Lily had already reached the peak of rank 19, just a step away from rank 20.

Ray had reached the peak of rank 15. In just six months, he'd gone from rank 11 to rank 15, progress he'd never dared imagine before entering West Ocean Academy.

More importantly, their combat ability had skyrocketed. The spirit ascension platform had forged them under pressure. At only ten years old, they already possessed battle instincts far beyond their peers.

President Fenris's massive investment into class zero was paying off.

"Yes," Alfred replied flatly. "You will take the exams."

"Your final assessment will consist of two parts. The first is the spirit ascension platform."

The spirit ascension platform?

They had already entered it eleven times. Unless they were terribly unlucky, surviving an hour was routine. Raziel Phoenix even held the record at three hours.

Each visit sharpened their instincts, coordination, and control.

They had begun to look forward to it.

"You must survive for at least one hour to pass," Alfred continued. "However, this time, you will enter the rebellion spirit ascension platform."

"The rebellion spirit ascension platform?" Raziel Phoenix exclaimed. "What's that?"

Ray and the others stared at Alfred, shock and curiosity colliding in their eyes.

The normal spirit ascension platform was already terrifyingly effective.

So what exactly… was the rebellion spirit ascension platform?

Alfred said evenly, "Twice a year, the spirit ascension platform enters a rebellion phase. In the beginning, these rebellions were accidents caused by unstable energy. As technology advanced, the Spirit Tower learned to control those fluctuations and turned them into a special feature."

"During a rebellion, soul beasts become far more active and aggressive. They appear more frequently, and the danger increases sharply. Because of this, the Eighteen Pillars of Heaven set a strict limit: only three hundred people may enter the rebellion spirit ascension platform each time."

His gaze swept across the five of them. "This time, the academy spent a tremendous amount of resources to secure five of those slots for you. You should understand how rare this opportunity is."

The room went quiet.

"During the rebellion period," Alfred continued, "you are allowed to enter as a team. However, the team size cannot exceed seven. Since there are five of you, that won't be an issue. This is meant to test your teamwork."

He paused, then added calmly, "But remember this. You won't only encounter soul beasts inside. You may also run into other Soul Masters."

Barbara frowned. "Other Soul Masters… inside the platform?"

"Yes," Alfred replied. "And they are just as dangerous as soul beasts. If you are ejected from the platform during the one hundred seconds required to absorb a soul beast's spiritual energy, the remaining energy will be transferred to the nearest Soul Master. That is a special rule of the rebellion platform."

Barbara's eyes widened. "So… they can steal our spiritual energy, and we can steal theirs?"

"If you think you're capable," Alfred said dismissively. "But don't forget, Soul Masters with up to three rings can enter the elementary spirit ascension platform. Anyone willing to pay the price to enter a rebellion phase is usually strong and ambitious. There's a high probability you'll encounter three-ringed Soul Elders hunting soul beasts to evolve their spirit souls. If you choose to fight them, be prepared to face opponents far stronger than yourselves."

Ray spoke without hesitation. "Don't worry, teacher. We'll rely on our teamwork."

Barbara no longer harbored resentment toward the others. They were still children, after all, and grudges faded quickly. More importantly, Volt had surged ahead, astonishingly reaching rank 23, while Barbara and Raziel Phoenix had only just reached rank 22. Reality had tempered pride better than any lecture.

"You'll enter the rebellion spirit ascension platform in three days," Alfred said. "The next three days are yours. Rest. Prepare."

Three days off?

Ever since entering class zero, rest had been a luxury. Raziel Phoenix and Barbara immediately cheered.

Ray, however, grew thoughtful. Three days isn't enough to suddenly grow stronger… How should I use this time?

After class, the five returned to the dorms together.

"Ray, what're you planning to do?" Raziel Phoenix grinned. "How about we go out and play?"

"Play?" Barbara asked. "Play what?"

Raziel Phoenix rolled his eyes. "I wasn't talking to you."

Barbara laughed. "Then I'll treat everyone to dinner. How about that?"

Raziel Phoenix nodded solemnly. "Now that's worth considering."

He suddenly snapped his fingers. "Wait. Teacher said the final exam has two parts. The rebellion platform is only one of them. What's the second part?"

They exchanged looks, then shook their heads.

Volt said quietly, "The rebellion platform is a huge opportunity, but it's dangerous. Competition inside is ruthless. There's no mercy when spirit soul evolution is on the line."

Ray nodded. "The academy keeps investing so much into us. I think they want all of us to evolve our spirit souls to the thousand-year level by graduation. Have any of you calculated how fast your spirit souls are growing?"

They froze.

A thousand-year spirit soul.

That meant a thousand-year soul ring for their first ring.

A thousand-year spirit soul could provide three soul skills and drastically reduce spiritual consumption. It would allow them to fuse additional powerful spirit souls later, potentially covering their first six soul rings without difficulty.

Spirit soul capacity had always been one of the greatest bottlenecks for Soul Masters.

Without enough spiritual power, fusion was impossible.

After ten thousand years of research, the great Soul Master organizations published a comprehensive classification of spiritual power realms.

At the Spirit Origin Realm, one could fuse with only one yellow spirit soul.

At the Spirit Connection Realm, spiritual power could be controlled, allowing fusion with two yellow spirit souls or one purple spirit soul.

At the Spirit Sea Realm, the spirit became vast and stable. At this level, one could support five yellow spirit souls, three purple spirit souls, or a single black spirit soul. All peak Soul Masters and Mecha Masters reached this realm at a minimum.

At the Spirit Abyss Realm, spiritual power became abyssal and absolute. One could fuse with spirit souls of any level, even orange or red, though doing so would consume enormous capacity.

Beyond that lay the legendary Spirit Domain Realm, where the spirit itself became a world, capable of supporting up to nine legendary spirit souls.

And finally, the rumored Divine Origin Realm, where spirit transformed into primordial essence. That was the threshold of godhood.

For ordinary Soul Masters, the first four realms were all that truly mattered.

Among class zero, Lily possessed the strongest spiritual power and would almost certainly reach the Spirit Sea Realm. Ray followed closely, already within the Spirit Connection Realm. The remaining three stood on its threshold.

They were still young.

But with their talent… reaching the Spirit Sea Realm was no longer a dream.

If they truly managed to obtain a purple thousand-year soul ring as their first ring, then once they reached the Spirit Sea realm, they would be capable of supporting three thousand-year spirit souls. That alone meant they would possess the qualifications to challenge the realm of a Titled Sovereign.

Of course, that was only a possibility. And a vanishingly small one at that.

After all, a Titled Sovereign who possessed only three thousand-year spirit souls, meaning nine purple rings in total, had never appeared in history. Such a configuration was simply too weak to stand at the pinnacle.

Take Alfred as an example. He only had six soul rings, yet among them was a ten-thousand-year spirit soul. Just how terrifying was his strength?

"It really looks like the academy is planning that far ahead…" Barbara swallowed. Though he had always harbored lofty ambitions, his nature was actually rather upright and straightforward. It was precisely because of those ambitions that he had acted arrogantly when he first encountered Ray's group.

Raziel Phoenix nodded. "That's probably their plan. If that's the case, then every opportunity inside the spirit ascension platform is priceless. We can't afford to waste a single one."

Ray said calmly, "I won't go out to play then. I'll head to the Blacksmith's Association and temper myself a bit."

"I'll meditate," Lily added.

Volt looked at Ray with mournful eyes, making Ray laugh helplessly. "I'll be back at night, Volt. Don't worry."

"Ahem!" Barbara snickered and patted Volt on the shoulder. "Since when did you turn into a jealous woman?"

Everyone knew how effective Ray and Volt were when they dual cultivated.

Volt shot him a glare. "If you can help me raise my cultivation by half a rank in three months, I'll be jealous of you too. Ray, can I go with you? Or maybe I should pick blacksmithing as my secondary profession. Do you think I have the talent?"

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