There was now a group of four in the special class. Yu Tian and Li Tai were still a bit hostile to both Karni and Siduo, but they weren't actually enemies. They were now classmates and they had to find a way to understand one another.
"Well then, for the first week, we'll be having some introductory lessons for the two of you. On the other hand, Wu Siduo and Val Karni will be having a little event this week. The two of you will be entering the Spirit Ascension Platform during its Rebellious period."
"Eh?! Why don't we get to do that!" The boy with the Cloud Sword, Li Tai, complained.
The teacher looked at him from the side. "Have you entered the Spirit Ascension Platform before?"
"Once or twice." Yu Tian answered instead of his friend.
"Well, these two have entered it, alone, for the past half a year. The academy only gave them this privilege because they've been able to survive for four days in total inside before. Tell me, could you survive for an hour by yourselves?"
She had a stern eye right now. These two boys came from very good families. Something like Siduo's family couldn't even compare. They were known throughout the whole city, families of many generations and legacies. The teacher needed to make things clear. What mattered here was talent and nothing else.
"Let me be clear what this class is. This class is the hope of our academy for the students to reach Shrek Academy! Not just to be suitable to go to the exam. To enter! That would prove that our academy has the capabilities to nurture such students. You four are the first test subjects of this."
"But doesn't the Star Luo City Academy have quite the high success rate already? If I remember, 50 percent of the students manage to enter?" Li Tai was the one to voice his doubts.
"Indeed. If any of you fail to enter Shrek Academy, you won't be allowed to come back. I think that makes it clear about what the academy is expecting of you. Karni and Siduo were chosen for their original talents, you two are chosen because Karni and Siduo have proven that our methods indeed helped in their growth."
She paused for a second. Letting everything sink in for the new students. "Now, back to the Rebellion Spirit Ascension Platform. You do know its cost right? If the two of you can prove similar results in your future endeavours inside the normal Spirit Ascension Platform, then when it rebels for the second time this year, you might be allowed to enter."
Karni finally remembered the phenomena after the explanation. Twice a year, the Spirit Ascension Platform Rebelled. The beasts were stronger, but they also gave better rewards. This was definitely an opportunity for them.
"But… doesn't this involve the whole surrounding area of the city?" Karni looked at the teacher.
Teacher Ye nodded. "Yes, other soul masters will be present as well. The good thing is, that during the Rebellion period, the Spirit Ascension doesn't allow any Soul Ancestors, so you'll only be facing Soul Elders at most. Tell me Li Tai, Yu Tian, have you beaten a Soul Elder before?"
"Of course not." Li Tai said, as if it was something unthinkable.
"Val Karni and Wu Siduo have. Their first win against a Soul Elder senior student was when they were rank 25. In their first year of Intermediate Academy."
The new duo looked at Karni with different eyes. They've managed to defeat them? But they didn't seem strong to that much of a degree. Sure they should be able to defeat any Soul Grandmaster, but Soul Elders?
"It was always in 2v2's." Karni answered their questions.
That was right, they were superbly good at working together. Karni was the one directing the thing, while Siduo was the firepower. Karni was incredibly skilled at dodging, manipulating and controlling the situation. When it went south, it was also usually him who brought the rhythm back to their side. When Siduo was taking care of one of the soul master's, he liked to mess with the other one while also at the same time disturbing Siduo's opponent.
It was that very tactic that made them win against Yu Tian and Li Tai, except in that case, it didn't require that much effort. Only a single strike was enough to throw Li Tai and Yu Tian completely off their rhythm after they caught their advantage. This worked thanks to Siduo's ability to stay completely safe while caught, and Karni manipulating Li Tai towards Yu Tian.
Teacher Ye turned to Karni and Siduo again. "The only goal you two will get in the Rebellion period is that you must survive for 30 minutes. If you don't, you can't enter the one half a year from now." Both nodded.
"The rebellious period is different compared to normal. There will be 300 people in the Star Luo City Spirit Ascension Platform. You can expect most of them to be Soul Elders of rich families. Quite a few students from our advanced academy should be there as well."
"If one manages to kill another soul master within 100 seconds of them absorbing the spiritual energy of soul beasts, they can also steal their energy. The soul masters will not be your friends. Specifically, the energy of the dead soul master goes to the nearest soul master. So go for the kills with soul beasts, but don't do it too much, or you'll invite other Soul Masters to steal from you. Of course, if you're confident, you should steal from others as well."
Li Tai looked especially disgruntled, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to survive for very long, let alone steal from others. These two on the other hand were encouraged should they see their chance. Unlike the two times he's been there, the Spirit Ascension Platform will be full of Soul Masters. It will be complete chaos.
… … …
Karni and Siduo were full of energy in the early morning. There was a surprising amount of soul masters in front of the Spirit Pagoda, definitely above 200, looks like all the slots were bought. It was clear that the event with the Rebellion Spirit Ascension Platform was about to begin.
In olden times, the platform rebelled on its own. It was only through years of research that the Spirit Pagoda was able to use this to its advantage. Today, it was a popular and expensive event for soul masters instead.
The two children were hoping to boost the cultivations of their soul rings now. They have both gone through rigorous tests by the academy. They were able to take the energy of three purple soul rings. They were also capable of handling a single purple spirit soul.
If they were fortuitous, they might not need more than a month until they can become true Soul Elders. The two were incredibly motivated. They just had to survive for long enough to give themselves a little boost.
The doors to the Spirit Pagoda opened. Teacher Ye was with the two of them. They were led inside.
They were given their own private room, as were most of the other people. The luxury of this event was part of its splendour.
"Remember that if you get into danger, press the quit button." The staff today was different as well. A much more refined person was looking over everything. If it were the normal personnel, they wouldn't have said a word. They knew that these two children were… odd.
"You will appear together inside the Spirit Ascension Platform. Good luck."
"Good luck." Teacher Ye offered a rare honest smile.
… … …
The two were in a bush. They were at a bit of a loss of what to do right now. The first 10 minutes were usually used for finding each other. Since this experience was different than usual in more ways than one, the two decided to be observers for a change, get a feel for the landscape, or more importantly, the soul masters' behaviour.
Their maximum survival time here was four days, on average two, yet they usually quit themselves. It's just that they didn't want to do it any more than necessary. Karni visited Grandma Ying far too often, and Siduo's family worried if she didn't visit during the weekend.
What really mattered for their time of survival though was a particularly familiar encounter. The Shadow Tiger. It had caught them unawares far too often, particularly during the times they were resting. It was familiar with the two of them as well. If it attacked them when they were active, it was in danger. They've come close to killing it many times already. But the bastard was slippery.
It didn't require very long for them to hear sounds of battle in the distance. The two went to take a look closeby.
Karni had long since activated his first and second soul rings. Giving Siduo a similar vision to his own.
Siduo went to scout ahead, a needle came flying next to a tree. A cloth of blue tied onto it. He was safe to go.
There were many signals that Karni and Siduo created since they first started visiting the Spirit Ascension Platform. If after half a year they haven't made any preparations, they would be fools.
Karni followed her on the top of a tree. There was a group of 3 in front of them. Only one of them had three soul rings, looking older than the other two. It must have been a situation of rich children being taken care of by a caretaker.
That group wasn't in a good situation. They were facing the Screeching Lammas. An odd pack species that could make their spit explode in a sonic boom.
Karni and Siduo were familiar with the pack. They just haven't faced them before because they were so easy to go around. It was actually weird that they were even fighting them. This species wasn't one who would come out to look for trouble. Not even the Rebellion period would change the very nature of soul beasts, at most, for kinds like these, they would be more easily irritable.
There were multiple problems here. The pack was extremely loud with their sonic spit. The children were arguing in the back. They looked to be about 2 years older than Karni and Siduo. The girl was berating the boy. They looked to be siblings based on the conversation. The boy was reckless and ran into the pack of Screeching Lammas due to excitement.
The poor caretaker was constantly asking the two to run away, but they just didn't listen and told him to shut up and deal with it while they continued to bicker. Truly a classic Wuxia encounter.
Truthfully, the caretaker seemed quite strong. His martial soul was of the Black Panther variety with a darkness element. He was capable of easily dodging the lammas but taking care of two brats at the same time? That was trouble.
The two simply waited for the battle to end. The group of lammas only had hundred year old soul beasts in them and there were 16 of them. Their numbers were falling fast, but the Soul Elder was clearly taking some damage.
His ears especially have begun bleeding, the sonic boom released by the exploding spit was especially designed for that after all. The peaceful species focused more on scaring the predators away as a group instead of killing them, stunning them and then running away was also a regular tactic for the pack.
Every time the sonic boom sounded, Karni's staff trembled a bit, it was clearly having an effect on him. Yet again, it was something to do with sound or vibrations. A shockwave.
When there were only about 8 Screeching Lammas left, the two 12 year olds finally stopped bickering and decided to help. They both had the same martial souls. A darkly coloured scimitar.
Karni and Siduo looked at each other. These kids were from the Nightmare Scimitar family. A family just as famous as the Cloud Sword and the Dragon Shield families. They were most likely their seniors. But then, why haven't they fought them in practice yet? No, wait. Perhaps they knew the answer. It had to be that attitude.
They finished the remaining lammas off with ease when there weren't many of them anymore. The Black Panther soul master who appeared to be about 20 breathed heavily and fell on the ground.
The brats actually scolded him for getting injured. Karni and Siduo, seeing that these guys were not that dangerous and their strongest member was injured right now, thought it was the perfect opportunity to take them.
They didn't feel much sympathy for these kinds of kids after all. It's not like they'd die for real. There was a chance they would even learn a valuable lesson.
Karni and Siduo were about to jump them when they saw multiple golden shadows jump and stopped. They weren't the only ones who were thinking of jumping them. They weren't the only ones observing.
Two groups attacked. One attacked the children, while the other attacked the Soul Elder. The group of three was finished immediately.
The Screeching Lammas made a great deal of noise. Of course other soul masters would hear it.
Yet as the original three died, the two other groups looked at each other. There was hostility and some surprise. Apparently they weren't acquainted.
On one side, there were three people, while on the other, only two people were present. The three all seemed to be around the same age. They were three Soul Grandmasters, each one with a different martial soul.
The two on the other side were both Soul Elders instead. Karni decided to activate his Purple Demon Eyes to check if anyone else was waiting in the vicinity like them. Luckily, these two groups were the only ones. That being said, the fight before was still loud, they should be ready for anything unexpected.
Of the two soul elders one dashed ahead while another stayed behind, a blooming flower appearing around his hands.
The Soul Elder clearly sped up as the flower shined in a green colour.
On the other hand the three on the other size all dashed together. Each of them was slower than the opponent. One had a mace, another a spiked bat, and the last one transformed into an eagle, but he stayed low.
Everyone who's experienced the Spirit Ascension Platform knew that flying into the air was a death sentence. Everyone would notice you and flocks of flying soul beasts would attack you.
The four people clashed. Immediately, the man with the spiked bat died, completely overpowered.
The other two screamed at him. The mace attacked but the Soul Elder dodged easily. On the other hand, the eagle wasn't to be seen.
Karni and Siduo saw everything though. They were still hidden. The eagle attacked the support system soul master with the flower from behind.
But the flower support system wasn't powerless. A strong mesmerising scent was released into the air and the eagle missed. Only at the last second did he manage to get a hit in. A deep cut into the shoulder of the support system.
The speedy soul master in the front quickly turned around to look at her companion. The flower soul master wouldn't be able to last long, even though he was a Soul Elder.
When the agility system dashed back, the mace attacked, seeing an opportunity, but the woman managed to dodge. She still had the boost from her partner, even when he was being bombarded by the eagle.
The eagle dealt another blow. The agility system soul master was angry. He sped up, activating two abilities. She slashed at the eagle with almost invisible knives before it could react, killing him in an instant
While she did that, another scream came from her partner. The mace now went for the support system as well. He was greatly injured, but activated his third soul skill, healing himself a little.
The woman dashed at the soul master with a mace, her third soul ring shining. The mace left himself open, but his eyes were wild. He felt his flesh being torn apart, but he managed to return a blow directly in the head.
The agility system was now injured as well, but she was mostly dizzy. The flower soul master managed to activate his second skill last second and protect her head a bit. On the other hand, the guy with the mace died to the third soul skill, only pieces of him remaining.
The knife lady ran to her partner, picking him up, clearly wanting to press the exit button but the man was stubborn. He wanted to at least wait for 100 seconds to absorb all of the energy. Right now, there was a solid increase of 100 years worth of cultivation in the air.
The girl begrudgingly agreed and moved. A silent presence followed them. Karni and Siduo.
Just when about a minute passed, the two sat down for a quick breather. The man couldn't continue. He could only absorb everything while he was on the ground, lest he risked dying by opening the wound in his chest.
As the woman was putting him down, Siduo striked, clearly cutting off the head of the agility system soul master.
"You!" Who would've thought that he would've lived longer. Karni jumped off from behind. He was the one that finished him by putting all the Stacks into his head. For a moment, an image from the past flashed through Karni's mind, but he managed to suppress it. He had to stay focused.
Both of them got some energy from this. A total of 50 each. Now they only had to get around 150 more years of spiritual energy. Stealing from other people really was worth it, though that didn't cause them to relax. There were still many soul masters about.
In the next moment, Karni's eyes went wide. He kicked Siduo from the side and used his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track with Drunken Dancing Movement. Siduo did as well, seeing what he saw, just a bit later. Karni was the one who had the original skill. He still saw more into the future than she did.
A shadow tiger jumped up from the dead body, but missed both. An old friend came to visit.
The two grinned a little. The Shadow Tiger didn't attack when the two were on guard, but this time it was different, and they could see why as well. He clearly felt a bit stronger. It felt like he gained at least another thousand years as compared to before.
Karni split his Bo Staff and started a beat as if drumming, it was time to dance. This was the first time that the Shadow Tiger wasn't running away after failing his sneak attack.
Siduo dashed. Two energies were seen circulating around her, but the white one was clearly much lesser. Her first soul ring activated.
She sped up, dashing for the legs, but the Shadow Tiger disappeared into the shadows.
"Damn it. It's a shame this bastard isn't an actual soul beast, I would've loved him as a spirit soul for my Hell Cat."
"Less talking." Karni said. "More fighting!" He looked to the left with purple shine in his eyes, the second soul ring shined with them. The Shadow Tiger's eyes were visible. It jumped into a completely wrong direction, and in the next second, it howled.
Siduo attacked, her second soul ring also shining, but there was an icy chill to her attack. She was using the Mysterious Jade hands as well. Perfectly fusing them with the Hell Hundred Claws.
The tiger shook off the forced vision and looked at Siduo. It's a shame it didn't see the follow up attack by Karni. He threw one Drumstick into the Shadow Tiger, oozing with soundwaves.
Karni put a total of 21 Stacks into that strike, the Shadow Tiger immediately staggered. But while usually it would just fall if he even got hit by 18 Stacks of vibration, this time it even moved, only shaking its head.
It subconsciously went back into the shadow. It was in danger.
"Damn it. The one time it lets his guard down but we can't even stagger it? That was 21 of your Stacks right Kiki?"
Karni nodded, a frown on his face as well. "Next time I'm filling them up fully." Was it because he threw it? It usually showed a lesser effect when that happened. The Shadow Tiger ran away. Again. No, wait.
"Siduo!" Karni yelled and threw the second Drumstick which also had 21 Stacks applied to it.
Siduo used her Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track on her own. It was faster than activating the first soul ring to run.
The Shadow Tiger attacked from behind, but yet again, it got surprised. The Drumstick hit it directly into the head.
It tried to run into the shadows again.
"No you don't." Siduo shouted and activated her Hundred Hell Claws. Aiming for the neck.
Unfortunately, she couldn't slice through it fully. Was this the boost of the Rebellious period? At least the wound was deep. The Shadow Tiger managed to run into the shadow again.
"That way!" Karni shouted.
It had a grave injury and they knew it. Karni was using his Purple Demon Eyes right now. The Shadow Tiger couldn't move perfectly right now, the shadows themselves were clearly moving unnaturally.
Siduo trusted him and followed his directions, fully dashing, using the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and Hell Rush seamlessly.
"Now! Hit it!"
Close up, even Siduo could see subtle changes in the shadow. She released her second soul ring combined with the Mysterious Jade Hands.
The Shadow Tiger clearly 'fell out' of the shadow. Siduo couldn't use the soul skill again immediately, but the Mysterious Jade Hands were still active. She stabbed the tiger right into the eyes. If the attack isn't strong enough, but you have the skill? Always aim for the eyes.
The tiger roared and tried to bite, but Siduo wouldn't move. Her hand stayed in the eye pocket. Karni almost felt sorry for the creature. Then her second soul ring shone. Hell Hundred Claws - Inside the Eye Pockets Edition.
Karni looked away. The head was gone. Siduo truly looked like a devil right now. Smiling and everything, while the tiger's head wasn't a head anymore. All that was missing was maniacal laughter.
She moved away, letting half of the energy reach Karni. The energy was worth 100 years for each of them. Combining that, the Shadow Tiger was a 2000 year old soul beast during the Rebellion period. Divided among their soul rings, each of them increased the ages of their rings for 50 years again, only a hundred years missing now.
From the testing they did, what they should be able to handle right now was 1400 year old soul rings when there were three of them. Perhaps they'll go further than they thought. Their progress was very fast at the moment.
Suddenly, the two of them both dodged. Clear poisonous needles switched places with them. Soul Masters were here.
Karni and Siduo looked at them. There were five of them. This was trouble. 100 seconds was needed to absorb the energy fully right?