Power Without Wisdom Is A Tragedy

After sending Ning Yi off, Chen Fu checked Mo Ling's experimental field. Two months of study had finally let her get a handle on the entire process.

Seeing her hopping around in the fields, Chen Fu didn't disturb her and returned to his own laboratory. Uncle Fu had already delivered a new batch of materials—many precious soul-natured resources had been sent here through Shrek Academy.

In one month, Chen Fu's Soul Power cultivation had risen one level, reaching rank 48. Chen Fu's training speed had become much faster than before, because he had discovered a new use for the transparent Soul Rings.

As mentioned before, stripping residual souls from a Soul Ring causes it to degrade. Absorbing the Soul Power within makes the ring's Soul Skill disappear, and its color grows increasingly faint.

Since Chen Fu had no Soul Skills, he directly chose to absorb the Soul Power that had already been homogenized within the Soul Rings to level up—that is, Melting Ring.

And in his spare time, Chen Fu would inject Soul Power into the remaining three transparent Soul Rings and seal them. He let his mental and soul energy slowly permeate them until they were infected into homogenized Soul Power, at which point he would extract and absorb it again. Though slower, it was still much faster than cultivating on his own.

This was also evidence that the Energy Storage Ring and Melting Ring were compatible. Although this dual practice meant neither aspect excelled, it was quite suitable for someone like Chen Fu, who had poor cultivation talent and no need for Soul Skills.

As for the nature of Soul Power upper-limit growth, Chen Fu felt he was beginning to grasp some threads as his research into the soul deepened.

Research knows no time. Unknowingly, another month passed.

Chen Fu only ever reserved a month's worth of dry rations in the lab, to avoid losing himself in his work and forgetting the passage of time.

During this month, Chen Fu happened to hear a piece of news—Ma Xiaotao had told him through Uncle Fu, though it wasn't entirely by chance.

The Soul Tool Academy had cracked the Core Technology of the first-generation [Ark] and had even produced a prototype called [Blazing Sun].

Compared to the first-generation [Ark], which was fist-sized yet rivaled a Level Four Milk Bottle, [Blazing Sun] had the same storage capacity but was as large as a water vat.

Although its size made it somewhat impractical for now, [Blazing Sun]'s vastly superior access speed and universal charging capability still greatly encouraged the Soul Tool Academy.

"So they finally decided to take a detour and think creatively," Chen Fu shook his head with a faint smile in his idle moments. "I thought you'd keep banging your head against circuit stacking for a while longer."

Circuit stacking was something he achieved through fine control of his Martial Soul; with the current precision of Soul Tools, it was very difficult to replicate manually.

"I heard that idea came from that New Life?"

"That charcoal-black junior? Something called Caitou?"

Chen Fu thought to himself as he began disassembling the sixteenth generation of the Soul Resonance Induction Experimental Device he had built.

[All functional modules are ready]

Fortunately, his spiritual perception was exceptionally strong. Each experiment only increased intensity by a tiny margin; otherwise, he would have died countless times by now.

Of course, the real foundation that allowed him to probe the soul was a leaf on his chest.

Given to him by a certain wheelchair-bound Douluo who occasionally slept in the hall downstairs from him—said it could save his hide in a dangerous moment.

Otherwise, many leapfrog experiments simply couldn't be attempted, and his research time would have stretched far longer.

Soon, the experimental machine was fully disassembled. Some materials could still be recycled—no waste allowed.

"List the materials and print it out for me."

The Technology Throne began to operate, Soul Power was consumed, and a sheet of paper gradually emerged from the ashes.

Walking down the stairs, in a hall filled with flowers and plants, he saw that old man had abandoned his wheelchair and was leaning back in a lounge chair, leisurely sipping tea.

"Old Mu, all the functional module data is done. I just need this batch of materials. I'm planning to build something big."

Setting down his small teapot, Old Mu took the list. Even his weathered heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

"You really think you're ordering off a menu? Ask for whatever you want?"

"Not exactly. The academy's stock should be enough. And once this Soul Tool is finished, we won't need to supply the follow-up materials ourselves."

The old man gave Chen Fu a deep look. This Young Man had already revealed part of his heart.

"One hour, and it's yours."

With that, the old man lay back down again and picked up the small teapot that the hamster girl had gifted him.

That very lucky big hamster had quite a few aged treasures at home.

With rare free time, Chen Fu also dragged a lounge chair to the other side, holding a teacup as he watched the stream of people passing by outside.

"Any candidates for Fierce Beast?"

"I'll try my luck at Star Dou when the time comes."

"Why not the Extreme North? The Soul Beasts there seem weaker."

???

"The Extreme North is easy not to come back from."

"Fair enough."

Chen Fu poured himself another cup of tea.

"Does sitting in a wheelchair affect your power output?"

???

If it weren't for my years of self-cultivation and composure, I'd crush you to death right now.

"I can still crush the lowest-ranked Fierce Beasts with a flick of my hand."

Roughly calculating the power disparity in his mind, he found it a bit exaggerated.

"Then Can I Ask, old sir, what rank are you?"

Chen Fu only knew that these old men were extremely strong, but their exact ranks were beyond what a small fry like him could sense.

"Not high, just level ninety-nine."

The old man's tone was flat, impossible to read as pleased or displeased.

???

The Young Man was silent for a long time, saying nothing.

The old man waited patiently for a while, then felt increasingly uncomfortable all over. He turned his head to look.

He saw that man staring straight at him with burning, fanatical eyes.

"..."

"What do you want?"

According to the intelligence in his hands, a worship of the strong didn't match this young man's personality.

"Do Soul Skills have much effect on you?"

"Not much."

He had already broken free from the rigid framework of Soul Skills; every punch and palm strike carried his own understanding.

"Are you nearing the end of your lifespan?"

Spending every day dragging a wheelchair around to bask in the sun didn't look like the proper demeanor of a peak-level powerhouse.

Are you thinking that just because this old man is in a wheelchair, he's easy to bully?

"Do you want to become a god?"

The Young Man lowered his voice, his whole body trembling with excitement. This old man—no, this old grandfather—was practically a perfect experimental subject sent to him by the heavens!

A faint ripple of Soul Power enveloped the two of them. The old man looked at the Young Man and asked:

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Did Ma Xiaotao tell you about the three extended uses of Soul Rings?"

"She did."

"What do you think of Melting Ring?"

"You only mentioned the framework, with no concrete results."

"I am the result!"

Chen Fu revealed his transparent Soul Ring. "I absorbed all four Soul Rings, and I rose five levels!"

Although a Peerless Douluo's Soul Power quality was exceptionally high, Melting Ring could still increase the total capacity of the body! Every single thread of Soul Power improvement for a Peerless Douluo was difficult, and absorbing all Soul Rings could raise it by at least five layers!

A dormant heart seemed to ignite. The old man began calculating in his mind.

For someone at his level, Soul Rings and Soul Skills were, to some extent, just amplifiers. The body would channel one portion of Soul Power and strike out together with the Soul Power within the ring.

Moreover, as he mastered his own combat laws, the amplification multiplier provided by Soul Rings became increasingly useless. They mainly served as external Soul Power sources.

But if he directly Melting Ringed, merging all Soul Power into one... although the total amount wouldn't change, at least he could arm-wrestle with that black Dragon deep within the Star Dou.

Compared to the traditional path to godhood, this method might allow... physical apotheosis!

Reasoning backward, the second method would be... Soul Power apotheosis!

He had to admit, the first method, Ring Detonation, was indeed crude!

Sigh. The old man could feel his body trembling faintly. The path and its results were right before him. According to his calculations, this road was open!

"Do you think... a god would allow an Alien Soul to exist?"

The old man felt his mind explode. In that moment, tens of thousands of years of Shrek Academy's secret history converged and reorganized in his head. The intelligence he held suddenly soared to the heavens on Chen Fu's shoulders.

"Soul Power is a means, not an end." That sentence seemed to echo in his ears again.

"A Godhead is a means, not an end."

The old man's voice trembled now. What he had painstakingly sought all his life had quietly appeared in the twilight of his years.

Looking at the excited young man before him, the old man let out a long sigh.

He admitted that it was pitiful for Douluo's proud power to lack wisdom.