"Please cooperate, Lady Bi Ji."
Chen Fu took Ma Xiaotao by the hand and led Bi Ji to an open space in the woods.
"Mhm, I've heard the general process. Don't worry." The woman's voice was gentle and light.
Chen Fu glanced back. He was rather curious as well. Although Bi Ji, this super Soul Beast, had been his ideal target all along, he had not expected Di Tian's execution to be so astonishingly swift.
"I optimized and improved the Soul Ring Engraving Soul Tool. Don't worry, I simplified many of the procedures."
He tossed a Spatial Soul Tool into the clearing. As spatial ripples flickered, orderly metal blocks unfolded layer by layer from the void.
Amid the thunderous clanging of metal, an octagonal metal disc nearly sixteen meters in diameter automatically assembled itself within seconds and settled onto the ground.
Its surface was covered in dense, tiny inscriptions of Youlan flowing light, exquisite and filled with the aesthetic beauty of order.
"Xiaotao, sit cross-legged at the Li Position. Lady Bi Ji, sit cross-legged at the central Yin-Yang position."
After directing the two to sit at their respective positions, Chen Fu slowly activated this new type of Soul Ring Engraving Soul Tool, inspired by the Bagua. Chen Fu called this new series the [Awakening Soul Array Diagram] series.
While improving the Soul-Leaving and Soul-Summoning Matrix technology, he had incorporated the dual-system logic of the Bagua's inner and outer diagrams, allowing the [Awakening Soul Array Diagram] to differentiate Soul Power conversion through specific combinations of the inner and outer three lines. A total of sixty-four hexagrams were enough to handle the Soul Power differences between Soul Masters and Soul Beasts.
As Ma Xiaotao and Bi Ji took their seats, the Awakening Soul Array Diagram began to rotate. First, the inner and outer rings at Ma Xiaotao's position turned until the two Lis representing fire overlapped at her position. Then, the entire Awakening Soul Array Diagram began to emit crimson Soul Power fluctuations.
At the center, Bi Ji felt a gentle suction coming from beneath her. The Soul Power within her body began to flow unconsciously into the Soul Tool beneath her.
Since she had made psychological preparation beforehand, Bi Ji did not panic. Instead, she followed the Soul Tool's guidance and cooperated with its output.
The flames evolved from Ma Xiaotao's Soul Power and those evolved from Bi Ji's Soul Power spiraled together counterclockwise under the Bagua diagram's pull.
As time passed, the two flames spun faster and faster, drawing closer to each other. The initially weak Phoenix flames turned from adversity to prosperity during the convergence, gradually nourished and strengthened until they completely merged with Bi Ji's Soul Power.
"Do you understand this Soul Tool?"
"Sir has always liked showing us the finished results directly. As it happens, this is the first demonstration."
Golden Scale answered Di Tian's question, quietly recalling a similar question she had once asked.
"Sir, don't you need to test and discuss Soul Tools with others when you make them?"
Not long after first encountering Soul Tools, Golden Scale had asked him that question.
"I'd like to, but there's currently no one I can discuss them with..."
"Then why have all your results been successful?"
"The failures are all hidden in here."
Chen Fu pointed at his head and answered with a smile.
"In any case, we just need to watch." Golden Scale concluded for Di Tian.
Di Tian remained silent, quietly watching the two clusters of flame representing Yin and Yang spin at high speed within the Bagua array diagram. After roughly ten minutes, they finally became a perfectly unified crimson fire pearl.
"...His attainments in the soul have deepened further."
The crimson fused fire pearl contained immense Soul Power. In Di Tian's senses, it also held an illusory, unreal aura that resembled Bi Ji, yet did not.
It was a false soul... Using the overclocked resonance of Ma Xiaotao's and Bi Ji's Spiritual Power, it imitated a trace of each other's soul essence within the special environment of the [Awakening Soul Array Diagram]. Bi Ji's soul did not even need to leave her body.
With a wave of his hand, Chen Fu guided the crimson fire pearl into the reserved slot at the very center of the Bagua diagram. He then signaled that Bi Ji could leave and had Ma Xiaotao sit at the point where Yin and Yang met, preparing for her breakthrough.
It seemed there was still room for improvement in practical application. The internal structure and layout should also be further optimized to avoid the trouble of having to move back and forth. Chen Fu silently noted this to himself.
[Task Bar Updated]
"Lady Bi Ji, do you feel any discomfort?"
Chen Fu offered his concern at the appropriate moment.
"Nothing serious. It's within acceptable limits." After silently sensing her condition, Bi Ji discovered that she had indeed lost nearly a tenth of her Soul Power. She then shook her head at Chen Fu, indicating that she was fine.
Bi Ji then shifted her gaze to Ma Xiaotao at the array's core and saw a deep-red Soul Ring above the young girl's head, filled with pressure and radiating a heavy aura.
Eighteen years old, a level-seventy-two Soul Saint, and once again enjoying the benefits of a Soul Ring upgrade: purple-purple-purple-black-black-red-red. Super Ma Xiaotao had arrived!
"Mhm, excellent. That works."
Chen Fu smiled in praise and pushed away the excited girl who wanted to throw herself into his arms.
"The Soul Skills are good?"
"Two absolutely amazing support Soul Skills!"
"Oh?"
Compared to the seventh Soul Ring, which could only have one Martial Soul Avatar enhancement skill, could this pseudo-sacrifice additionally retain one Soul Skill from the sacrificed Soul Beast?
The girl hugged Chen Fu's arm and nodded heavily, her orange-red eyes shining brilliantly.
"That's good."
Chen Fu turned to face Di Tian in his Black Dragon Mysterious Robe, as well as the undisguised gazes from deep within the forest.
"Lord Di Tian, I didn't disappoint you, did I?"
"Beyond expectations."
The rate at which the human's Soul Tools iterated had nearly become incomprehensible to Di Tian.
"Then, are you still willing to continue with the subsequent experiments?"
Di Tian silently watched Chen Fu for a while before asking an unrelated question.
"What are Soul Beasts in your eyes?"
A little surprised, Chen Fu pondered for a moment before answering.
"What Soul Beasts are depends on what you want to become."
"You can be demons that feast on livers and marrow. You can be immortals of morning dew and evening clouds. You can also indulge in pleasure, unfettered and free."
"You are the ones who define those things. Others cannot, nor are they qualified to, define you."
The man in black pretended to ponder for a moment, as though carefully considering something. Chen Fu knew he was pretending because, within his Spiritual Perception, a pale golden divine sense that clashed starkly with the black-and-white Spiritual Perception environment had already appeared above Di Tian's head.
"I want to know your view."
The Di Tian-brand messenger tube was online. Naturally, this was also Di Tian's own inner thought. The threat this human gave him was almost tangible. Even if ten Peerless Douluos suddenly appeared in the human world, he would not feel this way.
No matter how many Peerless Douluos there were, the Soul Beasts might only need to take a nap before those powerhouses were swept into history's trash heap. But when facing Chen Fu, Di Tian could almost guarantee that if he dared to nap, this fellow could turn the world into something he no longer recognized.
Some of the information Golden Scale had given Di Tian even revealed that, if this human wished it, he could already quickly organize a group of Low-level Soul Masters to kill Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.
Though the cost might be a little high? What did it matter if a few Low-level Soul Masters died in exchange for one Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?
"When that Black Dragon Ancestor of the Soul Beasts questioned Mentor Chen Fu, he gave an answer that could still make those beast clans bristle even today. Though they desperately wanted to deny it, it was undeniable that for quite a long time, we benefited from the beast clans, to the point that later laws continued to favor them."
"'Materials.' That was Mentor Chen Fu's answer. I have to say, the mentor truly was blunt."
--Those Years, Those Beasts, Those Things
Thanks, Black Pupil 276 and very, very high, my two good brothers, for the monthly votes, and thanks to the other good brothers for the recommendation votes (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ
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