Chapter 171: A Grand and Noble Ambition
Bei Bei, standing to the side, no longer knew what to say.
Furina's Water God Church was not only researching self-condensing soul rings and artificial soul rings, but also self-condensing soul bones and artificial soul bones.
What was even more terrifying was that they actually possessed enough pills and immortal herbs to push four Soul King-level soul masters—individuals long past their prime cultivation years—to break through to the Soul Sage level and beyond.
Although Soul Sages produced in such a manner would inevitably be inferior in true combat strength to those who had risen through innate talent and arduous cultivation, this alone was enough to demonstrate the staggering abundance of the Water God Church's resources.
And Furina had said "Soul Sage and beyond"—meaning Soul Sage was merely the baseline. It was entirely possible they could reach Soul Douluo, or even Titled Douluo.
More crucially, if they could research and develop artificial soul bones and the method for self-condensing soul bones, they would certainly require a massive quantity of soul bones as research material. And how precious were soul bones? An ordinary power would enshrine a single piece they obtained, hardly willing to part with it, let alone use it for research.
Yet the Water God Church not only was willing to use them but had also produced results.
What did this signify?
It signified that their soul bone reserves had reached an unimaginable level.
Xiao Xiao's eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "Artificial soul bones, artificial soul rings... My god, this is far too terrifying! You're actually researching things like this?!"
Wang Dong clicked his tongue in amazement as well. "You're outrageously wealthy and extravagant!"
Tang Ya's eyes were practically shining, so excited that she rubbed her hands together. "Goodness gracious, incredible! I truly made the right choice back then—I latched onto the right patron!"
Ye Guyi inclined her head slightly, a myriad of emotions surging in her heart. Looking back now, accepting Furina's invitation to join the Water God Church was undoubtedly the wisest decision of her life. Otherwise, she would still be wandering who-knows-where, and might well have long since died at the hands of some evil soul master.
Furina, however, merely smiled faintly. Her tone was as calm as if she were remarking on the pleasant weather: "There's nothing to be surprised about. I merely handed over what I wanted to them for research, while I was responsible for providing just a tiny little bit of assistance."
A tiny little bit of assistance?
The group exchanged bewildered glances, feeling that Furina was far too modest.
A tiny little bit? This was clearly a gigantic bit!
Furina continued, "Besides, soul beasts cultivate with great difficulty. Growing up is far too arduous for them, and they are utterly disproportionate to soul masters. A single soul master needs, at most, nine soul rings. But how many soul beasts must all the soul masters across the continent hunt and kill in total?"
She paused, her tone growing serious: "For the sake of sustainable development, researching artificial soul rings and artificial soul bones is a necessity."
Xiao Xiao sighed with heartfelt admiration, "Well said, Furina. Your thinking is truly so far-sighted."
The others nodded in agreement as well.
It had to be said, this was indeed an extraordinarily forward-thinking line of thought. Others might have considered it before, but none had ever put it into action. After all, self-condensing or artificially creating soul rings and soul bones required paying too great a price, and demanded too bold an imagination. From ancient times to the present, no one had ever truly attempted it.
But Furina had done it.
Although she had certainly paid considerable costs and expended vast resources, once this succeeded and the technology was spread and glorified, she would undoubtedly be a figure recorded in the annals of history for all time.
Seizing the moment while the iron was hot, Dr. X pulled out a whole pile of soul bones from his storage-type soul tool and arranged them neatly on the tabletop.
"Your Holiness, please look. These are all the artificial soul bones I have currently researched—all here." He gestured at the pile of bones in various shapes and forms on the table. "These are all ten-year and hundred-year. There is still no finished product for a thousand-year soul bone—only one semi-finished piece, but the quality is not very good, so I categorized it with the hundred-year ones."
Furina swept her gaze over them.
Compared to the two pieces he had individually showcased earlier, this batch of soul bones was either uglier or emitted weaker soul power fluctuations. Clearly, their quality was uneven and far inferior to the first two.
Seeing this, Dr. Oak's heart sank, and a sense of crisis welled up within him. He had to produce some presentable results quickly, or he would be left far behind by Dr. Tomoe and Dr. X.
Dr. Mirror, standing nearby, was marveling at Dr. X's achievements instead. To have made such progress, Dr. X must have put in effort that ordinary people could scarcely imagine.
She couldn't help glancing at Dr. X's four limbs... ruthless enough. If this man were to go to the battlefield as a general, he probably wouldn't even furrow his brow.
Furina asked, "Can these soul bones be absorbed? Can they produce soul skills?"
Dr. X nodded repeatedly: "Of course! I've already had people test them, and I've tested them myself."
As he spoke, he once again revealed the self-condensed soul bone on his left arm. A flash of light shot forth, and a blast wave surged out, striking the testing target with precision. Its power was roughly on par with an ordinary hundred-year soul skill.
He scratched his head somewhat ruefully. "Unfortunately, this is an attack-type skill. If it could be made into an amplification-type, that would be even better."
Furina encouraged him: "No matter. Take it slowly. These are only the initial results. To have produced these in less than two years is already no easy feat."
Her tone became earnest: "You must understand, every small step you take now is a giant leap for future generations. The hardest step has already been overcome; what remains will be much easier. Going forward, I will provide you with thousand-year soul bones for research. Keep up the hard work."
Dr. X's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly: "Mm, mm! Understood, Your Holiness! I will continue to work hard!"
Listening from the side, Bei Bei had already gone completely numb.
Even if Furina were to tell him now that the Water God Church could produce several hundred-thousand-year soul bones, he wouldn't feel the slightest surprise. After all, if they could create things that shouldn't even exist—like ten-year and hundred-year soul bones—what else was impossible?
With Dr. X's report concluded, it was Dr. Oak's turn.
However, Dr. Oak did not immediately speak. Instead, he hesitated for a moment and said to Furina, "Your Holiness, might we speak inside my laboratory? I'm afraid that some of my ideas... might frighten these young ones."
He glanced at the four—Bei Bei, Tang Ya, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao.
If only Furina, Huo Yuhao, and Ye Guyi were present, he probably wouldn't hide anything and would speak freely, openly sharing all his peculiar ideas and results.
But with four young ones present—Bei Bei and Tang Ya were a bit older, which was fine, but Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao looked to be only around twelve years old. He truly worried that if he voiced certain ideas, he might lead them astray or deliver a massive shock to their worldviews.
After all, they were Furina's friends.
Furina did not reveal that Dr. Oak's matter of romancing a soul beast had already been overheard by Bei Bei and the others.
She simply nodded understandingly: "No problem. In that case, you can all tour around here with Ye Guyi. Let Dr. X and Dr. Mirror show you their research results."
She turned to Dr. Mirror and added, "Dr. Mirror, we will discuss your achievements a little later."
Dr. Mirror gave a graceful bow, her demeanor elegant: "Naturally, there is no issue at all, Your Holiness."
Ye Guyi beckoned to the group: "Come on, I'll take you around to see the place."
Bei Bei and the others followed Ye Guyi away, while Furina accompanied Dr. Oak into his laboratory.