"Do you need help?"
Standing on the cracked bluestone street, a man halted and looked at a boy who sat helplessly before a pile of ruins. The boy's body was covered in blood and bruises, pale bluish-white stone dust clinging to his wounds. The dark-red fingers of both hands seemed faintly drained of life.
"…"
The boy stared blankly at the two unrecognizable bodies buried in the rubble before him and answered only with silence.
He remembered his sister once telling him that Shrek City was the safest place in the world. As long as he didn't anger any soul masters, he could make a lot of money.
Crack.
The man felt something he had maintained for many years shatter within him. The world suddenly appeared from an entirely new perspective. Faintly, he seemed to hear the sound of crying beside his ears. When he turned back to look, what entered his sight was no longer simply collapsed houses and broken streets.
From gaps between fallen walls, red-and-white fluids trickled out. A slender pale arm lay beneath a stone at his feet. The once quiet, seemingly deserted street had always been full of people,they had simply gone unnoticed, unvalued. Some had soul power under level ten, low-ranking soul masters. Most were ordinary people, the ones who filled the giant city with life and served as its nameless lubricant.
With this new perspective, Chen Fu once again looked at the ruins before the boy. That place had once had a beautiful name,chosen personally by Chen Fu,Ling Pavilion.
He suddenly remembered the ordinary steward who had followed him for more than ten years: Uncle Fu. Come to think of it, Uncle Fu really was careless,after serving as his manager for over a decade, his clothes were still being stolen by others. If he ever caught the thief, he would definitely deduct Uncle Fu's wages.
And that adoptive daughter of his… her name was Bai Ping, wasn't it? She yawned all the time during work, claiming she had a younger brother to take care of and had to take a night shift job too. Why hadn't Uncle Fu fired such a lazy employee?
As for that green hamster spirit beast, it said last week it was going back home to dig up some treasure and would return later.
"Will they be punished?"
You mean punished for not finding anything related in your laboratory?
The sword-bearing Long Xiaoyao, who followed closely behind, didn't dare answer carelessly. After a moment of thought, he replied tentatively:
"They shouldn't be."
Although the meaning was different, the answer was the same.
"Oh."
Chen Fu let out a quiet "oh," his face expressionless.
"You're Bai Qi, right?"
He couldn't even remember the name of the yawning girl, yet he called out the boy's name instantly.
"Come with me."
After speaking, he no longer spared another glance at the devastation around them and began walking toward the city outskirts.
Long Xiaoyao followed quietly behind him, still carrying his sword.
"Sir, they're here."
Walking through the devastated Shrek City, ravaged by unrestrained soul power, Jin Lin led more than twenty students from Shrek Academy and silently followed in Chen Fu's steps.
Chen Fu looked back at the surviving Shrek City that had endured the explosion of soul power and the chaotic battle among more than twenty Title Douluo. The once-glorious supercity was now covered in scars. He then shifted his gaze to the academy students,Ning Tian, Huo Yuhao, and the others.
Their previously idealistic bright eyes now carried a trace of confusion about the future.
His gaze paused briefly on the light-butterfly girl behind the boy with spirit-eyes. Then he faced everyone and asked:
"Do you know where we're going?"
"…No."
In the silence, a student from the Original Soul Tool Academy,who had previously worked under Chen Fu,finally spoke up.
Truly, a bunch of hot-blooded fools.
Chen Fu neither approved nor denied this thought. He had once led a team just as foolish as they were.
"It's fine if you don't know. Just follow me."
He had said the same words long ago.
The Super Douluo of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect left after ensuring Ning Tian's safety. Ning Tian had an important decision to make and needed to report back to her sect master.
"…You're sure Ning Tian said that?"
Although astonished at how such a disturbing soul tool could exist, Ning Yi didn't really care. Even without facing such a weapon, he couldn't beat anyone in a one-on-one fight.
"Yes, Sect Master. She shouted it publicly in front of all the Shrek upper-level officials."
Ning Yi suddenly felt a headache coming, but at the same time, he felt relieved.
Those who achieve great things do not fuss over details.
A leader must have the courage to make decisive choices.
"Notify all clan members in the city immediately. Take nothing with you! Head toward Chen Fu at once!"
The direct bloodline must all flee,survival was reason enough. As for the others, perhaps this was the "loss" that the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect must pay in the balance of gains and losses.
Their wealth had built the sect; they understood deeply that wealth was only useful if one stayed alive.
They needed to reach Chen Fu as quickly as possible, or they would die miserably. If you want to be the first to eat the crab, you must be prepared to be poisoned by it.
When that young man revealed the weapon called "Exile," his fate in the soul master world had already been sealed.
If he merely possessed such a weapon, Ning Yi might have cast Ning Tian out of the sect rather than stake everything on him. But now? A nine-rank soul tool capable of replication.
Combined with that man's unique ring-fusion technique, the world had, in a moment, quietly patched itself. The traditional soul masters were utterly unprepared.
Fortunately, Nine Treasure City was close to Shrek City.
When Ning Yi and his clan stepped out of the city, they saw a sword aura that swept across heaven and earth.
Long Xiaoyao stood alone, wielding a cyan light sword at full power, facing a temporary alliance of more than twenty Title Douluo from the Douluo Continent. The thousand-meter-long blade of light slashed the world into blinding white.
No Title Douluo could withstand three of his attacks. His invisible spiritual sword caused no physical damage, but any soul ring struck by it would be gravely damaged. For Douluo who relied heavily on soul ring abilities, it was terrifying.
If he weren't worried about Chen Fu being stolen away, Long Xiaoyao would have happily carried his precious sword across both continents, striking down anyone who annoyed him,calling it "helping you master your self-created soul skills quicker."
This behavior would one day trigger a craze of self-created skill development across the two continents.
After cutting down several more Title Douluo, the thousand-meter radius around Long Xiaoyao became a forbidden zone.
It was worth mentioning that Long Xiaoyao's sword aura did not distinguish between friend and foe.
Fortunately, Chen Fu had anticipated this. Upon regrouping, he had Long Xiaoyao use the shallow-layer logic of "Exile" to sever only the residual spirit fragments inside the soul rings of the Original Soul Tool Academy students, preparing them to become energy rings.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were unaffected,the former because his soul ring spirits were complete, the latter because an unknown power shielded him. Chen Fu said nothing about it. The vast divine power of the Sea God was something he would never forget. But debts had proper owners, and bullying a little girl was not Chen Fu's style.
Still, Wang Dong being here was rather inconvenient.
"Is everyone here?"
Outside Nine Treasure City, Chen Fu asked Ning Tian. After leaving Shrek City, they'd rushed straight here.
Aside from the issue of the "dual god positions," Chen Fu's planning was otherwise always thorough.
"Where are we going?"
Reunited with his daughter, Ning Yi finally relaxed, and inwardly felt grateful,the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had chosen the right person to follow.
"Star Dou Forest."
"Help me open the space wristband."
Sitting in the carriage, Chen Fu handed his space wristband to the blonde girl who always quietly stayed by his side.
Behind them was a caravan squeezed tightly together to stay within Long Xiaoyao's protection range.
The Nine Treasure clan had found someone waiting to escort them outside the city, so they went back, packed supplies, and followed Chen Fu toward the forest. Chen Fu had many places he could go,many forces were eager to host him,but only the Star Dou Forest allowed him to continue pursuing his true goal.
Jin Lin took the wristband, activated soul power, and opened it.
"In sector E6, there are six black-and-red Ark cores. Take one out."
Without soul power particles, Chen Fu could not store soul power in his body,not even enough to take items out of a space soul tool.
And both the second-generation Ark and the third-generation prototype nuclear Ark were inside the band.
Unfortunately, even activating an Ark core required soul power.
"Gather your soul power and strike this embedded point with full force."
Under his instruction, Jin Lin condensed her soul power into a needle and struck the marked firing pin.
Buzz.
The nuclear Ark erupted with a vast wave of soul power.
He glanced toward the void. The [Azure] database was damaged, but his spiritual realm hadn't fallen. In that nothingness stood the strongest being alive,Semi-God Mu En, crossing the void with his physical body.
Awake at last, my dear protector?
Chen Fu then directed [Azure] to control the temporary external soul source.
"Tianmeng, let's make a deal."
The failsafe he'd prepared in case the protector lost his mind could now be used elsewhere.
As for using this "gift of nature" against the transcendent Mu En,Chen Fu valued Tianmeng for his massive spiritual reserves. It lacked offensive power, but [Azure] certainly did not. Temporarily wiping the un-divinized spiritual body of a god-tier entity into idiocy was not impossible.
A moment of foolishness could lead to a lifetime of foolishness,best prevent it.
[High-density spiritual soul source captured. Absorbing.]
"Yuhao! We're going to get rich! We're flying! Woohoo!"
Even though most of his spiritual source was being devoured by [Azure], Tianmeng sounded delighted inside Huo Yuhao's mind.
"Later Chen Fu can help us get rid of that gray ball,ah! Save me! I didn't say anything! Yuhao help!"
"…Elder Yi, Brother Tianmeng is just joking…"
Watching Tianmeng,reduced to a tenth of his former strength,being toyed with by Electrolux, Huo Yuhao felt uneasy.
"…That man is monstrously talented in the Dao of causality. Consider it this fat worm's fortune," Electrolux commented after a moment of thought.
[Azure Divine Ring rebooting.]
Clang.
The shattered blue data ring unfolded behind Chen Fu once more. The broken azure runes reformed, slowly crawling across the newly reborn, glasslike divine ring.
But the four tiny transparent companions were gone.
[Divine Ring System updated: Ascension Light Wheel.]
The four soul rings were erased entirely by divine power. With his current technology, he couldn't leap four rings to attach a sixth soul ring, so he could no longer advance in the soul ring system.
But soul rings did not affect soul-power accumulation. It was just that a level-60 Soul Emperor would normally be beaten senseless by a level-50 Soul King,so no one ever tried such a thing.
Activating the new Ascension Light Wheel, a silver-blue crystal appeared in Chen Fu's hand.
This was something [Azure] found in the Golden Tree's spiritual sea. From the tree's memories, he learned this was… Tang San's mother.
The true reason the third strike of the Shura God never fell.
The first strike destroyed the divine mechanism built from the Golden Tree; [Azure] discovered the crystal trying to flee.
But who was [Azure]?
The ultimate nightmare above Shrek City, Tianmeng Iceworm's caretaker, ruler of the trans-domain spiritual network, and the top-tier spiritual predator whose master lovingly called it "Little Blue."
A boundless web of spiritual power captured Tang San's mother's divine-mind crystal instantly.
Even when the Shura God's second strike obliterated the Golden Tree vessel, he could not reclaim it from [Azure].
The third strike never fell because [Azure] could not break the crystal's outer divine shell,yet discovered that Shura divine power could.
He reinserted the crystal into the Ascension Light Wheel,this was not something he could solve now.
Clang.
A crisp sound echoed from the blue light wheel. The nuclear Ark's soul power was continuously absorbed and converted.
The "Exile" sword,always clutched tightly by Long Xiaoyao,turned into a stream of light and floated happily around Chen Fu.
In truth, it was [Azure] controlling it.
"Elder Long, this is not how 'Exile' is meant to be used."
He removed the 2.5-generation Ark core from the blade and installed a third-generation prototype.
The 2.5-generation was durable.
The third-generation excelled in explosive output.
"Jin Lin, what kind of soul beast counts as one of your kind?"
Chen Fu controlled [Azure] to bring forward the corpse of a ninety-second-rank agility-type Title Douluo,killed by Long Xiaoyao while trying to steal something. "Exile" only augmented Long Xiaoyao's attacks; he was still a level-99 Ultimate Douluo.
"Anything under ten thousand years… is food."
Watching the corpse dissolve in Chen Fu's hand like dust, the girl frowned.
"In that case, the target will be soul beasts under one thousand years."
"Go."
With a wave, he sent [Azure] and "Exile" soaring off.
A streak of blue light shot across the sky.
One hand controlled the authority of his technological throne, disassembling the corpse; the other pulled materials from the wristband to craft another prototype nuclear Ark.
The Ark was powerful,its output could reach Title Douluo levels,but it lacked endurance. At full output, it lasted only a minute before the high-energy material inside burned out.
[Azure], using the Ascension Light Wheel as its base station, could radiate influence across a hundred kilometers,so "Exile" could only operate within that range before running dry.
In a distant forest, a hundred-year Soft-Bone Rabbit lifted its ears while drinking. A streak of rainbow light pierced its skull, evaporating its brain instantly.
Then [Azure] used "Exile's" energy to break down and absorb the rabbit. After gathering what it wanted, it vanished again into the woods.
Soon, Chen Fu compared the collected materials with those he held,they matched perfectly.
He reinstalled an Ark core into "Exile," then sent [Azure] out again.
Until,
"What exactly are you doing?!"
Nearing the inner region of the Star Dou Forest, an enraged Di Tian appeared a thousand meters away. He had tried approaching closer but was forced out by a pressure in the void.
"Even if a hundred-year soul beast is food, they can't endure this!"
Within a hundred kilometers of Chen Fu's caravan, there was almost no soul beast left under a hundred years old.
Chen Fu opened his personal space soul tool and chose materials. Shrek Academy and Nine Treasure City had enriched his inventory by quite a bit.
Piece by piece, materials were disassembled into metal particles. With [Azure's] help, they were rearranged into the form he wanted.
"I already said,they're materials."
As he compressed the collected blood-red particles, Di Tian felt his eyelid twitch.
[Azure] guided nanometer-scale soul-tool patterns and special metallic particles into the blood particles, arranging them in multidimensional matrices until, macroscopically, they formed a blood-colored, flesh-like metal cube the size of an eyeball.
"What are you making?"
Di Tian was briefly stunned by the bizarre creation,then remembered he still needed an explanation!
"Soul beasts truly are blessed by heaven."
Chen Fu admired the delicate object in his hand.
"…?"
Di Tian felt he had heard that line somewhere before.
Slash.
Chen Fu disinfected "Exile," then stabbed it into his own chest.
"You,!"
The blonde girl nearby only frowned. Di Tian nearly jumped.
His soul power realm was empty, but his physical realm remained strengthened by dissolved soul rings.
Using [Azure] to stop the bleeding, Chen Fu embedded the blood-metal core,made from the power of a Title Douluo and countless soul beasts,into the center of his chest. It fused with his body, becoming one with his flesh. Only a glowing square remained on his chest.
Buzz.
The Ascension Light Wheel lit up ring by ring, quickly rising to the sixty-fifth mark.
This was the soul-power capacity his body originally had.
"What have you done?!"
Seeing Chen Fu's soul-power return instantly, Di Tian felt only danger.
"This is a gift… and a disaster."
Chen Fu smiled faintly, his dark eyes calm as ink.
This is an era for mortals.
This is a saga for mortals.
This is a song of ice and fire for mortals.
Because its name is,
"Pandora."
Technology is a double-edged sword,and this time, even the handle is being smashed into the soul beasts' heads.
If you want to read 40 advanced chapters and 3 new chapters daily, please subscribe to my : patreon.com/Moorowkeel