Spectacles Ruin Nations, but I'm an Academy!

"Now, for the next three months, I'll hold nothing back as I present my knowledge to you in the simplest way possible. I hope you'll all gain something from it."

Ripples spread across the mirror-smooth lake, and sunlight reflected off the waves in mottled, glassy colors.

On the bluestone path amid the lush green shrubs along the shore, Chen Fu addressed a crowd of people young and old.

Shrek's Soul Tool Academy had truly gotten off to a late start. Only two hundred years had passed since it first established its teaching framework and began instruction. Perhaps in other worlds, two hundred years would have been enough for earth-shaking technological revolutions to take place, but Douluo World could not be measured by such standards.

Tyranny suppressed civilization, and force stifled development.

Even the Sun Moon Empire, founded upon Soul Tools, was essentially still a collection of tyrannical powers upheld by force.

How long had feudal dynasties endured? And how long had it taken to break them?

Gunpowder had placed noble lords and commoners on the same line between life and death. To preserve their own continued existence, society had begun to speak of civilization.

Chen Fu's impression of the Sun Moon Empire was that, after enjoying the benefits of being the first to eat crab, a group of Soul Tool Vested Interests had used steel and cannons to block off all future paths of development.

Were the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Engineers stupid? Was Mingde Hall backward? Chen Fu had always been good at putting himself in others' shoes. If he had been in their position, then having seen Red Sun, he too would only have pushed for the popularization of Soul Power and Soul Tools in his old age.

As for what came after death, that was a problem for later generations to solve. Each generation had its own work to do.

But sometimes, life was simply dramatic. The old Soul Master aristocracy had blocked Chen Fu, a New Life aristocrat, from enjoying the benefits of Vested Interests.

Chen Fu was a man who valued results. Since the rules of this world could not give him the results he wanted, he could only forge a new Order for this world with steel and flames.

'For Soul Tools to continue developing, they must first become commonplace. Have you already been fumbling about in the wrong direction, Senior Jing Hongchen?'

Pulling his wandering thoughts back, Chen Fu looked at the hundred or so teachers and students of Shrek Soul Tool Academy, and a wave of emotion rose within him.

He seemed to have led a group of researchers once as well, though he had ultimately buried them all in a single stroke.

"Using people to nurture tools" and "using tools to nurture people"—that was the difference between Chen Fu's research philosophy and Mingde Hall's.

Technology could break through limits, but people found it difficult.

Yet just as all things possessed duality, Mingde Hall's philosophy of "using people to nurture tools" played a "positive" role in safeguarding tyranny.

Rigid tools were difficult to control, but intelligent people were not.

Unlike Mingde Hall, which was weighed down by countless concerns, Chen Fu felt utterly unburdened.

Those people had severed his connection to this world and kicked him out of the Vested Interests group chat.

If he shattered the existing order now, he would gain the world and lose nothing but his shackles.

"Teacher Fan Yu, divide everyone into teams. We'll begin laying the A1 section according to the blueprints."

Coming back to his senses, Chen Fu spoke softly to the dean of the Soul Tool Academy standing before the crowd.

"Mm, alright. We'll proceed according to the scheduled plan."

Fan Yu had long known that Chen Fu possessed the strength of a Level Nine strategic Soul Engineer, but without seeing a "true" Level Nine Soul Tool, he had always been somewhat reluctant to accept it. That was until his disciple summoned a Silver Blue Small Sword from the void. The entire Shrek Soul Tool Academy, teachers and students alike, had been deeply convinced.

Fan Yu divided the teachers and students, young and old, into separate groups and assigned their tasks.

Chen Fu had previously sent his young apprentice Ning Tian to teach the Soul Tool Academy his Soul Tool concepts and foundational knowledge, so its teachers and students were thoroughly prepared.

The main reason Chen Fu disliked personally leading the Soul Tool Academy was that he lacked the time. But with Ning Tian as excellent labor, he thoughtfully gave her more opportunities to train herself.

With Ning Tian's help some time ago, the Soul Tool Academy had completed the first-generation upgrade of their [Blazing Sun]. Though it was still massive in size, its transmission had become more convenient and stable. However, because they had all been focused on preparing for the [Ascension] plan, work on [Blazing Sun] had been shelved for quite some time.

[Personnel lists for each group in the Ascension Plan have been logged.]

[Scheduled blueprint plans have been sent.]

With [Youlan]'s assistance, Chen Fu led the teachers and students of the Soul Tool Academy, all equipped with the upgraded Second Generation Battle Soul Instrument, in the first phase of the trial run.

Within the view of every teacher and student's Battle Soul Instrument, [Youlan] marked each location requiring work on the blueprints. The displays included precision requirements, progress, and preset procedures for their reference.

Various metal modular components that had begun production last year were removed by the Soul Masters from Spatial Soul Tools funded by Lin Pavilion. Then, under [Youlan]'s coordination, they were assembled and constructed at their designated positions.

Compared to Ordinary People, Soul Masters truly possessed incomparable advantages in infrastructure construction.

Large quantities of soil were parted like a hot knife through butter by earth-element Soul Masters sent by the inner court. Then the Soul Engineers of the Soul Tool Academy each carried their own modules, assembling and calibrating them at designated locations according to the command system. Afterward, Chen Fu personally installed the core high-precision rail tubes in their designated positions, joined the outer modules together layer by layer, and used [Youlan] for final calibration, reinforcement, and sealing.

Once they confirmed that everything was clear and error-free, the first section of piping was considered complete.

Although the first A1 section was merely a single point and undoubtedly the simplest part, it still greatly encouraged everyone involved.

Afterward, a Soul Saint with a tree-type martial soul, temporarily called in for the task, worked alongside the earth-element Soul Masters to refill the soil.

For safety reasons, the area near Sea God Lake had already been sealed off by the academy. Any student who crossed the warning line during this period would be expelled without exception.

Ma Xiaotao had already informed the Pavilion Elders of Sea God Pavilion about the [Ascension] plan. During a Sea God Pavilion meeting, after they fully understood the plan's specifics, they unanimously approved the proposal.

It was a spectacle poised to utterly overturn conventional understanding of Level Nine Soul Tools: a colossal particle collision field encircling Sea God Lake, its effects encompassing everyone from Level 1 Soul Scholars to Level 99 Peerless Douluo.

[Ascension], as its name implied, had the core purpose of allowing Peerless Douluo, whose every aspect had reached its limit, to melt their rings into their bodies and transform their Physical Bodies into gods.

Moreover, unlike [Divine Ring], which was restricted by conditions and had only a single function, [Ascension] included Soul Bone functions in both its precision and intensity. It was truly advancing toward the goal of "using quantity to promote quality" in every respect.

At the same time, for many Titled Douluo whose potential had been exhausted, reaching Rank 95 as a Super Douluo would practically be guaranteed. Breaking through their limits to become Rank 98 Limit Douluo would no longer be a dream.

As for Melting Ring destroying Soul Rings and causing the loss of Soul Skills, did the Pavilion Elders of Sea God Pavilion not understand that? Beyond Super Douluo, aside from Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings, the other skills were nowhere near as satisfying as a Douluo's own ordinary attacks.

And the Physical Body after Melting Ring was genuinely powerful! Had they not seen how that little girl from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile family could wield a pagoda and beat battle Soul Masters across ranks until their heads were covered in bumps?

Besides, the ultimate beneficiary of this plan would be their Sea God Pavilion Master!

When the time came, with a whole group of Super Douluos, Limit Douluos, Peerless Douluos, and a Pavilion Master who had attained godhood through the flesh, even if Shrek rebuilt Spirit City, no one would dare make a sound.

Of course, Shrek was a neutral academy and did not participate in struggles for power. However, once the [Ascension] Soul Tool was completed, even if they did nothing, outstanding Soul Masters from all over the world would continuously gather at Shrek, turning it into the supreme holy land in the eyes of Soul Masters.

Their hopes for a wonderful future led to the [Ascension] Plan—which had begun to be planned and prepared a year ago, and had caused quite a stir—being forcibly passed with unanimous approval at the Sea God Pavilion meeting.

"Whenever we study that period of history, we cannot help but marvel at how well the mentor treated Shrek, even though his [Youlan] logs had clearly recorded his disdain for that academy's teaching methods."

"Later scholars have always liked to use the words 'gain and loss' in an attempt to summarize it, but I believe that is somewhat biased. Did Mentor Chen Fu, who was completely deified by later generations, truly not possess even the slightest bit of humanity of his own?"

"Later generations always analyze Master Chen from their self-proclaimed, lofty god's-eye view. Yet is that not another form of narrow-mindedness born from placing oneself in an all-seeing position? There, Master Chen gained many things and formed bonds of friendship. Perhaps, at certain moments, Master Chen did feel some warmth toward Shrek."

--<Reflections Upon Viewing the [Ascension] Ruins (Excerpt)>

Thanks to [Po Bing], [2424 Niuniu], [Book Friend 7843], [Yunxi Meng Xinghe], [Du Zun], [Black Cloud 276], [Black White Cloud Qianzai], [Is It Dehydrated Or Soaked First], [Book Friend 3093], [Book Friend 6383], [Qu A Fu Dai Te Yo Da], and [Mo Yusheng] for the monthly tickets. Thanks to all my good brothers for voting so enthusiastically (ω｀)