Fulfilling a Wish (Part 1)

You Chen's words naturally shocked Ignis, who had always revered You Chen as a god.

It's like how mortals can't imagine themselves sitting on equal footing with gods.

She wanted to refute him, but she felt that You Chen's words made so much sense that she couldn't think of a way to refute them.

In the Soul Arena Beasts organization, almost all orders are issued by You Chen himself or relayed by Ge Ruisi. Although they are not detailed enough to specify what each person should do, the orders are relayed through the layers of government at most twice, which makes it difficult for the orders to be distorted. In fact, everyone is acting according to You Chen's personal will.

Now, You Chen wants to help some of them regain their own opinions, Ignis is the initial target.

Of course, You Chen's goal was not really to liberate the minds of the Soul Arena Beasts.

Because You Chen knew from the very beginning that the brainwashing-like education he received since childhood had deeply ingrained the initial hundred or so Soul Arena Beasts' respect for You Chen.

Even if You Chen asked them to be themselves again, they would only verbally agree and then choose to bury this belief deep in their hearts.

You Chen only wanted them to be more useful as tools. It wasn't that he didn't care about their loyalty, but rather... he needed them to offer him a higher level of loyalty.

It's like the Saint Child declaring that believers will walk with him, but believers don't feel that they have become qualified to walk alongside the Saint Child. Instead, they are moved by the Saint Child's magnanimity and become more devout.

You must set an example.

These words echoed in Ignis's ears, and she couldn't help but take a deep breath.

She will never forget the way her companions looked at her.

That was a gaze that had always existed, a gaze tinged with both competitiveness and longing, and imbued with a sense of worship and awe for her.

And it wasn't until this day, when she placed the crown called the Beast Head under You Chen's hands, that it finally took root and sprouted.

She knew she could no longer be a Beast Soldier simply obeyed orders and carried out the leader's commands, just like before.

It was a position she had once longed for, but now, the thought that she could no longer rely on a leader who was infallible filled her with a sense of fear.

But... how about getting the leader to retract his order?

She would never commit such a blasphemous act.

"I understand, Chief. I will no longer bow to you."

Ignis finally agreed to You Chen's request, but added, "However, I will keep my reverence for you in my heart. Please allow me this willfulness!"

You Chen couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle, "What do you mean by being willful? If you're forced to suppress even your own thoughts, then there's no question of being on equal footing."

Then, he slightly suppressed his smile and said, "Alright, Ignis, you surely know why I called you here, right? Tell me your wish."

Anyone who becomes the first Beast Head of the corresponding species can ask the leader for one reasonable wish.

This was You Chen's initial promise.

Rather than gaining a status equal to You Chen, or having the authority to manage other Soul Arena Beasts, it's more accurate to say that the vast majority of Soul Arena Beasts who aspire to the Beast Head consider this wish as their goal!

Even if one has a god to worship, it does not mean that believers have no other desires or wishes.

And Ignis, naturally, was no exception.

She looked at You Chen's calm and confident face, her eyes sparkling.

She wanted to be able to stand beside this great man, to know the worries of this person she revered like a god, and to become a true strong person who could share his troubles!

"Chief, is there any way to make me stronger?"

Ignis expressed her wish.

"To become stronger? That's a good wish."

Upon hearing Ignis's idea, You Chen nodded slightly under Ignis hopeful gaze. "Of course there is a way."

Rather, it's more accurate to say... he was prepared all along.

If it had been earlier, fulfilling Ignis's wish would have been quite troublesome for him.

After all, he couldn't possibly use the excuse of honing Ignis's skills to deliberately waste Ignis's talent.

All the cultivation resources he could provide were of the highest quality.

Of course, whether it's top-quality Soul Beast, helping to acquire Soul Ring, or other material or human resources, Ignis has to repay with her merits.

These are things that can be exchanged for merits.

You Chen didn't impose many restrictions on the resources that could be exchanged for merits, and he was very generous to all his subordinates in this regard.

This means that if the reward is in the form of resources that can be exchanged for merit, then the "wish" seems too cheap.

If You Chen were to use resources that Ignis could have obtained within the rules to fulfill her wish, it would be far too perfunctory.

In reality, if he wanted to break through the merit exchange list and improve upon it, he would have to abandon his many research projects, spend a lot of time tailoring a systematic cultivation method specifically for Ignis, or expend a great deal of effort to find cultivation resources for Ignis that are close to the level of Immortal Herb.

It's like taking up his private time to provide private services for Ignis.

Fortunately, the system solved a large part of the problem.

You Chen first took out a booklet with the title "Five Qi Fire Evil" on it—yes, it was something modified from the book "Five Qi Evil Art".

You Chen said, "This book, 'Five Qi Fire Evil,' is a cultivation technique I developed specifically for you. Ignis, your frontal attack ability has reached its peak at this stage, but if you encounter top-tier defensive Soul Master of the same level as you, it's hard to say whether your frontal attack ability can provide an absolute advantage. In such cases, the Fire Fiend, which can invade the opponent's body and cause fire poison from the inside, can solve this problem to a great extent."

Seeing Ignis's eyes light up, You Chen smiled slightly, "Not only that, the Five Qi Fire Evil is also an amplification Soul Skill exclusively for fire-attribute Soul Master. If my deduction is correct, once you perfectly integrate the Red Dragon Battle Body and Red Dragon Battle Mark with it, the power of your Fire Fiend will receive an additional boost. However, you'll have to develop its application yourself. In short, as long as you can successfully integrate it into your system, it's definitely no less than a top-tier Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill!"

Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill!

For Ignis, who currently only has one Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill, this is undoubtedly a huge improvement.

But...

After a brief moment of surprise, Ignis's eyes dimmed.

This "Five Qi Fire Evil" technique is indeed very good, but it is far from being able to bring her closer to her desired goal of "becoming a strong person who can stand shoulder to shoulder with You Chen".

Especially... not long ago, after she witnessed You Chen display his shocking power that crushed the Earth Fire Dragon!

But Ignis expressed her gratitude, saying, "Thank you for the magic, Chief!"

But then You Chen said Youyou, "Ignis, you don't think my wish is worth only a technique equivalent to Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill, do you?"