Verifying the Simplified Circuit

"How much Soul Power does it lose?" Mo Chen's voice was hoarse, and his eyes never left the pattern on the metal plate.

Lu Yuan thought for a moment. "Theoretically, about forty percent less."

Mo Chen's Adam's apple bobbed. He spun around and began rummaging through the scrap heap, moving so fast he stirred up a breeze. Metal parts clattered and clanged as he shoved them aside.

"Wang Shuo!" he shouted without looking back. "The wooden chest in the corner, third level, the etching knife and Soul Power adhesive!"

Wang Shuo froze, then hurried over to search.

Mo Chen dug out several metal plates, grabbed a relatively flat one, and wiped it roughly with his sleeve. Lu Yuan watched him-the drunken sot from moments ago was gone. Now, Mo Chen's fingers were as steady as iron clamps, and his gaze was sharp as a blade.

Wang Shuo came running back with the tools. Mo Chen snatched the etching knife and thrust the charcoal pencil back into Lu Yuan's hand.

"Draw," he said. "On the wooden board. Bigger, clearer."

Lu Yuan pulled out a battered wooden board, brushed off the dust, and set it on the crooked-legged wooden table. The pencil touched down.

This time, he drew in greater detail. He marked the curve of every line and the position of every node in small characters beside them.

Mo Chen leaned close to watch, his breath washing over the back of Lu Yuan's hand.

"Here..." Mo Chen suddenly pointed to a bend. "Why such a wide curve? Normally, you turn it at a right angle to save material."

"Energy inertia." Lu Yuan's pencil never stopped. "Soul Power flowing through a channel is like water rounding a bend. A right-angle turn creates eddies and back pressure, wasting energy. A wider curve makes the flow smoother, reducing total loss over long-term operation."

Mo Chen stared at the two characters, mouthing them silently.

"What about this node?" He pointed to another spot. "Why split it three ways? Usually, it's split into two."

"Load balancing." Lu Yuan drew a simple energy distribution diagram beside the node. "When a single channel carries peak Soul Power, the local soul pressure gets too high, easily causing material fatigue. Splitting it three ways distributes the peak pressure across three time periods, greatly improving long-term stability."

He paused. "Also, after the flow is split three ways, one channel can be shut down at a time during off-peak periods, entering a semi-dormant state and further reducing baseline energy consumption."

Mo Chen fell silent.

He stared fixedly at the pattern on the board and the densely packed annotations. A full half minute passed before he slowly raised his hand and brushed his rough fingers ever so lightly over the charcoal lines.

He moved as carefully as if he were touching a fragile treasure.

"...I thought of this approach ten years ago." His voice was so low it was almost inaudible. "Soul Power spin, inertia buffering... but I couldn't work out the calculations. No matter how I adjusted the parameters, they weren't right. I tried more than a hundred times, and the best I managed was a five-percent reduction in loss, and even that wasn't stable."

He raised his head and looked at Lu Yuan. His sunken eyes were bloodshot, and the light in them was frightening.

"These parameters of yours... you really worked them out through testing?"

Lu Yuan met his gaze calmly. "I tried many times. Failed many times too."

That was true. In his memories of his previous life, the prototype for this simplified circuit had been refined through countless simulations, calculations, and physical tests.

Mo Chen stared at him, as though trying to find signs of a lie on his face. After a long while, he bared his teeth in a somewhat fierce smile.

"Good," he said. "Then let's try it."

He grabbed the metal plate and picked up the etching knife. He pressed the tip against the metal surface and steadily pushed down with his wrist.

Hiss-

A faint scraping sounded. Metal shavings pattered down.

Mo Chen's hand was exceptionally steady. The etching knife followed the lines on the wooden board precisely, without the slightest deviation. His movements had a distinctive rhythm. They weren't fast, but every stroke bore a craftsman's focus.

Wang Shuo hardly dared breathe. Only the hissing of metal being etched remained in the workshop.

Lu Yuan watched Mo Chen work and nodded inwardly. The man's fundamentals were frighteningly solid.

Time passed bit by bit. Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened. No lamps had been lit in the workshop, and the light was dim. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Mo Chen's forehead, but he didn't blink.

Once the etching was complete, he tossed the knife aside and grabbed the Soul Power adhesive-a viscous, pale-gray paste in a battered clay jar. He picked up a little with a thin sliver of wood and carefully dabbed it into the etched grooves.

The adhesive gave a faint sizzle as it touched the metal, then hardened, forming energy channels.

This step required even more concentration. Mo Chen's hand was unbelievably steady, but his breathing had grown noticeably heavier. After he finished the last node, his whole body swayed.

Wang Shuo hurriedly steadied him.

Mo Chen waved him off and took a few breaths. "I'm fine... used up a little too much Soul Power." His voice was weak, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

He picked up the finished metal plate and examined it in the dim light. A complete circuit pattern gleamed faintly on the plate, somewhat rough but clear in structure.

"The core's done," Mo Chen said. "It still needs a casing, soul-conducting crystal chips, and an injection port."

He began rummaging through the scrap heap again. This time he pulled out a rust-spotted metal cover, several thin crystal chips with damaged edges, and an injection valve salvaged from the wreckage of an old Soul Tool.

Everything was worn and barely usable.

Mo Chen rubbed the chips against his clothes and tucked them into the metal cover, then slotted the etched circuit plate inside. Finally, he screwed on the injection valve.

His hands trembled slightly throughout the process. Not from nerves, but excitement.

When he finished assembling it, he held an ugly lump of metal. Its surface was pitted and its seams crooked; it looked scarcely better than the junk in the scrap heap.

Yet Mo Chen held it as though it were a priceless treasure. He walked to the workbench and moved an old Soul Power lamp over from beside it-a sample he had made before, equally crude but at least capable of lighting up.

The two lamps stood side by side.

Mo Chen took a deep breath and looked at Lu Yuan. "You, or me?"

"You."

Mo Chen nodded. He extended his right index finger, and a faint glimmer of Soul Power gathered at its tip. The Soul Power fluctuations were weak, probably only at the level of a third- or fourth-rank Soul Scholar, and somewhat unsteady.

But his control was steady.

He pressed his fingertip lightly against the new lamp's injection valve. Soul Power flowed slowly inside.

The first second, nothing happened.

The second second, a faint scraping came from inside the lump of metal, as though something had jammed.

Mo Chen's face turned pale.

Lu Yuan frowned slightly.

But Mo Chen didn't stop. He gritted his teeth and continued injecting Soul Power while patting the side of the lamp casing ever so lightly with his left hand.

Click.

A tiny, crisp sound.

Immediately afterward, the crystal chip at the top of the new lamp flared to life.

It wasn't the harsh, flickering light of a traditional Soul Power lamp, but a soft, steady glow, warm white in color. It wasn't very bright, but it was exceptionally even.

Mo Chen held his breath and slowly increased the flow of Soul Power.

The light grew brighter with it, but remained steady throughout, without flickering. When the Soul Power injected reached a certain threshold, the new lamp became noticeably brighter than the old one beside it.

More than thirty percent brighter, in fact.

The workshop fell deathly silent.

Wang Shuo's eyes widened, his mouth hanging open. Mo Chen remained motionless, still injecting Soul Power, his eyes fixed on the light.

Lu Yuan watched quietly.

It worked.

The light continued to shine, so steady it made their hearts tremble.

More than ten seconds passed before Mo Chen slowly withdrew his finger. With the Soul Power cut off, the new lamp quickly dimmed and finally went out.

But that moment of brightness and steadiness had already been etched into the eyes of all three men.

Mo Chen slowly straightened up. He looked at the new lamp, then at the old one, then at Lu Yuan. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

Suddenly, he reached out, snatched up the new lamp, and held it close to his eyes, turning it over and over. His fingers rubbed the rough casing, his fingertips brushing the etched lines, his movements so light they were almost gentle.

He looked at it for a long time.

Then he abruptly covered his face with his hand, his shoulders beginning to tremble.

He made no sound. But Lu Yuan saw moisture seeping between his fingers.

Wang Shuo stood beside him, at a loss.

Lu Yuan didn't move.

After a long while, Mo Chen lowered his hand. The tear tracks on his face had yet to dry, but his eyes were frighteningly bright, roiling with wild joy, shock, grief and indignation, unwillingness to accept it... and a trace of deeply buried fear.

He looked at Lu Yuan, his voice as raspy as sandpaper scraping.

"Kid..." he said. "What's your name?"

"Lu Yuan."

"Lu Yuan." Mo Chen repeated it, baring his teeth in a smile uglier than a cry. "Do you know... that thing you just drew is enough to make those lords in Spirit Hall's technical department drag me back and lock me up for another ten years?"

In the dim light of the workshop, the newly extinguished lamp lay quietly on the table.

Its metal casing was rough, its seams crooked.

But the simplified circuit inside seemed to radiate an invisible, scorching heat.