Now that Arthur had finished raising his ten-thousand-year spirit ring limit and rejoined the group, the next step was to help the others boost their spirit rings as well.
It didn't take long.
After a swift and effortless slaughter, Arthur split the spirit power released by the soul beasts into several streams and channeled them toward the group.
Xie Xie, Wang Jinxi, and Zhang Yangzi couldn't help but cheer before dropping cross-legged to absorb the energy.
As time passed, the light from their two hundred-year spirit rings grew increasingly dense, hovering on the edge of breaking through to a thousand years.
Yet the breakthrough never came.
Worse, the meridians of all three began to swell, as though they might tear apart from the strain.
Seeing this, Arthur flicked his fingertip and sent a gentle stream of spirit power into each of them, helping to stabilize their turbulent energy.
He had instinctively overlooked this point earlier. They simply couldn't bear the burden that a thousand-year spirit ring would place on their bodies.
Tang Wulin, however, was handling it just fine. His spirit ring had already begun its transformation toward a thousand years.
Gu Yue, for her part, absorbed only a tiny amount, just enough to be polite, then stopped.
Xu Xiaoyan stood nervously to one side, clutching her ice staff tightly as she watched Arthur help the others clear their meridians.
Arthur noticed her gaze and waved a portion of spirit power toward her. "This is yours. Be careful, don't push yourself."
Xu Xiaoyan nodded with a delighted expression and quickly sat down cross-legged to absorb it. But her cultivation was far more fragile. After only a short moment, her cheeks flushed red and she stopped, saying softly, "Thank you. I've already hit my limit."
Arthur turned to look at Xu Xiaoyu. Seeing her hesitate, unwilling to step forward, he said plainly, "The others can't absorb what's left anyway. You might as well take it."
Xu Xiaoyu's eyes lit up and she hurried over.
With that, their trip to the Spirit Ascension Platform was more or less complete.
Among the group, Arthur had broken through to ten thousand years. Tang Wulin had broken through to a thousand years.
Everyone else had merely increased their ring years by some degree, with no major breakthroughs.
This left Xie Xie and the others beating their chests in frustration. They stared at Tang Wulin's thousand-year spirit ring with eyes red from envy.
Na'er sat on the wing of the Skyshatter Eagle, swinging her legs idly. Watching them, she curled her lip. "It's your own fault for being so weak."
She casually raised a hand and drew in the excess spirit power left over after the others had finished absorbing.
The energy that had been enough to overwhelm Xie Xie and the rest was absorbed by her with effortless ease, deepening the purple of her spirit rings only slightly, as if she had done nothing more than take a sip of water.
In truth, Na'er was already capable of bearing a ten-thousand-year spirit ring, as this ring had been condensed by herself. However, she had told the others it came from a spirit beast, and under that premise, she claimed her Spiritual Power wasn't yet sufficient.
So for now, she had to keep pretending it was only a thousand years.
Xie Xie and the others looked ready to cry, swinging from elation to despair in an instant. They cursed themselves for being too weak. They had a top-tier fighter to help them, and they still couldn't hold up under the strain.
The Spirit Ascension trip was over.
Wushang Kong swept his gaze across the Class Zero students before him and announced, "The first part of your final exam is considered passed."
He had never expected to use the Spirit Ascension Platform as a trial for the students. This was simply a resource benefit that came with being in Class Zero.
The real test was the second part.
"Rest well today. The second exam begins tomorrow."
At that, the smiles on everyone's faces vanished immediately. Xie Xie let out a miserable groan. "There's another round?"
"I said from the very beginning that the final exam has two parts," Wushang Kong replied, his voice cold. "Let's go. We're heading back to the academy first."
Arthur mulled it over. It was probably the Tang Sect's assessment.
The next day, Wushang Kong led the Class Zero students onto a spirit guidance bus heading straight for the outskirts of the city.
As usual, Xie Xie was the first to speak up, asking curiously what this round would involve.
Wushang Kong didn't say much, only that it was similar in nature to the Spirit Ascension Platform.
Once the bus reached the outskirts, the scenery became unfamiliar. Buildings still dotted the area, but there was noticeably more open space.
Arthur looked around carefully. Despite all the time he had spent in Eastsea City, he had never actually come out to the outskirts.
His daily routine had been almost entirely confined to three places: the academy, the Blacksmith Association, and the Spirit Pagoda.
They reached their destination.
After getting off the bus, everyone followed Wushang Kong into a large complex.
At a glance, it was filled with Eastsea City's high-tech enterprises and major corporations, including what appeared to be a mecha factory.
After a thirty-minute walk, they arrived at a compound within the compound.
Wushang Kong stepped forward and pressed his right hand against a closed deep-blue glass door. A flash of bright blue light passed through it.
A moment later, a teasing voice came from inside. "Well, well! Who could it be? If it isn't little Changkong of Eastsea!"
Wushang Kong's already cold expression tightened further. He didn't bother with pleasantries. "Open the door."
The person on the other side had clearly anticipated this. Wushang Kong was just that kind of person.
The glass doors slid open on both sides.
Inside, the floor was white and the walls a deep blue, the environment clean and orderly.
The interior was spacious. A circular metal platform floated over, bearing several metal bracelets. Wushang Kong had everyone put one on.
"These bracelets serve as identity verification, mainly to prevent the defense systems from targeting you."
Before anyone could react with surprise, Wushang Kong led them further in. They passed through several glass doors and wound through twisting corridors until Wushang Kong suddenly vanished as he walked through a particular area.
"Spatial technology." Arthur couldn't help but reflect on it. The technological development of this era was genuinely strange. Many foundational fields were rudimentary, far behind what the modern world of his previous life had achieved.
And yet they had somehow developed spatial technology.
Must be thanks to the mysterious properties of spirit power.
"Follow me."
Wushang Kong's voice came from all directions at once.
The group stepped forward and were wrapped in a strange energy, instantly transported to another space.
Above and below were deep-blue crystals. The walls were silver-white metal, and the way light refracted here was peculiar.
Wushang Kong stood ahead of them, operating some kind of device. A screen had appeared, and he was typing at the keyboard with rapid, flying keystrokes.
The screen responded shortly after.
"Identity confirmed: Eastsea Changkong."
"Test difficulty: Intermediate. Number of participants: seven."
"Countdown begins."
Only then did Wushang Kong explain. "This is the final exam. Use everything you have and defeat the spirit masters inside."
There was no time to respond. Several beams of blue light descended from above, and the group vanished in an instant.
Arthur felt the same sensation as the spatial transfer from moments ago. As a sudden weightlessness surged over him, he instinctively adjusted his posture and landed steadily on his feet.
He looked around. The ground was white and stretched endlessly in every direction. There was no sky.
An electronic voice spoke: "Welcome to the Hall of Heroes. Inaugural Trial: Intermediate Difficulty. Name: Arthur. Age: Nine. First match: Survive thirty seconds."
Not far ahead of Arthur, a young man appeared.
He was tall and slender, with short dark-blue hair that looked neat and clean-cut.
His face was handsome, giving off an air of refinement.
"Begin!" the electronic voice announced.
In an instant, the young man shot forward, each step trailing layered afterimages. At the same time, his arms transformed into dragon claws.
"Beibei?" Seeing the dragon claws, Arthur had a guess.
And that footwork...
Without a hint of urgency, Arthur watched with casual interest. "So this is Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step?"
Instant-Light!
The moment the dragon claws were about to make contact, Arthur dissolved into a flash of light and vanished, using his Instant-Light movement technique.
He made no move to counter-attack. Instead, he engaged the young man in a pure contest of footwork, their ghostly and luminous figures weaving back and forth across the white expanse.
In truth, Arthur could have ended things with a single move. But he chose not to. He was in the process of learning.
The Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step that "Beibei" was using was naturally not the original version from ten thousand years ago. It was the latest iteration, refined over ten thousand years by countless geniuses within the Tang Sect from that era to the present.
The movement technique created by Su Wuyan, a mere Super Douluo, was no match for it.
And so Arthur was using his sheer statistical advantage and formidable combat instincts to feel out the essence of the other's footwork.
The second chapter will be a bit late.
I used my free time today to watch the match.
Well... losing by that much really drained me.