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Bai Xu felt he had merely wasted ten minutes. The only useful information he gained was clarifying the timeline of the plot.
Guided by the staff, he lay down in the machine. After a dizzying whirl, he found himself transported into the virtual world.
Around him stretched a dense forest, alive with the distinct chirping of insects and birds. The vibrant aura of life was invigorating, filling him with an inexplicable sense of tranquility.
The trees here were enormous, each towering dozens of meters high. Their lush, tightly packed leaves blocked even the sunlight, casting the forest in a deep, shadowy gloom.
Bai Xu moved like a ninja from Naruto, leaping from branch to branch as he scouted the area for prey.
"Hmm? A pack of wolves?"
Several dozen meters away, a wolf pack was hunting. Their target was a wild boar with meter-long tusks.
"Thirteen decade-old demon wolves hunting a century-old Savage Earth Boar. Perfect for testing my abilities."
Bai Xu focused his mind, his spiritual power condensing into an intangible thread that drifted from his brow, slowly creeping toward the distant wolf pack.
Spiritual-type soul masters were most renowned for their mental assaults, but this attack had a major flaw—if the target's strength or spiritual cultivation surpassed the attacker's, attempting a mental assault would be suicidal.
But Bai Xu's situation was different.
The wisp of spiritual energy seeped into the alpha wolf's brow. Moments later, the wolf collapsed, blood streaming from its seven orifices. With their leader dead, the pack descended into chaos, howling in confusion. Under Bai Xu's control, the spiritual thread then drifted toward the Savage Earth Boar's forehead. Seconds later, it too dropped dead.
One by one, the wolves fell. In the end, only three demon wolves escaped in terror, abandoning their prey.
"Killing with spiritual power is this easy?" Bai Xu hadn't expected such results. He had prepared himself for backlash, yet even after repeatedly using mental attacks, no soul beast could resist.
Faint glimmers of light rose from the corpses of the slain soul beasts, drifting toward Bai Xu. His eyes flickered slightly as his soul spirit's cultivation increased by several years.
Roar—!
A distant roar prompted Bai Xu to vanish into concealment. As long as his true body remained hidden, no soul beast below a thousand years in this Primary Spirit Ascension Platform could escape his slaughter.
In a single day, he accomplished much.
Outside the Spirit Pagoda, a monitoring staff member stared in shock:
"H-Heavens! What is he doing?!"
"Century-old Long-Tailed Rat swarms, century-old Gale Demon Wolves, even an entire flock of no less than a hundred Azure Wind Eagles—all wiped out in an instant by a single teenager!"
The staff member trembled as he watched. Every slain soul beast died the same way—blood pouring from their seven orifices before abruptly perishing. Their low intelligence left them unable to even identify their killer before dissolving back into virtual data.
"Is this the number one genius of our East Sea Spirit Pagoda?"
"He's a monster!"
"H-He slaughtered so many soul beasts, yet his physical indicators barely fluctuated! His soul power consumption is negligible—how is this possible?"
"Record everything, now!"
---
Inside the Spirit Ascension Platform.
Bai Xu frowned at his still-purple soul ring. "Though low-level soul beasts are easy to kill, the years they provide is too little. The spiritual energy generated in the Spirit Platform is only one-tenth of the slain beast's years. Once I've familiarized myself here, I'll need to target millennium soul beasts. Moreover, since mental attacks guarantee instant kills against century-level and below soul beasts, I should test them against millennium-level ones. If I fail and suffer backlash, I'll just hit the emergency exit and leave."
Resolved, Bai Xu headed toward a sparsely populated forest. The soul beast guidebook mentioned that the stronger a soul beast, the stronger its territorial instincts—meaning fewer packs would roam nearby.
If his guess was correct, this forest housed a millennium soul beast.
After scouting briefly, Bai Xu discovered a five-meter-high cave at the base of a cliff, its interior pitch-black.
"This must be its den. I'll need to lure it out."
Unfortunately, Bai Xu hadn't yet learned mental control skills. Otherwise, he could've manipulated a few low-level soul beasts to bait it out, avoiding personal risk.
He leaped down from a tree. The moment his feet touched the ground, something inside the cave opened its eyes—then silently vanished.
Bai Xu shouted into the cave, then cautiously retreated dozens of meters, remaining alert. But the cave stayed silent.
"No response? Is it asleep?"
After several attempts yielded nothing, even cautious Bai Xu began to suspect the den was empty. Just as he turned to leave, a sense of foreboding surged through him. His body reacted instinctively—he bent low and leaped into the trees.
Crunch!
The next moment, massive jaws burst from the ground, snapping at the spot where he'd stood.
The soul beast's form emerged from below: a dragon-like body over ten meters long, armored in earth-yellow scales. Its vertical pupils radiated authority as it roared at Bai Xu, venting its fury.
Bai Xu's eyes narrowed. "A millennium Earth Dragon!"
Earth Dragons were a sub-dragon species descended from the Mountain Dragon King lineage. They wielded earth elements, their scales nigh-indestructible. Few same-level soul beasts could breach their defense.
Whoosh!
Thorns of earth erupted as the ground transformed into spears, shooting toward Bai Xu. Forced to evade, he weaved through the forest, using the terrain to dodge the Earth Dragon's onslaught.
"Can my current strength break its armor through brute force?"
"Let's try!"
Bai Xu landed in the clearing before the cave, ready to fight. Enhanced by his formidable spiritual power and Earth Element Essence, his perception was razor-sharp, granting him the initiative.
"Rock Hardening."
At his mental command, a thin layer of armor-like stone spread across his skin.
The manual he'd acquired included multiple spells. The five internal organs corresponded to the Five Elements, with elemental techniques complementing body cultivation. The most profound was the Five Elements Great Escape, rumored to allow instant travel within a 300-mile radius—perfect for fleeing. But its side effects were severe:
1. After use, escape techniques couldn't be reused for a day.
2. The user would be left defenseless, on the brink of death.
3. If used while heavily injured, death would follow immediately.
Thus, users had to assess the situation carefully. If outmatched and the enemy lacked the means to track within 300 miles, the manual advised escaping while still in good condition.
"Rock Hardening" was one such earth-element spell, turning skin as tough as granite.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The Earth Dragon's spears harmlessly bounced off Bai Xu's hardened body.
A silent understanding passed between them. The Earth Dragon reared and charged, while Bai Xu shot forward like a missile, leaving afterimages in his wake.
BOOM!
Dragon claws met fists. Fangs snapped, elbows struck—beast and human clashed in close combat, every limb a lethal weapon.
But Bai Xu's speed surpassed the dragon's. He dodged its razor-sharp teeth repeatedly.
Yet the Earth Dragon fought savagely, enduring Bai Xu's punches with sheer resilience. Its scales seemed to disperse most of the impact—even after a dozen heavy blows, it showed no sign of injury. Instead, it spun, its tail whipping like a flail, sending Bai Xu flying. He crashed through a tree before stabilizing.
"Dragon-kind's physicality is too tough, especially this Mountain Dragon King descendant. It's like a tank—barely fazed." Bai Xu analyzed calmly, undeterred.
His eyes gleamed as he raised a hand. A one-meter-long golden sword materialized.
He'd almost forgotten—his Metal Element Essence had reached the late stage. Unlike earth, which enhanced perception and defense, metal embodied sharpness. Forged into a blade, it could sever anything.
Bai Xu charged. One slash severed the dragon's claw. As it roared and lunged, another strike decapitated it.
The millennium soul beast was dead.
"Metal's offensive power is solid. Next, I'll test mental attacks on millennium soul beasts. Something feels off—mental assaults should only insta-kill if there's a vast cultivation gap. Yet I'm annihilating century-level beasts effortlessly. Bizarre."
Bai Xu pondered the anomalies in his battles. Even Huo Yuhao, another spiritual-type soul master at this stage, hadn't exhibited such dominance.
Hiss!
A streak of green venom shot toward him from a treacherous angle. But his heightened senses detected it—he sidestepped, spotting a hidden century-level Human-Faced Demon Spider lurking in the trees.
"Hmph."
His spiritual thread slithered forth. The spider's mind collapsed instantly, its corpse toppling.
Bai Xu melted back into the shadows, continuing his virtual world slaughter.
---
Outside the Spirit Pagoda.
The monitoring staff had grown accustomed to the spectacle. The East Sea Spirit Pagoda's top genius lived up to his reputation—surviving solo in the Spirit Platform for seven days, still energetic, seemingly frustrated by the scarcity of millennium soul beasts.
As Bai Xu prepared to exit, a tall man entered the monitoring room.
"Delete all combat recordings of Bai Xu from the past seven days. No backups," he ordered, his tone brooking no argument.
The staff complied instantly under Leng Jiuming's intimidation.
Once verified, Leng Jiuming headed to the recovery chamber.
Bai Xu opened his eyes to see his teacher. "You're still here?"
"No, I just arrived."
"..."
Leng Jiuming frowned. "You're too reckless. Flaunting your secrets like this—aren't you afraid the higher-ups will investigate? No second martial soul, yet wielding elemental powers. If this spreads, the soul master world will hunt you for your secrets."
"If exposed, I'll claim a second martial soul as cover. Eventually, no soul master will rival me," Bai Xu said confidently. Then he added, "Teacher, remember that handwritten book I gave you a year ago?"
"Mm. That nonsense."
"It's not. I cultivated precisely from that book."
!!
"Then your earth abilities... come from the spleen?"
"Correct."