Mural

In the second battle, Wu Zhangkong discovered that every move he made seemed to have been anticipated by those seven children. He was unable to unleash his abilities freely; had he not elevated his strength to five rings, he would likely have ended up in an even more awkward predicament. Yet he knew very well that the others were simply incapable of pulling this off. Once the battle ended, he went over to Huo Yuhao in person to experience Spiritual Detection Sharing firsthand, and he immediately understood that it was Huo Yuhao who had coordinated each and every attack. The boy's insight, foundational combat techniques, and horizons were utterly beyond what could define a three-ring Soul Master. Wu Zhangkong strongly suspected that even if he suppressed his strength to the Soul King rank and faced Huo Yuhao alone, bringing the boy down would take considerable effort. As for losing? He still possessed plenty of confidence in himself. With a gap of so many ranks, how could he possibly lose? Wu Zhangkong looked at the seven children dispersed across the grounds, sparring with each other for practice. "Yet precisely because he is too flawless, there is an unbridgeable gulf between him and the others. Only Gu Yuena can keep up with him." "At least someone can keep up, can't they? When true powerhouses reach the end of the road, who among them doesn't fight alone? They're quite fortunate to at least have a rival by their side." Luo Yanglu smiled and shook his head. Wu Zhangkong did not refute him, merely turning to look earnestly at Luo Yanglu. "They are disciples of the East Sea Spirit Pagoda Master, aren't they?" Here in the East Sea, only that Titled Douluo could foster disciples like this. What was more, the Unrestrained Douluo possessed a spiritual-attribute Martial Soul, just like Huo Yuhao. If a Super Douluo had imparted combat techniques to him, Wu Zhangkong could grudgingly accept the outcome of this battle... Well, alright, it was still rather hard to accept. After all, his own teacher was a Super Douluo as well. "Not entirely." Luo Yanglu looked in Gu Yuena's direction. "Gu Yuena is the disciple of Heavenly Phoenix Crown. As for Yuhao... His Excellency Xiaoyao intends to send Yuhao to headquarters, so he did not take him as a disciple." "..." Wu Zhangkong pursed his lips, temporarily laying some of his thoughts to rest. Heavenly Phoenix Douluo was a Deputy Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda. Although she had assumed the post by virtue of the legacy of her forebears, she was probably not far from rank 99 now. The disciple of a rank-98 Super Douluo, and a child whom even a rank-95 Super Douluo dared not take as a disciple... He could completely abandon any lingering ideas. In the Spirit Pagoda, they already had a bright future ahead of them. ... After the battles concluded, the students finished their lunch and were led by Luo Yanglu and Wu Zhangkong toward the Spirit Pagoda. "Starting today, you may enter the Ascension Platform daily for training." Xu Xiaoyan's eyes widened, and she gasped, "Is that really true?" Luo Yanglu nodded with a smile, while Wu Zhangkong raised an eyebrow beside him, inwardly marveling at the Spirit Pagoda's generosity. Seeing Luo Yanglu nod, Xu Xiaoyan was overjoyed. She knew very well what the Ascension Platform was. Although there was feedback from the Soul Spirit Contract, and Heirloom Soul Spirits passed down through generations could be elevated step-by-step through contract feedback, the span from ten to a hundred years was manageable, whereas advancing from a hundred to a thousand years saw difficulty climb significantly. Weaker Soul Master clans had to bide their time and grind through years. Going from a thousand to ten thousand years was even harder, to say nothing of the leap from ten thousand to a hundred thousand years. It was precisely because of the Ascension Platform that smaller clans could occasionally obtain slots, leading to an increase in ten-thousand-year Heirloom Soul Spirits. The benefits of entering the Ascension Platform were plain to see. As for Hundred-Thousand-Year Heirloom Soul Spirits... Xu Xiaoyan had never heard of any here in the East Sea; perhaps only other regions possessed Heirloom Soul Spirits of that caliber. And as far as Huo Yuhao knew, even within a major clan, Hundred-Thousand-Year Heirloom Soul Spirits were few and far between. For the vast majority of Titled Douluo, reaching the Spirit Abyss Realm was the upper limit of their spiritual power, and the Spirit Abyss Realm could only accommodate a single hundred-thousand-year Soul Spirit or a single Fierce Beast Soul Spirit. Under such circumstances, a Titled Douluo who already accommodated a hundred-thousand-year Soul Spirit could not—and dared not—elevate their ten-thousand-year Soul Spirit to the hundred-thousand-year level. They could only leave it for future generations to inherit and elevate, provided those descendants were promising enough. Moreover, unlike the situation in the original work, with Heirloom Soul Spirits available, everyone strove to elevate their Soul Spirits to higher age limits to lay a stronger foundation for their descendants. Yet relying solely on contract feedback to acquire a hundred-thousand-year Soul Spirit was exceedingly difficult, so all the major powers set their sights on the Ascension Platform. Yet elevating a single Soul Spirit to the hundred-thousand-year rank consumed a tremendous amount of spiritual energy from the Ascension Platform, and with so many powerhouses in line for it, there were always those who never got their turn. (Soul Calmer: Not everyone is me.) Under the influence of these various factors, even in great clans, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Heirloom Soul Spirit served as a core foundation of a Soul Master family, and their numbers were scarce. Their total combined number across the continent was quite impressive, far exceeding this era in the original work. As for Fierce Beast Soul Spirits, they were beyond what soul ascension and contract feedback could achieve, making them exceedingly rare! In the Spirit Pagoda of ten thousand years later, artificial Soul Spirits could reach the hundred-thousand-year rank, but because they could not simulate Heavenly Tribulations, they could not attain the Fierce Beast rank. The Spirit Pagoda today faced a similar dilemma. Would a Soul Spirit ever be struck by its own Heavenly Tribulation? No such precedent existed, because they simply never faced Heavenly Tribulations. And therein lay the problem. Upon becoming an Heirloom Soul Spirit, a Soul Spirit gained immortality in a certain sense, no longer having to suffer through Heavenly Tribulations. But over time, people discovered that all Fierce Beasts seemingly had to endure distinct Heavenly Tribulations to advance to that tier. Without Heavenly Tribulations, a hundred-thousand-year Soul Spirit could not ascend into a Fierce Beast Soul Spirit. Just as humans could not break through to the next stage without Spirit Rings, Soul Spirits encountered the same bottleneck, stuck at a threshold they could not cross. This was an impasse the Spirit Pagoda currently struggled to overcome. Some had proposed simulating artificial Heavenly Tribulations, bypassing Lightning Tribulations, and various other notions, but research had yet to find a lead, remaining purely theoretical. If this part of the rules was also related to the Dragon God, Huo Yuhao could only say that the Dragon God was quite thorough. Yet loopholes could still be found. After all, he had such an example right beside him. Right? Brother Tianmeng, who had never suffered a single Heavenly Tribulation and simply woke up from a nap having inexplicably become a Million-Year Soul Beast? "Here we are." Standing before the Spirit Pagoda, apart from the somewhat excited Xu Xiaoyan, the other students remained quite calm. After all, in a sense, they were all Spirit Pagoda insiders and had long been mentally prepared. Entering the first floor, the ground of the Spirit Pagoda was paved with dark-gold stone, its natural veining rich and vibrant, resembling flowing scroll paintings. Looking upward, massive stone pillars rose from the floor, steadily supporting a dome dozens of meters high. What proved most astonishing were the vibrant, lifelike murals adorning these pillars and the dome. These murals were magnificent and resplendent, depicting landscapes and figures that seemed to chronicle a tale, exuding a palpable sense of history. Among them were three figures: one whose features were somewhat indistinct, an exquisitely beautiful woman in white standing by his side, and an attractive man in black robes positioned in front. Tang Wulin was already familiar with it, and said to the curious companions beside him, "This mural depicts the first Pagoda Master signing the pact with the two Pagoda Masters, Snow Empress of the Extreme North and Di Tian of the Star Dou Great Forest. It represents the beginning of humanity and Soul Beasts embarking on an alternate path." "However, no one else was present to witness that scene, so it was actually rendered based on Deputy Pagoda Master Di Tian's description." Hearing this, Wang Jinxi thought of his own Soul Spirit and quietly gazed up at the mural, as if paying homage. This scene was the very genesis of the Douluo Continent's present grandeur. Zhang Yangzi remarked with some yearning, "I've heard that the Pagoda Masters of the Spirit Pagoda are all top-tier powerhouses on the continent. I wonder if we'll ever have the chance to meet them." Tang Wulin smiled and said, "Those aren't people we can see right now. We need to display enough potential first." "You sure know a lot." Xie Xie glanced at Tang Wulin and whispered, "Have you joined the Spirit Pagoda too?" "Yeah!" Tang Wulin nodded with a smile. To the side, Huo Yuhao looked at the Snow Empress in the mural for a moment before shifting his gaze away. He was back. They would meet again in the future. Wu Zhangkong gazed at the mural, his expression somewhat complex, yet he still looked upon it with reverence. After exchanging a few words with the reception staff, Luo Yanglu led the group smoothly along. Taking an elevator down underground, he guided them toward a testing chamber. "Before entering the Ascension Platform, we'll conduct physical condition and spiritual power tests so Teacher Wu and I have a clear idea of where you stand."