A Gift from Nature: Tian Meng

Along the lakeshore, walking on the restored bluestone path, Chen Fu clasped his hands behind his back, measuring the circular track of [Ascension] step by step with his feet along the route map.

Behind him, [Youlan] flickered with a steady blue glow, inspecting and fine-tuning the core guide rails buried underground one by one.

The construction of the circular track was relatively fast; Chen Fu led a group and completed it in about a month. Then he spent another month assembling and debugging the main unit of the [Ascension] Soul Tool wonder.

It seemed all the work was done, but it couldn't be started yet. This ring, composed of countless points, still needed Chen Fu to use [Youlan] for overall microscopic adjustments. This step was critical—any mistake would cause high-energy particles to deviate from their intended path, at best burning through the partitions, at worst triggering a chain of Big Bangs.

Though preventive measures were in place, along with assistance from Titled Douluo-level powerhouses, even the worst-case scenario wouldn't cause a chain explosion among the many Ark Cores inside the track.

But Chen Fu didn't want to experience a second Big Bang like that, so he had been personally handling everything, repeatedly measuring the circular track's length on foot, bit by bit.

As for Ma Xiaotao?

She was holding one of Chen Fu's arms, being dragged along by him.

She had originally thought Chen Fu was taking her to relax and have some fun—Did Not Expect it was still work.

But this was a task that required a calm mind, Chen Fu understood clearly as he walked ahead.

And with you following along, my heart can't help but settle.

Chen Fu walked very slowly, perhaps afraid that [Youlan] couldn't keep up with the pace, or perhaps worried about tiring the girl behind him who walked the path of Soul Power sanctification. After all, the circumference of Sea God Lake was quite long. Hmm, who knows.

"Student, Mental Detection isn't welcome here."

Gently sending back that frail wisp of Spiritual Power, Chen Fu looked up at the boy being egged on by others outside the warning line on the shore.

So frail that it probably couldn't even breach the outermost Spiritual Power defense coating. Chen Fu didn't say much more—curiosity was usually a good thing.

Behind him, Ma Xiaotao also looked over, feeling a bit angry inside. This was a super forbidden zone. You just look, fine, but you use Spiritual Power too?

Aren't you afraid of triggering the spiritual defense program around the track? The moment you probe with your Spiritual Power, a Titled Douluo who receives the alert might slap you dead from across the sky!

"Ah! I'm sorry!"

Huo Yuhao, caught red-handed, first flushed with shame, then instantly turned pale. If he got expelled from Shrek, he really didn't know where else he could go.

"Don't blame him—I told him to do it!"

The student beside him seemed to display something called backbone. Wang Dong knew Huo Yuhao's situation, so he didn't want Huo Yuhao to be expelled because of him. For himself, at least, there was a chance to contact an elder and negotiate.

Dismissing the Patrol Team that had come to investigate, Chen Fu looked at the two with a strange expression.

[High-quality Soul Source detected. Capture?]

Under his unique Spiritual Perception, the jade-white Soul Ring hidden behind that boy was utterly impossible to conceal.

The one next to him, probably a girl, was also unusual. Aside from her orientation issues, she carried a faint trace of divinity?

And the colors of their souls combined would be enough to light up a disco ball. How could they have so many Martial Souls?

If it weren't for the upcoming [Ascension] startup procedure, Chen Fu would have dragged them both to the lab right now to study them.

"Staring at us up and down like that—is he some kind of pervert? Is he going to blackmail us?"

Wang Dong felt creeped out by Chen Fu's gaze and instinctively wanted to hide behind Huo Yuhao, only to find Huo Yuhao frozen stiff.

[Soul Capture]

[Soul Seizure]

[Soul Separation]

[Soul Suppression]

[Spirit Inhibition]

[Soul Sealing]

A series of pre-set protocols targeting souls and spirits were activated by [Youlan]. A small, exquisite, crystal-clear white jade Soul Ring spun earnestly around Chen Fu's index finger.

"Don't move. I'm just looking."

The white jade Soul Ring seemed to understand and immediately quieted down obediently.

In truth, Tian Meng was terrified right now. In all his long life, he had never heard of a Soul Ring being remotely captured like this. Even if he spent most of his time sleeping, that was still an incredibly long time—this was utterly unheard of!

He had basically lost all perception of Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea. Though his main body was sealed inside Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea and he could cut off the tail to survive, he didn't dare. The Soul Ring was both his medium to interact with the Outside World and the valve that could open the spiritual sea!

He didn't believe this humanoid creature that had easily captured him couldn't do that.

"So you're that bug that Golden Scale lost."

Chen Fu's iron-hard Spiritual Power slowly smoothed out Tian Meng's spiritual soul body. Many memory fragments were sensed and categorized by [Youlan]. After filtering out the 99.99999% of junk information, more and more useful data was gathered for Chen Fu.

This bug was really useless. Its total Spiritual Power was no less than [Youlan]'s, which was still rapidly developing—in fact, it was even stronger. But the difference between it and [Youlan] was like a knife versus a piglet. One was waiting to be slaughtered, and the other was also waiting to be slaughtered.

After sorting through it, Chen Fu found the junk information too overwhelming and stopped this memory-wasting behavior. Fortunately, he had already obtained what he needed.

Though Golden Scale would never admit that this gift of nature was a million-year Soul Beast, Chen Fu had to say that this bug had indeed touched a scrap of divinity on the spiritual level.

If it could condense its Spiritual Power and eventually metamorphose into a butterfly, becoming a god would be basically no problem.

Out of curiosity about the million-year Soul Beast gimmick, Chen Fu had reached out to take a look.

[Silence]

Under [Youlan]'s suppression, Tian Meng felt the particles composing his spiritual soul body fall into inertia. Spiritual fluctuations couldn't vibrate, couldn't transmit sound, couldn't think.

"See? Youlan doesn't like you. Hurry back, or He'll eat you."

Chen Fu didn't appreciate having a long-winded thing inside his body either, so he sent the Tian Meng Soul Ring in his hand back.

[Protocol Terminated]

The ring in his hand vanished into thin air, automatically reappearing atop the stiff, ice-cold Huo Yuhao's head.

"Checked if the bug had heatstroke. Looking at It Now, everything's healthy."

An unexpected delight made Chen Fu crack a joke.

"Since your Martial Soul seems suited for Soul Tools, you can go find Ning Tian to pick up a learning gift pack. It'll help you win at the starting line of Soul Tools."

Waving goodbye to Huo Yuhao and the one shouting at him from the side, Chen Fu quickened his pace as he pulled Ma Xiaotao along.

"Yuhao, what's wrong with you? Isn't that ring in his hand yours? Too much! No, too terrifying! Ning Tian, right, Ning Tian! He told us to find Ning Tian! Ah, that bastard! I don't want to go!"

Wang Dong paced frantically around Huo Yuhao, half scared and half furious, his words hinting at something strange.

"Relax, I'm fine." Huo Yuhao knew Wang Dong must have blamed that person for his Emotional Changes. Once his mood settled, he spoke to calm him down. At the same time, he began conversing with the regained Tian Meng deep within.

"Brother Tian Meng, what just happened? Did he already find you?"

A sliver of hope seemed to linger in Huo Yuhao's heart.

"That person is too terrifying! Yuhao, ah! I'm not convinced!"

Tian Meng's tone didn't sound like fear.

In Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, the plump Tian Meng was banging his head on the ground, rolling around in impotent rage.

"He seemed to say something to you?"

Affected by Tian Meng's antics, Huo Yuhao's mood calmed down a bit.

Tian Meng kept pounding the ground.

"Did he say something to you or not?"

"...He praised you as a reliable talent, hehe..."

"Really?"

Huo Yuhao was full of disbelief. The look in that person's eyes when he finally returned the Soul Ring clearly carried a hint of disdain. Having been sensitive to others' emotions since childhood, Huo Yuhao trusted he hadn't misread it.

"...Hey, didn't he say to go find someone? Doesn't that prove your talent is valued?"

Tian Meng silently gave himself a thumbs-up in his heart. He was way too clever.

"Fine, let's go ask Teacher Ning."

Huo Yuhao replied, half convinced and half doubtful.

Even though he'd been looked down on, Tian Meng had now gotten tacit approval. From now on, he could go all out!

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