Xuan Ziwen, with two enormous dark circles under his eyes, stared fixedly at the blueprints on the table. The formation structures on them were densely packed—a composite matrix that even a Seventh-Level Soul Engineer like him found troublesome. Yet beside the matrix were several bizarre symbols, like a jumble of incomprehensible letters and numbers.
"It can't be connected in series here."
Huo Yuhao held a charcoal pencil and drew a heavy cross on the blueprint.
"Why not?"
Xuan Ziwen frowned deeply, unable to make sense of the logic.
"The Soul Power output is unstable. A series connection will directly burn out the downstream nodes."
As Huo Yuhao spoke, he drew two parallel lines beside it with the charcoal pencil. "If we switch it to a parallel connection and add a bidirectional buffer hub, it can distribute the excess Soul Power."
Xuan Ziwen froze. He picked up his pen and rapidly calculated on a sheet of draft paper beside him. A moment later, his hand suddenly trembled. It worked out. It was completely feasible. This utterly shattered the traditional either-or, linear conduction mindset of Soul Tools.
Xuan Ziwen abruptly looked up, his eyes carrying the gleam of someone staring at a monster. What exactly was inside the mind of this nine-year-old child?
Huo Yuhao ignored his stunned gaze. First Soul Skill, Mind-Clearing.
A cool sensation enveloped his brain, and he entered an absolutely calm, overclocked state.
As a modern transmigrator who had suffered through advanced mathematics and university physics, he knew all too well how research was done.
Put simply, a Soul Tool was just another form of circuit diagram. Once one understood the fundamental physical laws of Soul Power, all that remained was applying formulas and conducting experiments.
Fortunately, his mind was filled with countless wild modern ideas, while Xuan Ziwen possessed the exceptional skill to craft every one of them by hand.
When a kindred spirit met amid mountains and flowing water, the two of them together were like stepping on their own feet and spiraling straight into the sky.
Three months later. It was also Huo Yuhao's second year living in Ju Zi's home.
Early in the morning, a large section of the courtyard had been cleared. A massive black metal disk rested quietly on the ground. More than a dozen high-grade Soul Power storage cores were embedded around it, and its surface was covered in intricate energy-guiding patterns. This was the creation they had worked themselves to the bone on for three months—the Gravity Soul Tool.
Ju Zi stood beneath the corridor with a cup of hot milk, quietly watching the scene. She had no intention of interfering. Simply watching Huo Yuhao directing things over there inexplicably put her in a good mood.
"We need someone to test it."
Xuan Ziwen held a control terminal in his hand. He was already impatient to see the combat data.
Huo Yuhao turned around, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard before settling on a white-clad girl wiping down her sword.
"Guyi."
Ye Guyi's hand paused as she wiped her sword. She looked up warily at the metal disk. Over the past few months, those two had constantly filled the room with clouds of black smoke from explosions, and she had seen it all too clearly.
"I'm not going."
"Help us out."
Huo Yuhao walked over and grabbed her sleeve. "This is good stuff. It'll be a huge help for cultivation."
"Will it kill me?"
"Absolutely not."
Huo Yuhao answered with complete certainty.
Ye Guyi sighed, but in the end, she still walked over with her short sword in hand. For some reason, she could never bring herself to be harsh with this little fellow.
She stepped into the very center of the black disk.
"Ready?"
Xuan Ziwen's finger hovered over the button on the terminal.
"Turn it on."
Ye Guyi looked calm. She was, after all, a Level Thirty-Eight, three-ringed Soul Elder. With the support of her Holy Angel Martial Soul, her physique and endurance were among the best at her level. It was just a test. How difficult could it be?
"Start with double gravity."
Xuan Ziwen pressed the button.
Hum. A deep buzzing sound rang out, and a ring of yellow light instantly lit up across the black metal disk.
Ye Guyi's body trembled slightly as she felt her shoulders suddenly grow heavier. But that was not the most terrifying part. The strangest thing was that she felt even her blood and marrow sinking downward, and even the beating of her heart became laborious. This force ignored external defenses and directly acted upon every cell in her entire body.
Ye Guyi's expression changed. She had to mobilize her Soul Power and fiercely protect her internal organs, or they would rupture directly.
"How does it feel?"
Huo Yuhao held a small notebook and asked excitedly.
"I can still endure it."
Ye Guyi gritted her teeth and forced herself to straighten up.
"Raise it to triple gravity."
The order was given.
The gravity field doubled once more. Ye Guyi's knees abruptly buckled, and the short sword in her hand clanged onto the metal disk. Heavy—far too heavy. Even breathing felt as difficult as if her throat had been stuffed with lead. The Soul Power that had once flowed smoothly through her body was now forced into intense self-compression under the overwhelming pressure outside. Only by making her Soul Power denser could she withstand this all-pervasive gravitational infiltration. This was the greatest value of the Gravity Soul Tool: it not only trained the body, but also tempered one's will and purified Soul Power.
"Should we increase it further?"
Xuan Ziwen watched the constantly changing data display, sweat beading on his forehead as well. This was already nearing the limit for a three-ringed Soul Elder.
Huo Yuhao stared at Ye Guyi's condition.
"Raise it to five times."
"Are you insane?"
Xuan Ziwen jumped in fright. Five times gravity was enough to make even an ordinary Soul Ancestor cough up blood from the pressure.
"Guyi can handle it."
Huo Yuhao spoke firmly. Come on, Ye Guyi had taken plenty of medicine over the past two years, and she trained even more ruthlessly than he did. Her physical strength was enough to rival that of a Soul King. Ye Guyi could clearly feel that her Soul Power was extremely abundant now. All she needed was an external force to give it one hard push, and she could completely break through that final barrier.
Hearing this, Ye Guyi struggled to raise her head atop the metal disk. Her eyes were already bloodshot.
"More..."
She squeezed the word out through her throat.
Xuan Ziwen hesitated no longer and pulled the lever all the way down.
Boom.
The muffled sound seemed to explode in everyone's hearts as fivefold gravity descended.
Ye Guyi's legs gave out, and she crashed heavily to her knees on the disk.
Beads of sweat the size of beans fell like rain. Her breathing was as violent as bellows, and her white clothes were completely soaked through. Her muscles twitched, while her bones gave off grating sounds that made one's teeth ache.
Just when everyone thought she was about to faint, a mass of sacred golden light, so dense it was blinding, suddenly erupted from within her body.
Under the crushing pressure of gravity, the golden light became thick and viscous like water.
Immediately afterward, two pairs of illusory golden wings burst open behind her. Powerful Soul Power fluctuations swept through the surroundings like a hurricane. The cultivation barrier that had troubled her for days was utterly shattered under the squeeze of this extreme gravity.
Level Forty. She had finally broken through. The gates to becoming a four-ringed Soul Ancestor had now opened fully before her.
"Shut down the terminal."
Huo Yuhao let out a sigh of relief.
The gravity field vanished instantly. Ye Guyi collapsed directly onto the black metal disk like a puddle of mud. Her whole body was drenched in sweat, her hair plastered to her cheeks, making her look exactly like a drowned rat. Her arms trembled as they braced against the ground, and she tried hard to get up, but she could not muster any strength at all.
Huo Yuhao and Xuan Ziwen strode over. One on each side, they crouched beside her as though examining a freshly produced test subject.
Huo Yuhao reached out and pinched her arm.
"Extensive muscle strain."
Xuan Ziwen pressed her back.
"Some slight rib displacement."
"Her Soul Power is severely depleted too."
Huo Yuhao rapidly recorded everything in his notebook before reaching a conclusion. "Very good. Aside from nearly dying of exhaustion, all other indicators are healthy."
Looking at these two deadly serious research maniacs, Ye Guyi's vision darkened. For some reason, she desperately wanted to pick up her sword and chop them both apart right now, but she truly had no strength left.
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