Walking along the lakeshore on the restored bluestone path, Chen Fu clasped his hands behind his back and measured the circular track of [Ascension] against its blueprint with his footsteps.
[Youlan] behind him flickered continuously with a faint blue glow as it inspected and fine-tuned the core guide rails underground one by one.
Construction of the circular track had progressed relatively quickly. Chen Fu had led a group of people to complete most of it in a month, then spent another month manufacturing, assembling, and debugging the main unit of the [Ascension] Soul Tool wonder.
Though all the work seemed finished, it could not yet be activated. This ring, composed of countless points, still required Chen Fu to use [Youlan] for overall microscopic calibration. This step was crucial. A single mistake could send high-energy particles off their designated path—at best, burning through the partitions; at worst, triggering a chain of massive explosions.
Although precautions had been put in place and Titled Douluo were assisting, even the worst-case scenario would not trigger a chain explosion among the many Ark Cores within the track.
But Chen Fu had no desire to experience a second Big Bang like that, so he had personally overseen things during this period, repeatedly measuring the length of the circular track step by step.
As for Ma Xiaotao?
She held onto one of Chen Fu's arms and let him drag her forward.
She had originally thought Chen Fu was taking her out to relax and have some fun. She did not expect it was still work.
But this was a task that required a calm mind. Chen Fu, walking ahead, understood that perfectly well.
And only when you walked beside me would my heart unconsciously grow calm.
Chen Fu walked very slowly. Perhaps he was afraid [Youlan] would not keep up with the pace, or perhaps he was afraid of tiring out the girl behind him who followed the path of becoming a saint through Soul Power. After all, Sea God Lake had quite a long circumference. Well, who knew?
"Student, Mental Detection isn't allowed here."
Gently sending that weak Spiritual Power back, Chen Fu looked up at the boy beyond the cordon on the shore, who had been egged on by someone else.
It was so weak that it probably could not even break through the outermost layer of Spiritual Power defenses. Chen Fu did not say much. Curiosity was a good thing in most cases.
Ma Xiaotao looked over as well, feeling somewhat angry. This was a super-restricted area. Looking was one thing, but using Spiritual Power?
Was he not afraid of triggering the spiritual defense program around the track? The moment he sent his Spiritual Power over, a Titled Douluo who received the alert might slap him to death from afar!
"Ah! I'm sorry!"
Caught doing something bad, Huo Yuhao's face first flushed red, then turned deathly pale. If Shrek expelled him, he truly did not 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 circumstances, so he did not want Huo Yuhao to be expelled because of him. In contrast, he still had the option of asking his elders to come and discuss the matter.
After 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?]
From the special perspective of Spiritual Perception, the jade-like, lustrous white Soul Ring hidden behind that boy had nowhere to hide.
The girl beside him, who should have been a 1, was the same. Setting aside her orientation issues, she even carried a faint trace of divinity?
And the colors of their souls together were enough to serve as strobe lights at a dance club. Why did they have so many martial souls?
If he had not been preparing for [Ascension]'s activation procedure lately, Chen Fu would have loved to drag both of them into the laboratory right now for some research.
"Why is he staring us up and down like that? Could he be some pervert who's going to blackmail us?"
Chen Fu's gaze made Wang Dong's scalp tingle. He could not help wanting to hide closer to Huo Yuhao, only to discover that Huo Yuhao had already frozen in place.
[Soul Capture] [Soul Seizure] [Soul Separation] [Soul Suppression] [Spirit Inhibition] [Soul Sealing]
A series of preset protocols targeting souls and minds were activated by [Youlan]. A small, exquisite, crystalline white-jade Soul Ring spun energetically around Chen Fu's index finger.
"Don't move. I'm just taking a look."
As if it understood him, the white-jade Soul Ring immediately settled down obediently.
In truth, Tian Meng was terrified out of his wits. In all his long life, this was the first time he had heard that a Soul Ring could be seized from afar. Though he spent much of his time sleeping, that was still an incredibly long time—something utterly unheard of!
He had now basically lost all perception of Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness. Although his true body was sealed within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness and he could sever his tail to survive, he did not dare. The Soul Ring was not only his medium for traveling back and forth to the outside world, but also the valve that could open the Sea of Consciousness!
He did not believe this humanoid creature, who had captured him so easily, could not do that.
"So you're the bug Golden Scale lost."
Spiritual Power as hard as iron slowly sorted through Tian Meng's spiritual soul body. [Youlan] sensed and categorized countless memory fragments, filtering out the garbage information that made up 99.99999% of the total. More and more useful information was gathered for Chen Fu.
This bug really was quite useless. Its total Spiritual Power was in no way inferior to [Youlan], which was still developing rapidly, and was even stronger. But the difference between it and [Youlan] was that of a sharp blade and a piglet. One awaited slaughter, and so did the other.
After sorting through it for a while, Chen Fu found there was simply too much garbage information and stopped this memory-wasting behavior. Fortunately, he had already obtained what he needed.
Although Golden Scale would deny to the death that this gift of nature was a million-year Soul Beast, it had to be said that this bug had indeed brushed against the fringes of divinity on the spiritual level.
If its Spiritual Power could be condensed and eventually emerge as a butterfly, becoming a god would basically pose no problem.
Out of curiosity over the gimmick of a million-year Soul Beast, Chen Fu had reached out and taken it to satisfy his desire for knowledge.
[Silence]
Under [Youlan]'s suppression, Tian Meng only felt the particles constructing his spiritual soul body fall inert. His spiritual fluctuations could not vibrate; he could not transmit thoughts, could not think.
"See? Youlan doesn't like you. Hurry back, or It will eat you."
Chen Fu did not like having something inside him that talked too much either, so he sent Tian Meng's Soul Ring in his hand back.
[Protocol released]
The Soul Ring in his hand vanished into thin air and automatically appeared above Huo Yuhao's head, whose entire body was cold and stiff.
"I checked whether the bug had heatstroke. Looking at it now, it's perfectly healthy."
The unexpected windfall put Chen Fu in the mood for a joke.
"Your martial soul seems quite suited for Soul Tools. You can find Ning Tian and collect a learning gift pack to help you get ahead at the starting line for Soul Tools."
Waving goodbye to Huo Yuhao and the 1 beside him who was shouting at him, Chen Fu unconsciously quickened his pace as he pulled Ma Xiaotao along.
"Yuhao, what's wrong? Was that your Soul Ring in his hand? That's too much! No, that's 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 was both frightened and angry as he circled Huo Yuhao in a panic. His words seemed to reveal something strange?
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Huo Yuhao knew Wang Dong had probably blamed his emotional changes on that person. Once he had calmed down, he spoke to reassure him. At the same time, deep in his heart, he began speaking with the Tian Meng he had recovered.
"Brother Sky Dream, what just happened? Did he discover you?"
A faint trace of hope seemed to remain in Huo Yuhao's heart.
"That person is too terrifying! Yuhao, ah! I refuse to accept this!"
Tian Meng did not sound frightened.
Within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, the plump Tian Meng smashed his head against the ground, rolled about everywhere, and raged helplessly.
"He seemed to have said something to you?"
Influenced by Tian Meng's behavior, Huo Yuhao's mood calmed considerably.
Tian Meng continued pounding the ground.
"Did he say something to you?"
"...He said you were reliable talent, hehe..."
"Really?"
Huo Yuhao's face was full of disbelief. That person's gaze when returning the Soul Ring had clearly carried a trace of disdain. Huo Yuhao, who had been sensitive to others' emotions since childhood, believed he had not seen wrongly.
"...Heh, didn't he tell you to find someone? Doesn't that prove he values your talent?"
Tian Meng silently gave himself a thumbs-up. He was truly too clever.
"All right. Let's go ask Teacher Ning."
Huo Yuhao replied, half believing and half doubting.
Although he had been despised, Tian Meng had now received tacit approval. He could finally go on the offensive with all his might in the future!
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