They arrived at the Spirit Pagoda and showed the certificate to enter the platform for the Tower Attack.
The receptionist took the papers with some doubt before she noticed the stamp. Gu Yue gave them papers which higher ups approved, stamped with a symbol that could not be faked; and if it were faked, it was terribly easy to find out and punish people for it.
Karni and Siduo were led up an elevator. The process for the Tower Attack was quite different from the standard procedure of the Spirit Ascension Platform. The guide led them to a special door, which closed behind them.
In front of them was just an empty white room. A golden light flashed for a split second, and they didn't feel much different. Were they transported somewhere? Something else? There was no wave of dizziness like the platform.
Instead, a golden door showed up, and they stepped through it, entering a wide white space. The door closed behind them. The two got into formation on instinct.
They weren't too worried—the Tower Started with Hundred-Year Soul Beasts—but one should never underestimate an opponent which was looking to kill you.
They summoned their Martial Souls. Karni instantly used Golden Insight and Vision Bestowal, as he always did—it was odd if he didn't use them. Every battle of his had long since started out the same way.
One of the white walls on the other side lowered, and out came a familiar face, one they hadn't seen since they last visited Star Luo City Spirit Ascension Platform. Earth Wolves. Old "friends". The very first challenge they faced in the platform. There were about 30 of them.
"Kiki, stay back." Siduo stepped in front. Her Soul Bone shone; Light strips coalesced into Gauntlets. Each of them was twice the size of her arm, yet they had no weight at all.
"No, Sisi," Karni pointed at the wolves. "They are Thousand-Year Wolves."
Siduo looked again. "Oh." Her White Tiger Martial Soul was summoned. "A shame. I was hoping for a simple warm up."
"It is odd though. From what I know of the Tower Attack, it should start with Hundred-Year-Old Soul Beasts." Karni's own third Soul Ring shone, and the bounce of Disordered Drumstick Resonance could be heard across the room.
Siduo shrugged. "Maybe cause Tang Wulin's group went not long ago? Gu Yue mentioned something about it." She rushed ahead, followed by a Drumstick flying close to her head, overtaking her and striking the first wolf to come running. A scout.
Karni nodded. "Could be." The drumstick hit the wolf, who stopped in place, though didn't die, as Karni didn't want to waste energy.
Meanwhile, Siduo's first and third White Tiger Soul Rings struck together with the Light Gauntlet and smashed the wolf's head, killing it.
Out came a light glow of a Purple Soul Ring. A fresh Thousand-Year-Old Earth Wolf. Wait. An actual Soul Beast?
Siduo quickly shaped her Gauntlets into a great Light Shield. The rest of the wolves pounced at her.
From the back Karni shifted to the Bo Staff form, before Shifting above the wolves. His Bo Staff spun in his hands: Resonant Spiral Force. He could smoothly change between the forms now, without losing the energy he had piled up in the process.
The staff sucked in the force, destabilising the wolves, before it was released outwards, sending the wolves closest to him flying into the ones farther out. Meanwhile, Karni looked at as many eyes of the wolves as he could.
His Spiritual Energy was smoothly drained in small quantities, not at all burdening him. At least 10 wolves were clearly affected, becoming confused, even attacking their own, thinking that Karni's golden shape was there. The easiest way to kill any beast is to make another beast attack it.
With Karni taking away a lot of attention from Siduo, Siduo slowed down. Steadily, she brought out her Yin and Yang energy and put them on her Light Gauntlets. Though most of the streaks were of the Yang energy, as it was most compatible with Solaria's Chest Bone Light Attribute.
She avoided hitting the Wolves' weak spots, as that would be lethal, instead, she just chose regular crippling.
"Look at her!" Karni said, entertaining himself, "she does have a heart!"
"I heard that!" She crushed another two wolves.
"I know," Karni gave a bright smile which Siduo wanted to curse for looking so… so damn lovable!
Indeed, the smile distracted her from the wolf, that poor wolf. It was the second true victim to her cruelty, his innards crushed into oblivion. It was the only other Purple Soul Ring floating about by the end of their fight.
The ground was torn to pieces, as these were Earth Wolves, yet Karni and Siduo didn't look tired. Only blood accompanied the torn ground, despite there being only two dead wolves. None of the blood was theirs.
Karni glanced at Siduo, who was completely covered in blood. Choosing the Light Stripes and shaping them into Gauntlets didn't leave her many options for finesse. At least not at her current level of expertise with the skill. It wasn't a Black Soul Bone Skill for nothing.
She considered changing them into whips—she was very familiar with whips—but to make them move as she wanted would be too complex. The skill didn't exactly offer the movement and weight of the whips. To design flexibility from the Light Stripes would take Soul Power she didn't need to use up right now.
But not having whips didn't matter. Gauntlets offered ferocity she could rarely enjoy. The blood just added to that.
It gave her a certain edge that also happened to tingle Karni's brain just right. Who would think women covered in blood could look so damn attractive. Karni slapped his cheeks to calm down. Not the time, nor the place.
What they found attrctive in the other person was exactly the thing they didn't have. Karni rarely had a cruel bloody look to him, and Siduo rarely made genuinely cute and bright gestures—if she did make them, it was all part of a joke. She was usually an open but hot-headed person.
A voice announced: "The First Trial cleared. You may choose to absorb a Thousand-Year-Old Earth Wolf. You have 10 seconds to decide."
The two looked at each other. Neither of them found these suitable. In fact, Earth Wolves completely clashed with all four of their Marital Souls. Not to mention they weren't the strongest of species, otherwise they would have a lot of trouble dealing with a whole pack of them.
They waited for the time to run out. A glowing door, much like before, though smaller, appeared in front of them. The energy of the two floating Soul Rings vanished and went inside the rest of the wolves. That explained the inner workings of Tower Attack Platform at least.
They stepped through the door confidently and stood, waiting, prepared. Their Martial Souls were ready to be activated at a moment's notice.
The white wall opened like before and out walked… the Yellow Leafed Fox. Another old friend! What was this? A trip down memory lane? Its fur had beautiful yellow colours, shifting like the leave. Then, a second fox walked out, another beautiful specimen. It had to be at least 5000 Years Old!
Though it was rare to see Two Yellow Leaf Foxes of the same level together—usually one would be far weaker—these two seemed to get along. They also had the same fur patterns. Likely siblings. Karni and Siduo couldn't tell the sex.
A 2v2. Siduo and Karni excelled at 2v2s. Karni immediately Shifted himself to the side of the arena, leaving Siduo alone. Then he Shifted one of the foxes close to him. The look of surprise was quite familiar to Karni by now, even if it was on a Soul Beast.
He had already built up 9 hits of Disordered Drumstick Resonance and hit the fox in the face. It immediately staggered. Right. Karni forgot that these foxes weren't exactly steady against his properties. He could already influence them when he was a Soul Grandmaster, now he was a Soul Ancestor.
But a 5000 Year Old Soul Beast wasn't one to just go down easy. It immediately turned furious and summoned a leaf storm to attack Karni, then whipped at him with that beautiful, but dangerous autumn tail.
It hit the air, of course. Shifting up into the sky at Karni's current level was like moving his fingers. Fast and perfectly timed.
While in the air, Karni Shifted again, switching with a lit up Siduo. She was waiting for it, crashing down as a Sun Meteor onto the poor, unexpecting fox.
Karni on the other hand, appeared a good distance away from the other fox, throwing his Drumstick, now above 18 stacks of Disordered Drumstick Resonance already. His efficiency in its use had long since increased.
The fox was knocked out, though it wouldn't last more than a few seconds.
He received the returning Drumstick an instant later and sent it back at the fox.
Just as it woke up and trying to rise, it got hit by the Drumstick again, losing consciousness. Karni repeated this simple process another 4 times, as if he had a recipe for it, before he judged that the next one would kill the Yellow Leafed Fox.
"Second trial complete. You may choose to absorb the Thousand-Year Yellow Leafed Fox. You have 10 seconds."
Siduo walked up to Karni. "Say, did I ever mention to you the Jade Glass Foxes?"
Karni looked at her, confused. "No."
"They're cousins of the Yellow Leafed Foxes, or so people say. They live in volcanic regions of the continent."
"Oh? They don't sound like a volcanic Soul Beast. More like a far north one."
"Yeah," Siduo nodded, while a golden flash opened the door to the next room. They left the lying foxes behind as they continued the conversation. "To adapt to the extreme heat, the legend says that the foxes focused their connection with nature and made it into a core, then surrounded that with tons of ice. They live near volcanos far north, so they can live in both extreme heat and extreme cold."
"Okay," Karni readied his Bo Staff as they stepped through the door. "What's the truth instead. The characteristics with Yellow Leafed Fox don't sound remotely similar."
"Oh, they just look almost identical in shape. The connection was made by people retroactively due to the similarities in the tail. Studies say that the two lineages aren't connected at all. The fact is that the Jade Glass Foxes have compressed, tempered ice in their bodies, and do so through Spiritual Power so they can live in heat and cold. The tail was just a coincidence."
"Still interesting how they use their powers then, why bring this up- A Fire Bear?" Karni interrupted himself, seeing their next opponent.
A single, humongous fiery Bear walked towards them, eyes filled with flames, yet still standing out despite the rest of the body also being lit up in flames.
"Kiki? You think…"
Karni was silent as he watched the bear charge towards them, a potential Spirit Soul? He shook his head. "No. It's a Thousand Year one, and it doesn't feel-" Karni vanished, reappearing above the bear's head. "Right!"
He hit, but the bear barely moved. Instead, the fire rose far into the sky, trying to scorch Karni.
The fire missed to Karni's side—something moved the bear. A Light Gauntlet as big as Karni's body smacked the bear to the side, though the bear only shook it off. Siduo couldn't surround this size of a gauntlet with Yin and Yang energy, so it didn't do that much damage.
"So, you don't feel it? That's it?"
"All right, I'll explain." Karni started building up Disordered Drumstick Resonance. "The attributes of this one are just too aggressive. Fire would be fine, if I had something to balance it with. My Panda is more calm so this might-" Karni grunted at the end, Shifting and sending the Drumstick flying to the beast, it really was aggressive. It umped at every opportunity, even the ones that were bait. Karni had now built up to 18 hits thanks to this.
The beast was more startled than before. "I mean, look how aggressive it is. My Bloodline is the exact opposite."
"Alright then," Siduo clenched her fists and exploded with speed. "I won't hold back."
The fiery bear shook its head to regain the calm and Karni relaxed a bit. Siduo crashed into the bear's head with her arms' Yin Yang Energy.
Karni used this chance to bombard the creature with as many Sound attacks as he could muster. He thought for a second his Sound wasn't affecting the bear. It was good that he had improved in the speed of Disordered Drumstick Resonance. In the future, most of his opponents won't even get affected by his base Sound anymore.
It wasn't that the pure strength of Sound through the Sonic Rhythm wasn't strong enough to affect people. It was, especially so after his comprehensions. It reached about the same strength of Sound as the 30th hit of Disordered Drumstick Resonance. A power that would affect most people to some degree, even those stronger. The problem was: if he went full power from the get-go, he was unable to build up Disordered Drumstick Resonance. The frequencies of the skill required fine-tuned control. A full use of Sonic Rhythm also used up more Soul Power than the technique did. He had to start slow, so he could have more powerful Sound later, while also being more efficient and lasting longer.
The two bombarded the Thousand-Year-Old Bear—likely close to 9000 years old—constantly, without it being able to retaliate. After Karni got above the 27th hit, the question of who would win was gone. It was only question about when.
The bear tried to explode with fire a couple of times, but it could never focus for long enough to charge up a suicide attack. Either its head was hit with dizziness, or it was a pure smack to the head that made its body ache terribly.
The pain was so... So annoying, so… Itchy. Like thousands little ants eating up at its whole bode, while every now and then a boulder came in to add fuel to the fire. It roared a mighty roar, determined to succeed this time, before immediately being hit in the lower jaw, shutting up. Then the 36th hit, resonant and harmonic, hit its head… and it just collapsed, entering a nightmarish dream of terrible sounds and meteors.
"Third trial completed. You may choose to fuse with a 9000-Year-Old Flaming Demon Bear. You have 10 seconds to decide."
Siduo gave Karni one final look.
"Nah." Karni said. "I feel like it would be detrimental rather than helpful."
"Mm." Siduo nodded. "I will be honest; I cannot imagine you having this beast as your Spirit Soul. It's just not you."
"Yep… Anyway," Karni changed the subject, giving up on the Flaming Demon Bear. "That Jade Glass Fox. How strong was it spiritually?"
Siduo stretched. "One of the best out there. I mean, the ice was compressed into a glass-like look through their damn Spiritual Power."
"So," the two stepped through a door which appeared in the middle of their conversation. "It would probably be a really good combination with my Martial Soul then." Karni could hear the nod of approval from Hop inside his Spiritual Sea.
Siduo shook her head. "Unfortunately, you can't. It is only possible to have it if one has a fox Martial Soul, otherwise, you'll just experience shoc- Kiki! Watch out!" Siduo barely noticed. In the air, small, jumping, white footsteps without a body.
Even Karni could barely notice them, despite the Golden Insight. It just camouflaged with the white arena so well. He barely dodged. What was that?
Karni felt a slight sense of panic. Even with Li Tai back then, he could feel the sword coming. No, it was more than that, back then he knew exactly where it would come from. This… he could barely feel it, let alone telling where it would come from. He only sensed it thanks to Siduo's warni- he ducked back at the last second.
"Kiki! This one's the one! It's mine!"
"Huh?" Karni had to duck again. Blasted thing. How did it hide like that exactly? He shouted back at Siduo. "Well, don't just stand there!"
"Yes, yes." Her voice sounded a complaint, but her eyes turned serious. The self-fusion happened instantly. Against a beast which was better at finesse than even Siduo, her only option was absolute domination.
An effect like the kind Tang Wulin causes on Li Tai and Yu Tian happened. Tang Wulin's domination was over Dragons. Siduo could be said to have the highest of Martial Souls as well. Hell Cat and White Tiger were kings among cat-like Martial Souls. Siduo however, well, you could say her true power lay in the fact that the two beasts were joined in one person.
Siduo released a mighty roar, a few skills mixed to emphasise her overwhelming power.
And indeed, the small flash of only feet stopped for a split second, becoming visible. Karni saw a small cat. It was really small. Kitten sized. Black in everything but its white feet. The black fur even seemed to sparkle for a bit, before that sparkling started turning the fur invisible.
But Karni didn't let his admiration of the adorable little thing get him distracted. He hit the cat before it vanished completely.
"Kiki!" The giant Hell White Tiger spoke. "You need to knock it out! I might accidentally kill it right now! It's fast and deadly, but it is also weak!"
The sound hit the cat, but it managed to vanish into only white soft feet yet again. Karni shouted back. "You just keep doing what you're doing, exert pressure. I'll keep doing what I'm doing!"
Siduo roared again, and the little adorable cat stopped, shaken. The drumstick hit it again.
Karni would have felt bad, if he hadn't felt the threat on his life before. Those soft paws hid the deadly claws beneath.
Siduo and Karni repeated this play 3 times, before there was a sudden change. The cat turned invisible like before, and then a completely black streak wooshed past Karni and under Siduo's Hell White Tiger form.
Karni coughed out blood. This speed! His stomach was cut. He had no chance to react. That cat could do this twice if it wanted to before Karni could Shift to a safe space.
The Hell White Tiger wailed in pain. The blood sprayed from all her legs, losing strength. That cat cut just the right muscles.
Siduo roared, which thankfully stopped the cat. Karni used this chance to Shift it up in the sky. Giving them a split second of rest. "Sisi! You okay!"
"I can't move, but I can roar! Protect me!"
The cat landed on the ground, then changed into a dark streak again. It stopped playing around. Now it was time for absolute domination of speed. Siduo cried out again, before roaring.
Damn this creature. Siduo really wanted it. When Karni and Siduo were almost helpless against it when together no one would question the power of this tiny Soul Beast. That hiding ability that could even fool Karni's senses and making Siduo of all people immediately judge the situation as hopeless unless she brute forced it.
Its terrifying shadow dashed towards Karni, who ran back, so he'd have the time to Shift, except it was just too fast!
It hit him, knocking him out of the locked area of Space, but Karni activated the ability anyway. The tiny creature ran inside the area instead of Karni.
It disappeared and reappeared up in the sky. For a split second, Karni and Siduo could breathe again.
Wait. They could breathe? Karni watched the devilish kitten fall. He could see it waiting to hit the ground. To attack again. Almost subconsciously, as he saw it stretch its four legs towards the floor, Karni Shifted it up into the sky again.
Yes. Yes, this was it. "Sisi! You attack! I don't think it can control itself in mid-air! I'll keep on Shifting it so it falls endlessly."
The Hell White Tiger, despite not being able to stand, looked up. A single Soul Ring lit up, the second of the White Tiger Martial Soul. Crystal Light Wave. Not too powerful, but an incredibly versatile attack. She shot it up through the mouth, a small wave flew to the cat. If she made it more powerful, she feared she might kill it.
The wail of a cat sounded high. But Siduo just kept on firing the Crystal Light Waves, while Karni kept on Shifting the cat up, making it fall endlessly.
It really was a shame. Such a powerful creature. Perhaps the greatest speed Karni had ever seen. Yet, without touching the ground, it couldn't do anything. It was comical in a sad way.
It turned invisible, yet Siduo just kept on striking in the same spot. The cries of the poor small cat continued. Karni and Siduo had to keep focus and remind themselves how deadly this creature was. Its cute cries were a weapon in itself, making you feel guilty, attacking your moral values.
The poor cat summoned a bunch of copies of itself after this. At least 50 of them. Yet Siduo wasn't bothered, she just kept shooting at the same spot. If she knew her principles of clone creation, the original body shouldn't have moved at the start of the skill. It's why most people with the ability concealed themselves with clones at the start.
And indeed, the cries continued.
And continued.
And continued.
Until finally: "Fourth Trial Complete. You may choose to absorb the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Moon-Footed Cat. You have ten seconds to decide."
Siduo jumped out of her self-fusion form, her arms and legs cut deep. Karni helped her to the unconscious cat. She shouted. "I'll take it!"
The room turned silent, and no golden door appeared now. They could only take one creature out of here.
Siduo touched the small unconscious creature, her eyes sharp like those of a cat. An overbearing energy was released from her. "You. Will. Come. To. Me."
Karni could even sense some of Solaria oozing from her. The Spirit Soul was helping her.
Meanwhile, Karni stayed to watch her, remembering what was said about the Moon-Footed Cat. There wasn't much known about them. The one solid record people had of it was when one of the species made a little tribe of Shadow Tigers. Shadow Tigers: the same species that once caused them trouble in Star Luo City Spirit Ascension Platform. The lone tiger creatures who could hide in shadows were actually obedient to this small cutie of a kitten.
Then Karni got goosebumps. The black streak that made them suffer so much. Was the Moon-Footed Cat capable of getting into shadows as well?
He looked at Siduo, who had already begun the fusion. They really were lucky that this was a pure-white arena. They would have been finished otherwise. That black streak seemed to be shadow itself, it definitely could have fused into shadows.
He still remembered. Siduo once said she wished she could take the Shadow Tiger as a Spirit Soul. Well, fate be damned. She just got the upgraded version. Stronger, faster, better, and most importantly, cuter.
Siduo stood up. She finished fusing. Her injuries healed with the fusion. She looked at Karni, excitement in her eyes.
They left the Spirit Pagoda and went to their usual spot. Siduo was talkative. "Listen, first, Solaria told me to fuse this one, because she sensed opposite attributes to her own in it. You know Solaria has Sun energy, right? Well, this boy has Moon energy. Oh yeah, Pawpaw—I named him Pawpaw—is a boy. He's being cooperative after some threats from Solaria," she took a big breath, full of smiles.
Karni raised his hand. "Sisi, slow down. Besides, you weren't so excited about Solaria."
"Well that's because she, no offence Sol," she said to her Spirit Soul, "almost killed us and we kinda only survived cause an old man saved us. Here, it was up to luck, and I got the perfect match. So yes. I'm very happy. Besides," she continued on rambling.
"You know that class we had about these Soul Beasts? Especially the one instance where that Moon-Footed Cat made a little group of Shadow Tigers submit to it? I was there when Shrek solved that situation ten thousand years ago. Boy, that was a difficult battle, but when Solaria mentioned the species, I was just so excited. This one really is perfect for my Hell Cat."
"I was honestly thinking that you were going for that Jade Glass Fox… until you mentioned that only Fox Type Soul Masters can fuse it. So, what exactly was up with that?"
"Oh right, I completely forgot my train of thought when I saw the little cat. Right, so in the distant future, we could go and seek out the Jade Glass Foxes. Together. Their condensed ice is a great pill for those who have achieved the Spirit Domain Spiritual Power and can help develop it. All we will have to do is get their approval, because these foxes, interestingly enough, are ones that… um, they like lifelong companions. Er, couples… As long as they like us, they will offer us a piece of their ice."
Karni smiled, almost like everything was normal. Except it wasn't. And they both knew that. Which meant that her talking about such a distant future… Karni's heart warmed. It was a promise. He could not help but hug her tight.
"Hey." He said. "Let's just take a day off, do what we want for a bit."
Siduo looked at him, blushing a bit due to their faces being so close. "That sounds like fun."
"And I think I finally know how I want to go about making my Battle Armour."
"Ugh," Siduo groaned. "That sounds like work."
"Fun work." Karni added.