But she was still faster.

Ten seconds passed.

Just as she was about to close in, Ray leapt with everything he had, summoning his two Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers.

"Wu—"

The flute sounded again.

His movements slowed. His turn was incomplete.

She was already there.

This time, she didn't strike immediately.

She grabbed his shoulder, yanked him forward, and swept his legs out from under him.

Ray crashed down.

He swung wildly, but she danced around him like a phantom, landing two more clean strikes into his abdomen even as she evaded.

"Bind!"

"Wu—!"

Slowed again.

His Bind skill crawled uselessly through the air. She seized a vine and flung him upward.

Ray curled instinctively, protecting his head and vital points.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

He became nothing more than a living target.

Then—

"Thirty seconds elapsed. Second trial complete."

Warmth washed through his body. Pain faded. Strength returned.

Ray lay there, breathing heavily, having survived by the narrowest margin imaginable.

He silently thanked the Thousand Refined Cloud Titanium vest protecting his body.

Only now did he fully realize something crucial. The girl's attacks had gradually weakened near the end of the fight. Her soul power had been running dry.

A single glance at her martial souls had told him the truth. She wasn't a Power System Soul Master at all, but a Control System Soul Master. And yet, her offensive strength had been terrifying beyond belief.

If I hadn't shattered her cauldron… would I really have survived?

The thought sent a chill through his spine.

He slowly pushed himself up from the ground. The girl had vanished, but the space around him remained unchanged, silent and boundless.

Two trials already… surely this can't be the end?

As if answering his thoughts, the emotionless electronic voice rang out once more.

"Advanced test. First trial. Prepare."

Advanced?

Ray's heart sank.

A flash of light appeared in front of him. To his disbelief, it was the same girl again—yet she looked slightly older this time. His face stiffened as two soul rings rose beneath her feet.

He didn't need anyone to explain what that meant.

*

Another flash of light.

Ray stumbled out, his face mottled with green and purple bruises. He looked utterly miserable.

Nearby, Raziel Phoenix stood in an even worse state. His clothes were disheveled, his complexion deathly pale.

"How many trials did you pass?" Ray asked instinctively.

Raziel Phoenix's expression darkened. "One. Just one. That opponent was ridiculous. Faster than me, stronger than me, and better in close combat. Even with my twin martial souls, I couldn't do a thing."

"What about Lily?" Ray asked quickly. "She's not out yet?"

Raziel Phoenix nodded. "She's still inside. In the end, she really is the strongest among us."

He paused, then asked, "What about you?"

Ray let out a bitter laugh. "Two trials. I only passed the second one because I'm good at getting beaten."

From beginning to end, Alfred hadn't moved an inch. Unlike the spirit ascension platform, the screens here didn't display the battles. He simply waited in silence.

Another minute passed.

A pale Lily staggered out in a flash of light. Ray, standing closest, caught the unmistakable shock still lingering in her eyes.

"How many?" Raziel Phoenix asked.

"Advanced difficulty. Two trials," Lily replied quietly. "I failed the first trial of the final level. It was too strong. What about you two?"

Ray and Raziel Phoenix exchanged glances, then fell silent.

Comparing oneself to others truly was a fast path to despair.

Alfred finally turned toward them. "Come here."

The trio approached. Raziel Phoenix, having performed the worst, kept his head lowered, his heart heavy.

Before he could drown further in his thoughts, a bright light flashed.

The world twisted.

In the next instant, they found themselves inside a vast office, easily over two hundred square meters in size. A large desk stood to one side, with a white sofa opposite it.

"Sit," Alfred said calmly. "There are some things I need to explain."

Still confused, the three sat down.

Alfred took his seat across from them.

"You must all feel that today's test was… strange," he said evenly. "The opponents you faced were all Soul Masters who once lived on this continent. Due to limitations, the system can only replicate about seventy percent of their true strength."

Real Soul Masters?

Ray immediately thought of the girl with twin martial souls.

Raziel Phoenix recalled the tall, graceful woman whose movements flowed like silk.

Lily's mind replayed the image of the black-haired youth with those unsettling eyes—the one who had crushed her without mercy.

"I brought you here for two reasons," Alfred continued.

"First, you are approaching the limit of how much spirit energy you can safely absorb in the spirit ascension platform. Once you cross that threshold, continuing would harm you rather than help you. You need a new environment for real combat."

He paused briefly.

"The Hall of Heroes provides that. The injuries you sustain here are real. You will be forcibly ejected before permanent damage occurs, and there is no mental backlash like in the spirit ascension platform. In terms of value, the experience gained here far surpasses that platform."

Their expressions tightened.

"Second," Alfred said, "this test had nothing to do with your final exams. Those ended in the rebellion spirit ascension platform. Your scores are already finalized."

The trio stiffened.

"This was an entrance test," he continued. "An entrance test to an organization. If you join, you may earn points to access the Hall of Heroes again in the future."

Organization?

Ray's heart jolted. The footwork, the atmosphere, the overwhelming pressure—this matched exactly what Alfred had hinted at before.

The organization he had once refused.

Raziel Phoenix and Lily stared at Alfred, eyes filled with curiosity and shock.

"Teacher," Raziel Phoenix asked carefully, "what organization is this?"

Alfred looked at them calmly. "Have you heard of the Immortal Guild?"

The room fell deathly silent.

Then—

Their bodies trembled.

The Immortal Guild.

How could anyone not know the Immortal Guild?

A name carved into the very history of the Xynnar Continent. A sect said to have endured since ancient times, shaping every major turning point in the continent's fate.

Its founder, the guardian of the continent twenty thousand years ago. A man rumored to have ascended to godhood.

Under his leadership, the first generation of Central's Seven Monsters had risen, and with them, Central Academy itself. Without him, neither the Immortal Guild nor Central would have become legends.

It was he who had opposed the Martial Soul Hall's ambition to conquer the continent, uniting nations and Soul Masters in a final, decisive war.

Wielding the Sea God's Trident, he had ascended as the Sea God himself.

Ray had grown up listening to those stories.

Because the founder's martial soul… had been Silverfalls Vine.

It was said that even when soul device technology once pushed the Immortal Guild to the brink of decline, another legend had emerged—the founder of the Spirit Tower, creator of spirit souls—reviving the balance of the Soul Master world.

Since then, the Immortal Guild had never truly fallen.

Though rumors claimed it had moved alongside the Llyne and Arcana Empires to other continents, its legend had never faded.

"Teacher," Ray blurted out, barely able to contain himself, "didn't the Immortal Guild leave the Xynnar Continent?"

Alfred shook his head. "No. The Immortal Guild never disappeared. Like the Spirit Tower, it has bases on other continents, but it has never abandoned Sovereign."

"The federal government knows of its existence. However, to adapt to modern society, the Immortal Guild operates discreetly now. Its name carries too much weight."

He gestured subtly around them.

"This building belongs to one of the Immortal Guild's subsidiaries: Dazzling Era Immortal Guild Technology Company. The Hall of Heroes was developed here as a training system."

He looked straight at Ray.

"And the opponents you faced were once members of Central's Seven Monsters."

Ray felt as though lightning had struck his spine.

"My opponent…" he whispered, voice trembling, "…was she from that generation? The possessor of the Three Cycles Soul Cauldron and the Nine Phoenix Flute—Penelope, the Phoenix Flute Sovereign?"

Raziel Phoenix sucked in a sharp breath. "Then… then my opponent must've been from the same generation too!"

"The Demon Rabbit Sovereign… Sylvandria?"

The weight of history crashed down on them all at once.

Lily stood silently, her gaze unfocused.

Alfred glanced at her, not particularly surprised by her reaction. "Lily, your opponent was the founder of the Spirit Tower, Spirit Ice Sovereign Orion Starlight, from the time when he possessed only two soul rings."

The words landed like thunder.

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