to have the upper hand.
Yu Longyue waved both hands, sending bolt after bolt of lightning shooting from his palms to strike the Soul Beasts with unerring accuracy.
His attacks were swift and fierce. Every bolt that landed made the Soul Beasts howl in pain, leaving them unable even to resist.
Yu Longyue's fourth Soul Ring lit up, and the illusory image of a true dragon appeared behind him. It threw its head toward the sky and let out an exceptionally high-pitched roar.
"Ang-"
The dragon's roar shook the forest, and a mass of lightning instantly blanketed the entire area. Even Tang San felt his heart tremble, leaving him unable to keep watching from the sidelines.
Just three seconds later, the lightning covering the area gradually faded, and the powerful Soul Beasts all lay on the ground, barely clinging to life.
Hidden behind a great tree, Tang San silently watched the scene and couldn't help drawing a sharp breath.
"This guy really is a monster."
Tang San sighed inwardly. He knew Yu Longyue's strength far surpassed that of others his age, but seeing it with his own eyes still shocked him.
Thinking back to twenty thousand years ago, he had also fought an opponent with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, but compared with Yu Longyue, the two were as far apart as heaven and earth.
Yu Longyue swiftly finished the fight, and Tang San saw Huo Haodong's figure slowly emerge from behind him.
At the sight, Tang San froze.
Are they together?
If so, can I join them?
After all, Yu Longyue's combat strength was plain to see. If they traveled together, they could stay longer, and that would be a tremendous benefit to him too.
Huo Haodong had just drawn a small Soul Tool knife and was preparing to finish off the dying Soul Beasts when Tang San could no longer restrain himself and rushed out.
"Who's there?"
Yu Longyue and Huo Haodong turned at the same time and spotted Tang San.
"Wait, we know each other. We're classmates. I'm Tang San." Tang San raised both hands in a friendly gesture, making his intentions clear.
"So it's Brother Tang." Yu Longyue and Huo Haodong both relaxed their guard. "Sorry, the competition for Spiritual Energy here is fierce. Please don't blame us for being cautious, Brother Tang."
Huo Haodong glanced at Tang San, then continued by stabbing a Soul Beast to death. All the Spiritual Energy in its body floated over to him.
Tang San looked at the remaining Soul Beasts, visibly moved, and couldn't help saying:
"Are you two also here to improve the quality of your Soul Spirits? If you don't mind, could you take me along?"
Yu Longyue and Huo Haodong exchanged a glance, and Yu Longyue adopted a welcoming attitude.
"Of course, of course. We're classmates, so naturally we should look after one another."
"Then, have you had enough?" Tang San looked at the dying Soul Beasts and swallowed involuntarily.
If he could absorb these Soul Beasts that were over five thousand years old, even if he could only absorb a tenth of their years and had three Soul Rings sharing the burden, it would still be enough to elevate his ten-year Soul Spirit to the hundred-year level.
"Not yet, Brother Tang. Don't rush," Yu Longyue said cheerfully, stepping in front of Tang San at just the right moment. "Please respect the order of first come, first served, Brother Tang. Let our class monitor Haodong absorb them first."
Tang San nodded helplessly and could only watch longingly as Huo Haodong killed every one of the Soul Beasts.
"Then let's go farther in. Brother Tang, please take good care of yourself. In a place like this, it's hard for me to look after everyone. Our meeting is fate, so let's go." Yu Longyue nodded to Huo Yuhao and continued enjoying the benefits of Spiritual Detection Sharing.
They headed in a direction where there were a great many Soul Beasts, but most were hundred- or thousand-year beasts that posed little threat to Yu Longyue.
With Huo Yuhao assisting him, even a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast would find itself in serious trouble if it showed up.
Tang San watched them slaughter Soul Beasts all along the way and couldn't help saying:
"Shouldn't we avoid too much killing? After all, no matter what, since they can help us, that proves at least these Soul Beasts are real too. If we kill too many, won't there come a day when the Spiritual Qi runs out?"
"You're right, but the problem is, we came in to improve our Soul Spirits. How can we do that without killing?" Yu Longyue was speechless.
You're not saying that because you can't kill them yourself and can't absorb the Spiritual Qi, are you?
"No matter what, they haven't provoked us..." Tang San frowned and was about to continue when a hundred-year tiger-type Soul Beast suddenly sprang out from behind him, ready to ambush him.
Startled, Tang San instantly summoned the Eight Spider Lances behind him and hurled out all kinds of Hidden Weapons, barely managing to subdue the hundred-year tiger-type Soul Beast.
Just as he was about to deliver the finishing blow, Yu Longyue suddenly reached out and seized his wrist, stopping him.
"Brother Tang, I suddenly think you're quite right. We shouldn't cause too much slaughter. No matter what, they're all innocent; they're just unlucky."
To his surprise, Tang San's frown deepened. "This is an evil Soul Beast. It attacked us of its own accord and has a way of courting death. It should be killed."
"What we should do is refrain from killing good Soul Beasts. As for these evil Soul Beasts, there's naturally no problem killing as many as we like."