Soul Ring: I'm Free

"Look at what, you ghost!"

Ma Xiaotao laughed and punched Chen Fu, knowing he must have made another major breakthrough he wanted to share.

He pulled Ma Xiaotao into the laboratory and slammed the metal door shut before the Big Hamster could charge in.

"Come back when you've actually produced results."

"You jerk!"

Outside the door, the Big Hamster stomped her feet in anger before turning around to go read in her experimental field without a second glance.

The Orchid Fragrance Pavilion had ultimately been replaced by the Lin Pavilion, but the grounds were vast; Mo Lin had originally cleared a flower garden in the backyard, which she now used to cultivate plants.

"Look at my Soul Ring."

Chen Fu manifested his Martial Soul, and a mass of irregular, pale blue Spirit Body enveloped his body.

"Where is your Soul Ring?!"

Ma Xiaotao grabbed Chen Fu by the collar and shook him hard, but she still couldn't see any hidden Soul Rings.

"Ah, well..."

The physique of a Level Fifty-Eight Battle Soul King possessed dominant strength compared to his own weakling frame.

Even though he had used the Extract Ring method to draw out the soul power stored within the rings, pushing himself to Level Forty-Seven, he remained a fragile glass cannon.

"Take a closer look at this?"

Chen Fu held a mass of air out in front of Ma Xiaotao.

"Hmm?"

Through her spiritual perception, Ma Xiaotao could sense a transparent ring in Chen Fu's hand.

"Why is there no color?"

Soul Rings were usually vibrant and multicolored, so why was this one so low-key today?

"My Soul Skill is an innate ability of my Martial Soul, and the Soul Ring serves as an unlock for the upper limit. So, I stripped away the remnant souls within the ring and absorbed the soul power, leaving the ring looking like this."

"???"

He was cooking up black technology without a sound?

Seeing Ma Xiaotao's confused expression, Chen Fu immediately explained his findings regarding Soul Rings to her.

"You've already mastered Explode Ring and Melt Ring?!"

"Not Melt Ring, it's Melting Ring. And the theory for Explode Ring is finished, but I won't teach you; that technique is far too crude."

"How do we verify Soul Ring Attachment? What steps are still needed?"

"Don't be so impatient, and stop shouting. I need to prepare some Soul Tools. When you're ready to break through to Soul Emperor, we'll call that wheelchair-bound Douluo and go find a Fierce Beast to test it on."

"???"

A string of question marks popped up in Ma Xiaotao's mind. It wasn't that she had a problem, but that she felt Chen Fu did.

In Chen Fu's perception, the soul power of that wheelchair-bound Douluo was as thick as steel, posing a greater threat to his spiritual sense than even the sloppy Dean. He figured this must be the ultimate boss of Shrek Academy; such an existence should have no trouble physically persuading a Fierce Beast.

"The Storage Ring technology is quite suitable for you; I can modify one for you right now."

As he spoke, Chen Fu excitedly prepared to drag Ma Xiaotao into the experiment.

"No, no, no!"

It wasn't that she didn't trust Chen Fu, but Ma Xiaotao hadn't recovered yet, and she instinctively resisted being dragged into unknown territory.

"Your Soul Skill provides a significant boost, and stripping away the remnant souls might affect your Soul Ring's rank. While your soul power level won't change, the ring might temporarily drop a tier," Chen Fu explained earnestly.

"But! Your Soul Ring will gain the potential for further improvement!"

"Just let me catch my breath, will you? I'm not running away."

Rolling her eyes at the slightly awkward Chen Fu, Ma Xiaotao reorganized her thoughts.

She ultimately decided to trust Chen Fu's judgment. Although it was obvious he was using her as a test subject, she didn't believe he would actually harm her if there were real risks involved.

"Haha, alright, just wait a moment while I rebuild some Soul Tool equipment first."

Chen Fu pulled out a small stool and table, settled Ma Xiaotao onto them, and handed her some snacks to play with on the side.

He then pulled various bottom-of-the-barrel materials from his Space Ring: Deep Sea Mystery Gold Essence, Earth Deep Core, Moon Meteor Fire Essence, Azure Star Iron, and more—enough to build a Level Nine Soul Tool—were all laid out by Chen Fu.

Some of these materials had been skimmed from his mentor, Fan Yu, but most had been siphoned from the unlucky souls who came to him for custom commissions.

Those people only cared about the results; Chen Fu would use his Martial Soul to fine-tune the alloy parameters to achieve the same effect, then pocket the excess materials.

In Chen Fu's hands, these precious materials could exert 120% of their potential!

"Project initiated, tentatively named the [Divine Ring] Project."

[Task followed]

This was the first time Ma Xiaotao had watched Chen Fu craft a Soul Tool at such close range. Various materials dissolved at a visible speed in his hands, transforming into finished components.

Floating behind him was an energy matrix two meters in diameter, composed of Level Four [Ark] cores, ensuring that Chen Fu could continuously use his soul power to accelerate the reconstruction of the materials before him into the forms he desired.

The reason Ma Xiaotao could not defeat Chen Fu in unrestricted soul duels was entirely due to the Ark Matrix behind him.

Although Chen Fu had to expend a month's worth of Soul Power reserves to defeat her each time—meaning if she fought him twice within a month, she could make him curse in frustration—it still left Ma Xiaotao feeling stifled.

However, that was a thing of the past; according to the theory, she would soon enjoy the same joy of infinite firepower.

Two hours passed before they knew it, and Chen Fu finished polishing the first batch of materials, beginning preparations for the Soul Power inscription.

The blueprint was an upgraded version of Chen Fu's initial Spirit Impact device, featuring improved operational precision, an expanded range of parameter settings, increased adaptability, and most importantly, a spirit micro-manipulation function.

Lines automatically generated from points to planes on the functional module in his hand, while the Energy-Conducting Engraving Knife danced through the circuits. As the knife passed, various energy-conducting slots were fine-tuned until the knife completed the entire circuit, leaving a seamless, natural-looking circuit diagram on the module.

This is practically cheating! Ma Xiaotao silently complained. She had seen Teacher Fan Yu craft Soul Tools; others worked with extreme caution, fearing a single mistake, while Chen Fu simply drew the direction of energy conduction in one stroke and used his Spiritual Power to fine-tune the rest.

Finishing one module, Chen Fu immediately began crafting the next.

Before he knew it, it was late at night. After ten hours of work, from noon until deep into the night, Chen Fu finally completed his Divine Ring Soul Tool.

Compared to Nirvana and Emerald, which required massive amounts of micro-craftsmanship and fragmented processing time, the Divine Ring was crafted in one continuous flow. Aside from the core components that required micro-craftsmanship, the vast majority of the modules were completed in a single stroke.

"Xiaotao..."

After assembling the final module, a Soul Tool resembling a stasis pod appeared before Chen Fu.

He turned his head, ready to call Ma Xiaotao over to try it out, only to find her slumped over the small table, fast asleep.

He checked the Soul Tool clock and realized it was already late at night.

He took a blanket from his Space Ring to drape over Ma Xiaotao, then lifted her horizontally and placed her in the lounge nearby.

The girl tightened the blanket around herself, and the hazy lamplight climbed onto her beautiful eyelashes.

With a silent smile, Chen Fu stood up and walked outside, leaning against the door of the lounge.

He was waiting for someone—an old man.

Not long after, the Spirit Perception Inscription on the laboratory wall flickered, and a heavy aura approached from outside the metal door.

To prevent his laboratory from being destroyed by a brute, Chen Fu took the initiative to open the door.

"What wind blew the Dean here?"

"Is Xiaotao with you?"

The old man huffed, his beard twitching.

"I originally intended for Xiaotao to participate in an experiment, but it took longer than expected, and she fell asleep while waiting."

The old man looked Chen Fu up and down carefully, then let out a cold snort and vanished in an instant.

"I just wonder if you'll come to tear the place down once you see the color of Xiaotao's Soul Ring."

Chen Fu felt quite helpless, though he was glad that even if this old man had a foul temper, he was still somewhat reasonable.