âTell me about your thoughts on your experiences in the spirit ascension platform yesterday.â Wu Zhangkong stood at the lectern and unenthusiastically told his five students.
Wang Jinxiâs and Zhang Yangziâs eyes were puffy and dark. Clearly, they hadnât had a good nightâs rest. The difference, though, was that Zhang Yangziâs restless night was due to depression, while Wang Jinxiâs was caused by nightmares. Wang Jinxi simply couldnât forget the chill the Man-Faced Demon Spider instilled in him. That chill had reached to the depths of his very soul. He had felt like he was truly about to die at that moment. It was a terrifying feeling that was permanently etched into his heart.
Xie Xieâs complexion wasnât too healthy either. After fighting a bloody battle yesterday and receiving countless injuries, his nightmares were filled with wolves throwing themselves upon him, one after another It had been impossible for him to meditate calmly and recover properly under such circumstances. In fact, he had tumbled onto the ground midway through the night, waking him from his nightmare.
Contrary to the others, Gu Yue was just the same as usual.
Tang Wulin was the only one in high spirits. After all, how could he not rejoice after his spirit soul evolved?
âWeâll go in order of yesterdayâs eliminations. Zhang Yangzi, you first!â Seeing that no one wanted to be the first to speak, Wu Zhangkong singled out Zhang Yangzi by name.
âYes!â Zhang Yangzi responded in embarrassment and quickly stood up. âMy performance yesterday was simply horrible. Teacher Wu, I was wrong.â
Wu Zhangkong rebuked him with a wave of his hand. âI donât need you to tell me you were wrong, itâs your own life after all. What you can do, however, is use this chance to acknowledge your errors and improve yourself. If you had really been in a soul beast forest yesterday, then all that would have remained of you would be a corpse. In fact, your skeleton might also have been destroyed. So tell me then, what do you think of your experience and of yourself in the spirit ascension platform yesterday?â\nZhang Yangziâs face twitched awkwardly. âThe world of the spirit ascension platform is too realistic. I couldnât feel anything unauthentic about it at all! I was really curious about the world when I first entered, so I climbed up a tree to survey my surroundings. With my martial soulâs ability to glide, I thought I would be able to fly in any direction I wanted, so I did.
âIn the beginning, I didnât do anything wrong. My mistake was underestimating my opponent afterward. I was arrogant and didnât carefully observe my surroundings when I chose to impulsively battle it. In the end, I was besieged on all sides and was quickly eliminated.
âThe next time I enter the spirit ascension platform, I will be far more careful and place preserving my life as the number one priority. That way, Iâll be able to survive even longer.â
Finished with his summary, Zhang Yangzi sat back down.
Without any words of criticism or praise for Zhang Yangziâs assessment of himself, Wu Zhangkong simply moved on to Wang Jinxi. âHow about you?â
Wang Jinxi forced out a bitter laugh. âTeacher Wu, right now I canât really remember too much about what happened in there, the only thing I remember vividly is that face falling on me from above and the soul freezing chill that followed it. The way it trapped me still gives me nightmares. Iâm not even sure how I should react if I were to face it again in the future.â
Wu Zhangkong calmly spoke. âYou need to relax your mind and take several days to recover. Your situation is actually a bit special. The Man-Faced Demon Spider is an extremely rare and powerful soul beast. Even at the hundred-year level, itâs able to hunt thousand-year soul beasts. Although thereâs no shame in dying to it, you must remember to immediately press the exit button the moment you encounter such a powerful soul beast next time. You actually faced some danger to your real self when it killed you this time.â \nTeacher Wu is consoling someone? No way!
âThank you, teacher.â
Wu Zhangkong then turned to Gu Yue.
Gu Yue was prepared and quickly gave her analysis. âThe spirit ascension platform is an exceedingly realistic world and I felt that I was truly in an ancient forest during my stay there. I really like it in there. Itâs great. Battles with soul beasts are really realistic, I canât see a single difference from real combat.â
âIs that it?â Wu Zhangkong made a slight frown when he saw Gu Yue sitting down so quickly.
Gu Yue nodded.
Wu Zhangkong prodded her on. âThen explain to me, how were you able to find Tang Wulin?â
Gu Yue was stunned. âIt was just by chance.â
âChance?â Wu Zhangkongâs eyes narrowed suspiciously. âXie Xie running into Tang Wulin can be considered chance since they werenât too far from each other in the beginning and Xie Xie had only encountered Tang Wulin after running around chaotically. But you, you were quite far from Tang Wulin, yet as soon as you encountered the Crystal Bear, you immediately chose a direction to flee in; and this was precisely in the direction of Tang Wulin. Furthermore, the direction you fled would continuously adjust for Tang Wulinâs position when he moved elsewhere. How could you have encountered him by chance? Itâs simply impossible to be that lucky.â
Gu Yue remained silent while Tang Wulin looked at her in shock. How was she able to pinpoint my position?
Tang Wulin didnât have a complete understanding of all the events that had happened yesterday. All he knew was that Xie Xie had fought a bloody battle against a pack of wolves for him. As for Gu Yue, he had no idea how or why she left.
âIâll admit it. I have a way of tracking him by controlling the elements. I can place a marker on the bodies of my comrades by manipulating the elements. This marker letâs me find them easily. I thought that being with Tang Wulin would be the safest decision, so I prioritized finding him first.â Gu Yue finally gave a seemingly far-fetched explanation. \nâI see.â Wu Zhangkong didnât pry too deeply and simply moved on to Xie Xie. âItâs your turn.â
Xie Xie began going over his experience. âI really like it in there too. The feeling of hunting soul beasts in the forest is so invigorating. That sort of forest environment is really suitable for us Agility System Soul Masters, and my ability to survive increases with the improvement of my speed. My final battle against those Green Wolves felt amazing too. I had to carefully avoid any fatal injuries while fighting a battle of attrition. I learned the theory of such battles before, but that was the first time I had actually experienced the bitterness of such a bloody fight. I gained a lot of combat experience this time, and I learned the importance of avoiding injuries to vital parts.â
The very last person to go was Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin muttered a few words under his breath, before he began voicing his thoughts. âWe were actually really lucky to be able to kill a thousand-year Crystal Bear this time. If we made even the slightest mistake, we would have died. Although I knew that the forest is virtual, it was so realistic that I was no longer able to differentiate it from reality. I subconsciously began treating everything like it were real. Especially the injuries; I could feel all the pains and aches of the injuries I had sustained in there.
The sensation of battling with an actual soul beast is also very helpful to improving my combat abilities. I think that if we could continue to cultivate in such an environment, we will be able to become true Soul Masters. Furthermore, I feel that we need to strengthen our cooperation as a team, so that weâll be able to face even stronger soul beasts in the future.â \nWu Zhangkong nodded in approval after hearing their evaluations.
âIf I were to score your performances in the spirit ascension platform this time, then: Zhang Yangzi, 0 points. Wang Jinxi, 1 point. Gu Yue, 5 points. Xie Xie, 5 points. And Tang Wulin, 4 points.â
Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi expected that they would receive low scores, but when they all heard Tang Wulinâs score, they were shocked. If Tang Wulin hadnât killed the hundred-year Horned Dragon and thousand-year Crystal Bear, then Xie Xie and Gu Yue would have died far earlier!
âTang Wulin, do you know why you scored less than Xie Xie and Gu Yue?â Wu Zhangkongâs burning gaze locked onto Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin lowered his head and pondered over it. Although he had also been stunned when he heard his score since he thought heâd done the best, Wu Zhangkong challenged him to come up with the reasoning, so he began to consider it seriously. As he continued to mull over the events of the day before, Tang Wulin gradually understood Wu Zhangkongâs reasoning.
âGu Yueâs score is higher than mine because of the coordination in our joint attack. It was only because of her excellent control over the elements that we were successful in killing the Crystal Bear. Xie Xieâs score is higher because he risked his life to defend me from the pack of wolves.â
Wu Zhangkong corrected him. âThatâs not all of it. If Gu Yue hadnât sacrificed herself to catch you when you were crystallized, you would have shattered into pieces. Although you wouldnât have died in reality, you would have suffered from residual effects like Wang Jinxi and experience some dangers. If we count the minor details, then Gu Yue would actually have the highest score out of all of you. \nâAs for Xie Xie, his score isnât higher than yours because he saved you, but because of his greater knowledge of soul beasts. You were deducted points because you were crystallized after killing the Crystal Bear. If you had studied more and had known the traits and features of a Crystal Bear, then you would have known that its soul power explodes when it is on the verge of death, crystallizing everything in a certain radius. You would also have known that the stronger the Crystal Bear, the greater the radius of its soul power explosion. Clearly, however, you were lacking in such knowledge.â \n