Mo Chen the Visionary

"Roll!"

The low growls emanating from the shack were hoarse, like the grinding of gravel, carrying undisguised rage.

Lu Yuan didn't move. He waved the few grayish-green grass stems in his hand. "Just passing by, picked some 'Grey Tooth Leaves,' maybe they can soothe the burning pain in my Soul Power." His tone was calm, even deliberately tinged with the curiosity a young man should have. "Want some water, or... see if you have any spare tools here? Mine's broken."

The curtain was suddenly flung open.

Mo Chen emerged. He was more clearly visible in the daylight—his eyes were sunken, his hair was gray and messy, like a clump of withered grass. His leather apron was covered in oil stains and burn marks, and his left hand's fingers were unnaturally curled, with fresh burns on the fingertips. But his bloodshot eyes were frighteningly sharp, and at this moment they were staring intently at the herbs in Lu Yuan's hand.

"Boy," his voice was icy, "Who sent you? A dog of the Hundred Refinements Pavilion? Or some blind family trying to pick up my leftovers?"

The fluctuations of Soul Power spread out faintly, chaotic yet carrying the oppressive aura of Soul Ancestor, like a wounded, trapped beast.

Lu Yuan feigned a hint of nervousness and took a half-step back. "Hundred Refinements Pavilion? Family? I... I'm just someone on the road." He spoke faster, his gaze "unintentionally" sweeping towards the shack.

On the stone workbench lay a piece of animal hide with tattered edges, covered with dense lines and symbols drawn in charcoal. From just one corner, Lu Yuan recognized it—the pattern he had glimpsed under the lamplight last night, the Core Array concept of a "universal Soul Tool" that attempted to integrate multiple basic Soul Skill.

His gaze lingered for less than half a second before he "panickedly" looked away.

Mo Chen caught that glance. He took a step closer, the oppressive aura of alcohol and burnt smell intensifying. "What are you looking at? You brat, some things you'll blind if you see them!"

"I... I didn't..." Lu Yuan took another step back, his hand gripping the herbs tightly, as if he were frightened, but he quickly said, "That diagram... is it Soul Guidance Array? It seems... it's trying to convert Soul Power of different attributes and connect it to a 'pivot'?"

Mo Chen was startled.

He stared at Lu Yuan as if he were a monster. "What did you say?"

"That's the place." Lu Yuan pointed to a spot on the animal hide map—the very location of the fatal flaw he had deduced. "Many lines converge and then diverge... It looks like they're trying to achieve the fire attribute's 'explosion,' the wind attribute's 'acceleration,' and the earth attribute's 'stagnation' all through the same transformation structure."

He paused, his tone hesitant, a mix of youthful ignorance and a barely suppressed desire to offer his opinion. "But... different attributes of Soul Power have vastly different fluctuation frequencies and energy characteristics. Forcing them to switch within a single point... won't that cause them to fight? It's like pouring ice water and hot coals into a jar."

Mo Chen's rage froze.

His lips moved, but no sound came out. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Lu Yuan's face, as if trying to see right through him.

A few seconds of deathly silence.

Only the mournful sound of the wind blowing through the rock pillars could be heard.

"You..." Mo Chen finally spoke, his voice hoarse, "You understand Soul Guidance Array?"

"I don't really understand," Lu Yuan shook his head, his expression sincere. "It's just some random thoughts I've come up with after reading a few miscellaneous books."

"Nonsense?" Mo Chen's voice suddenly rose, as if he had been stung, and his anger surged again. "You brat, you dare to have wild ideas after just one glance? Do you know how many years I've wasted on this?!"

His chest heaved violently, his finger pointing at the animal hides in the shack, his fingertips trembling. "Fighting? Ice water and hot coals? You make it sound so easy! Then tell me, how are we supposed to do it? Huh?!"

After Lu Yuan finished yelling, the tension on his face slowly faded. He quietly looked at Mo Chen, squatted down, and picked up a dry twig from beside him.

Mo Chen glared at him, panting heavily.

Lu Yuan didn't speak, but used the tip of the twig to scratch the dusty ground.

The lines are simple and straightforward. A circle representing the core energy source leads to three main lines, each pointing to a small symbol representing a different Soul Skill effect. The key is not in the main lines themselves, but near the circle—each of the three main lines connects to a small, independent buffer conversion structure. These three small structures then connect to the core energy source in a stable triangular parallel connection.

After finishing the painting, he threw away the branch and dusted off his hands.

"Something like this?" Her tone remained calm, even slightly uncertain. "We'll handle them separately, each going its own way, and then safely combine them at the end. It uses a bit more space, but it seems... less likely to explode?"

Mo Chen didn't look at the picture on the ground.

He stood frozen in place like a stone statue, his eyes fixed on the spot where Lu Yuan had passed. The anger, irritability, and dejection on his face vanished in an instant, leaving only an almost blank blankness.

Then, the confusion was quickly swallowed up.

His pupils contracted, his breathing became rapid, and his chest heaved like a bellows. He suddenly squatted down, almost pressing his face to the ground, his fingers trembling as he traced the crude lines over and over again.

He muttered unconsciously, "Separate... buffer... parallel... triangular stability..."

He suddenly looked up.

His bloodshot eyes flashed with a light even more terrifying and scorching than the night before, fixed intently on Lu Yuan's face.

The hoarse, shrill voice, filled with disbelief, horror, and urgency, shattered the morning silence of the stone forest.

"Who... who are you?!"

"How do you know about 'parallel voltage regulator'?!"

"This line of thinking... I've only seen a few vague records of it on some ancient, almost rotten, fragmented scrolls!"