"Look! Such a powerful Soul Power fluctuation inside Shrek City!"
The people outside the city were instantly stunned by that powerful Soul Power fluctuation. From their perspective, it seemed that a burst of Spiritual Power had suddenly erupted within the city at first, followed by dark clouds gathering overhead.
Then, amid everyone's shock and confusion, a giant blue net resembling starlight appeared high in the sky and descended from above. The sky, which had suddenly been smothered by dark clouds, immediately returned to clarity.
Before they could recover their senses, a Soul Power fluctuation so powerful that no one dared look directly at it erupted from within Shrek City.
"They... that pressure is something a Level Nine Soul Tool could never produce!"
The white-haired, refined-looking man, equipped from head to toe with devices that concealed his aura, wore an expression of utter disbelief. He had only felt such fluctuations from top-secret Soul Tools still in the experimental stage—and the energy fluctuations from the Soul Tool before him were even stronger!
"Impossible! There's no reason for this! No reason at all! He's only eighteen!"
The white-haired man, who had merely intended to come and quietly gather intelligence, seemed to have fallen into a trance. However, a plain jade pendant on his chest flashed with a glimmer of light, and he immediately came back to his senses.
Yet the shock in his heart refused to fade. He would rather Shrek Academy immediately produced a Level Nine Soul Engineer than believe that this activation ceremony for a super Soul Tool had been orchestrated single-handedly by that young man.
In his personal laboratory at Mingde Hall, one room had been dedicated to displaying every creation made by that young man, including the various Soul Tools he had personally commissioned in the past, as well as the later Battle Soul Instruments. Every time he passed by, he could not help but handle them for a long while.
That streamlined mechanical beauty, brimming with Order, and those exceedingly subtle Soul Tool designs had utterly captivated him.
He had once led Mingde Hall in demanding that the empire capture this person alive and bring him to the Sun Moon Empire. He had to be taken alive!
If this man died, it would be a complete loss for the Soul Tool world.
However the Sun Moon Emperor had thought at the time, the young man named Chen Fu had never left the city. The empire's spies sent to Lin Pavilion had also always vanished without a trace.
But now, Jing Hongchen understood. The two utterly undisguised Peerless Douluo auras within Shrek City seemed to be nakedly taunting him: Go on, send more if you dare!
As he watched the blue radiance in the direction of Shrek City grow ever brighter, Jing Hongchen's feelings were complicated. On one hand, he hoped that Young Man would fail due to a careless mistake. On the other, he desperately wanted him to succeed.
Forging a divine artifact with mortal strength was what Mingde Hall had pursued so bitterly. If that young man succeeded, it would prove that this path was entirely viable.
Compared to the conflicted dean of the Sun Moon Empire's Royal Soul Tool Academy, the Douluo Pavilion Elders gathered around the shores of Sea God Lake were thrilled! As the ceremony proceeded according to the blueprint, the possibility of advancing their cultivation was beckoning to them.
Compared to the excitement of the Titled Douluo Pavilion Elders, the hundred or so people from the Soul Tool Academy had fallen into complete fervor.
There were only two ways Chen Fu communicated with others: either he said nothing, or he told the truth. Although Chen Fu had never directly stated that the core objective of this Soul Tool was to "create gods," he had more or less revealed to them that such a possibility might exist in the future.
Worried about leaks? Sorry, leaving aside the fact that [Azure Blue] had already placed the entire city under martial law, the mere sight of the Douluo Pavilion Elders taking turns guarding the frontline Soul Engineers laying the installations was enough to make everyone realize the severity of the matter.
To the teachers and students of the Soul Tool Academy, their most precious time had been the two months spent working and living alongside Chen Fu. With the Second Generation Battle Soul Instrument assisting communication, Chen Fu had basically been able to answer everyone's questions at the same time.
Moreover, to make them work properly for him, Chen Fu had taught them many of his core principles: do not blindly worship authority, do not blindly follow trends, research things meaningful to the world, understand the importance of energy, and cultivate the concept of "using tools to nurture people."
Aside from actual technology, Chen Fu had imparted to them, one by one, the fundamental qualities and ideals of researchers who dared to explore the unknown and actively shoulder social responsibility.
Giving someone a fish was not as good as teaching them how to fish. Teaching methods was always better than directly handing over technology, and Chen Fu also hoped they could walk paths different from his own, allowing them to verify each other's ideas.
"Yuhao, did you see that? That net is a byproduct of the Battle Soul Instrument."
Tian Meng's voice jolted Huo Yuhao awake from his daze as he stared at the sky. Using the Battle Soul Instrument too frequently would deepen fatigue; that seemed to have become common knowledge.
"I saw it... There are relevant records in the database teacher Ning Tian gave me. A Soul Core consumes a Soul Master's Spiritual Power in exchange for knowledge from the knowledge base. It's a transaction both sides agree to. It's just that I didn't expect teacher Chen Fu to achieve this..." The allure of Soul Tools fascinated Huo Yuhao.
[All Ascension modules are operating normally. Activation has reached 100%. Additional modules are standing by.]
The high-precision orbital conduits buried beneath the soil and water activated alongside the Ark energy cores within them. Dense Soul Power flowed through the tracks in surging currents. The Soul Power Siphon Effect created by its density caused the faint Soul Power mist in the air to slowly stream along the conduits, sketching an embedded pattern of multilayered rings above Sea God Lake. Their sci-fi arcs varied in length with the rhythm.
Silently watching [Banished Immortal] in Chen Fu's hand completely activate into a Spiritual Power fluid that served as a key, Mu En no longer knew what to say.
From the moment he had met this young man until now, Mu En had come to one conclusion: he was petty as hell. Of all things to ponder, he spent every day figuring out how to put locks on things.
Whenever you thought you had him in your grasp, he would play a trump card and escape, leaving behind a complete mess that you could only stare at helplessly.
Mu En could even begin to wonder whether Shrek Academy's [Blazing Sun], replicated according to traditional Soul Tool craftsmanship, had indirectly proved that the supposedly unlocked first-generation [Ark], which had used miniaturized techniques and overlapping wire technology from the start, was actually a lock itself.
How could this man's heart be so dirty?
"Elder Mu, you are now the executor of [Ascension]. Please try not to let your thoughts wander."
After [Azure Blue] used the Golden Giant Tree as a medium to take over [Ascension]'s control system, the four third-generation energy core prototypes placed by Chen Fu within the Azure Blue Divine Ring—Nuclear Arks—began burning one after another. Boundless Soul Power continuously poured into [Azure Blue], while [Compulsion], which had never liked making a name for itself before others, was now operating at maximum power, further strengthening [Azure Blue]'s influence over reality.
The Nuclear Arks, which could only burn for one minute, could not afford any delay.
"Understood."
Following the plan, Mu En sat cross-legged on the broad metal Soul Tool platform specially constructed where Sea God Pavilion had once stood. This position lay at the center of the circular tracks, ensuring that the high-energy particles from every arc could strike the target simultaneously.
As for the original Sea God Pavilion building, everything had made way for Ascension. Before Mu En could even state his opinion, the Taotie Douluo had led the Ming Feng Douluo and the others in moving it away overnight.
In Xuan Zi's words: "I've already smashed in so much. Forget moving a Sea God Pavilion—even if you said to drain Sea God Lake, then we'd drain it."
Mu En responded with silence. The sunk cost was too damn high...
The temptation of the [Ascension] plan had essentially driven every Titled Douluo who knew about it to madness.
No one had become a god again in tens of thousands of years... He had already chosen to silently endure the darkness, so why did you insist on bringing people hope?
I hope you won't disappoint us, Youth.
I never disappoint anyone.
Buzz!
Enormous Soul Power began rotating around Sea God Lake.
Within a field of white light, Mu En cast one final glance at that young man. In his eyes, Chen Fu seemed to forever possess the same unchanging confidence and calmness.
Just like back then, when he had overclocked his brain even in the face of death to calculate the Cold Nuclear Equation.
[Soul Power particles accelerating.]
Even if computers were completely unusable.
[High-energy Soul Power particles beginning to escape.]
Even if all the experimental data was rendered useless.
[High-energy particle properties beginning induced conversion.]
I would still succeed.
[High-energy active Soul Spirit Particles captured.]
Because I had lost everything,
[Collision ready.]
so I would obtain what was due to me.
[Beginning the ascent along the Path to Godhood.]
Thanks to [Moonlight Mist Dyeing Dusk Yellow], [Guard Oneself and Behave], and [Book Friend 2137] for the monthly tickets (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ
Thanks to all my good brothers for the recommendation tickets (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ
Before you continue