Song of Ice and Fire for Mortals: [Pandora]!

"Need help?"

Standing on the cracked bluestone street, the man stopped and looked at the helpless youth slumped before a pile of ruins. His body was covered in blood and bruises, fine pale blue stone dust staining his wounds, while a faint pallor showed through his dark red fingers.

"..." The youth stared blankly at the two unrecognizable masses of flesh and blood within the ruins and answered with silence.

He remembered his sister telling him that Shrek City was the safest place, that as long as he did not anger a Lord Soul Master, he could earn a great deal of money.

Crack.

The man felt something he had maintained for years shatter. The world suddenly appeared before him from an entirely new perspective. Faintly, he seemed to hear crying beside his ears. When he turned to look, what entered his eyes was no longer simply collapsed houses and damaged roads.

White and red fluids faintly flowed through the gaps between fallen houses. Beneath the stones at his feet lay a slender, tender white arm. It was as though the once silent, deserted street had always been full of people, except they had never been valued or noticed. Some were low-level Soul Masters with less than ten levels of Soul Power, but most were ordinary people who added life to this giant city and served as its lubricant.

From this perspective, Chen Fu looked once more at the ruins before the youth. They had a very pleasant name, one Chen Fu had personally chosen: Lin Pavilion.

He suddenly remembered Uncle Fu, the ordinary man who had followed him for over a decade. Uncle Fu truly was careless. He had served as shopkeeper for more than ten years, yet someone had still managed to steal his clothes. If Chen Fu caught that thief, he would definitely dock their wages.

The god-daughter he had taken in was the same. Her name seemed to be Bai Ping. She was always yawning at work, saying she had a younger brother to care for and had found herself a night shift too. He also didn't know why Uncle Fu had not fired such a salty fish employee.

That green hamster, on the other hand, had said last week that it was returning to its hometown to dig up some treasures and would come back after a while.

"Will they be punished?"

Did he mean punished because no relevant information had been found in his laboratory? Long Xiaoyao, who stood behind him holding his sword, did not dare answer carelessly. After pondering for a moment, he cautiously said,

"Probably not."

Though they seemed to be talking on different channels, the answer was the same.

"Oh."

Chen Fu gave an "oh" without showing any expression.

"Bai Qi, right?"

Chen Fu, who could not even seem to remember the name of that yawning girl, called out the youth's name in one breath.

"Come with me."

Having said that, he no longer paid attention to the tragic scene around him and walked alone toward the outskirts of the city.

Long Xiaoyao, who never left his side, fell a few positions behind and silently followed with his sword in his arms.

"Sir, they have arrived."

Walking through the devastated Shrek City after it had been ravaged by Soul Power, Golden Scale led more than twenty students who had come from Shrek Academy as they silently followed Chen Fu's pace.

Chen Fu looked back at Shrek City, which had survived a Soul Power Big Bang and a chaotic battle between more than twenty Titled Douluo. The once-prosperous super great city was now covered in scars. Then he focused his gaze on Ning Tian, Huo Yuhao, and the other academy students who had followed him.

Their bright eyes, once filled with the radiance of ideals, now seemed to hold a trace of confusion about the future.

His gaze paused briefly on the Light Butterfly Girl behind the Spirit Eye Youth before he turned to the group and asked,

"Do you know where we are going?"

"...I don't know." Amid the silence, a student from the Original Soul Tool Academy finally broke the atmosphere. He had previously worked as Chen Fu's assistant.

Really, a bunch of hot-blooded fools.

Chen Fu neither approved nor disapproved, because he had once led a team just as foolish as them.

"If you don't know, forget it. Just follow properly."

Chen Fu had once said the exact same thing.

After safely delivering Ning Tian to Chen Fu's side, the Super Douluo of the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect tore through space and left. Ning Tian had made a major decision, and he needed to return to report to the Sect Master.

"...Are you sure Ning Tian said that?"

Though shocked that such an evil Soul Tool existed in this world, Ning Yi did not consider it especially important. After all, even without facing such an evil artifact, he could not defeat anyone in a one-on-one fight.

"Yes, Sect Master. She shouted it before all of Shrek High-level."

Ning Yi suddenly felt a headache coming on, yet also felt relieved.

An achiever did not fuss over trivial matters. A leader should possess the resolve to decide everything.

"Immediately notify all clan members in the city to gather. Bring nothing! Move toward Chen Fu immediately!"

The main family members all had to flee, because there was little necessity of being alive otherwise. As for the others, perhaps this was the "loss" the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect needed to pay in [Gain and Loss]?

The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had risen through wealth. They understood deeply that wealth was useful only if people were alive.

They needed to meet up with Chen Fu as quickly as possible, or they would die horribly. To become the first person who eats crabs, one had to bear the risk of being poisoned to death.

When that young man took out the evil artifact known as [Banished Immortal], it was destined that he would not be tolerated by the Soul Master World. If he only possessed that weapon, Ning Yi might rather drive Ning Tian from the family than stake the lives and fortunes of everyone on it. But what was the situation now? A level-nine Soul Tool with replicability!

Combined with that man's unique Melting Ring Technology, it was as though the world had quietly received a patch at some point, leaving these traditional Soul Masters with no psychological preparation at all.

Fortunately, Nine Treasures City was not far from Shrek City.

When Ning Yi led his clan members out of the city, he saw the unmatched sword qi that stretched across heaven and earth and swept through all directions.

With one man and one sword, Long Xiaoyao faced the expeditionary alliance temporarily formed by more than twenty Titled Douluo of the Douluo Continent. He activated the Azure Blue Light Sword in his hand at maximum power, and the thousand-meter Slender Light Sword cleaved heaven and earth into a field of white light.

No Titled Douluo could withstand three strikes from him. The invisible Spirit Sword dealt no physical damage when swung, but once someone was swept by it, one of their Soul Rings would inevitably suffer severe damage. Douluo who did not rely on Soul Skills, or possessed Self-Created Soul Skills, were relatively fine, as it did not greatly affect their combat strength. But for Titled Douluo who relied heavily on Soul Ring Skills, it was utterly terrifying.

If he had not feared that Chen Fu might be ambushed, Long Xiaoyao would have wanted nothing more than to hug his treasure sword and circle the Douluo Continent and Sun Moon Continent twice, cutting down anyone he disliked along the way under the noble name of helping them master Self-Created Soul Skills sooner.

His behavior in the future would spark a vigorous wave of exchanges and study of Self-Created Soul Skills between the two continents.

After cutting down several more Titled Douluo, the area within a thousand meters around Long Xiaoyao had basically become forbidden ground.

It was worth mentioning that, to prevent himself from being attacked from both front and back, Long Xiaoyao's sword qi distinguished neither friend nor foe.

However, Chen Fu had anticipated this long ago. When they met up, he had instructed Long Xiaoyao to use the shallow logic of [Banished Immortal] to precisely cut away the remnant souls from the Soul Rings of the Original Soul Tool Academy students without harming their minds, as a preparatory stage for Energy Storage Rings.

Among them, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were unaffected. The former's Soul Ring souls were complete and could not be induced, while the latter was completely isolated by an unknown force. Chen Fu did not say much about this. He could never forget that vast Sea God divine power, but grievances had their proper owners. Bullying a little girl did not fit Chen Fu's principles.

Though he did feel that Wang Dong's appearance here was indeed poorly timed.

"Is everyone here?"

Standing outside Nine Treasures City, Chen Fu asked Ning Tian. They had headed for Nine Treasures City as soon as they left Shrek City.

Other than the matter of "Dual Divine Positions," Chen Fu's predictions had always been thorough.

"Where are we going?"

After meeting up with his daughter, Ning Yi finally relaxed, while inwardly celebrating. The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had bet on the right treasure!

"The Star Dou Great Forest."

"Help me open the space ring."

Sitting in the carriage, Chen Fu handed the space ring he carried with him to the golden-haired girl who had silently remained at his side.

Behind her was a caravan packed tightly together, all within Long Xiaoyao's attack range.

When the people from Nine Treasures City discovered someone waiting for them outside the city, they went back to load a batch of supplies before following Chen Fu toward the Star Dou Great Forest. Chen Fu had many places he could go; it could even be said that many forces would beg him to visit. But the only place that could continue driving him toward his goal was the Star Dou Great Forest.

Golden Scale took Chen Fu's ring and activated her Soul Power to open it.

"In the E6 section, there are six black-red Ark Cores. Take one out."

Without Soul Power Factors, Chen Fu could not store Soul Power within his body. He could not even retrieve items from a Spatial Soul Tool.

And the second-generation Ark and Third Generation Prototype Nuclear Ark, the only things through which he could use Soul Power, were both inside the Spatial Soul Tool.

Unfortunately, activating an Ark Core still required Soul Power.

"Focus your Soul Power and strike this embedded dot with all your strength."

Chen Fu directed Golden Scale to condense her Soul Power into a needle on the black-red metal cube and fiercely strike a specially marked firing pin.

Buzz!

The Nuclear Ark erupted with majestic Soul Power fluctuations amid black-red light.

His gaze first swept the distant void. The [Youlan] database had been damaged, but its spiritual realm had not fallen. In that emptiness stood the strongest person of the present age, one who crossed the void with his physical body—Demigod Mu En!

Finally willing to wake up and face this awful world, my dear protector?

He then withdrew his gaze and used [Youlan] to mobilize his Spiritual Power, beginning to control this temporary external Soul Power source.

"Tian Meng, make the trade."

This backup measure, prepared in case his protector made a foolish mistake, could now be used elsewhere.

As for how that gift of nature could oppose Mu En, who had surpassed the limit, Chen Fu valued Tian Meng's total Spiritual Power. Its offensive capability was weak, but that did not mean [Youlan]'s offensive capability was weak. At the very least, an ultimate burst could wash the divine body of a god whose soul had not yet been deified into a fool without any problem.

The price of one foolish moment was a lifetime of foolishness, so it was better not to be foolish.

[High-density spiritual soul source captured. Absorbing.]

"Yuhao! We're going to get rich! Take off, take off! Hoo hoo hoo!"

Even though most of the spiritual soul source in his body was being devoured and digested by [Youlan], Tian Meng sounded extremely happy within Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea.

"Then we can ask Chen Fu to deal with that gray ball for us—ah! Help! I didn't say anything! Yuhao, save me!"

"...Old Yi, Brother Sky Dream was only joking..." Watching Tian Meng, who had lost ninety percent of his soul source, be freely tormented by Electrolux in his spiritual sea, Huo Yuhao could not help feeling worried.

"...That person is exceptionally gifted in the path of karma. This counts as an opportunity for that fat worm." After pondering for a moment, Electrolux gave his assessment.

[Azure Blue Divine Ring rebooting.]

Clang!

The shattered Azure Blue Data Divine Ring spread open once more behind Chen Fu. The broken blue inscriptions upon it began to evolve again, eventually crawling bit by bit across the newly born Azure Blue Divine Ring wheel, which resembled transparent glass.

Only the original four tiny transparent good brothers were nowhere to be seen.

[Divine Ring system updated. Officially updated to: Ascension Light Wheel.]

The four Soul Rings had been completely erased by divine power. With his current technology, he could not add a sixth Soul Ring across four rings, so he could no longer advance through the Soul Ring system.

However, Soul Rings did not affect Soul Power accumulation. It was just that, generally speaking, a level-sixty Soul Elder would be beaten so badly by a level-fifty Soul King that they would not recognize their own parents, so there was no need for it.

Opening the newly born Ascension Light Wheel that had devoured Tian Meng's origin, Chen Fu held a silver-blue crystal in his hand.

This was something [Youlan] had discovered in the Golden Ancient Tree's spiritual sea. From the Golden Ancient Tree's soul source memories, he learned that this was... Tang San's mother.

This was the fundamental reason Asura God's third and final strike had not fallen for so long.

The first strike had shattered the [Ascension] Soul Tool wonder formed from the Golden Ancient Tree, and [Youlan] discovered the Divine Sense Crystal suddenly trying to escape.

But who was [Youlan]? The ultimate nightmare above Shrek City, the breeder of Tian Meng the fat silkworm, the ruler of the Super Domain Mental Network, and a top-tier spiritual hunter nicknamed Little Blue by its master!

The boundless web of Spiritual Power captured Tang San's mother's Divine Thought Crystal almost instantly.

Even after Asura God's second strike completely destroyed the Golden Ancient Tree, its vessel, he had not been able to reclaim his mother from [Youlan].

The reason the third strike had not fallen was that [Youlan] could not deal with the Divine Thought Crystal wrapped outside it, but it had discovered that Asura God's power could.

Chen Fu placed the Divine Thought Crystal into the Ascension Light Wheel. This was not something he could handle at the moment.

Clang!

The Azure Light Wheel released a crisp sound like jade shattering as the continuous Soul Power generated by the Nuclear Ark was drawn in and converted by the wheel.

[Ascension Operating System connected.]

[Banished Immortal], which Long Xiaoyao hugged wherever he went, suddenly turned into a streak of light and appeared before Chen Fu, spinning joyfully as though it were delighted.

In truth, [Youlan] was controlling it.

"Old Dragon, [Banished Immortal] isn't meant to be used like this."

Chen Fu removed the 2.5-generation Ark Core from the sword body, embedded a Third Generation Prototype Nuclear Ark of the same model into it, and activated it.

Compared with the endurance of the 2.5-generation model, the third generation excelled in explosive output.

"Golden Scale, what kind of Soul Beast qualifies as your kind?"

Chen Fu controlled [Youlan] and moved before himself the corpse of a Level 92 Agility Attack Titled Douluo who had tried to ambush him, only to be slapped to death by Long Xiaoyao. [Banished Immortal] had merely broadened Long Xiaoyao's methods of attack; he himself remained a level-ninety-nine Limit Douluo.

"Anything below ten thousand years is food."

Watching the Titled Douluo corpse dissolve and scatter like dust in Chen Fu's hands, the girl's beautiful eyebrows could not help furrowing.

"In that case, set the target below one thousand years."

[Mission target confirmed.]

"Go."

He waved his hand, sending [Youlan] out with [Banished Immortal] to make a round outside.

In an instant, a streak of rainbow light flashed across the sky.

One hand continued controlling the authority of the Technology Throne to break down the Douluo corpse bit by bit, while the other used calculations to retrieve prepared materials from the space ring and begin assembling a Prototype Nuclear Ark by hand.

The current Nuclear Ark was good. Its upper energy-output limit could reach the level of a Titled Douluo, but it simply did not last long enough. At maximum output, it could only last one minute before the high-energy substance made from Mysterious Sky Meteorite scraps inside burned out.

With the Ascension Light Wheel as its base station, [Youlan] could currently radiate across a hundred-kilometer range. In other words, before [Banished Immortal]'s energy ran out, that was the extent of [Youlan]'s operational area.

In the distant forest, a Hundred-Year Soft Bone Rabbit was drinking water when its ears suddenly perked up. A streak of rainbow light descended from the sky and pierced straight through its head, the immense heat instantly vaporizing the brain matter within.

Immediately afterward, [Youlan] used [Banished Immortal]'s energy to exercise its authority, breaking down and absorbing the thoroughly dead Hundred-Year Soft Bone Rabbit. A dozen seconds later, after collecting what it wanted, [Youlan] turned into a blue arc of light again and flickered deep into the dense forest.

Not long after, Chen Fu gathered what [Youlan] had collected and compared it with what he held in his hand. Sure enough, they possessed the same properties.

He then replaced [Banished Immortal]'s Nuclear Ark and had [Youlan] continue the process.

Until...

"What exactly are you doing?"

Near the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest, Di Tian finally appeared a thousand meters from Chen Fu and angrily rebuked him, unable to endure any longer. He had originally wanted to get closer, but someone had forced him out of the void.

"Even if Hundred-Year Soul Beasts are food, they cannot withstand you doing this!"

With Chen Fu's caravan at the center, there were basically no Hundred-Year Soul Beasts left within a hundred-kilometer radius!

Opening his personal Spatial Soul Tool, Chen Fu selected materials from within. Shrek Academy and Nine Treasures City, two great forces, had greatly enriched his treasury.

Bit by bit, Chen Fu broke the materials into metal particles, then, with [Youlan]'s assistance, compiled them bit by bit into the form he wanted.

"I already told you, they are materials."

As the youth compressed and condensed the Blood-Colored Granules he had collected, he spoke words that made Di Tian's eyelids twitch.

[Youlan] controlled specially made metal particles mixed with Soul Power Inscriptions crafted through Nanoscale Soul Tool Craftsmanship, gradually blending them into the compressed Blood-Colored Granules in Chen Fu's hand. The blood-colored particles and nanoscale Soul Tool particles arranged themselves in a Multi-dimensional Geometric Matrix, eventually forming a blood-colored fleshy metal cube, the size of an eyeball and not much different from an Ark Core.

"What are you making?"

Di Tian was drawn in by the new trick this young man had created, but then remembered that he had yet to demand an explanation!

"Soul Beasts truly are blessed by heaven and earth."

Looking at the exquisite creation in his hand, Chen Fu could not help sighing sincerely.

"..." Di Tian felt as though he had heard those words before.

Sizzle!

After disinfecting [Banished Immortal], Chen Fu used its sharp blade to stab open his own chest.

"You...!"

The golden-haired girl beside him merely frowned and said nothing, but Di Tian was startled.

His Soul Power cultivation had been cut away, but the cultivation of his physical body, tempered through Melting Rings, remained.

Chen Fu used [Youlan] to stop the bleeding, then embedded the blood-colored fleshy metal cube forged from a Titled Douluo and the Soul Power Factors of hundreds and thousands of Soul Beasts into the center of his chest. The mixed particles inside the metal cube fused with his flesh until they became one. Other than the glowing little cube now in the middle of his chest, it looked as though it had always grown there.

Buzz!

The Soul Power Level scale engraved upon the Azure Blue Ascension Light Wheel slowly lit up from the inner ring to the outer ring at a visible pace, stopping only at the sixty-fifth mark.

This was Chen Fu's original physical body Soul Power capacity.

"What did you do?!"

Watching Chen Fu's Soul Power cultivation suddenly recover, Di Tian's instincts told him this was not a good thing.

"This is a surprise, and also a disaster."

Chen Fu forced a smile and looked at Di Tian with calm, ink-black eyes.

This was an era that belonged to mortals!

This was an epic that belonged to mortals!

This was a song of ice and fire that belonged to mortals!

Because it was called:

"[Pandora]."

Technology was a double-edged sword. This time, it had smashed its hilt into the Soul Beasts' heads as well.

Thanks to [Book Friend 5624] for the 100 donation, [Tetu 5] for the 100 donation, [Hu Yan Ji Qing] for the 100 donation, [Shadow 7930] for the 100 donation, [Demon God Million] for the 600 donation, [Xue Sheng Deng Feng] for the 200 donation, and [Bitterly Entering Book Mountain Without Self-Pity] for the 100 donation (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ

Thanks to my good brothers for the monthly votes. (More than thirty! There are too many to type out individually (┯_┯)) (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ

Thanks to all my good brothers for the recommendation votes (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ

Good brothers, I feel like I'm about to take off! Whew, whew, whew. You guys have boosted the numbers so high (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ

A super long chapter—I've been writing from this afternoon until now, ahhh, what a loss. I should have split it into two chapters, but after seeing my good brothers' donations, I'd have felt too embarrassed to split it up (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ

[Pandora] was in place!

The Synopsis Three Core Technology Puzzles were finally complete!

The end—scatter flowers! Whew, whew, whew.