Buzz!
The massive ring-shaped soul tool flashed with dazzling blue light. At its center, the enormous blue-gold divine tree erupted with radiant brilliance. Streams of high-density, high-speed soul power particles surged along their precisely calibrated tracks at unimaginable velocity.
From above, the entire Sea God Lake was divided and recombined into a gigantic blue halo made of pale blue soul power and high-precision particle streams. Countless auxiliary channels connected to one another, glowing rhythmically with ordered pulses of light.
The outermost layer of the Ascension apparatus lit up completely, then rolled inward like layers of surging waves.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
From the outer ring inward, one high-energy circular track after another lit up. Their pulsing rhythm resembled breathing, and with each cycle, the filtered high-energy soul particles converged toward a single point.
In the blinding white light, Mu En was pierced by semi-fused refined soul particles that matched his spiritual signature perfectly. His supernaturally heightened perception flared with violent danger warnings, but his brain registered nothing. In that instant, he lost all sensation in his body.
The numbness did not last long. Soon, Mu En began to feel a dull, wooden sensation spread through his body. Through this numbness, he realized first that his body was "melting." A scorching heat, like watching flames from behind protective gear, filled him from within.
Old hidden injuries left by his battle with the previous Sect Master of the Body Sect were burned away completely in this inner fire. The soul power that had long stagnated now surged upward at an astonishing rate.
Correspondingly, he lost all sense of his soul bones.
The thousands of Ark energy cores prepared over a whole year by several dozen Title Douluos erupted with high-density soul power. As Mu En began absorbing his soul bones, that immense energy was added in controlled proportion.
Compared to absorbing soul bones alone, this "infusion" greatly accelerated the foundational accumulation of soul power needed for the Ascension ritual, allowing the practitioner to reach qualitative transformation faster.
When Mu En had absorbed half of his soul bones, Chen Fu standing beneath the now overheated blue-gold divine tree, issued the second command.
[Initiate Second Divine Path]
[Codename: Ring Assimilation]
The command traveled instantly through every functional sector via the overclocked divine tree mainframe.
The outer arc-shaped tracks began to glow once more as a new wave of high-energy refined soul particles entered preparation.
"What terrifying control…"
Vice Dean Qian Duoduo, standing beside Fan Yu, stared at the layered blue soul tool halos perfectly confined within Sea God Lake. Shock filled his heart.
He had helped supply the thousand-plus Ark cores buried under the lake, cores comparable in energy to ordinary Title Douluos. Compared to the Ark, the Scorching Sun device his academy developed felt like garbage.
Even more than the Ark's collective power, it was Chen Fu's unimaginable control over soul power that left Qian Duoduo completely speechless, without the slightest desire to ever catch up.
"He said before: small controls the great, tools control tools. All this soul power is accumulated bit by bit by the Ark. And his incomprehensible control is itself the result of soul tool technology."
When Fan Yu first saw the Exile Phantom, he had already given up on trying to surpass his student. Outside the academy, he didn't even dare mention that Chen Fu was once his disciple, not because Chen Fu minded, but because saying it made his face burn with shame.
"Shaozhe, stop staring. Take Xian'er and the others and scout which forces are outside."
For this plan that practically gambled Shrek's entire future, Xuan Zi refused to be careless. And in his perception, a familiar aura at the center of Sea God Lake was expanding rapidly.
If at the beginning he might have hesitated, now, after everything had gone this far, the decision was no longer his alone.
Blame Chen Fu's god-making project, far too tempting. Since the days of the first-generation Shrek Seven Monsters, no one on the Douluo Continent had become a god in tens of thousands of years.
If this world had demons, then that boy Chen Fu was definitely the most troublesome demon of all.
With him, you never had to worry about affording his price. You could even take things for free, he would always find what he wanted somewhere else.
"…My lord, every time you don't see him for a while, the world becomes unfamiliar again."
Far on the distant horizon, a black dragon spread its wings high in the sky. Standing upon its head was a humanoid figure.
"…"
Gu Yue Na did not answer. Her brilliant silver dragon eyes stared coldly toward the distance. The image of that man bearing a divine halo, revealing godhood, was etched clearly in her gaze.
"What are soul beasts in your eyes?"
That long-ago question surfaced before her again.
"Materials."
The man's reply was simple, direct, without a second of hesitation.
She remembered the calm indifference in his eyes. He was not the slightest bit concerned that the black dragon beside him could crush him like an insect at any moment.
"Will they succeed? That Mu boy's aura is rising incredibly fast—already on the level of the Snow Empress."
The black dragon spoke again. The Snow Empress was the being in the Extreme North who could match him by relying on environmental advantage.
"He has already derived divinity. He now understands all the secrets of becoming a god."
Gu Yue Na didn't answer the question directly. But from her observation of that man, success followed by replication was his defining trait.
"…Should we interfere?"
Di Tian hesitated. If Chen Fu succeeded, soul beasts would have no power to resist in the future.
"And… I noticed something. Chen Fu claims his soul tools help soul beasts, but it feels more like a lie, one built by stepping on soul beasts."
After learning some soul tool theory from Jin Lin, Di Tian realized that Chen Fu's energy rings—spirit mark rings, dissolution rings, spirit marks, energy rings, and finally Ascension—formed a complete god-making production line.
Technology was supposed to be a double-edged sword that harmed both sides. So why did every blade swing toward soul beasts???
Hearing him, Gu Yue Na fell silent as well. She knew they could destroy the experiment, but killing the key individual was impossible.
The world's will focused intently on him. Even the divine trial from an unfamiliar late-ascending god showed that this man was not someone to provoke lightly.
Exhaling a heavy breath, she admitted to herself that if one wasn't careful, that man always caused catastrophic events.
"Wait. Wait for his promise."
Her voice held helplessness and frustration.
…
Mu En, who had completely lost control over his body, sank into the strange joy of being "power-leveled," when suddenly he felt himself overturned by a tidal force. His spirit felt pierced by needles, and his body involuntarily released his soul rings.
Buzz!
A third Ark core ignited. Vast soul power surged through his body via the Blue Shade divine ring. This was the third core he activated. Because the Bone Fusion stage required soul infusion, it had taken longer than expected, but the following Ring Assimilation and Soul Fusion stages would be much faster.
Within a few breaths, Mu En's first soul ring shattered, followed by the second, the third…
As his power climbed to new extremes, Mu En felt the soul power in his body explode again. His two-toned soul cores, previously hidden deep inside, were compressed together by the overwhelming influx of energy. Surrounded by walls of high-energy particles, the cores spun rapidly, giving the illusion of merging into one.
Soul rings correspond to spirit and soul. The third step, Soul Fusion, would achieve results the moment Ring Assimilation completed.
Soon, Mu En's fourth soul ring began to dissolve…
Chen Fu lifted his head toward the sky.
At some unknown time, the heavens had darkened
"Mortals must not overstep."
It felt as if
The sky had collapsed.
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