Tang Wulin was the last to arrive in front of it, yet he suddenly stopped in place and raised the retrieved hammer while a yellow ring emerged from beneath him.
Strand after strand of Bluesilver Grass climbed up the apeâs body like ivy, binding it completely. Even with its tremendous strength, the Ironarm Ape was unable to break free.
A light flashed behind its head as Xie Xie took advantage of its reaction to the fireballs to quickly stab it in the head.
âHou!â The hundred-year Ironarm Ape released a roar as its red eyes flashed with an ominous glint. It moved to sweep an arm at the back of its head.
Before it could even raise its arm halfway, however, the glimmer of life in its eyes disappeared, and its large, two meter tall body toppled over with a loud thud.
Xie Xieâs first soul ring pulsed with light as a ball of gentle light floated over from the hundred-year Ironarm Ape and circled around him. This was undoubtedly the spirit energy of the Ironarm Ape.
Just as they were told, the spirit energy absorption rate during the rebellion period was far slower than usual. Fortunately, it had only been a hundred-year beast, so it wouldnât take too long to digest.
When Xie Xie had stabbed the Ironarm Ape with his Light Dragon Dagger, he hadnât been able to kill the beast immediately, as after all, the apeâs skull was extremely hard. What he did to make up for it, however, was use his first soul skill while his dagger was still in the apeâs head. Like that, he was able to shoot his dagger forward into the apeâs brain, destroying it.
Tang Wulin gave a thumbs up to Xie Xie and proceeded to recall his Bluesilver Grass when Zhang Yangzi called out from behind him, âReporting on the left side, itâs safe for now.â \nTang Wulin did not hesitate in leading the others to the left side. They didnât dare stay in one place for too long after killing a soul beast.
From the moment the Ironarm Ape had appeared to the moment it was killed by the trio, only a dozen or so seconds had passed. During the battle, Gu Yueâs only role had been to confuse it, yet it was crucial in allowing them to achieve such an amazing and neat victory with their low cultivations.
This was the result of their three months of combat experience in the spirit ascension platform.
An individualâs strength wasnât solely dependent on their cultivation and soul skills; their application and techniques mattered just as much.
There were many gifted Soul Masters, but the ones who lacked combat experience wouldnât be able to display their full power in a battle. As such, Wu Zhangkongâs actions had all been for the sake of laying a good foundation for the students of class zero. With the growth of their combat experience, they would be able to display 120% of their strength!
In his experience, combat Soul Masters were meant to battle, not serve as decorations. Thus, the best way for them to improve was through combat!
For example, Xie Xie had used his Light Dragon Blade soul skill while his dagger was stabbed into the apeâs head, allowing him to puncture the apeâs brain. Only through combat experience could this type of decision making skill be cultivated.
After running to their left side for several hundred meters, they hadnât encountered any other soul beasts, so Tang Wulin ordered, âStop! Weâll rest here for a bit. Yangzi, youâre responsible for scouting this time.â
âYes!â Zhang Yangzi affirmed before nimbly climbing up a nearby tree to a vantage spot. From there, he observed one side while his black eagle spirit soul observed the other, allowing him to keep an eye out in all four directions. \nTang Wulin and Xie Xie were seated cross-legged, intently recovering the soul power consumed in the previous battle.
Although they hadnât used much soul power in that one battle, it was best to maintain their peak conditions in the spirit ascension platform. Only like this could they survive for even longer.
âThere are three people approaching in our direction. Two males, one female. They seem to be about 15 or 16-years-old. One of them has three rings while the other two have two rings. One of the ones with two rings seems to be absorbing spirit energy right now.â
Zhang Yangzi succinctly reported his evaluation of the approaching group. Without any warning, a red light streaked across the horizon, shooting straight towards the branch Zhang Yangzi was perched on.
Iâve been discovered!
Zhang Yangzi immediately leapt off the tree and spread his wings while Tang Wulin and Xie Xie shot forth like a bullet.
Xie Xieâs figure blurred for a moment and then reappeared in the shadow of a tree. Meanwhile, the other four stood together, waiting for Xie Xie to alert them of their opponentsâ arrival.
Three people, two male and one female, approached, giving Tang Wulin a shock when he saw them.
There stood one girl in the middle with the two boys to her side. Tang Wulin didnât recognize the boys, but he recognized the girl. It truly was a coincidence; that girl was Mu Xi.
Floating above Mu Xi was a fireball as fiery as the sun. Clearly, she had been the one to shoot that fireball earlier.
Mu Xiâs Shining Sun martial soul was powerful and excelled in long distance artillery, with firepower that Gu Yue couldnât even hope to compare with. The truly shocking thing was the fact that Mu Xi now had three soul rings. She actually had three soul rings now! \nâItâs you?â Mu Xi was equally shocked when she saw Tang Wulin, and her Shining Sunâs radiance weakened a bit.
âSenior disciple sister.â Tang Wulin hastily took two steps forward and loudly greeted her.
âMn.â Mu Xi nodded at him. âWeâre going.â She immediately turned around and took large strides forward.
Tang Wulin had long since become accustomed to Mu Xiâs cold indifference towards him, but what he didnât see was the proud look in her eyes after she turned around to leave. She was quite proud of herself after seeing Tang Wulinâs reaction to her third ring, and she also noticed that Tang Wulin still only had one ring.
Arenât you a genius? Werenât you born with innate divine strength? Yet, your soul power is so lacking. Youâre making quick progress in the early stages of forging, but just wait until you reach Spirit Forging. Then youâll understand the importance of soul power. Iâll definitely surpass you when that time comes!
âSenior disciple sister?â Zhang Yangzi gave Tang Wulin an astute look. âSo itâs like that! Your senior disciple sister is so pretty! Why havenât you ever introduced us to her before? Senior disciple sister, wonât it be better if we go together?â His final words were shouted at the departing Mu Xi.
Mu Xi didnât even bother to look back and simply left with the two boys, soon vanishing into the forest.
With her current strength, she was definitely one of the strongest Soul Masters in the elementary spirit ascension platform, so it wasnât worth her time to babysit Tang Wulinâs group of one rings and two rings. And besides that, she didnât really want work together with Tang Wulin either.
Tang Wulin said somewhat helplessly, âSheâs the daughter of my teacher. I donât think she likes me all that much, so we havenât really interacted much.â \nXie Xie let out a mischievous laugh. âThis senior sister of yours sure is cruel. Yangzi, you can try getting to know her better if youâre interested. Weâll support you as your classmates.â
Zhang Yangzi shook his head earnestly. âForget about it. Iâm not into being subdued, and weâre too young for this stuff anyways. We should focus on studying and cultivating right now.â
Xie Xie raised an eyebrow at this. âJust what are you thinking? I only said you could try getting to know her better. Stop thinking about it too much. Youâre only a brat in her eyes anyways.â
âHmph!â Zhang Yangzi proudly raised his head. âJust wait until this big brother is in the fifth grade. Iâll definitely have three rings, too.â With his current cultivation speed, it wasnât impossible for him to reach three rings by the time he was 14.
Gu Yue asked Tang Wulin, âWhat are we going to do next?â
Tang Wulin didnât hesitate at all with his answer. âWait. There arenât too many soul beasts in this area, so we should be able to survive in this area until we pass. After that, we can go hunt soul beasts, so thereâs no need to be so anxious right now.â
The five of them once again moved into position and with the large trees surrounding them, they were able to to maintain a perfect defense.
During the rebellion period, the number of soul beasts in the spirit ascension platform was far higher than normal, and they were also much more aggressive. In a short timespan of twenty minutes, they had encountered over ten soul beasts. Most of them were at the ten-year level, so they were able to make quick work of them. There were also some hundred-year soul beasts, and though they werenât particularly strong, they required more effort to kill. Everyone shared the spirit energy, not for the sake of being fair, but for the sake of quickly absorbing all of it. \nXie Xie had taken about ten minutes to absorb the spirit energy from the hundred-year Ironarm Ape, gaining about five years each for his two soul rings.
Evolving a spirit soul to the next level was a gradual process, and it would be a long time before Xie Xieâs spirit soul reached the thousand-year level.
They had already survived for half the necessary time to pass their final exam and were relatively relaxed as they hadnât encountered any strong soul beasts yet.
âThe rebellion period isnât that bad after all.â Zhang Yangzi had loosened up a lot from his previous nervousness since they had only encountered weak soul beasts until now.
The most dangerous situation for them was to encounter a powerful soul beast that they had no choice but to flee from. In their panic, they may run into one powerful soul beast after another and die.
Although their current course of action restricted the number of soul beasts they could hunt, it was a safe, defensive plan that maximized their survival time.\n