With Class Zero granted one ascension platform session per week, everyone's progress accelerated rapidly.
Arthur returned to his days of relentless cultivation. For reasons he couldn't quite pin down, the slowdown in training speed that had come after Level 30 due to his extreme attributes seemed to matter less and less as his soul power climbed.
He could feel a peculiar force gradually welling up from within, and his cultivation pace quickened in turn. He had already reached the peak of Level 35 with relative ease.
His forging hadn't fallen behind either. He was just one step away from spirit forging, and perhaps the next session would see him become a Rank 5 forgemaster, a Rank 5 forgemaster not yet ten years old.
Gu Yue had quietly caught up to Na'er's pace as well, breaking through to Spirit Elder.
Tang Wulin, under Class Zero's resources, had reached the peak of Level 15.
Xie Xie, Wang Jinxi, and Zhang Yangzi were all sitting at Rank 22, the level of Great Soul Master.
The day of the final examination came quickly.
Early that morning, Wu Zhangkong regarded the Class Zero students with his usual composure: "Your final exam covers two subjects. Do you remember what I told you about the ascension platform before? The ascension platform is the first subject."
"The ascension platform doesn't seem that hard anymore." Xie Xie was feeling rather pleased with himself. After weeks of training, he was confident he could pass the ascension platform assessment.
Wu Zhangkong's tone shifted: "Which is why this time, you'll be entering the Rebellion Ascension Platform."
The Rebellion Ascension Platform?
Even Xie Xie had never heard that term before. He asked urgently: "Teacher, what does a Rebellion ascension platform mean?"
The others, excluding Arthur, Na'er, and Gu Yue, were equally bewildered.
Wu Zhangkong explained: "Twice a year, the ascension platform enters a frenzy period. The spirit beasts inside become far more active, their numbers increase, and the danger rises sharply. However, you will be permitted to enter as a team."
As a team?
Meaning they could go in with Arthur?
Everyone turned to look at Arthur at the same moment.
With someone like him around, what did a frenzy period even matter? It would just be free loot. This final exam was practically a giveaway.
Wu Zhangkong took in everyone's reactions but said nothing. The real focus of this assessment was spirit ascension itself, with combat experience as a secondary objective. The frenzy period was too rare an opportunity to waste.
He continued: "What I need to remind you is that the basic ascension platform's entry limit is the peak of the third ring. And gaining entry during a frenzy period comes at considerable cost."
"Each time the frenzy period activates, all eighteen pillars across the entire Federation share a combined total of only three hundred entry slots."
"As a result, many soul masters wait until they are at the peak of their third ring before attempting it, hoping to eliminate enough spirit beasts to advance their spirit soul."
"You need to be wary of those people."
"Because inside the Rebellion Ascension Platform, absorbing the spiritual energy from a spirit beast takes one hundred seconds, and during that window, others can move in and steal it."
Others could steal your spiritual energy?
You had to watch out for other soul masters?
Everyone went still for a moment, though none of them looked worried.
Zhang Yangzi was quick to seize on the implication: "So on top of hunting spirit beasts, we can also rob other people?"
He didn't bother mentioning the possibility of being robbed himself. The others' eyes lit up just the same.
They had Arthur with them. Who in there could possibly stand up to him? The entry cap was Spirit Elder at the highest, and with the two of them working together, it would be a massacre.
Wu Zhangkong did not argue. He had chosen not to restrict team formations precisely to let Arthur carry the others along.
The frenzy period offered too many benefits.
He then led Class Zero toward the Eastsea Spirit Pagoda. Along the way he kept issuing reminders about precautions they needed to observe, though barely anyone was paying attention. Their minds had already drifted into daydreams.
With Arthur leading them, was there any chance they could push their spirit souls all the way to a thousand years this time? A thousand years. Every time they caught a glimpse of Arthur's and Na'er's thousand-year soul rings, they practically drooled.
Arthur, meanwhile, was turning over a different question: whether this frenzy period would give him enough to push his own spirit soul to ten thousand years.
Na'er was carefully working out how to strip as much spiritual energy from everyone else as possible and funnel it all to Arthur.
Gu Yue was wondering what the spirit beast forest inside the platform looked like during a frenzy period. A shame it was only a simulation, otherwise she'd have absolutely brought snacks and wandered through it at her leisure.
When they arrived at the Spirit Pagoda, there was no need for the entry credentials the Eastsea Academy had issued to Wu Zhangkong. Arthur's face alone got them through without a single hitch, and they were shown directly to a private access room with dedicated monitoring, a privilege not extended to ordinary visitors.
Staff gave a brief reminder, "Disengage immediately if you encounter danger," and the group settled into the equipment pods.
A worker slid in the activation card, pressed the red frenzy-period protection button, and initiated the transfer.
After a brief moment of blurred consciousness, they all appeared together in the vast forest of the ascension platform.
Gu Yue's gaze dimmed slightly. The surroundings looked nearly identical to the standard ascension platform. Nothing especially new.
The others quickly scanned their surroundings, and the moment they spotted Arthur's steady presence, every one of them exhaled in relief.
So they were together after all.
They were in good hands.
"I'm going to move alone for a while." Arthur's calm voice cut through the air as his gaze swept across the group. "I cover more ground on my own. Once I've finished advancing my own spirit soul, I'll come back and help you all push for a thousand years."
Helping his classmates out was no trouble, but first he needed to reach ten thousand years himself and complete his goal for this session.
"Arthur, you're the best!" Xie Xie was the first to react, so worked up he bounced on the spot, shouting: "With you here, we're guaranteed to hit a thousand years this time!"
He began rubbing his hands together with barely contained anticipation, and couldn't help humming to himself. Who wouldn't want their first spirit soul to hit a thousand years?
Tang Wulin's eyes flickered with both gratitude and longing. He had been diligent in his cultivation, but a thousand-year spirit soul was still a distant dream from where he currently stood.
Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi were practically beaming.
Zhang Yangzi had already started scheming about trailing behind Arthur and coasting to victory, his mouth curving upward as he indulged in mental images of plundering other soul masters' spiritual energy.
No one had any objection to Arthur splitting off to work on his own ascension first. After all, he had no obligation to look after them. Helping was a kindness, not a duty.
"I want to come too! Let me come too!" Na'er bounded over to Arthur and stood in front of him, blinking her large violet eyes.
"Na'er is very capable, you saw last time! Na'er can help you catch lots and lots of spirit beasts."
The display made Gu Yue physically uncomfortable. She let out an involuntary sound of disgust. She had her own designs on Arthur, but her approach had always been to win him over through her own appeal. Na'er's deliberate cuteness and fawning behavior was something she found deeply objectionable, frankly indecent and beneath the dignity of someone with the status of a spirit beast sovereign.
Unable to help herself, Gu Yue mimicked in a dripping tone: "Tsk tsk, Na'er is very capable~~"
"Help you catch lots and lots of spirit beasts~~"
"Look at yourself."
Na'er huffed right back: "None of your business! How many times do I have to say it!"
"I! Do! What! I! Want!"
The air around them went quiet.