'Why is my martial soul just the useless Blue Silver Grass? Why was my innate soul power only rank three?' Tang Wulin couldn't figure it out, but instead of despair, it only hardened his determination. 'What's so scary about a so-called useless martial soul? As long as I work hard, I'm destined to become a powerful soul master.'
"Are you okay?" Gu Yue quietly asked, noticing Tang Wulin's odd expression.
"I… I'm fine," Tang Wulin quickly denied.
"Teacher, what's our study task today?" Gu You asked calmly. Though he was familiar with the general plot, he couldn't remember the exact timeline at this point, so he figured it was safer to ask.
"Follow me," Wu Zhangkong said as he walked ahead. "Today's task — and from today onward, once a week — is that you'll have the chance to enter the Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform for cultivation. Treasure this opportunity. The academy specially funded this for you."
Gu You nodded knowingly, but Tang Wulin was puzzled. 'Spirit Ascension Platform? What's that?'
Gu Yue's eyes flickered with surprise, but Zhang Yangzi, Wang Jinxi, and Xie Xie all looked outright shocked.
Xie Xie exclaimed, "The academy's really pulling out all the stops! Looks like joining Zero Class was definitely the right choice!"
Tang Wulin lowered his voice and asked, "What's the Spirit Ascension Platform?"
Gu You turned to him with an exaggerated look of surprise. "You don't know what that is? It's a great place!"
Though it was his first real conversation with Gu You, Tang Wulin's naturally outgoing personality shone through. "Come on, tell me! I really don't know."
Gu You chuckled. "Alright, listen up. Across the entire Douluo Continent, only the big cities have a chance of housing a Spirit Ascension Platform. There are only eighteen on the whole continent — they're the best training grounds a soul master can hope for."
Even that fact alone revealed how wealthy Eastsea City was. Building a Spirit Ascension Platform required staggering resources; not every city could afford one.
"The Spirit Ascension Platform was developed entirely by the Spirit Pagoda. It's a place for soul masters to hone their skills and experience the ancient soul master world. I don't know the exact mechanics, but I've heard that when it was first built, over ten Title Douluo were involved, plus a huge number of top scientists. The Spirit Pagoda paid an enormous price to complete it."
"Originally, the goal was to advance their research into artificial soul spirits — they hoped the platform would help elevate the quality of man-made spirits, letting them produce even stronger ones. But later, the trials only partially succeeded. While the Spirit Ascension Platform can indeed help improve soul spirits, the effects aren't as dramatic or consistent as they hoped."
"Of course, the Spirit Pagoda wasn't about to let all that investment go to waste. After some further development, they turned the platform into a unique training space. Basically, it's the crystallization of the entire continent's top soul engineers, soul masters, and researchers. Entering the platform is like stepping into another dimension. It's still protected, so it's not truly dangerous, but you can fight soul beasts inside and improve your real combat experience. Some lucky soul masters can even evolve their soul spirits within, achieving what they call a spirit ascension. I don't know the exact details — I've only ever heard about it, never actually gone in myself."
Tang Wulin's curiosity burned even brighter. 'A place that can evolve a soul spirit?'
"How does the evolution work?" Tang Wulin asked eagerly.
Gu You gave a playful pat to his own forehead. "You're such a curious one. Alright, I'll explain. Whether it's a soul spirit or the old-fashioned method of absorbing a soul ring from a soul beast, their power and classification are determined by the years they've cultivated. So, evolving a soul spirit basically means increasing its cultivation years. For example, your current soul spirit is probably only a ten-year type. In the Spirit Ascension Platform, there's a good chance it can evolve up. If you train there long-term, you might eventually push it to the hundred-year level. And once you reach that, your soul skills will naturally improve. But the higher the quality of the spirit, the harder it is to ascend inside the platform."
Tang Wulin's eyes widened in shock, and his heart began to race.
'If I can raise my soul ring to the hundred-year level, even my Blue Silver Grass will become so much stronger!' he thought, gripping his fists. 'Even though I carry the Golden Dragon King bloodline, Blue Silver Grass is still my real martial soul. Once its soul ring strengthens, my soul skills will improve too. A hundred-year spirit could even grant me two skills. That way, when I reach rank twenty, I won't need to spend money on another soul spirit — I can save both spiritual energy and cash. After all, I still need to set aside money to break through the Golden Dragon King's seals…'
"What's needed to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform?"
"Two things: money and a slot!" Xie Xie grinned mischievously.
The moment he heard the word 'money,' Tang Wulin felt a sour sting in his heart. 'So the path of a soul master really is inseparable from wealth… Luckily, I've got forging to rely on. Otherwise, how would I even keep going?'
"How much does it cost?"
Before Xie Xie could answer, Gu Yue chimed in, "The Spirit Ascension Platform has tiers. For the basic platform, it's about 500,000 federal coins per entry. But the more important issue is the slots. Each platform — even the basic one — only allows about a thousand entries per month. And considering that the continent has over a million active soul masters, you can imagine how tight the competition is. The intermediate and advanced platforms are even worse; they burn through more resources and cost exponentially more."
Wu Zhangkong listened silently as the students chatted, secretly impressed. 'Kids these days know so much already…'
He sighed internally. 'Maybe it's time I finally look into some of the online chatter. But then again, the school has strict rules — students aren't allowed to play with soul communicator devices, not even outside of school. Ordinary soul communicators cost thousands of coins; most lower-year students can't afford one. Even wealthy families wouldn't let their kids waste time like that. After all, cultivation and learning are the true priorities — that's something every world agrees on.'
Of course, there were always some mischievous students who would sneak out with whatever little pocket money they had, just to slip into an internet café.
"So yeah, the academy really went all out for us," Xie Xie said in awe. "Getting a slot isn't easy. Most of them are monopolized by the major clans or powerful organizations. Looks like our academy really has some deep pockets. I bet if Wei Xiaofeng finds out we get to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, he'll be so jealous he could puke!"
Zhang Yangzi shot Xie Xie a sharp glare. "Why are you talking so much nonsense?"
Xie Xie snorted. "What, you jealous? We can spar inside the platform if you've got a problem."
Zhang Yangzi's eyes flashed coldly, and he was about to snap back when Wang Jinxi lightly pressed a hand to his shoulder.
Zhang Yangzi turned, frowning. 'What's up with him? He's been so out of it lately… Must be related to that time Tang Wulin suppressed his martial spirit. But come on, it's been days. Hasn't he recovered yet?'
From a distance, they could already see the Spirit Pagoda.
As one of the Spirit Pagoda organization's branch towers, the Eastsea Spirit Pagoda — also nicknamed the Sea Pagoda — took its name from the vast ocean, symbolizing eternal endurance.
Even from far away, the towering building dominated the skyline. Over a hundred stories tall, more than a thousand meters high, it stood as one of Eastsea City's most iconic landmarks.
(End of Chapter)
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