The sunlight felt a bit harsh. Through the gaps between his fingers, Chen Fu could vaguely see his mentor's angry expression above him.
Sunlight filtering through the giant green trees cast shifting shadows across Fan Yu's face.
"Fourth-year student Chen Fu, please present your graduation project."
Sensing the tension between mentor and student that was about to erupt, the reviewing teacher performed his usual duty as an emotionless announcer.
"Reporting to the teacher, the student's graduation project is…"
Facing away from the crowd of students who had come to watch, Chen Fu looked up at his mentor, whose fists were clenched and face pale with anger, as if time had frozen.
They had bickered for four years. His mentor often scolded him for neglecting proper studies and taking the wrong path, saying that one day he would meet a terrible end.
But in the end, whenever Chen Fu needed experimental materials, the mentor had never denied him.
In his first year, Chen Fu had gotten into a huge argument with his mentor over how his final project, "Soul Power Miniature Storage Technology," should be applied.
His mentor believed the technology should be adapted for soul-tool cannons, which would greatly improve the endurance and output of the academy's existing offensive soul tools.
But Chen Fu intended to make soul tools accessible to ordinary people. Like an efficient battery "bottle," it would allow civilians with no soul power to use soul tools. Paired with the agricultural tools he designed, it could vastly improve productivity.
Although a single food-type soul master could feed many people on the Douluo Continent, Chen Fu had done the math: only about ten percent of the population had innate soul power, and fewer than five percent had potential to cultivate. That meant about ninety-five percent of people effectively had no soul power.
And among the remaining five percent, the ratio of combat-type to food-type soul masters was even more extreme. A small survey at Shrek Academy showed the ratio to be around one percent.
So? Should the masses rely on a handful of people to survive? And why should those people support everyone else?
Furthermore, for soul-tool technology to develop quickly and maturely, relying solely on fewer than a thousand researchers across both continents was unrealistic. Mass-produced soul-tool soldiers could serve practical purposes, but breakthroughs in technology still depended on the few true researchers.
"Soul tools for everyday use, and ultimately soul power for everyday use" had always been Chen Fu's goal.
Within Shrek Academy, there was a faint belief in "soul-power conservation," and Fan Yu had clearly told him this phenomenon objectively existed.
"I no longer have a home in this world, Mentor. Do you understand how that feels?"
The cold moonlight outside draped the boy in a layer of frost. His eyes were calm to the core. The energy-infusing carving knife in his hand did not pause, and the geometric soul-power circuits formed rapidly.
"From now on, Shrek is your home." Seeing the boy's complete lack of emotional fluctuation, Fan Yu felt a throbbing headache. As for the political struggle behind this former "child of a rising city," Fan Yu had no desire to get involved.
"Do you think this can overturn them?" the boy asked, ignoring the mentor's words. He held up the newly finished geometric construct and placed it before Fan Yu.
"What is this?" The geometrical beauty of the object momentarily made Fan Yu forget the boy's wild claim.
"Final project. A level-two material 'Ark,' a new type of soul-power storage. Also, I think the grading system for soul tools is crude. This so-called level-two soul tool has the capacity of a traditional level-four bottle, yet costs less and is smaller."
Chen Fu had always looked down on grading based on the user's power. If one needed to become a nuclear explosion to wield nuclear power, then nuclear technology would be meaningless.
"Do you know what this means?!" Fan Yu was shaken. Though the boy's soul-master talent was average, Fan Yu had always believed that he and his martial soul possessed exceptional talent in soul-tool research. He had not expected such a shock after only one year.
"It means lowering the cost and class barriers of soul-tool usage."
That was the boy's answer, and even after three years, it still echoed in Fan Yu's ears.
Meeting his furious gaze, Chen Fu did not flinch.
Truth becomes clearer through debate. What began as an argument between master and student eventually turned into Shrek's soul-tool graduation assessment model.
Fan Yu knew what Chen Fu had been researching these past years. If successful, it would severely impact the existing soul-master system. Although after his "Soul-Power Miniaturization Project," the boy spent the next two years refining low-level soul tools with that same rational, geometric logic, Fan Yu knew,based on his emotionless eyes,that he had never abandoned his dangerous ideas.
Moreover, the way he used tools to control other tools, combined with his unique martial soul, had led to moments where even Fan Yu could not understand his student's ideas.
Unfortunately, mentor, you still guessed wrong, Chen Fu thought.
Allowing low-level soul masters to defeat high-level ones was not "overturning."
"My graduation project is a semi-automatic standardized soul-tool rifle."
Under Fan Yu's gaze, Chen Fu finally chose to compromise. From his space-type soul-tool wristband, he took out a slender "soul-tool long gun," intentionally making it different from standard models.
"This soul-tool firearm uses a level-four Ark core. It has rapid-fire and focused-blast modes. The first can penetrate a two-millimeter steel plate with a single pull of the trigger. The second can penetrate ten millimeters after a short charge. Its effective range is five hundred meters, with maximum damage at two hundred meters. It supports Ark-core swapping and direct soul-power charging."
Compared to his previous agricultural soul-tool designs, this semi-automatic standardized rifle was his first offensive weapon.
Seeing Fan Yu's relieved expression, Chen Fu sighed inwardly.
Mentor, habitual thinking is the enemy of innovation.
"Does it have an official grade?" the reviewing teacher asked, noticing Chen Fu had not mentioned its classification.
"With its materials and power, it's a level-four soul tool in the hands of low-level soul masters, and level-five for Soul Elders or Soul Kings."
The Ark core's charging module allowed Soul Elders and Soul Kings to amplify the energy blast.
"Its main advantage is that it gives one-ring or two-ring soul masters the killing power of a beginner level-four soul engineer."
Turning to the students watching from the field, Chen Fu added, "For example, without using my own soul power, relying only on the Ark core, I can take out most first- and second-year students with a single shot."
"Would you like to try the feel?" he asked, offering the rifle to the reviewing teacher.
The teacher accepted it,certainly not to fire at anyone,but the nearby students panicked and backed away, except for the upper-year and Inner Court students who stayed put.
Smiling helplessly, the reviewer gestured toward a nearby Inner Court defensive Soul King. The unlucky man had no choice but to step forward.
"Stand farther away. Let me test this soul tool."
With all his soul skills activated and shield raised, the unlucky Soul King braced himself. The reviewer used his Soul Emperor-level mental strength to quickly understand the firing principles, then aimed at the thickest part of the shield and tried a light burst.
Whoosh!
The defensive Soul King felt his shield tremble,no pain.
Whoosh!
Before he could react, a numbness spread through his whole body, forcing him back a few steps.
Smiling faintly, the reviewer dismissed him and did not attempt the final soul-power-enhanced mode. What he had seen was enough.
"What are your plans for this soul-tool technology?" a previously unnoticed elder beside Fan Yu suddenly asked.
"Self-decoding," Chen Fu replied.
As expected. The elder nodded. He felt a twinge of emotion,three years had passed, and Fan Yu still hadn't fully understood the original Ark's internal core circuit layering. A single composite node contained multiple soul-tool sequences, and without a method, the dense nodes were nearly impossible to decipher.
"In that case, the Inner Court rejects your admission."
Seeing Fan Yu's calm expression, Chen Fu suddenly thought of many things.
"Permanently?"
"Until we fully decode your Ark-core technology," the elder said casually, drinking and pulling snacks from his pocket.
"So I'm being expelled?"
"No, you are graduating," the dean of the Soul-Tool Academy corrected.
"Then I apply for the title of honorary instructor."
"Approved," the elder replied with a smile.
"Title only. No teaching duties."
"No problem," the elder said, unconcerned.
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