The First Time Might Hurt a Little

"Wake up! The sun's already shining on your ass!"

Still groggy, Chen Fu was woken from his sleep. He raised a hand to check the time. It was not even seven yet.

The flames of morning irritability were just about to ignite when he saw the real "Flame Lord," and his anger immediately vanished.

"The experiment, right! The experiment!"

Remembering the experiment, Chen Fu instantly became wide awake. He hurriedly got up, tidied himself, washed up, and ate breakfast in one smooth sequence.

"Hurry up and eat. What kind of behavior is this, dawdling around?"

The girl gloomily poked at the bread on her plate. This was not the outcome she had imagined, was it?

Before long, the two of them, refreshed and well-fed, returned to the laboratory.

"Xiaotao, lie down inside directly. Relax. Don't be nervous."

Following Chen Fu's instructions, Ma Xiaotao changed into a tight one-piece suit and lay down inside.

As the movable modules shifted and adjusted, Ma Xiaotao was eventually placed in the most comfortable reclining position.

"Link to the Technology Throne."

[Link successful]

"Import the Battle Soul Instrument data."

[Data updated. Import successful]

At last, he could abandon those Battle Soul Instrument research glasses that were not portable enough. Chen Fu removed the glasses and placed them in his space ring, then began operating the gradually digitized Spirit Body martial soul.

Over the past few months, Chen Fu had taken spare moments to program the Technology Throne into a convenient Soul Tool control panel.

The Technology Throne's inherent ability to control real matter had made this possibility a reality.

As for the data storage core, Chen Fu had sealed away one of his transparent Soul Rings. All data generated by the Technology Throne would be stored within it in the form of Soul Power fluctuations.

As for memory capacity, that would have to be updated by his future self.

[Divine Ring] was not only an explanation of this new Soul Tool's functions; was it not also an annotation for the Data Soul Ring of the Technology Throne that he was building?

As the Technology Throne's first programmed operational Soul Tool, [Divine Ring] itself carried some of Chen Fu's expectations.

[Soul Power adaptation module activated]

"Xiaotao, release ten percent of your Soul Power."

Hearing this, red flames began to rise from Ma Xiaotao's body.

[Intensity adapted. Estimation in progress. Estimation complete]

"Release fifty percent of your Soul Power."

[Equipment operating normally]

"Xiaotao, release it at full power!"

Inside [Divine Ring], Ma Xiaotao instantly transformed into an orange-red fireball.

[Energy conversion program activated. Current conversion rate: 47.36. Module operating normally]

Using energy to control energy was a technique that could effectively raise a material's heat-resistance limit. Although the conversion rate was currently low, it was already sufficient.

"All right, Xiaotao. Circulate your Soul Power and inject it according to the machine's prompts."

Chen Fu's voice entered Ma Xiaotao's mind through his martial soul in the form of Spiritual Power waves.

What followed was a long charging process. Ma Xiaotao's own Soul Power had to gradually increase [Divine Ring]'s reserve of origin Soul Power.

To ensure the purity of the origin Soul Power, this process could only be done slowly.

Chen Fu had been so fast because the Soul Power inside the Ark Core had mostly been injected by him during his spare time, so he could use it directly.

This energy-storage process lasted until nightfall. Ma Xiaotao came out midway to eat, while also asking someone to send word to the academy.

[Estimated energy storage has reached the required level]

"Xiaotao, inject your Spiritual Power according to the guidance. Now comes the main event."

[First energy-storage impact prepared]

[Soul Ring has reached the designated position]

"Xiaotao, bear with it. It might hurt a little."

???

"First spirit-soul clash, begin!"

A sharp pain struck her, and Ma Xiaotao's face turned pale. A small patch of light had appeared on her originally bright yellow First Soul Ring.

[Constitution estimation in progress. Condition adjustment time: 8 minutes]

"How does it feel? The first time might hurt a lot, but don't be afraid. It'll get much easier afterward."

You're a complete lunatic! Ma Xiaotao cursed inwardly. Then she ignored him and seized the time to regulate her breathing.

[Beginning second Spiritual Power injection]

[Second spirit-soul clash initiated]

She could not hear anything at all. Ma Xiaotao only felt as though a beam of light had pierced straight through her, and yet the pain was immense.

However, just as Chen Fu had said, the pain in her mind gradually weakened.

Because the pain had numbed her?

"During the clash, the remnant soul will be gradually worn away, slowly weakening its attachment to the host's mind until it is ultimately stripped away. That is why the pain will lessen."

As Ma Xiaotao's adaptability increased, the intervals between [Divine Ring]'s clashes grew shorter and shorter.

Without her noticing, dawn arrived, then quietly gave way to night once more.

[The 2023rd spirit-soul clash initiated]

With a crack, Ma Xiaotao seemed to hear something shatter in her spiritual perception, along with meaningless roars. Then she felt her mind suddenly loosen.

Hiss!

As the valves released with a hiss, the specially made glass cover separated in all directions.

Looking at the girl before him, drenched in sweat and pale with exhaustion, Chen Fu fell silent for a moment before speaking.

"You've worked hard, Xiaotao."

He took out some specially made nutrient solution and fed her a little, then lifted the weak and limp girl from the Square Chamber and gently placed her on the bed in the resting room.

"You really are a lunatic."

The weak words crawled out of the girl's mouth.

"Mm... can I take that to mean a lunatic is an even greater compliment than a genius?"

"All right, get some sleep. Once you wake up, everything will be better."

After closing the door, Chen Fu stood in the hall, silently staring at the [Divine Ring] device before him.

He recalled the time when he had tortured himself with that crude clash machine...

Could I be a masochist too???

He hurriedly shook his head, casting away that terrifying thought.

When the inscriptions on the wall lit up once more, Chen Fu tidied himself and stood at the laboratory entrance to wait.

"Welcome again, Dean."

"..."

The old man's originally sour expression stiffened.

"What exactly are you doing! Xiaotao hasn't gone back for three days!"

For the past few days, he had felt a dark weight hanging over his heart, leaving him constantly uneasy.

"The experiment has just ended. Xiaotao is resting now. It would be better to let her tell you the details herself when she returns tomorrow."

The old man stared at the young man before him for a long time, then vanished without looking back.

Eh, before he handed over [Nirvana], hadn't this old man been rather warm toward him?

Chen Fu shook his head and sighed inwardly. What a nasty old man.

At least you know where to draw the line, brat! The nasty old man who was currently hurrying home cursed inwardly.

Silently, dawn once again spread across the world.

"How do you feel now?"

Watching the girl stretch lazily beneath the morning light, Chen Fu could not help but smile slightly.

"Ah! I need to take a bath first!"

Feeling that she was in a complete mess, the girl let out a cry and swiftly fled.

Chen Fu curled his lips and left, closing the door behind him.

Chen Fu did not have to wait long before the refreshed and energetic girl appeared before him again.

Five Soul Rings—white, yellow, purple, purple, and black—appeared behind the girl.

"My Soul Ring's power has dropped by at least forty percent! But controlling it now feels unbelievably natural!"

The white Soul Ring moved with extraordinary agility in the girl's hand. She could now use all kinds of Soul Skill transformation techniques with incredible speed and liveliness.

"Once your mind and soul gradually adapt to this Soul Ring, and your soul power slowly permeates it, you can enter the stage of nurturing your Soul Ring."

Her suffering had not been in vain. The girl's eyes were filled with delight.

"Only now do I understand what you meant when you said it was foolish to just hold onto Soul Skills and trade blows head-on."

Looking at the lively white Soul Ring in her hand, Ma Xiaotao sighed from the bottom of her heart.