Soul Fusion Experiment

Federation capital.

The smoke and fire of war have long since dissipated. The earth, now bathed in blue sky and white clouds, remains unchanged, the snow-covered trees are still pristine, and the remaining rubble has been cleared away. Although traces of destruction still linger on the land, with the arrival of spring, these final signs will surely be buried in new life.

"What an interesting cycle."

Walking on the ground, gazing at the tiny seedlings sprouting tender buds beneath the snow, Li Lin couldn't help but smile.

It's ironic, isn't it? A thousand years ago, this was the territory of the Magic Empire, and back then, their people were killed and their buildings destroyed in this way. But how long can these things exist in the world? They fall, they are destroyed, and new life will rise again, cover, and grow. And when these lives fall and are destroyed, the cycle will continue. Never-ending.

The undead creatures hadn't polluted the environment, which was one of the things Li Lin was quite satisfied with. He discovered that even without Angela, he could control these undead armies using the master- Angela contract imprinted on her. Although the efficiency wasn't as high as with Angela, and it consumed more mental energy, it was still a good discovery for Li Lin. During Angela's absence, Li Lin systematically controlled the undead army's invasion range, preventing them from spreading unchecked. Firstly, it wasn't the right time yet. Secondly, he temporarily needed the living members of the Five-Nation Alliance, not the dead, to help him.

"His Majesty."

Just then, a Dark Elf stepped forward, knelt before Li Lin, and bowed to him.

"As you instructed, we have brought the prisoners."

"Very good."

Li Lin nodded, then looked towards the Dark Elf not far behind, where many people stood on the ruins, their clothes tattered. They shivered, not only because of the last chill of spring, but also because of the devastated scene of the city before them—and the huge black shadow floating in the air.

How many people are there in total?

"A total of thirty prisoners, Your Majesty. This is the largest number we could gather after searching the surrounding area."

At this point, the Dark Elf couldn't help but show a slightly embarrassed expression.

"The rest were all taken by your Scourge Legion..."

"You've done a very good job."

Li Lin understood what the Dark Elf were thinking. After all, when it comes to slaughter, nothing is more destructive than an army of undead. Even these living people were people they had managed to rescue with great difficulty from places the undead hadn't yet reached. Otherwise, they would probably have ended up as food for the undead army.

But now, their impending fate will not be much different from death.

"Send them into the magic circle."

Li Lin glanced again at the group of prisoners who were still unaware of their fate, and gave the order.

On the Federation capital's square, which had long since been cleared and scavenged by the undead army, a massive magic circle had appeared out of nowhere. It was entirely composed of crimson blood, with complex and terrifying characters swirling around it. Under the coercion of the Dark Elf, people slowly entered the magic circle. They still didn't know what they would ultimately face, but everyone's heart was filled with fear. Although many among them attempted to resist, when it came to making slaves more obedient, no one knew better than the Dark Elf.

As the last person stepped into the magic circle, the Dark Elf, under Li Lin's command, quickly retreated and left the circle's range. Even so, they still held their short spears, warily watching the prisoners standing in the center of the circle to prevent them from escaping. In fact, such worries were unnecessary; just looking at the overwhelming number of undead creatures all around, anyone would probably lose the courage to flee.

As the last Dark Elf left the magic circle, Li Lin stretched out his hands and began to chant.

The light of magical runes emerged from the back of his hand, emitting a faint glow. At the same time, a thin, bright red barrier covered the magic circle, completely imprisoning everyone inside.

Faced with this sudden change, the prisoners were terrified and looked around anxiously. They clung tightly to each other, unsure of how to react. However, they soon realized what they should do.

Intense pain erupted from the depths of their hearts, causing their heads to throb with pain. The technique Li Lin used was originally a type of necromancy used for interrogating enemies, employing powerful magic to tear at the opponent's soul, forcibly separating it from their body. The pain was almost unbearable for anyone. Even the strongest warriors could not endure such agony. If they refused to yield, the necromancer could completely separate their souls from their bodies, then interrogate those weakened souls by the heavy blows, easily obtaining all the information he desired.

This is a method that Li Lin is very good at and enjoys. Although he doesn't enjoy watching pain like other necromancers (that's the little guy's pleasure), for Li Lin, this method of obtaining information in the shortest time and in the simplest way is invaluable.

Now, he also needs this spell to help him complete his other research.

Even the strongest warriors couldn't endure this spell, let alone these ordinary civilians. Under the spell's influence, they screamed in agony, writhing on the ground. The absolute pain drove them almost to madness and chaos; some tore at their clothes, pounded their heads, and others even tried to slam their heads against the ground, hoping to escape the terrible agony through death. Cries and screams echoed through the ruins of the now-destroyed city, spreading like a final struggle before death.

Looks like we'll have to tie them up next time.

Watching a man die from unbearable pain, crashing his head against the wall, Li Lin frowned. He didn't need a corpse to complete his research.

To be precise, what he needed was a body without a soul.

With the complete revival of the Magic Empire, the demands of mages have increased. Those mages from the Magic Empire era, in particular, yearn to contribute their own strength. However, their bodies are currently confined by Li Lin's massive barrier. Once they leave this barrier, they will lose their physical form and be unable to perform other tasks. But mages are mages, and they naturally have many ways to try and regain their bodies. Although there are precedents in the history of the Magic Empire of mages Soul Transfer to constructs, these are rare cases. Most mages still desire a physical body with flesh and blood.

However, Soul Transfer is considered a rather advanced spell in magic, and even among the mages who survived the Magic Empire, very few have mastered it. Moreover, Soul Transfer requires a medium to act as an intermediary. And a mage's soul, which has lost its physical body and relies on pure Magic Power to solidify its body, cannot serve as a tangible medium.

Therefore, finding a way to give these mages' souls real bodies and allow them to leave the Ringwraith City to operate has become Li Lin's top priority. After all, the Magic Empire has a lot of work to handle in the future, and it's impossible to leave everything to the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys and Angela. The Empire's diplomacy, commerce, intelligence, and other work all require a large number of personnel. Giving the mages bodies and allowing them to leave the Ringwraith City to do these tasks is quite necessary. Moreover, from another perspective, keeping them permanently bound to the Ringwraith City is not conducive to stability, unity, and harmonious development.

Of course, this doesn't mean simply giving the mages a living body is enough; they must also be able to continue casting spells and moving around, just like before. This requires extensive experimentation and theoretical research before any conclusions can be drawn. Nia had discussed this issue with Li Lin before, but at that time, Li Lin didn't intend to resolve it quickly. However, now, due to a shortage of manpower, Li Lin has to begin researching this area again.

The screams gradually weakened, and then, bright spots appeared in the center of Li Lin's palm. These were the souls of those poor souls, forcibly dragged from their bodies and, powerless against the force of magic, brought before Li Lin. The light of their souls flickered like candles in the wind, beautiful yet fragile.

"One, two, three... Okay, the quantities are consistent."

After counting the number of souls, Li Lin extended a palm. As the magical runes reappeared, the condensed soul light began to flicker, like a candle about to be blown out by the wind, swaying and trying to keep its last bit of light in the world. However, the souls' resistance was merely a meaningless struggle. As Li Lin clenched his right hand, the last light completely turned into particles of light in the air and dissipated.

The light from the magic circle faded, and the prisoners lay sprawled on the ground, their eyes wide open, staring blankly at the sky. Though they still had faint breaths and heartbeats, the most vital thing within them would never return. They were now nothing more than empty shells, possessing only human forms but devoid of their souls.

"In medical terms, this should be called a vegetative state?"

Li Lin approached them, observed them carefully for a moment, and frowned slightly. However, Li Lin felt no sadness or heaviness regarding their fate. They were members of the Five-Nation Alliance, maggots growing on the corpses of the Magic Empire, like plants thriving on the bones of a city's ruins. Therefore, every hair and drop of blood they possessed belonged to the Magic Empire, and their use was justified. This was their deserved fate, their duty. Li Lin chanted the incantation again, and several points of light appeared out of thin air, transforming into indifferent figures around Li Lin. They stared intently at the bodies on the ground, awaiting Li Lin's command. As the first batch of "volunteers," these mages were all proficient in necromancy, having already taken multiple precautions to protect their souls to prevent any problems from affecting them. And they became the first subjects of Li Lin's experiment.

"You can go find the body you want now."

As soon as he finished speaking, the points of light couldn't wait to move. They dispersed and merged into the bodies lying on the ground. A hazy white light gradually emerged from those bodies. Li Lin could clearly see that the souls of the mages were trying to merge with the bodies of those humans in order to transform into a new form.

"Ugh!!!!"

Just then, a scream rang out again. A mage who was almost finished merging suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably all over. He rolled around desperately, his mouth agape, struggling like a fish out of water. But with a "bang," his body burst open from the inside, turning into fragments of flesh and blood.

The situation of the others was not optimistic either. Many fused mages, like him, exploded completely, and their complete bodies could not be found. Even those who did not explode had their bodies gradually swell up. Their originally thin bodies were now like inflated balloons, growing larger and larger.

"So it still doesn't work?"

Seeing this, Li Lin did not hesitate any longer. He quickly swept his hand across the void, and instantly, a seven-colored rift appeared. Then, white light rose again, and the souls of those mages were forcibly extracted from their bodies and disappeared into the seven-colored rift, returning to the Ringwraith City.

"It seems that an ordinary person's body really can't withstand the power of a mage."

After doing all this, Li Lin sighed. He went to the side of a mangled body and stared at the horrific flesh, where even the internal organs had disappeared. A mage's soul naturally contains their magical power. While an ordinary person's body can hold a soul, it is extremely dangerous to simultaneously hold magical power.

Fortunately, although the experiment failed, it did not damage the souls of those mages. Since they were not fully fused to begin with, any physical problems would not have a particularly strong impact on their souls.

"I was definitely too impatient."

After carefully examining the mangled corpse, Li Lin shrugged helplessly. Just now, he had determined the problem. The bodies of ordinary humans could not withstand magical power. Explosion was their only fate, and even among those with magical talent, probably less than one percent could withstand its power. After all, the amount of power possessed by each mage varied, and if the body of a talented individual could not withstand sufficient power, it would still suffer damage.

"It seems things are getting quite complicated."

Nia, who had appeared beside Li Lin without him noticing, was also somewhat helpless.

"It's troublesome... but we can't stop. After all, it's something we have to do sooner or later."

Li Lin shook his head.

"While the Five-Nation Alliance still has many members, we have plenty of opportunities to conduct experiments. Once the Five-Nation Alliance is wiped out, we'll have no good test subjects left."

"But first, we must solve the problem of how to make ordinary people's bodies able to withstand magical power, Li Lin."

As Eternal Library, Nia also understands the current problem.

"You know, this is an extremely difficult task. We didn't even complete it during the Magic Empire era, and now..."

"That's because at that time we were dealing with human beings. We needed to consider the feelings, thoughts, and interests of the majority."

Li Lin stared at the corpse before him.

"But now, these are just props... They're not human, and we don't need to treat them the same way we treat humans... Nia, you should still remember the process of creating the Magic Core Modification, right? Although this experiment failed, I think we've found a way to utilize it."

"Body modification? You mean... Symbiosis System?"

Hearing this, Nia raised an eyebrow. The Symbiosis System was an enhancement method used by mages during the Magic Empire era. They would embed magical artifacts deep within animals, allowing them to grow alongside their hosts. These animals would then evolve into magical beasts with considerable magical abilities, becoming the mages' assistants. Of course, during the Magic Empire era, this technology was strictly regulated and could only be performed on animals; such experiments on humans were forbidden. Moreover, even on animals, experiments were only conducted on relatively weaker species; excessively powerful beasts were also prohibited. After all, no one knew what kind of impact such magically powerful beasts would have if they grew up. Naturally, this technology had previously sparked much debate within the Magic Empire, with many mages proposing to use it to create an artificial magical beast army. However, this idea was ultimately rejected by the Arcane Mage, led by Li Lin, due to its extreme danger and inherent uncertainty.

"Li Lin, that's a method we use to process animals. If we want to use it on humans, we'll need more experiments to solve the problem. And you shouldn't have forgotten that if the target has consciousness, it could turn around and cause disaster for us. We must proceed with extreme caution in this regard."

"Of course, I haven't forgotten that."

As Li Lin spoke, he stood up.

"However, our experimental subjects are not humans."

As he spoke, a cold, cruel smile appeared on his face.

"A body without a soul is merely a tool... We don't need humans, we only need tools."