As he said this, without any visible movement on his part, Bai Chen felt the weight in his hand lighten — the Tang Sect Ice-Fire Seal that had just been resting in his palm had already vanished without a trace.
Zang Xin turned to look at him and winked.
"But if you want it, you'll have to pass this assessment first."
"...Understood."
He had to admit, this was an extremely effective motivator.
Bai Chen hadn't been particularly invested in this assessment to begin with, but with that one move from Zang Xin, his enthusiasm for completing it shot straight up.
Seeing him like this, Zang Xin smiled slightly and continued:
"Now let me explain the format of the assessment — it's actually content you're already quite familiar with. Have you heard of the Spirit Ascension Platform's Frenzy Period?"
"Yeah, I've heard of it."
On this topic, Bai Chen had no need to play dumb.
The Spirit Ascension Platform's Frenzy Period is a special mechanism of the Platform. At its origin, it was caused by unstable technology during the Platform's construction — but later, as science and technology advanced further, this became a special recurring event instead.
During the time the Spirit Ascension Platform enters its Frenzy Period, the number of soul beasts inside surges dramatically. Correspondingly, their aggression also increases significantly.
Beyond that, during the Frenzy Period, the time required to absorb spirit energy is stretched to one hundred times normal length — equivalent to what ordinarily takes a soul master one hundred seconds to absorb being extended to one hundred seconds' worth of absorption time.
Once killed by another soul master during this period, any spirit energy that hasn't been fully absorbed transfers to the nearest person — in other words, to the killer.
This characteristic, combined with the Spirit Ascension Platform's already unique environment, directly results in the Frenzy Period being considerably more dangerous.
Zang Xin said calmly:
"Your mission this time is to survive inside the Spirit Ascension Platform until the Frenzy Period ends."
"Ah, so that's it…"
Bai Chen nodded thoughtfully.
Call it an assessment, but it was really just another perk.
Slots for the Spirit Ascension Platform during the Frenzy Period are actually quite limited. Even if an ordinary person had the connections to snag a ticket, they would still pay a steep price for it.
Zang Xin was essentially giving him a free entry — no matter how you looked at it, he was getting the better end of the deal.
Since that was the case, he couldn't let this good will go to waste.
"Right."
At this point, Zang Xin suddenly shifted the topic, a crafty smile on his face as he spoke to Bai Chen:
"Didn't you apply to me before to find a team partner? I've found you a very suitable match."
"Oh?"
Bai Chen was momentarily taken aback, then remembered.
Back when he had first entered the Spirit Ascension Platform, thanks to the help of those few passersby, he had defeated the wolf pack — and so upon leaving, he had specifically mentioned to Zang Xin that he wanted a team partner…
Zang Xin's response at the time was to tell him to wait for news, and after that there was no further follow-up.
Bai Chen wasn't that desperate for a partner anyway, and since Zang Xin kept delaying without giving him a reply, he had simply dropped the idea entirely.
Who would have thought that a full year later, that request from a year ago would actually get a response.
He asked curiously:
"What's my partner's name? And what is their martial soul and ability?"
His strength now was worlds apart from a year ago — honestly, a partner who was too weak would only drag him down.
"Hmm..." Through the rearview mirror, he could see Zang Xin's lips curl into an amused smile that seemed to have all the answers. "Her name is Yuan En Yeehui. As for her martial soul ability, you can ask her yourself — it's not quite appropriate for me to just reveal it."
"..."
Bai Chen fell silent.
No need to ask. Just from that name alone, he already understood what this partner's ability was.
Yuan En Yeehui — one of the seven monsters of Shrek in Douluo 3, and the one with the second greatest power among the Douluo 3 seven monsters, second only to Tang Wulin himself.
Her martial souls were the Titan Giant Ape and the Fallen Angel — twin martial souls — and the boost of two super-class martial souls made her power absolutely terrifying.
Come to think of it, she really was around the right age to be making contact with the Tang Sect by now.
When Yuan En Yeehui was seven years old, an incident involving the demonic side had been triggered by her mother, which directly dealt a devastating blow to Yuan En Yeehui's family.
Shortly afterward, she was sent to Shrek Academy.
Given the relationship between Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, it was only natural that the Tang Sect would take notice of her existence.
Yuan En Yeehui is one year older than Tang Wulin — by that calculation, she would be around eight years old right now. The hellish ordeal she had endured would have ended just a year ago for her.
It was unclear whether her current mental state could support her through what lay ahead.
Zang Xin, not knowing what Bai Chen was thinking, said cheerfully:
"That child has some similarities with you. I won't reveal the specifics for now — go find her yourself tomorrow and get the full picture."
Similar… in a certain sense, that was indeed not wrong.
Bai Chen's martial soul was the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, while Yuan En Yeehui's were the Titan Giant Ape and the Fallen Angel — all were existences where power and a dark, malevolent nature coexisted.
Bai Chen's Dark Demon Evil God Tiger would certainly dominate either of her martial souls individually — at the same cultivation level, neither the Titan Giant Ape nor the Fallen Angel added together would be a match for the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, and the Fallen Angel's class didn't seem like it could hold a candle to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
But how his single martial soul stacked up against her two combined — that he genuinely couldn't say.
Just as Zang Xin said, everything would become clear once they truly met face to face tomorrow.
The next day, Bai Chen arrived at the designated meeting point.
Here, he saw Yuan En Yeehui.
Short chestnut-red hair, black eyes. She was very beautiful, with an aloof and cold quality about her — and the vacant expression on her face deepened this impression even further.
Zang Xin stepped forward to make the introductions:
"This is your partner from here on — Yuan En Yeehui. This assessment will also serve as a trial period for your team. If things work out well, you two can continue to act together going forward."
After introducing her to Bai Chen, he then turned to Yuan En Yeehui:
"Yuan En Yeehui, this is the partner I mentioned to you before — his name is Bai Chen."
"Oh."
To this, Yuan En Yeehui gave only a flat, indifferent reply.
Zang Xin was a little helpless.
"Why don't you greet him properly?"
"..."
Silence was her only response.
Zang Xin gave Bai Chen an apologetic laugh.
"Sorry about this — this child went through some difficult times recently and is in a very poor mental state right now. I hope you can understand her."
"Mm."
Bai Chen gave a gentle nod.
He understood. Any child who had been through something like that would have their personality affected.
He felt genuine sympathy for her.
Seeing Bai Chen take it in stride, Zang Xin let out a slight breath of relief.
This kid really was as dependable and mature as ever.
Handing her to him really had been the right choice.
In fact, Yuan En Yeehui was the first person that Yun Meng had referred to Zang Xin.
The reason was that one day, Zang Xin had complained to him that he was short of suitable candidates on his side to serve as Bai Chen's team partner.