Chapter 75: Odd" Out of the World

"Every day, it's all these annoying things. As the head teacher, I'm about to be driven crazy by you all." Long Hengxu rolled up his sleeves, walking angrily into the cafeteria. Someone had actually overeaten to the point where they had consumed a month's worth of premium meals. It wasn't the consumption that was the issue—after all, the school profited from it—but consuming 108 servings? How could this be possible? Wouldn't it burst someone's stomach?

"What the hell is this?" Long Hengxu froze when he saw the scene in front of him. Gu You was surrounded by a crowd of students, looking as fat as a soccer ball. He was sitting there, with a very disdainful expression on his face.

Long Hengxu paused for a moment, unsure whether he should intervene. But after a bit of thought, he figured he should act, for Gu You's safety. He had to step in!

"Make way! Make way!" The students instinctively cleared a path for Long Hengxu, all curious about how the head teacher would handle the situation.

He walked up to Gu You and gathered a gentle wave of soul power in his palm, lightly tapping Gu You's belly.

Gu You's eyes went wide. His mouth opened as if to say something, but he felt like something was blocking his throat. He couldn't speak.

When Long Hengxu tapped his belly, Gu You suddenly felt a great force rise within him and explode out!

The cafeteria erupted into a cheer.

"Ugh! So disgusting."

"Run!"

Ughhhhhh...

Gu You vomited everything he had eaten. His body immediately returned to its original form, and a strange smell filled the cafeteria. The students quickly fled the scene, and even the cafeteria staff collapsed onto the floor in shock.

Long Hengxu was covered in the mess, and Gu You just wore an expression as though he didn't care.

"Ah!" Long Hengxu let out a miserable scream and hurried out of the cafeteria to wash his face.

Tang Wulin was the most unfortunate. Lying on the ground, he was completely covered in Gu You's explosive vomit.

...

"This is a tragedy, and the cafeteria hasn't seen anything like it in years. Principal, you have to tighten the management!" Long Hengxu complained to Yu Zhen.

"Ah, what is all this? If you hadn't made that one move, nothing would have happened. Now that there's a problem, you should reflect on it properly. Gu You's ability to eat is good. We should develop a new high-end special meal for him. Make sure he eats well." Yu Zhen's response made Long Hengxu curse the principal a thousand times in his heart, but he was helpless. The principal was clearly favoring Gu You. What could he do?

...

Studying and cultivating. On every weekend, Tang Wulin would go to the Blacksmith's Association to learn forging with Mu Chen.

The usually kind Mu Chen showed his stern side when he became a teacher. He was even more strict than when he was with Mo Tian. Often, after a full day of forging lessons, Tang Wulin was more exhausted than at school.

"Wulin, you should know Gu You, right? He just joined your Zero Class a few days ago," Mu Chen asked as he sat beside Tang Wulin, watching him try out a hammering technique.

"Huh? Teacher, of course I know him." When Tang Wulin heard Gu You's name, cold sweat broke out all over his body. He was already in debt for tens of thousands of credits. Every day he had to accept tasks just to pay the school back. And especially after the last time with Gu You's vomiting incident, he had already become mentally numb. No wonder Old Tang had warned him to be careful of Gu You.

"Well, good. You should try to interact with that kid more. His talent for forging is strong. In the future, you can ask him for advice," Mu Chen said, stroking his beard.

Tang Wulin's heart skipped a beat. Gu You could forge? This was the first time he'd heard of someone having better forging talent than him. But after thinking about it, Tang Wulin found it quite normal. After all, geniuses were always multi-talented. If they could only cultivate, would they still be called geniuses?

Every week, the Zero Class was required to enter the Ascension Platform for training. During these subsequent sessions, everyone became particularly cautious. Whenever they encountered soul beasts, they fought carefully. The map of the Ascension Platform that Gu You had previously shared was well-received, and the overall map was completed. They could see their own locations, but there were no markers for other soul masters or soul beasts. The staff explained that everything inside was random.

Gu You had also tried venturing deeper into the Star Dou Forest. He had already outgrown the hundred- and thousand-year-old soul beasts. With his additional spiritual power, he could completely drain them after absorbing just one. But he found that the primary Ascension Platform only spawned soul beasts that were around a hundred or a thousand years old, no matter where you were. There might be a chance of encountering a ten-thousand-year-old beast, but he couldn't confirm that since he hadn't encountered one yet.

Also, soul beasts inside the Ascension Platform, especially thousand-year ones, could appear based on luck.

...

Before they knew it, the first semester of the first year was over.

"Teacher, do we also have a final exam?" Tang Wulin asked, surprised.

There was no doubt that the final exam for them was of no real significance. This wasn't arrogance, but rather, although the Zero Class had only been established for three months, they could all feel a remarkable change in themselves over this short period. And as for Gu You, he had gotten so strong that the final exam felt like child's play.

Gu Yue had reached level 19, just one step away from level 20.

Tang Wulin had reached the peak of level 15, and he was very close to level 16. In just six months, his soul power had risen from level 11 to almost level 16. Before entering Donghai Academy, he would have never dared to dream of such progress.

Gu You's progress had been a bit slower, though, only reaching level 32. This was a downside of his extreme martial soul—his cultivation speed slowed down significantly as he reached higher levels. He had also noticed that while he cultivated, his spiritual sea absorbed a portion of the soul power. It was extremely taxing.

However, his spiritual power was the most outrageous. His Purple Extreme Magic Eyes had reached the "seed" state. At this level, he could see through anything, much like Tang San. He could even detect the identity of Xiao Wu's ten-thousand-year-old soul beast. This cultivation speed was terrifying. Normally, even if you had an incredible talent, no one would reach this stage simply through regular efforts. Gu You attributed this to his abnormally strong spiritual power. After reaching the late stages of the Spirit Sea realm, he hadn't tested his spiritual power again, but now he felt it had at least reached 5000, and it had already reached the Spirit Abyss realm!

For Gu You, his progress at school had been substantial. His combat ability had at least doubled through the experience in the Ascension Platform.

The others had all turned ten years old. It was almost unheard of for ten-year-old children to have such practical combat ability. This wasn't something that could be easily explained with just the word "rare."

Dean Yu Zhen had invested heavily in the Zero Class. The class used the most advanced teaching equipment, and with the massive investment in the Ascension Platform, these little monsters had emerged—except for one person.

"The final exam will be held," said Wu Changkong nonchalantly. "You have two subjects in your final exam. The first is the Ascension Platform."

The Ascension Platform?

In the three months they'd been in Zero Class, they had already entered the Ascension Platform eleven times. Now, every time they went in, as long as they weren't exceptionally unlucky, they could survive for at least an hour. The best record was held by Gu You, who survived for over eight hours just by walking.

"You need to survive in the Ascension Platform for one hour to pass the exam," Wu Changkong continued. "But I should remind you that this time, you'll be entering a 'violent' Ascension Platform."

"Teacher, what does 'violent' Ascension Platform mean?" Xie Xie asked, surprised. He had never heard of such a term, but it seemed to be a special state of the Ascension Platform.

Gu You suddenly spoke up, "Violent means that the soul beasts inside will be stronger and more aggressive."

"You're the only one who knows," Gu Yue said with a cold glance.

"Thanks," Gu You responded.

"Huh? Gu You, why are you calling me that?" Xie Xie asked, confused.

"Nothing," Gu You smiled.

Wu Changkong gave a brief explanation, "The Ascension Platform has two violent periods every year. Initially, these were caused by the unstable energy used in the construction of the platform. Later, with technological advancements, the violent periods were better controlled, and they became a special feature. During the violent period, the soul beasts inside become exceptionally active and increase in number. The danger level also rises significantly. Every year, there are 300 spots for students to enter the violent period. This time, you five will be among the lucky ones, as you'll get five of those spots. The academy spent a great deal of effort to negotiate with the Donghai Spirit Tower to secure these spots for you. You must cherish this opportunity."

"During the violent period, entry into the Ascension Platform can be done as a team, but the team cannot exceed seven people. You five are just right, and you'll be sent together directly. This is a test of your teamwork. Remember, inside, you might not only encounter soul beasts, but also other soul masters who have entered. They will be just as dangerous to you. This is because after soul beasts are killed in the violent period, the time required to absorb the spiritual power generated from their death is increased by a hundred times. In other words, if you kill a soul beast, the time needed to absorb its spiritual power will be one hundred seconds. If, during this time, you leave the Ascension Platform, the remaining spiritual power will be absorbed by the nearest soul master." After saying this, Wu Changkong didn't forget to glance at Gu You.

Zhang Yangzi suddenly said, "So, others can steal our soul beast spiritual power, and we can steal theirs?"

Wu Changkong nodded, "Actually, the rules are pretty much the same. However, the Ascension Platform is much more dangerous during the violent period. If you have confidence, you can indeed steal others' power. But I need to remind you that the entry limit for the primary Ascension Platform is peak rank three, and no higher than rank four. The cost of entering during the violent period is extremely high, which is why many soul masters only attempt it when they are at the peak of rank three, hoping to kill more soul beasts and upgrade their spirit souls. Therefore, the opponents you will face will be very strong..."

(End of this chapter)