Clear Goal, Clear Path!

This batch of materials far exceeded anything from before!

Buzz!

The phantom of the Munch-Munch Fruit trembled violently, like a furnace filled to bursting in an instant. Dull roars and churning sounds of energy echoed from within.

Chen Li felt his Soul Power surge toward the Munch-Munch Fruit like floodwaters released from a dam, supporting the immense refinement process. In just a few breaths, his Innate Full Soul Power reserves, which had reached level ten, were completely drained!

A powerful wave of weakness and exhaustion struck him, and his vision darkened. Chen Li let out a muffled groan and braced himself against the table with his right hand, his knuckles turning pale from the strain. Only then did he barely steady his swaying body and avoid collapsing miserably onto the floor.

"Whew... Hah..." He panted heavily, fine beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead as if his body had been hollowed out. Processing so many Soul Rings at once placed an enormous burden on both him and the Munch-Munch Fruit at his current stage.

He gritted his teeth and persevered, closing his eyes to focus as he maintained his connection with the Munch-Munch Fruit. He could sense the Thousand Year Soul Ring at its core greedily absorbing and merging the essence of the many low-quality Soul Rings around it. Its internal structure and energy purity were slowly but steadily undergoing optimal refinement.

About the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the Munch-Munch Fruit's fluctuations gradually subsided.

A faint flash passed through the air, and a purple Soul Ring was slowly expelled, floating in midair. The light it emitted seemed deeper and more stable than before.

Chen Li eagerly checked the system information:

[Thousand Year Soul Ring (Quality: Ordinary, Progress: 92/100)]

"92/100..." Chen Li endured his weakness as his mind raced. It had taken 120 Ten-year Soul Rings, 80 Hundred Year Soul Rings, and the original Thousand Year Soul Ring itself just to push its progress to 92 points.

By a simple estimate, one Hundred Year Soul Ring could provide around one point of progress, while the progress supplied by a Ten-year Soul Ring was negligible. It would probably take ten of them to match the effect of one Hundred Year Soul Ring.

That meant that to raise this Thousand Year Soul Ring's quality from [Ordinary] to [Excellent], he would still need at least eight Hundred Year Soul Rings, or an equivalent number of lower-level Soul Rings, as nourishment!

"Clear goal, clear path!"

The exhaustion in Chen Li's eyes was replaced by excitement. The consumption had been tremendous, nearly emptying all his reserves, but he had verified the fusion formula and determined exactly how many resources he needed next. That was the greatest gain.

At Spirit Hall, there were far more ways to obtain Soul Rings than when he had wandered outside.

Whether it was completing missions to earn contribution points and exchange them for permission to enter the captive soul beast forests, applying to join a soul-hunting team, or even...

Chen Li looked out at the gradually brightening sky beyond the window. In his mind, he was already outlining a plan to efficiently obtain large quantities of Soul Rings within Spirit Hall's rules without drawing attention.

The sky had fully brightened, and morning light streamed into the room through the window lattice.

Chen Li sat cross-legged on the bed, his Soul Power having recovered seven or eight-tenths through meditation. Though he had not slept all night, his spirits were unusually high after finding a clear path forward.

Knock, knock, knock.

A steady knock sounded at the door right on time.

Chen Li opened his eyes, reined in all his emotions, got out of bed, straightened his robe, and calmly opened the door.

An energetic old man stood outside. He looked to be around sixty, with graying hair combed meticulously and a pair of crystal-lensed glasses resting on his nose. He wore the silver-gray robe unique to Spirit Hall researchers, and his sharp gaze brimmed with curiosity.

He also held a clipboard and a pen.

"You're Chen Li, right?" The old man pushed up his glasses and looked him over, his tone blunt and direct.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Lor Diarra, a senior researcher at the Martial Soul Research Institute. I'm responsible for studying the special condition of your martial soul being unable to absorb Soul Rings."

"Hello, Mr. Lor Diarra. I'm Chen Li." Chen Li gave a slight bow, respectful yet composed. He needed this researcher's help as a cover, and he also needed to use his channels to acquire resources.

"Forget the pleasantries." Lor Diarra waved a hand, clearly impatient with formalities. His interest was obviously focused entirely on the research subject itself. "I read the brief report Elder Yue Guan submitted. Innate Full Soul Power, a top-tier Lightning Variant Martial Soul, yet it rejects Soul Ring energy...

Very interesting! I've studied martial soul mutations and energy compatibility for over thirty years, but this is the first time I've heard of such an extreme case.

Come with me to the research institute's testing room first. We need to collect detailed data on your martial soul, your Soul Power fluctuation spectrum, and observe how your martial soul reacts to simulated Soul Ring energy in different energy fields..."

As he spoke, he was already scribbling rapidly across the clipboard, looking utterly impatient to begin.

"Alright." Chen Li nodded and followed the briskly moving Lor Diarra out of the room.

His gaze calmly swept across Spirit Hall's streets in the early morning.

Passing through layers of guarded checkpoints and soul-tool barriers, Chen Li followed Lor Diarra into an exceptionally heavily guarded area within Spirit Hall: the Martial Soul Research Institute's affiliated Soul Beast Ecological Observation and Materials Supply Grounds.

This was not purely a Soul Hunting Forest. It was more like an enormous, precise living warehouse and experimental site, where great numbers of soul beasts of all varieties and cultivation levels were kept for research and specialized needs.

The air carried a mixture of animal musk, vegetation, and the faint scent of disinfectant. Massive transparent soul-tool barriers divided the area into different ecological zones, and the movements of the soul beasts within were clearly visible.

"Here, we have soul beasts ranging from ten years to nearly ten thousand years, with every attribute covered and stable conditions. They're the finest observation samples!" Lor Diarra spoke at a rapid pace, his eyes shining with the researcher's uniquely near-feverish enthusiasm. He had already tucked the clipboard beneath his arm, pen in hand, unable to wait any longer.

"Come on, kid, don't waste time. Pick one on the spot and try absorbing its Soul Ring for me! I want to record the most authentic, immediate data! Remember, don't hold anything back. Do it exactly as you did when you failed before!"

His attitude was less like he was dealing with a soul master who needed help and more like he was urging a precious test subject to quickly enter the testing phase.

"Alright, sir." Chen Li nodded calmly, his eyes swiftly sweeping across an area where lightning-attributed soul beasts had gathered. His target was clear: lightning attribute, around a hundred years old, the most cost-effective material.

Before long, he locked onto a Lightning Pattern Vine Snake winding across a simulated rock wall. Its entire body was blue-purple, it had a single horn on its head, and it was roughly three meters long. Its cultivation was about three hundred and sixty years.

"That one? A Lightning Pattern Vine Snake, around three hundred and sixty years old. Lightning attribute, speed type, with paralysis added to its attacks. It's a fairly common choice for a lightning-type Soul Ring." Lor Diarra glanced at it and casually recited its details. Then his entire aura abruptly changed!