Roar!
The century-old golden leopard immediately let out a wretched howl of agony. After twitching a few times, it collapsed, head down, and dissolved into spiritual energy.
This act undoubtedly enraged the remaining golden leopards. One after another, they charged toward Di Qiu'er and Dong Qianqiu, roaring with fury.
"Golden Dragon Body! Golden Dragon Sword!"
Golden light erupted from Di Qiu'er's body, and a golden long sword appeared in her hand—a replica of Di Tian's ultimate technique, the Black Dragon Sword.
With a single strike, she cleaved the foremost leopard in two, causing it to vanish instantly.
"Ice Tide!"
As the remaining four century-old leopards closed in, Dong Qianqiu unleashed a mass control spell. Extreme ice surged like a tidal wave, freezing them all solid.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several Star Spirit Arrows shot forth, repelling the thousand-year-old leopard attempting to ambush Dong Qianqiu. The arrows exploded upon impact, leaving the leopard battered and disheveled.
Di Qiu'er, dual swords in hand, met a thousand-year-old leopard head-on. The beast roared, clawing fiercely at her.
Di Qiu'er neither dodged nor retreated, instead halting to await the attack.
"Golden Dragon Overlord Body!"
Golden light flashed in Emperor Qiu'er's eyes as she activated her second spirit skill the instant the leopard's claws were about to strike.
She absorbed the beast's attack force, channeling it into her sword.
"Slash!"
With a sharp cry, Di Qiu'er severed the thousand-year-old leopard's head with a single stroke.
After dispatching her foe, she immediately turned to the other side. The hundred-year-old leopard had already been dealt with by Dong Qianqiu and Yuanen Huihui.
Dong Qianqiu and Yuanen Huihui were now surrounding the final thousand-year-old leopard. Di Qiu'er charged forward, sword in hand.
The last thousand-year-old leopard bore Yuanen Huihui's arrows and Dong Qianqiu's icy spikes.
Beaten back relentlessly by Yuanen Huihui and Dong Qianqiu, the leopard would surely curse if it could speak.
Those two unethical fighters, especially that hundred-thousand-year-old great white shark—bullying a mere thousand-year spirig beast like me? Utterly unethical.
Just as the leopard was about to be struck down by Dong Qianqiu's spear, a golden sword qi sliced through the air, snatching the head away.
"What's wrong with you guys? I already killed the other thousand-year leopard—why haven't you finished this one yet?"
Di Qiu'er smugly sheathed the Golden Dragon Sword. Dong Qianqiu rolled her eyes at the sight and also withdrew his martial soul. Yuanen Huihui and Gu Xun followed suit.
In an instant, countless streams of spiritual energy surged toward Dong Qianqiu and Yuanen Huihui like a swarm of bees.
"My spirit ring is eight hundred years old now. Just a little more and it'll reach a thousand years."
Dong Qianqiu assessed the age of her first spirit ring before speaking. Yuanen Huihui faced a similar situation.
"Then let's keep searching."
Gu Xun led the group toward the next area, which had been entirely occupied by this leopard clan.
Thus, a vast surrounding region was devoid of other spirit beasts. Gu Xun guided the trio as they circled the perimeter.
They slaughtered every spirit beast they encountered, leaving nothing standing in their wake. After all, this was the Spirit Ascension Platform of the Spirit Pagoda—not real spirit beasts. Killing them freely posed no issue.
After Gu Xun led Yuanen Huihui, Dong Qianqiu, and Di Qiu'er through a sweep of the basic Spirit Ascension Platforms, Yuanen Huihui's spirit ring age successfully reached its maximum limit of two thousand five hundred years.
Yuan En Huihui was now at level 27, with a physical strength roughly matching 2,500 years of soul ring age. Dong Qianqiu, however, was only at level 22, so her spirit ring age was just over 1,300 years.
After exiting the Spirit Ascension Platform, the overseeing Spirit Pagoda Master approached them.
"It seems your spirit ring age has reached its maximum. As for the other reward—a 500-year spirit ring age boost—I'll hold it for you. Come back when you reach the Spirit Elder rank to claim it."
The Spirit Pagoda Master hadn't expected Gu Xun's group to be so ridiculously powerful—four Spirit Grandmasters hunting down a pack of millennia-old spirit beasts.
"Understood, thank you, Spirit Pagoda Master."
Dong Qianqiu nodded in agreement upon witnessing this. The Spirit Pagoda master then extended an olive branch to Gu Xun and his companions.
"I see all of you possess extraordinary talent. Have you considered joining a faction? Would you like to join the Spirit Pagoda?"
Gu Xun and his group politely declined. What a joke! The mighty Ruler of the Spirit Beasts joining the Spirit Pagoda?
All he needed to do was send out the Di Tian to tear the Spirit Pagoda apart. After that, Gu Xun and the others walked out of the Spirit Pagoda.
"Lord Brother, this Spirit Ascension Platform was pretty fun. Can we come back next time?"
Yuanen Huihui looked at Gu Xun curiously and asked. Gu Xun pondered for a moment before replying.
"We'll see. Next time, when you're all Spirit Elders, I'll take you to the intermediate Ascension Platform."
Chatting and laughing, the group made their way to the road where Di Tian's private vehicle had been waiting for some time.
The journey was quite long. The Spirit Pagoda was located in the city center, while Gu Xun's villa sat in a park near the academy.
The drive took about two hours. Due to spending nearly three hours at the Spirit Ascension Platform and the long journey, Dong Qianqiu and Di Qiu'er had fallen asleep, leaning against Gu Xun's shoulder. Yuanen Huihui, sitting in the front passenger seat, also slept peacefully.