Golden Tree Mainframe

"If it succeeds, I can become your protector."

Though it was a little late, Mu En had always known what Chen Fu wanted most. As for going back on his word and raising a hand to wipe Chen Fu out when the time came?

Better not even think about it. Mu En had been thoroughly unnerved by the [Gain and Loss] Chen Fu proposed. Perhaps it was merely meant to scare him—but perhaps it was some unknown thing pretending to be a scare tactic. In any case, the suspicion had stretched on until his head ached.

So he simply gave up thinking and chose what he deserved, doing what he ought to do... A chill instantly shot straight into his skull. If he had not been sure that the bastard beside him had not made a move, and that his head was still attached to his neck, Mu En would have nearly suspected that his skullcap was gone. He could not even feel his scalp anymore.

Watching Mu En become trapped in the closed loop of the [Gain and Loss] Logic Gate, Chen Fu finally let out a breath of relief.

It seemed that Chen Fu's record of lying low in the details and rising amid turmoil, combined with the [Gain and Loss] Logic Gate, had completely made this Peerless Douluo variable—who knew everything and had been played—settle down.

[Gain and Loss] was a logical trap. It was not particularly mystical or miraculous, but against certain people, it was exceptionally effective.

Sure enough, people who studied psychology and thought were all filthy-minded.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Fu slowly raised [Banished Immortal] in his hand. The Youlan Divine Ring enveloped the Silver Blue Small Sword. As the ring shrank circle by circle before finally turning into an energy ring engraved upon the blade, dense linear inscriptions gradually emerged across the Silver Blue Small Sword, with blue gleams flashing over them from time to time.

[Banished Immortal] was a sword for protecting the path, Chen Fu's greatest achievement thus far in the fields of mind and soul. It possessed the ability to sever Alien Souls—for example, it had previously been used to remove the remnant soul within the Soul Ring of Zhang Lexuan, the eldest senior sister of the inner courtyard.

This sword contained Chen Fu's altered Soul Separation Soul Summoning Matrix technology, as well as the results of his Spirit Soul Impact research. It held unimaginable suppressive power over Traditional Soul Masters.

But after all, contaminating a living spirit was not something it was suited for. That required Youlan to handle.

Tian Meng and Mu En had actually assessed it correctly. To a certain extent, Youlan was indeed rather sinister. Under the day-and-night "worship" of the hundreds of thousands of Soul Masters passing through Shrek and its surrounding areas, this evil spirit had grown at an unimaginable pace.

After all, the treasury of knowledge shared by the Battle Soul Instrument was not without value.

The gigantic Golden Tree seemed to sense the danger. Its originally gentle golden radiance began to erupt into blazing golden flames... Unfortunately, it was too late.

Dong!

With a light tap of his index finger against the sword hilt, rings of spatial ripples suddenly burst from the sword's tail. Following its preset program, the entire blade transformed into a Spirit Composite and, in an instant, passed through the trunk of the Golden Giant Tree to stab toward the living spirit of this precious alien species.

Buzz... buzz... buzz!

An increasingly violent chaotic mental fluctuation erupted, stirring even the clouds high above. The previously cloudless sky now churned with heavy black storm clouds like an apocalypse.

Chen Fu turned his sword fingers, and a streak of light flashed back to his side. [Banished Immortal] had completed its task, directly implanting Youlan into the living spirit of the Golden Giant Tree.

"Do you think this is too much?"

The gigantic mental network suspended high above Shrek City began to descend, blue starlight enveloping the enormous Golden Tree in wave after wave.

Wherever the Star Net passed, the sky immediately became clear.

"...What are you doing?"

Amid the blue points of light, the golden leaves on the Golden Tree began falling off in great quantities, only for new leaves to grow back almost immediately. Yet blue speckles flickered across those new leaves.

Mu En could not understand why Chen Fu insisted on making a move against Shrek's Golden Tree, which had existed for who knew how many years.

"Giving it some new definitions, so it can become the mainframe for [Ascension]."

The Soul Guidance Field laid beneath the entire Ring Lake Orbit had, in fact, been prepared for this tree.

If it did not become the mainframe, then Youlan would have to take its place. But that would inevitably consume a tremendous amount of Youlan's Spirit Soul Database, causing It to regress to a certain extent.

Chen Fu generally prepared two contingencies for his plans. If Mu En had not been intimidated by the logical trap, Chen Fu would have chosen the original approach: making Youlan the backup and turning It into a one-time consumable. Mu En would still have achieved his wish, while Chen Fu would have protected himself through outside means.

As for why he would insist on letting Mu En carry out the Ascension plan even at the cost of regressing Youlan, the reason was simple. First-hand experimental data was hard to come by, and Youlan's technology was already mature enough that It could be cultivated again at any time.

Besides, the candidate for the Ascension plan could only be Mu En, the Sea God Pavilion Master of Shrek Academy—the deep-pocketed sucker.

And now that Mu En had chosen to join his camp, Chen Fu needed to consider solidifying the Ascension Soul Tool and turning it into a one-of-a-kind God-level Soul Tool that was not divine, yet surpassed the divine.

Among all of this, the Golden Giant Tree—a colossal source of soul power that Chen Fu had coveted from the day he entered Shrek Academy until his graduation—was an excellent option.

As the blue starlight mental network completely captured the Golden Giant Tree, it stopped struggling, and a gentle blue-gold radiance began to emanate from its body.

"Because I want to solidify [Ascension] over Sea God Lake, opening a new era of god-making."

Seeing that everything was developing in the best possible direction, Chen Fu relaxed considerably and began explaining his intentions to Mu En, who now basically counted as half one of his own.

"So the original Ascension plan was one-time use?"

Such a massive Soul Tool orbital field, and now he was saying it had been one-time use? Shrek had nearly emptied its coffers to build it!

"If you had not agreed to my proposal, then it would have been one-time use."

Although the orbital field could still be used, without Chen Fu conducting further calibrations and without the involvement of Youlan's Mental Network Operating System, even if Shrek's side were allowed to operate it, they would not be able to control it.

Chen Fu's systematic technological development made it easy for him to form technological barriers without anyone noticing.

"Opening an era of god-making? You really dared to imagine it."

Mu En had mostly let go of his superfluous thoughts. This young man's ambitions were terrifyingly high. Mu En only wanted to protect Shrek Academy; he would rather leave the rest of the conflicts alone.

Moreover, he had come to understand this young man's principles. So long as each side took what it needed, everything would be fine.

As long as one did not constantly think of exploiting him, ordinary deals would basically never leave one at a loss.

"I told you, this old fellow has too many attachments. He needs repeated polishing."

Long Xiaoyao, who had remained silent as though his vocal cords had gone offline, spoke at last. He had no family to worry about and no burdens to bear. His life's pursuit consisted of only one woman, along with the desire to become a god that Chen Fu had awakened in him.

The reason he had firmly sided with Chen Fu was not merely because Chen Fu had once promised to solve the problem of his evil martial soul. It was also because he could obtain an additional Ascension slot.

Did they really think that opening an era of god-making meant everyone could become gods? Was the enormous energy required by a god not itself a resource?

The true meaning of the Age of Godmaking was this: gods could be manufactured.

"Hmph!"

Mu En gave a cold snort. That bastard—I helped you raise your son for so long, and when I get back, I'll strangle your son to death right in front of you!

"The main unit is in position. We can now proceed to the next phase: activating the [Ascension] ring-orbit force field."

Within the golden-blue halo, Chen Fu bore the Azure Blue Divine Ring on his back. An energy matrix formed by four Nuclear Arks slowly rotated within the divine ring. The fully activated [Banished Immortal] shone with silver-blue radiance, and Chen Fu drove the completely awakened spirit-soul longsword heavily into the metal interface in the ground.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Like a heartbeat, rhythmic energy pulses were converted by [Banished Immortal] before blasting down into the earth.

Bzzzz!

Under Azure Blue's direction, vast waves of Spirit Impact saturated with Spiritual Will activated the soul-conduit modules hidden beneath the ground, cluster by cluster.

Centered on [Banished Immortal], rings of blue flowing-light inscriptions flickered like breathing lights, illuminating Sea God Lake layer by layer.

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