Regarding the completion of this stage of the Mò Líng grain-breeding project, Chen Fu first offered encouragement, then assigned her a set of improved breeding procedures he had personally refined. He also told her to focus on her work for the time being and not to come looking for him unless absolutely necessary.
The deep study of technology is usually tedious, but Chen Fu had always been someone capable of enduring monotony.
He remembered what his university advisor in his previous life once said: "Focus. Reach the peak."
So Chen Fu obediently chose energy technology and devoted himself to cold-fusion research.
Reality proved that he did indeed have some talent, but Chen Fu would rather be a bit dull, progress a bit slower, and avoid standing out too much. Using the well-known story of the "Turkey Scientist" from his past life, he wasn't the turkey that figured out how to open the door , he was the turkey frantically peeking through the crack to see what was inside.
A tall tree catches the wind , this was the lesson from his previous life.
A tall tree catches the wind , this was the reality of his life now.
It sounds contradictory, doesn't it?
The background of being "the former City Lord's son" forced him to reveal the Ark, and his inability to share the Ark's core technology forced him to remain in Shrek City as an honorary professor.
He became entangled with the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, with spirit beasts, and eventually used Ascension to bind the entire Shrek together. If he did not show enough value, he might not have even been allowed to leave Shrek.
It felt as if the moment he entered Shrek, the entire world held nothing but hostility toward him.
Without the Ark, soul-tool research would have been impossible. Low-ranked soul masters cannot operate high-ranked soul tools. Chen Fu's final fate would have been nothing more than a mediocre six-or-seven-rank soul engineer.
Not everyone can stumble upon some heaven-defying fortune that turns them into a prodigy. At least, Chen Fu couldn't.
The Throne of Technology spirit appeared to have a very high upper limit, but without Chen Fu using his past life's cold-fusion knowledge to create the Ark , a piece of energy black technology , the martial soul would barely function.
And the data divine ring, Youlan, created on the foundation of the Ark, was simply an extension of Chen Fu's own research.
Anything Youlan could do, Chen Fu could also do , often better. And in the fields he specialized in, Youlan couldn't even touch the threshold.
Youlan existed to improve Chen Fu's efficiency. In a sense, as a data soul ring linked to his very soul, Youlan was the digitization of his own personality.
Everything Chen Fu possessed did not fall from the sky. He pieced it together using the remnants of knowledge from his previous life. For eighteen years he had never picked up immortal herbs, never eaten rare medicines, never had an old master living inside a ring , only memories.
It was those memories that let him help his cheap father gather supporters during chaotic times and build a fortified city. They also helped him carve out his own path in soul-tool development.
Everything in today's landscape was something Chen Fu fought back for little by little , without relying on force, without relying on dominance, but on presenting his value in the right way.
Nirvana was like this. Jade was like this. The unsealed first-generation Ark was like this. The later Divine Ring, Soul-Awakening Array, Exile, and even the upgraded Ascension , all the same.
Weakness is a sin, but wisdom is not weakness. From the beginning, Chen Fu had always been under the gaze of top-tier powerhouses , living every day in a state where he could be crushed at any moment.
Fan Yu treated Chen Fu quite well, which was why Chen Fu would help the soul-tool department whenever he had time.
Fan Yu was good , but that did not mean the academy's collective interests were good.
If he did not hand over the Ark, he would die. If he handed it over, he would also die, because the academy would not allow him to continue any further research. That was why Fan Yu had been so furious before Chen Fu's graduation defense , because he feared Chen Fu might say something wrong and get himself killed.
Handing the Ark to the academy to decipher was the time Chen Fu bought for himself. He needed to display value that was even more irreplaceable during this period , like Nirvana, which grasped onto Mu En and Xuan Zi's weaknesses.
Chen Fu's core targets were always only two kinds of people: the highest-level powerhouses and the lowest-level oppressed.
Humans are contradictory beings. After climbing to the top through bloodshed, they often become more humane.
Perhaps that was why it was said: "It is cold at the top"?
These people had the freest minds and the strongest execution power.
After stabilizing Mu En and Xuan Zi with Nirvana, Chen Fu used the Divine Ring to pull both the people behind Ma Xiaotao and Mu En himself into his camp.
Taking Ning Tian as a disciple made the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect pay even more attention to him.
Then Chen Fu shifted toward soul-ring augmentation research, placing himself under the gaze of the super fearsome soul-beast, Di Tian.
Even the early custom soul-tool commissions from Ling Pavilion were part of gathering momentum, though the development was so fast that Chen Fu never ended up using that plan.
The more top-tier people noticed him, the safer he became. The safer he became, the bigger the moves he could make , for example, Youlan was developed entirely without Shrek's knowledge.
Xuan Zi once came asking questions during the first retrieval of Youlan's mental network, but Ma Xiaotao dragged him away, and by the time they returned, the matter was already a done deal and was left unresolved.
Long Xiaoyao was brought by Mu En to help share the risk posed by Di Tian, but the result was that Di Tian gave Chen Fu a dragon scale, and Long Xiaoyao then made a deal with him.
Then Mu En vigorously pushed the upgraded version of the Divine Ring , the Ascension Project.
When the Three-Eyed Golden Lion appeared in the form of Jiang Nan, Chen Fu felt fury and terror. Something that could know his inner thoughts would naturally understand the meaning behind his actions.
Knowing it was forbidden, yet choosing to do it anyway?
Chen Fu didn't know. But he did know he could not accept such a value system , so he resisted.
The final result was that Chen Fu had no choice but to search for existences related to gods.
He remembered there was once a game called "Halo" in which a character very similar to him existed , someone with no great personal strength, yet who still took part in the entire war between top civilizations.
"Sometimes I really feel like laughing at myself."
Watching the lake glow under the starlight, the boy's expression could not be seen in the ink-black night.
"So you just told me everything like that?"
The girl leaned against his shoulder, hugging his arm. It wasn't broad, but it made her feel incredibly safe.
"Saying it out loud makes me feel better. When you keep something inside, it means you care."
At this point, he felt that these trivial things should just be let go. Everything was already moving in the best direction.
Chen Fu leaned back slightly, letting the girl rest more comfortably.
"Then the gifts you gave me , were those all part of your plans too?"
His hand naturally wrapped around Ma Xiaotao's soft waist, pulling her into his arms amid her startled cry.
"That's where I'm clever. I used my favorite method to achieve my goals. You should praise me for it, don't you think?"
Everything could hide cold reality beneath the warmest gestures, mixing together until one could no longer tell which part was true.
The girl's body tensed slightly. She rested quietly against him, saying nothing , though his waist was definitely paying the price.
"Nirvana may look simple now, but it came from asking senior after senior, reading book after book, and slowly gathering, summarizing, and testing everything bit by bit."
Sitting on the grass by the lake, he spoke softly while holding the girl in his arms.
"Hehe~ You got bullied so many times asking weird questions, and it was always me who went to fight your battles!"
Remembering something amusing, the girl laughed.
She got up, punched him lightly, then sat down in his lap.
"And in the end, you're the one protecting me."
Her flame-bright eyes seemed to light up the night.
"But you protected me when I needed help the most."
The boy's dark eyes sparked like fireworks.
"Chen Fu…"
"Mm. I'm here."
"Am I pretty?"
Cool hands wrapped around his neck, and in her orange-red eyes, he saw his own reflection.
"I have trouble recognizing beauty… but yours truly appeared before me and became part of my life…"
"Mmm…"
Her soft lips silenced all his unspoken words.
Everything he had prepared and poured his heart into had been for this moment , weighing the shores of Sea God Lake again and again amid the brewing war…
World, are you ready to welcome a new era?
"Tian Meng, care to make a deal?"
In the deep night, the sudden transmission nearly scared a certain nature-blessed troublemaker to death.
"Your Excellency the Artificer God, long time no see…"
"I've found a direction that solves the total-capacity issue. Interested in hearing it?"
After finishing all his preparations, Chen Fu held the sleeping girl in his arms, watching the pale light of dawn slowly rise at the horizon. His heart was as calm as still water.
The Ascension Project , the creation of gods , had begun.
Thank you all for your support , the book's data has been rising fast lately, letting more people see it on the new-book rankings. I'm very grateful.
Sometimes I'm surprised that some readers could predict the protagonist's general path several chapters in advance and even give suggestions. You're amazing, but I had already planned this from the start , otherwise how could I keep going?
Of course, I can guarantee that although there are foreshadowings, the protagonist's future path is not that easy to guess. Anyway, I haven't written it yet , if you guess right, I'll quietly change it (just joking).
This chapter may feel a little filler-ish, but I kept running into questions like "Why not write it this way?" "Why that way?" "Why does the MC have cheats but still acts humble?" "Why not leave Shrek?" "Why not go to Sun–Moon?" and so on. Out of humanitarian concern, I used a moment of self-reflection from the protagonist to sort out his circumstances and help readers who hadn't connected the dots yet.
I even encountered haters. I'm not even popular yet , why bully me…?
Of course, I can't always write long explanations like this, so I added a bit of actual plot afterward to dilute it.
Good brothers, I won't be this straightforward later. Let's return to realistic logic.
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