This World Is Rotten to the Core

How vast is the total soul power of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? In the crudest terms of explosive area, a full-force detonation could erase the entirety of Shrek City from the map.

Completely wipe out this Giant City with a population exceeding one million.

But in reality? A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, possessing dozens of times the soul power of a Titled Douluo of the same rank, suffers from a pitifully low conversion rate in soul power damage output, and even its upper limit is severely abnormal.

In Chen Fu's past-life memories, there existed a type of ant that could consume food dozens of times its own body volume to extract sugar, ultimately swelling into a sphere many times its original size, losing the ability to move, and being carried back to the nest by other ants, where it would be killed and harvested for honey when needed.

"Would you say this honeypot ant is quite similar to you soul beasts?"

Seated cross-legged on the laboratory floor, Chen Fu's gaze passed over the coffee table to fix directly on Jin Lin, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

"In a certain sense, exactly the same."

"There's still a difference."

"Please enlighten me, sir."

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, now Jin Lin, bowed respectfully to Chen Fu. Though there had been unpleasantness before, soul beasts were, after all, a race that revered strength.

"That difference is you."

Chen Fu guessed the intentions of His Excellency Black Dragon, but he didn't mind taking on an extra apprentice.

The problem with Jin Lin wasn't rooted in her herself—Chen Fu was very clear on this point—so he didn't dwell on the earlier friction.

Moreover, after thousands of repeated simulations and calculations with [Youlan], he had basically understood how he had stumbled into the chess game of some unknown existence.

There was a so-called god, one who fed on qi and essence, coveting the fortune carried by other soul beasts.

Chen Fu's existence had merely disrupted His script, forcing Him to rewrite it for Chen Fu. But Chen Fu hadn't bought into it.

"You can transform, but honeypot ants cannot."

Why do soul beasts transform? And why, in all recorded history, is the form always human?

If you want to think through this answer, you must first ask: did soul beasts come first, or did humans? If humans came first, then you also need to clarify whether these humans were native or extraterrestrial.

But regardless of the scenario, based on [Youlan]'s calculations, Chen Fu felt the deep malice of this world.

If this world possessed Old Ones, then all humans were stalkers walking in shadow and filth, mad cultists in yellow robes.

"To some extent, humanity's ignorance is inherited from your transformation."

The man, lost in thought, let out an inexplicable sigh.

"..." Jin Lin remained silent. She didn't understand.

"The vast soul power of a soul beast doesn't dissipate upon transformation—otherwise, you wouldn't be able to form a Self-Derived Soul Ring at all."

For a Traditional Soul Master, the soul power of a soul ring is greater than the soul power within the body; otherwise, the ring's rank wouldn't have such a pronounced effect on the soul master.

"Are soul skills important to you?"

Chen Fu looked at Jin Lin, who stood before him respectful and restrained, with a faint, knowing smile.

"They don't have to be, sir."

Jin Lin's martial soul was the legendary Golden Dragon of ultimate strength. She had no pressing need for soul ring soul skills; as long as her raw power was sufficient, overwhelming force could conquer all technique.

In a certain sense, the Melting Ring method was a cultivation system perfectly suited to Jin Lin.

An ultimate strength wielder, paired with a training method that continuously amplified that strength—just thinking about it was exhilarating.

"Then that's good."

Chen Fu was quite satisfied with this, and he beckoned Jin Lin to follow him.

Arriving at the 1.2-generation [Divine Ring], which Chen Fu had slightly adjusted in its programming, he turned to face Jin Lin.

"I'm going to teach you the Melting Ring method now—the same ability I use to increase physical strength."

Bang!

As he spoke, Chen Fu demonstrated for Jin Lin. The Divine Wheel Disk, centered on the Data Divine Ring, appeared behind him, spinning at a pace that alternated between slow and abrupt, triggering a resonant hum.

"Although all three of your soul rings are self-derived and contain no remnant souls, for the first time, you'll need the [Divine Ring] to guide you in breaking the soul ring's limit valve, assisting you in completing your first soul ring extraction."

Chen Fu directed Jin Lin to lie down inside the [Divine Ring] as instructed and begin the operation.

[Divine Ring Operating System Connected]

Waving his hand to bring up the blue system interface, Chen Fu began to guide the soul power within Jin Lin's body through fine adjustments.

Compared to Traditional Soul Masters, who must slowly purge remnant souls before proceeding to the next step, a transformed soul beast can go directly to the final Extract Ring phase.

As Jin Lin released her soul power under the [Divine Ring]'s control, gradually pushing the soul ring's endurance limit higher and higher until the limit valve finally opened, night had already fallen.

Jin Lin's ten-thousand-year spiritual growth granted her a tolerance far beyond that of an ordinary soul master. In just one day, she had broken through the limit valves of all three of her soul rings, allowing her to begin extracting soul power to cultivate the Melting Ring.

"Notice anything now?"

Watching Jin Lin, who had just completed another extraction and wore an expression of astonishment, Chen Fu spoke unhurriedly.

"The total soul power of the soul rings hasn't decreased? Sir, what's going on?"

Joy flickered in Jin Lin's heart, and her reverence for Chen Fu deepened.

"Consult the Record of Soul Beast Transformation. Over tens of thousands of years, it has recorded twenty-seven transformed soul beasts. Every single one of them had an optimal soul ring configuration."

"What does that mean?"

Chen Fu's gaze shifted to the corner where Ning Tian was preparing to slack off.

"Ah! Teacher! It means... it means that a soul beast's Self-Derived Soul Ring will configure its rings according to its own endurance limit." Ning Tian hurriedly wiped her face with her somewhat dirty hands, truly not expecting to be suddenly tested.

"Not bad. Looks like you haven't been slacking off lately."

Chen Fu nodded in approval.

"A transformed soul beast's soul rings are attached based on its own endurance limit—in other words, it's a distribution of Soul Power."

"The foundation of Melting Ring lies in reducing the Soul Power within the soul ring."

"And the total Soul Power of a transformed soul beast itself doesn't decrease much due to the transformation." Of course, excluding the handling fees deducted by Heaven and Earth.

"So, do you understand?"

This was a theory with extremely high feasibility—so high that Chen Fu's intuition told him there was no need to verify it. But out of a rigorous attitude, he would remain conservatively reserved until a real case emerged.

Thud!

Golden Scale bowed respectfully to the man before her, prostrating herself in a full salute. At this moment, she was acutely aware that the Imperial Auspicious Beast was utterly incomparable before this person.

In fact, she had already begun to have no doubt that her only noteworthy ability—accelerating the cultivation speed of soul beasts—would ultimately be cracked by this man.

This combination of soul beast transformation plus Melting Ring would provide many Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts with an additional option. She, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion—no, she, Golden Scale—was merely the first witness; there would certainly be more to come.

Compared to painstakingly extracting Soul Power bit by bit from the Outside World, directly absorbing the Soul Power from one's own soul rings would increase cultivation speed by at least tenfold.

Although this Extract Ring would cause the quality of subsequent Self-Derived Soul Rings to decline, since she was already cultivating Melting Ring, would she still care about soul ring quality?

Thus, regarding Chen Fu's earlier statement, "Cultivate to Soul Emperor in one year," the only thing Golden Scale could do was express her admiration through action.

Helping Golden Scale up, Chen Fu felt somewhat conflicted inside. Through his continuous deductions, the only force in this world that could fully support his research was the soul beasts.

He hoped it was just a misconception.

He, Chen Fu, did not enjoy bullying those honest and simple soul beasts.

Moreover, in the comprehensive deduction data of [Youlan], over eighty percent of humans, when traced back infinitely, had their origins end with soul beasts.

This world seemed rotten to the core.

Thank you to Po Bing for the monthly ticket, and thanks to all the good brothers for your voting support (ω｀)