Gather the Multitude to Nurture One

With the production process and data for the [Soul Core] fully mapped out in Chen Fu's mind, a single day was barely enough for him to craft just one.

But Chen Fu only needed to make one. The remaining repetitive work could be handed off to [Youlan], which had already gathered all the production data.

All he had to do was periodically visit the shop to recharge from those two humanoid power banks who showed up now and then—efficiency increased at least a hundredfold.

"What, mission complete?"

Having handed most of the data verification for the [Ascension] plan over to [Youlan], Chen Fu finally had a rare moment of rest.

He brewed a cup of tea for the girl and slid it in front of her.

"Teacher Fan Yu agreed. Actually, you'd have an easier time talking to Old Xuan."

She downed the tea in one gulp, then snatched the small teapot from Chen Fu's hand to pour herself another cup.

"You... using a space soul tool material to make a teapot? That's extravagant?"

As she poured, Ma Xiaotao noticed the teapot's capacity was a bit off.

"Haha, special edition. If you like it, it's yours."

"Old Xuan doesn't understand any of this. All he does is haggle with me—such a hassle."

Chen Fu pulled a palm-sized crimson metal box from his space ring. The swirling patterns on its surface danced like rising flames.

"What goodie is this now?"

Tucking Chen Fu's exquisite personal teapot into her pocket without a second thought, Ma Xiaotao's attention was immediately drawn to the flame-patterned box.

The color scheme perfectly matched her taste.

"Special edition battle soul instrument, codename [Crimson Phoenix]. It has access to the [Youlan] database."

He opened the box himself and fitted the custom monocle-style battle soul instrument, etched with a firebird pattern, onto Ma Xiaotao.

Her orange-red eyes, seen through the phoenix gold thread pattern on the lens, held a unique charm.

"Does it look good?"

Seeing the boy momentarily lost in thought, the girl couldn't help but ask with a smile.

"...A seventeenth birthday gift. Do you like it?"

Snapping back to reality quickly, Chen Fu changed the subject.

"Of course I do!"

The girl grew a little excited.

"Chen Fu, I've got good news to share!"

"Oh? Go ahead."

"Remember those soul sages from the inner courtyard who used to badmouth you? I beat them all down last week!"

What ancient history was that? How could you hold such a grudge? It's been years.

Back then, Chen Fu had dominated the Unlimited Individual Soul Fighting Assessment with his soul tools, earning ridicule from the traditional soul masters in the inner courtyard. If Ma Xiaotao hadn't brought it up, Chen Fu would have almost forgotten.

"With all your energy storage rings fully trained, a level sixty-three soul emperor going all out against a soul sage—that's pretty bullying."

After breaking through to soul emperor and with the boost from her hundred thousand year soul ring, Ma Xiaotao's soul power had grown significantly. Over this period, Chen Fu had used the [Divine Ring] soul tool to gradually purify her remaining four soul rings.

After chatting with the girl a while longer, Chen Fu handed her the production line blueprints for the battle soul instrument body, asking her to deliver a message on her way back.

Watching the girl's retreating figure, Chen Fu smiled silently.

"Consider it an extra insurance policy. Little Blue, execute the [Banished Immortal] plan."

[Task bar updated. Current computation allocation: 89%]

Soon, over the next period, a new type of soul tool began to rise in popularity across Shrek City.

"Boss, how do you use this soul tool?" A man picked up a pair of glasses, looking uncertain. Whenever he had free time, he liked to browse the Lin Pavilion, hoping to stumble upon one of Master Chen Fu's finely crafted little gadgets.

Though most items lately were works by Master Chen Fu's apprentices—much lower in quality—there were still plenty of interesting pieces.

"Sir, you can try them on."

Uncle Fu was attending to him. When the shop wasn't too busy, he preferred to serve customers himself.

Hearing this, the man put on the battle soul instrument following Uncle Fu's demonstration.

"Holy crap! Unbelievable!"

Wearing the battle soul instrument, the man looked around the shop, exclaiming nonstop.

"Damn, this plant has chronic toxins? I've been eating it like it's just greens every day!"

"Bloody hell, there's a soul tool price estimation chart right here!"

"Shopkeeper, how much? I'll take them all!"

"Sorry, sir. Limit of three per person. Two thousand gold soul coins each."

"Then give me three!"

Uncle Fu took the gold soul coins and instructed the shop assistant to prepare them.

Similar scenes were now unfolding in Soul Tool shops both large and small throughout Shrek City.

Chen Fu had basically worked for free to keep the material cost of the basic Battle Soul Instrument under one thousand Gold Soul Coins, but the downstream shops still had to factor in labor costs.

Rapidly spreading the Battle Soul Instrument across the entire city would be a major boon to Chen Fu's subsequent plans.

Soon, Soul Masters who purchased the Battle Soul Instrument discovered that this Soul Tool's use wasn't limited to Shrek City—though many functions were useless outside the city, leaving only basic recording and analysis capabilities. Still, that was already remarkably effective for safe travel.

Within Shrek City, Chen Fu had freely shared the "basic knowledge" from the [Youlan] Database. Moreover, every piece of data recorded by Battle Soul Instrument users would be copied by [Youlan] within its radiation range.

It was a mutually beneficial relationship.

When the Battle Soul Instrument edited, recorded, or analyzed data, it would slightly consume the user's Spiritual Power and Soul Power. This expended energy would be replenished into [Youlan]'s Data Divine Ring at a certain ratio, enabling continuous growth.

In the lab, feeling the Data Divine Ring's volume growing stronger day by day, a faint smile crept across Chen Fu's lips.

"The R&D cost of the Battle Soul Instrument can't be covered by just a few thousand Gold Soul Coins. A little extra energy consumption—consider it interest."

Thinking this, Chen Fu felt much more balanced.

As for whether others could crack it, Chen Fu had never cared, even looking forward to it with anticipation.

If someone truly could break through the core technical barrier of the [Soul Core] using crude equipment, Chen Fu would only feel that the path was not lonely.

Estimating based on the total spiritual capacity of Old Mu and Old Dragon, both Peerless Douluo, deciphering the [Soul Core] with existing traditional Soul Engineer theory would require roughly ten Fan Yus continuously trial-and-erroring for twenty years. If the anti-decryption [Lin] character seal was factored in, that time would increase geometrically.

To borrow a phrase from Chen Fu's past life: everyone knows the mass-energy equation, but that doesn't mean every country can make a nuclear bomb work.

From the moment the [Ark] black technology was created, Chen Fu and traditional Level Nine Soul Engineers stood at the same starting line.

The objective reality of the Technology Throne [Youlan] gave him the sharpest sword to cut through thorns and conquer all obstacles on the path of technological development.

The scientific worldview from his past life also let him always grasp the core of technological development—energy!

Whether it was Soul Power, spirit, or soul, Chen Fu was trying to energy-ize them all, basing all his research on this premise.

With [Ark] as the foundation, [Nirvana], [Emerald], [Divine Ring], [Youlan], [Crimson Phoenix], and the ongoing [Ascension] and [Banished Immortal] were all probing the boundaries of Soul Power, spirit, and soul.

Chen Fu admitted that sometimes he felt he might be a little crazy, occasionally hearing fragmented whispers from the boundless void. On one hand, this was related to Chen Fu's increasingly powerful spiritual perception—he guessed it was connected to [Youlan]'s ever-expanding Data Divine Ring. On the other hand... he might be being watched by unknown entities, and more than one.

"Perhaps this is what they call 'divinity'?"

As more and more Soul Masters in Shrek City used the Battle Soul Instrument, the azure-blue Data Divine Ring began to undergo a peculiar transformation.

"Feasting on the people's qi, sipping the sun and moon's essence, nourishing my soul and spirit..."

A faint, gentle golden light enveloped Chen Fu as he pondered, a sacred and solemn aura flowing around him.

Then, Chen Fu's face turned ashen as he opened his eyes and looked at his fifth Soul Ring.

The self-generating Soul Ring plan—postponed!

Thanks to Lei Jin for the monthly ticket, and thanks to the good brothers for their support.