Regarding the phased completion of Mo Ling's Grain Seed Plan, Chen Fu first offered encouragement, then assigned her the Breeding Experiment Process he had improved himself, telling her to work hard lately and not come looking for him whether there was something wrong or not.
Technical research was generally tedious, but Chen Fu had always been very patient.
He remembered what his university advisor had told him in his previous life: Focus on one point, and reach the pinnacle.
So Chen Fu obediently chose Energy Technology and focused on Cold Fusion Research.
The facts proved that he did possess a certain talent, but Chen Fu would rather have been a little duller, progressed a little slower, and not stood out so much. To use the widely circulated story of the "Turkey Scientist" from his previous life, he was not the turkey that discovered how to "open the door"; he was the turkey straining to peer through the crack in the door.
A tall tree caught the wind. That was Chen Fu's experience from his previous life.
A tall tree caught the wind. That was the reality of Chen Fu's life in this one.
It seemed contradictory, didn't it?
The backstory of being the "former city lord's son" had forced him to produce [Ark], while his inability to share [Ark]'s core technology had forced him to remain in Shrek City as an Honorary Professor.
He had become involved with the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, become involved with Soul Beasts, and finally used [Ascension] to tie all of Shrek together... If he had not shown his value, he might not even have been able to leave Shrek City.
From the moment he entered Shrek, this world seemed to have been nothing but hostile toward him.
Without [Ark], Soul Tool technology research could not have gotten off the ground at all. Low-level Soul Masters could not wield high-level Soul Tools, and Chen Fu's ultimate fate would only have been that of an unremarkable level-six or level-seven Soul Engineer.
Not everyone could obtain a heaven-defying opportunity and build themselves into a genius. At least, Chen Fu could not.
The [Technology Throne] martial soul appeared to have an exceptionally high ceiling, but without Chen Fu using his previous life's knowledge of cold fusion alongside Soul Tools to create [Ark]'s black-box energy technology, the martial soul would have been difficult even to activate and sustain.
And [Youlan], the Data Divine Ring developed on the foundation of [Ark], was an extension of Chen Fu's own research.
Anything [Youlan] could do, Chen Fu could do as well, and even better and more efficiently. As for the technical breakthroughs Chen Fu focused on, [Youlan] could barely even get through the door.
[Youlan] was a research result that improved Chen Fu's work efficiency. In a sense, [Youlan], the Data Soul Ring tied to his own soul, was the datafication of Chen Fu's personality.
Everything Chen Fu possessed today had not fallen from the sky. He had cobbled it together himself using the remnants left over from his previous life. In these eighteen years, he had never picked up an Immortal Herb, never consumed miraculous medicine, and never had an old master tagging along. All he had was the memories of his previous life.
Because he had those memories, he could let that nominal father of his win over people's hearts amid chaos, expand territory, and establish a city. They had also allowed him to carve out his own path in the development of Soul Tools.
The situation today had all been painstakingly turned around by Chen Fu bit by bit. He had not used force or authority, only the right way of displaying his value.
[Nirvana] was like this, [Emerald] was like this, the unsealed first-generation [Ark] was like this, and so were the later [Divine Ring], [Awakening Soul Array Diagram], [Banished Immortal], and the advanced version of [Ascension].
Weakness was the original sin, but wisdom was not weak. From the very beginning, Chen Fu had been under the gaze of top-tier powerhouses, always in danger of being crushed to death at any moment.
Fan Yu had treated Chen Fu quite well, which was why Chen Fu had chosen to give the Soul Tool Academy a helping hand when he had the time.
Fan Yu was good, but that did not mean the academy's group interests were good.
If he did not hand over [Ark], he would die. If he did hand it over, he would also die, because the academy faction would not allow Chen Fu to continue his research. That was why Fan Yu had been so furious before Chen Fu's graduation defense—he was afraid Chen Fu would say something reckless and get himself killed.
Handing [Ark] to the academy for deciphering was time Chen Fu had fought for himself. During that period, he needed to demonstrate even more irreplaceable value. [Nirvana], for example, had seized Mu En and Xuan Zi's weak points.
Chen Fu had always had only two core targets: the most powerful experts and the Oppressed Underclass.
Humans were very contradictory creatures. After rising to the highest position through bloody means, they became full of humanity.
Perhaps that was what it meant to be lonely at the top?
These people had free minds and the strongest execution ability.
After [Nirvana] stabilized Mu En and Xuan Zi, Chen Fu used [Divine Ring] to bind Xuan Zi and Mu En, who stood behind Ma Xiaotao, to his own side.
Taking Ning Tian as his disciple made the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect begin paying closer attention to Chen Fu.
Chen Fu then turned his research toward Soul Ring Attachment, placing himself under the gaze of the Super Fierce Beast Di Tian.
Even Lin Pavilion's early Soul Tool customization had been intended to gather popularity, though Chen Fu had not expected it to develop so quickly that it never became necessary.
The more powerhouses paid attention to Chen Fu, the safer he became. And the safer he became, the more dramatic moves he could make. [Youlan], for instance, had developed without Shrek's knowledge.
Xuan Zi had once come to ask about the first retrieval of [Youlan]'s Mental Network, but Ma Xiaotao pulled him away. By the end, it was already a done deal, and the matter was dropped.
Long Xiaoyao had been brought in by Mu En to share the risk posed by Di Tian, but in the end, Di Tian gave Chen Fu a dragon scale, and Long Xiaoyao made a deal with Chen Fu.
After that came Mu En's vigorous promotion of the [Ascension] plan, the advanced version of [Divine Ring].
When the Three-Eyed Golden Lion appeared in Jiang Nan's form, Chen Fu had felt both fury and fear. A being capable of knowing his heart would inevitably understand the meaning behind his actions.
Knowing it could not be done, yet doing it anyway?
Chen Fu did not know, but he knew he could not accept such values, so he chose to resist.
The final result was that Chen Fu had no choice but to seek out beings related to gods and bring them into play.
Chen Fu remembered that there had once seemed to be a game called Halo, with someone very much like him in it—a person without formidable individual strength who had nevertheless participated in the entire course of a war between top-tier civilizations.
"Sometimes, I really do feel like mocking myself."
Chen Fu looked at the lake flickering with phosphorescence beneath the starry wilderness. In the ink-black night, his expression could not be seen.
"So you just told me all of that so openly?"
The girl held the boy's arm and leaned against his shoulder. Though it was not especially broad, it made her feel exceptionally safe.
"Getting it out makes you feel better. Keeping it bottled up means you still care."
By now, he felt it was time to let go of all that old baggage. Besides, everything was heading in the best possible direction.
Chen Fu leaned back slightly, allowing the girl beside him to rest more comfortably.
"So, were all the gifts you gave me part of your plans?"
His hand naturally reached out and wrapped around Ma Xiaotao's soft, slender waist. Amid her startled cry, he pulled her into his arms.
"That is where I was clever. I used the path I liked most to accomplish my goals as well. You should praise me for being impressive, shouldn't you?"
Everything could hide the coldest truths in the warmest ways, until it all became mixed together and no one could tell what was real anymore.
The girl in his arms was slightly tense. She lay quietly in Chen Fu's embrace without saying anything, but the flesh at his waist suffered for it.
"Although [Nirvana]'s functions look very crude now, I really did create it by asking my senior brothers and sisters one by one, searching through books one volume at a time, then gradually compiling, summarizing, and testing through trial and error."
Sitting on the grass by the lakeshore, Chen Fu held the girl in his arms and spoke quietly.
"Hehe~ So many times, people bullied you for asking strange questions, and I was the one who went and got even for you!"
Apparently recalling something amusing, the girl in his arms laughed.
She got up and punched Chen Fu lightly, then sat down in his lap.
"And in the end, you became the one protecting me."
The girl's beautiful eyes, brilliant as flames, seemed to light up the night sky.
"But you protected me when I needed help most."
Sparks seemed to flare in the boy's ink-black eyes.
"Chen Fu..."
"Mm, I'm here."
"Am I pretty?"
Cool jade-like hands wrapped around his neck, and Chen Fu saw himself reflected in the girl's orange-red eyes.
"I have trouble recognizing beauty... but your beauty truly appeared and became part of my life..."
"Mmph..."
Soft, fragrant lips sealed away all the words he did not need to say.
All the preparations and painstaking effort had been waiting for this moment. The shores of Sea God Lake had been weighed over and over, for the war now erupting because of them...
World, were you ready to welcome a new era?
"Tian Meng, could we make a deal?"
Late at night, the sudden voice transmission frightened a certain gift of nature who was busy urging others to do bad things.
"God of Craftsmanship, it has been a long time..."
"I found an approach to solving the total quantity problem. Would you like to hear it?"
After making all the arrangements, Chen Fu sat holding the girl sleeping in his arms. As he watched the pale light of dawn slowly emerge in the distance, his heart was as still as water.
The [Ascension] plan was beginning to create gods!
PS: An explanation that had to be included in the main text:
Actually, I left all sorts of hints in the earlier chapters. I have always felt that reading with your brain engaged is not a bad thing, really (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ good brothers, this author does not fool people.
First, thank you all for your support, good brothers. The book's numbers have been rising quickly lately, allowing more people to see it on the new-book rankings. Thank you very much (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ
Sometimes I am amazed that some good brothers could roughly guess the protagonist's path and offer suggestions within the first few chapters. You are really impressive. But I had already written it this way, otherwise how could I keep going with Han (＞＜)☆
Of course, I can guarantee that while there are currently some signs and foreshadowing regarding the protagonist's path, it is absolutely not that easy to guess (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ Anyway, it has not been written yet. If you guess right, I will quietly change it. Just kidding.
This chapter may have seemed a little padded, but there was no helping it. Over the past day or two, I kept encountering readers asking why I did not write it this way or that way—why the protagonist still sucked up to people despite having a cheat, why he did not leave Shrek, why he did not go to Sun Moon, and so on. Out of humanitarian concern, I used one of the protagonist's self-resolving, final decision-to-let-go moments to sort through his circumstances and help good brothers who had not connected everything deepen their understanding (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ
I even ran into Little Black ⚆_⚆ I was not even angry, so why were they criticizing me...
Of course, I cannot keep padding things like this, so I added some substantial content afterward, trying to dilute it a little (><)
Good brothers, I will not explain things this bluntly later on. Let us stick to some realistic logic.
Oh, right, please invest, good brothers (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ
Thanks to Ancient Moon Spirit for the monthly ticket (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ
Thanks to all the good brothers for the recommendation tickets (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ
Please invest, please send recommendation tickets (ω｀)
The author has realized that it is impossible to satisfy everyone, so the author will bury their head in writing. Please use your votes to spur the author onward ⚆_⚆
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