Word Count: 3,072
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Illusory Mirror Space.
Han Tianyi drew on the peak of Spirit Domain Realm spiritual power to manifest a classroom and began teaching the two children the art of Mecha Mechanics.
Though both he and Heavenly Phoenix Douluo were Four-Word Battle Armor Masters, their teaching styles could not have been more different.
Leng Yaozhu started from foundational theory and built upward, guiding her students bit by bit toward deeper principles. Her approach was well suited to beginners. Han Tianyi, by contrast, opened by playing his trump card right away. He used spiritual power to construct vivid, concrete examples, then dissected them in bold, freewheeling fashion, analyzing every detail from angles that leaped far beyond convention. To keep up, a student needed a solid foundation already in place.
That left Zhao Xuanzhen and Na Er at opposite extremes. Zhao Xuanzhen, who had secretly pushed himself hard since childhood, handled everything with ease. Na Er, meanwhile, sat there with her head tilted up at a forty-five-degree angle, staring at the ceiling and looking as though she were about to shatter.
Of the four great secondary professions, Mecha Mechanics was the most complex. A proper Mecha Mechanic needed proficiency in both Mecha Design and Mecha Manufacturing. Mastery of neither field to its absolute limit was required, but without a deep understanding of the connection between the two, repairing damaged Battle Armor/Mechas was out of the question.
"Class dismissed."
The instant Han Tianyi uttered those two dreamlike words, Na Er flopped facedown onto the desk with a thud. She fixed Zhao Xuanzhen with a long, reproachful stare, her silver eyes practically speaking for themselves:
I came here to hang out, and you dragged me into class. Inhuman!
Zhao Xuanzhen calmly produced two bags of snacks, and the girl's gloom evaporated on the spot. She munched away one bite after another, utterly unable to stop, both cheeks puffed out round as a chipmunk's.
Ding ding—
Han Tianyi received a message on his Spirit Communication Device. A closer look revealed it was from Leng Yaozhu. He read it through, and a faint smile crossed his face:
"Heavenly Phoenix just sent word. She wants you two little ones to enter the Illusory Mirror Space's virtual combat grounds, the True Illusory Realm."
"True Illusory Realm?" Na Er looked blank.
Zhao Xuanzhen lowered his voice and explained. "The True Illusory Realm is a secondary product of the Spirit Ascension Platform.
When Spirit Masters kill spirit beasts inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, they receive a portion of energy feedback that advances their spirit rings' age.
But as everyone knows, a Spirit Master's spiritual power and physical strength have upper limits. Once spirit rings reach that ceiling, absorbing any more energy from kills inside the Spirit Ascension Platform will cause the body to explode. That's why the Spirit Pagoda built the True Illusory Realm. It isn't open to the public yet. For now, it's reserved for internal Spirit Masters only.
The True Illusory Realm is purely a place for combat training. Killing creatures inside provides no energy feedback whatsoever, but it's also far less dangerous than the Spirit Ascension Platform.
First, it can link to the Spiritual Sea of a Spirit Domain Realm expert within the Spirit Pagoda, placing everything inside under that person's full control. Second, it has an internal protection system that automatically pulls a Spirit Master out the instant before death."
Within the Sun-Moon Federation, only eighteen core cities possessed Spirit Ascension Platforms. They were known as the Eighteen Pillars of Heaven.
Each platform allowed one thousand entries per month at a cost of five hundred thousand federation coins apiece. For outside Spirit Masters, even once a month was a crushing burden. Zhao Xuanzhen and Na Er, however, had Vice Pagoda Master Leng Yaozhu at their backs. They could go whenever they pleased and push themselves to their limits in a very short time.
Going forward, the True Illusory Realm would serve as their second training ground.
A pair of multicolored helmets descended from above and settled over their heads. Han Tianyi's gaze sharpened as his Spirit Domain Realm spiritual power linked directly into the True Illusory Realm!
Zhao Xuanzhen and Na Er materialized in a vast wilderness. Withered Blue Silver Grass stretched as far as the eye could see. The setting sun hung low, lending the landscape an added touch of desolation.
"They've done a decent job with the atmosphere..." Zhao Xuanzhen squinted.
"The first wave is being transferred in."
Han Tianyi's aged voice rang out from the sky above the True Illusory Realm.
Four black shapes burst into their field of vision. They were ape-type spirit beasts, tall and brutishly built with especially massive arm muscles!
1,000-year Vigorous Gorillas!
Pure-strength spirit beasts taken to the extreme, with copper skin and iron bones. Masters of close-quarters combat with no ranged abilities whatsoever.
"Two each?"
Zhao Xuanzhen tilted his head slightly. The black hair at his temples was already paling to white as his Martial Spirit True Self manifested. A brilliant purple 1,000-year spirit ring rose around his body.
"Done!"
Na Er cracked her knuckles and gripped the Silver Dragon Spear tight. Her 100-year spirit ring climbed upward, and from it charged a spirit beast bristling with dense dorsal thorns. Zhao Xuanzhen recognized it at once. It was the Thorn Dragon he had eliminated at the very beginning!
The Thorn Dragon possessed top-tier sub-dragon bloodline. It balanced attack and speed, and it also wielded formidable spatial power. Once its cultivation broke through to ten thousand years, it would awaken the domain spirit skill called 'Spatial Thorn Battlefield!'
It planted itself before Na Er like the most loyal of soldiers. Zhao Xuanzhen did not doubt this fellow's resolve for a second.
A dragon fusing with Na Er... wasn't that the dragon race's equivalent of landing a cushy government job for life?
This was its very first battle. The Thorn Dragon was bound to give everything it had and earn the approval of the Silver Dragon King's other half!
The four Vigorous Gorillas roared so loudly their echoes reverberated across the landscape. They stomped the ground and accelerated, massive bodies dragging black afterimages behind them. Sandbag-sized fists tore through the air, the force of their punches carrying boulder-shattering power as they came crashing in!
Zhao Xuanzhen's 1,000-year spirit ring blazed with purple light.
First Spirit Skill, Qi Follows the Heart's Will!
He turned his wrist lightly, fingers spreading as though brushing drifting clouds. Both hands traced the perfect arc of 'Grasp Sparrow's Tail,' intercepting the fists of two Vigorous Gorillas at precisely the right moment.
The surrounding world seemed to invert in an instant. A current of Qi as soft as cotton wisps dragged the two gorillas off balance. Their own force spiraled back along its original path, and with a string of crisp, snapping cracks, every ounce of power they had unleashed came crashing back into their own arms!
Four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds!
Their savage brute strength became the very thing that destroyed them. Hard arm bones shattered segment by segment under the recoil, and both Vigorous Gorillas let out howls of agony!
Zhao Xuanzhen advanced through the shattered sunset and closed the distance. Black-and-white light bloomed in his palm as he pressed one hand casually against a gorilla's chest. Blood burst outward, and its heart exploded on the spot!
Spirit beasts that relied on nothing but raw power were far easier to handle than Man Faced Demon Spiders. For Vigorous Gorillas, Tai Chi alone was an insurmountable chasm they could never hope to cross in their lives.
His sleeves unstained by so much as a speck of dust, Zhao Xuanzhen withdrew his hand and turned to watch Na Er.
Her opponents were likewise two Vigorous Gorillas. Silver eyes flashed. Her spirit ring ignited, and silver light gathered along the Silver Dragon Spear until it seemed almost solid. A fierce killing intent erupted outward!
A clear, soaring dragon cry pierced the air. Na Er charged the Vigorous Gorillas head-on. The Silver Dragon Spear traced a flawless arc through centrifugal force, and the instant its tip met a gorilla's fist, the silver trail of light detonated!
First Spirit Skill, Silver Dragon Slash!
Silver blazed outward in an instant. Amid a piercing crack, the Vigorous Gorilla's arm snapped backward, but only half of it remained. The Silver Dragon Spear had cleaved the limb clean in two!
Na Er's first spirit ring came from the spatial-attribute Thorn Dragon, and the Silver Dragon Spear itself was the Silver Dragon King's companion divine weapon, naturally attuned to all the major elements. The two reinforced each other perfectly, making Silver Dragon Slash's spatial severing power all but unstoppable!
Arms were a Vigorous Gorilla's greatest weapon. Without one, it was little more than a lamb awaiting slaughter. Na Er drove her spear through its heart before long.
Three companions dead. The last Vigorous Gorilla snapped on the spot, its eyes flooding scarlet as it hurled itself at Na Er!
"ROAR—"
Silver light stirred. The Thorn Dragon launched itself skyward, opening with a dragon kick and following up with a barrage of thorn strikes. The silky-smooth combo battered the Vigorous Gorilla backward again and again. All the while, it bellowed nonstop in beast tongue:
Do you have any idea how hard I worked before milady finally noticed me?!
Don't block this lord's path to ascension, you bastard!
The finishing blow: a divine dragon tail sweep. The razor-sharp thorns on the Thorn Dragon's tail punched clean through the Vigorous Gorilla's chest!
"We won!"
Na Er leaped into the air, buzzing with the thrill of battle, and slapped Zhao Xuanzhen's outstretched palm with a resounding smack.
Those gorilla brutes were nothing! Zhen and Na were clearly the more fearsome pair!
Han Tianyi's spiritual projection gazed down from on high, voice rich with admiration. "Both of them are combat-type Spirit Masters whose battle strength far outstrips their spirit power level. Heavenly Phoenix really has picked up two treasures.
With talent this monstrous, they absolutely must be drilled properly..."
Han Tianyi's spiritual power ranked first among the Spirit Pagoda's many Titled Douluo. The True Illusory Realm might as well have been tailor-made for him. He was like a fish in water here, able to conjure spirit beasts without end!
Dust boiled up from the distant horizon. A massive herd of rhinoceroses pawed the ground with iron hooves, the keratin armor covering their bodies reflecting the evening sun's glow as fiery patterns rippled across their skin like flowing lava.
Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceros!
These were pure defensive-type spirit beasts whose thick hides could withstand the vast majority of spirit skills. Three 1,000-year Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceroses led a whole pack of 100-year rhinoceroses in a thundering charge, like an impregnable wall sweeping forward.
Yet the rhinoceroses were not the entirety of the second wave. Four white streaks circled in the sky above, each flap of their wings leaving a visible trail. They were bird-type spirit beasts flying at astonishing speed!
Zhao Xuanzhen's pupils contracted sharply as he made out what those white streaks truly were.
Needle-Tailed Swifts!
Their attack power was feeble and their defense nearly nonexistent, yet they were extreme speed-type spirit beasts, among the fastest on the entire Douluo Continent!
Vigorous Gorillas, Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceroses, Needle-Tailed Swifts...
The Single-Attribute Four Great Clans were having a full-scale reunion!
"Zhao Xuanzhen, how do we fight this..."
Na Er pressed her red lips together. The two stood shoulder to shoulder. Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceroses below, Needle-Tailed Swifts above. A coordinated ground-and-air assault would produce an effect far greater than one plus one!
"I'll handle the ones in the sky. We split the Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceroses evenly."
"Got it!"
Targets divided, both of them charged straight at the rhinoceros herd!
Na Er's Silver Dragon Spear spun into a wheel of light before her. Silver Dragon Slash tore open fine cracks in space, and the 100-year rhinoceroses at the front were sliced to pieces by spatial blades. Na Er understood. By taking on the Needle-Tailed Swifts himself, Zhao Xuanzhen was freeing her to fight without a single worry at her back.
They were teammates. To lighten the ground pressure on Zhao Xuanzhen, she charged without hesitation at two of the 1,000-year Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceroses!
"Qi Engulfing Mountains and Rivers, scatter!"
Not far away, Zhao Xuanzhen spun in place and stomped his right foot heavily into the ground. A Taiji Diagram swept outward in every direction, black-and-white Qi engulfing the massive bodies of several 100-year rhinoceroses. More of them trampled over the corpses of their own kind and pressed forward without pause, beastly eyes burning with vengeful fire.
The Needle-Tailed Swifts screamed as they plunged from the sky. They were like assassins who had lurked in the shadows, studying their prey's every weakness, waiting for the one perfect instant to strike!
All four Needle-Tailed Swifts were 1,000-year spirit beasts, and they had no intention of conveniently targeting Zhao Xuanzhen alone. They split into two groups and dived toward both targets!
"Wrap, adhere, pull!"
The cold shout cracked across the battlefield. The inertia of the Needle-Tailed Swifts' dive had not yet faded, but their bodies abruptly twisted off course against their own will. In the next instant, every single one of them had been forcibly redirected toward Zhao Xuanzhen!
Tai Chi Silk-Reeling Force!
Dragged from their trajectories by force, fury surged through the four Needle-Tailed Swifts. They shrieked skyward, and four afterimages materialized beside each of them. Their attack coverage expanded explosively until it looked as though twenty white figures were diving on Zhao Xuanzhen at once.
Innate Spirit Skill, Swift Clone!
Shrill cries split the sky. Boosted by extreme speed, blade-like feathers shredded the dusk, and the winds from their descent threw the layered clouds into chaos.
Then the airflow froze. The Needle-Tailed Swifts' white tail feathers still trembled, but the wind pressure had already reversed. The gale became an invisible prison, yanking every white figure back down toward the earth!
"Xun Trigram, Wind Prison."
A strand of deep blue washed over Zhao Xuanzhen's dark eyes. Confronted by the spirit beasts' combined ground-and-air assault, he began to draw on Eight Trigrams Qimen.
The sky was no longer the Needle-Tailed Swifts' domain!
"Dui Trigram, Great Marsh!"
Water-like ripples spread across the ground. The Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceroses sank as though stepping into quicksand. Those iron hooves, powerful enough to smash through giant trees, plunged into the mire and could not budge an inch!
"Kun Trigram, Earth Tremor!
Zhen Trigram, Thunder!"
The rock layers underfoot surged upward into a roaring dragon's head. Thunderclouds gathered overhead and erupted in world-illuminating bolts of lightning. Agonized howls from Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceroses and Needle-Tailed Swifts echoed across the wilds!
"Commanding multiple elements... isn't that the Silver Dragon King's power..."
Na Er's eyes flew wide in disbelief!
Her heart churned, yet her dragon spear never paused. The shaft vibrated sharply, moving like a swimming dragon. Na Er flashed forward with nimble, lightning-fast steps, weaving through the battlefield, and drove her spear straight through a struggling Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceros's eye and into its brain. One strike, one kill!
Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceroses, Needle-Tailed Swifts... wiped out to the last!
Just as the two of them thought the second wave had ended, a figure lunged soundlessly at Na Er. The angle of attack was viciously tricky, perfectly lodged in her blind spot, yet Zhao Xuanzhen caught it at once.
The figure was actually human!
Black flames blazed along a long spear as it thrust straight at Na Er's chest!
A split second before impact, a scarlet pillar of fire swept across and slammed into the attacker.
"Li Trigram, Blazing Flame!"
"What the heck is that thing?"
Zhao Xuanzhen ground his teeth. Na Er clenched hers. They raised their heads in perfect sync and looked skyward!
Han Tianyi's cheerful voice drifted down. "The True Illusory Realm can simulate more than just spirit beasts. It can simulate Spirit Masters as well.
It always feels like the Single-Attribute Four Great Clans are missing something without the Soul Breaking Spear. Wouldn't it be nicer with the whole family neatly gathered together?
Xuanzhen, Na Er, you two are the most gifted young Spirit Masters this old man has seen in all his life. The third wave is about to arrive. Defeat it, and today's training in the True Illusory Realm ends here."
Na Er's confidence swelled on the spot. She threw two punches at the air with a cry of "Hey! Ha!" and shouted, "Bring it on! We're not afraid of anyone!"
"Your courage is commendable..."
Han Tianyi chuckled softly. A spirit beast slowly condensed into existence. It had a human upper body and a serpent's tail. Dark green snake-hair writhed atop its head, and a pair of wild boar-like fangs jutted from its mouth. Cold reptilian scales covered its face and neck, while a third eye at the center of its brow remained tightly shut.
The queen of snakes, Medusa!
Cultivation: 10,000 years!
"No way..."
Na Er sniffed. Something crystal-clear and liquid seemed on the verge of dripping from her eyes. She raised one hand, pointed stiffly at the 10,000-year Medusa, and said with a contorted expression:
"You mean... we kill that?"
No answer came from the sky. Na Er hurriedly turned her head and called out, "Zhao—"
There was no one behind her at all!
Zhao Xuanzhen knew his own limits. A genius was not some invincible cheat code. Those spirit beasts that had only just broken into the 1,000-year rank were one thing, but a one-ringed Spirit Master going up against a 10,000-year Medusa...
He made the decisive choice to put Na Er squarely in front of him!
BOOM—
A gray-white beam shot toward them. Na Er launched herself into a massive leap and barely dodged Medusa's Gaze!
"Zhao Xuanzhen, save me save me save me save me SAVE ME!!!"
Zhao Xuanzhen didn't even glance back. Wind gathered beneath his feet as he bolted.
Better a dead friend than a dead me!
I can still make it!
High above, Illusory Brain Douluo felt deep gratification. Practical combat training, spiritual power tempering, spirit beast recognition, and even a running drill to strengthen the body thrown in for good measure. Wasn't this far superior to plain running? He had never realized it before, but he truly was a genius educator!
And just like that, Zhen and Na's hellish life as Spirit Masters officially began!