Chapter 237: The Plan Advances, Virtual Soul Core Technology

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The worst-case scenario would be dozens of ninth-level fixed-installed soul-guided missiles raining down, annihilating the abyssal creatures attempting to enter Douluo Continent through the spatial passage. 

However, this would also cause severe damage to the environment deep within the Extreme North, and Snow Empress might not agree to it. 

Unless absolutely necessary, Su Yu wouldn't choose this strategy. 

After all, it was a strategy that harmed the enemy at great cost to oneself—perhaps not even dealing significant damage. When abyssal lifeforms invaded Douluo Continent and were destroyed, their energy would return to the Abyss World through the spatial passage, giving birth to new lifeforms once again. 

In other words, abyssal creatures were effectively immortal on Douluo Continent. 

This was what made the Abyss so formidable. 

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to devour so many planes and grow to its current state. 

"To be safe, I'll have the Sun-Moon Empire's soul engineer legion stationed outside the Extreme North. I hope you won't mind, Snow Empress." 

Su Yu had already discussed the ninth-level fixed-installed soul-guided missile plan with Snow Empress, assuring her that unless there was no other choice, he wouldn't deploy them. 

Snow Empress had no objections. 

The Abyss was a threat to all of Douluo Continent. If the situation escalated into a true crisis, then using ninth-level fixed-installed soul-guided missiles to stabilize the situation would be inevitable. 

"The missiles aren't powerful enough to destroy the entire Extreme North. I'll do my best to have the core region's soul beasts evacuate toward the outskirts in the meantime," Snow Empress said. 

"Alright." Seeing that Snow Empress had no objections, Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief. 

"I need to return to Sun-Moon for a while," Su Yu said. 

Five Days Later 

Sun-Moon. 

"Damn that Holy Spirit Cult! They're completely insane!" Jing Hongchen's face darkened after hearing what Su Yu had to say. He could hardly believe the sheer madness of the cult's actions. 

Su Yu understood the true nature of the Abyss, and while the Holy Spirit Cult might not know all the details, the fact that they had made contact with it meant they weren't entirely ignorant. 

Sigh… 

Su Yu let out a heavy sigh. 

If anyone deserved to be called insane, it was the Demon Emperor. 

Long Xiaoyao was probably still in shock, not realizing how he had been dragged into this mess. As for Ye Xishui, Su Yu didn't know much about her personality, so he couldn't say for sure how involved she was. 

But there was a high chance she had little to do with it. 

The Holy Spirit Cult had simply been pulled into this by the Demon Emperor. 

Yet, even if they were dragged in, aiding and abetting evil was still a crime. 

Just as there was a saying, "If you do not advance, you retreat," there should also be a saying: "Those who shelter evildoers are just as guilty." 

Su Yu couldn't care less about Long Xiaoyao's so-called love story. The fact remained that he was helping Ye Xishui. Even if he personally despised evil soul masters and had even killed some of the most extreme ones while serving as an elder in the Holy Spirit Cult, it didn't change the truth— 

He was the Holy Spirit Cult's protector. 

"Master, I think we need to act sooner than planned." 

Originally, they had intended to wait for Xu Tiannan to make a major move before striking, taking him down and then implementing the new system. 

But now, they couldn't afford to wait. 

Xu Tiannan was ambitious and ruthless, but when it came to dealing with the Abyss, Su Yu had a bad feeling that he would fail. 

The best course of action was to remove him before he had a chance to get involved. 

In other words, any actions concerning the Abyss had to take place after Xu Tiannan's death. 

"Juzi has been pregnant for some time now. She'll need at least five more months before giving birth." 

By then, Xu Tiannan would definitely host a grand celebration for the birth. Su Yu had originally planned to strike at that event. 

But five months was too long now. 

By then, the Abyss' passage to Douluo Continent could be nearly complete, and their military preparations and deployments wouldn't be enough to handle it. 

"I'll notify the Star Luo Empire." 

After speaking, Su Yu took out a soul device, operated it briefly, and sent out a message. 

Communication methods on Douluo Continent were still quite primitive. 

With high-level soul devices, Su Yu could achieve ultra-long-distance resonance, establish a predefined translation method, and convert resonance frequencies into text, enabling long-distance communication. 

However, for the average person, unless they were face-to-face, communication was mostly limited to written correspondence—letters that often failed to reach their destination in time. 

After extensive research, Su Yu had already mastered the core formation of long-distance resonance. 

Yet, even with this advancement, engraving the entire formation still required at least an eighth-level soul device. 

And while an eighth-level soul device could technically be used for communication without requiring a specific soul master level, the sheer soul power needed to activate it was an immense barrier. 

At the very least, one needed to be at the Soul King level to use it effectively. 

Even then, a Soul King might struggle with real-time conversations, as just sending a few messages could drain their soul power completely. 

The best approach to making communication soul devices widespread was to establish relay stations. These stations could act as intermediaries, reducing the burden on end-user devices. 

If the final terminal device's requirement could be lowered to a third-level soul device or below, it would mark the beginning of truly accessible communication for soul masters. 

In fact, if paired with a "milk bottle" (a soul power storage device), even ordinary people could potentially use this kind of soul device. 

With further advancements, the technological threshold could be lowered even more. If progress continued at this rate, reaching the level of his previous life's technology was entirely possible. 

Within his lifetime, soul-guided mobile phones could very well become a reality. 

No—he might not even have to wait that long. Ten years. 

In just ten years, it was entirely feasible to develop a soul-guided mobile phone. 

After all, many of the necessary technologies already existed on Douluo Continent. 

Major hotels and commercial establishments with strong financial backing had already implemented soul-guided light screens and similar technologies through soul devices. 

Various fields had seen significant technological advancements. 

All that was missing was the concept of a mobile phone. 

Once a system for transmitting information and achieving real-time connectivity was established, integrating the already-developed technologies would naturally lead to the emergence of mobile phones. 

Back to the Main Topic 

Star Luo Empire, Star Luo City. 

Du Bushi stared at the soul device in his hand, feeling its vibrations. Matching them to his memorized translation method, he carefully converted the frequency patterns into readable information. 

"Act ahead of schedule? What is Su Yu trying to do?" 

Previously, Du Bushi had considered Su Yu a trustworthy ally. At the very least, Su Yu's actions had convinced him of his sincerity in working together. 

But now, with this sudden message urging them to act in advance, Du Bushi couldn't help but think more deeply about Su Yu's intentions. 

Was this an attempt to gain his trust first, only to later make unreasonable demands while he was off guard? 

Was Su Yu testing his reaction? 

Or was this simply a well-planned deception? 

Du Bushi had no choice but to entertain these suspicions. 

Su Yu's approach was just too deliberate. 

However, as the soul device continued to vibrate with new information, Du Bushi straightened his posture, his previous doubts fading. 

No—it wasn't that his suspicions were completely erased. Rather, he no longer had the mental capacity to question whether Su Yu was deceiving him about cooperating to kill Xu Tiannan. 

His entire focus was now on the part of Su Yu's message concerning the Abyss. 

Taking a deep breath, Du Bushi put the soul device down, his face darkening as his gaze flickered with uncertainty. 

"The Abyss? The Holy Spirit Cult?" 

From Su Yu's message, Du Bushi learned about the initial conflict between the Sun-Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Cult, as well as the impending arrival of the Abyss. 

"So this world… isn't just limited to Douluo Continent?" 

Back when Su Yu first mentioned it, Du Bushi had already felt his worldview shatter. 

It turned out that the world wasn't just the Douluo Continent—it was an entire universe, filled with countless life-bearing planets, each developing its own civilization. 

Just as Du Bushi had barely begun to wrap his head around this concept, Su Yu hit him with yet another revelation—an entirely unique kind of plane, the Abyss. 

So, planes weren't all planets. 

The plane where Douluo Continent resided was actually a planet—Douluo Star. 

However, the Abyss was a plane composed purely of energy, not a planet. 

And according to Su Yu's speculation, the Abyss didn't even exist within the normal dimensions of the universe. It couldn't be observed in space—it was part of an entirely different energy dimension. 

Du Bushi's gaze stopped flickering. He had finally digested the concepts of dimensions and the broader universe. 

"Su Yu's meaning is clear—complete unification as soon as possible, then focus all efforts on dealing with the Abyss." 

At the same time, the Abyss' invasion could be used to temper soul masters, strengthening the entire soul master world. 

From everything Su Yu had done so far, Du Bushi had to admit—Su Yu truly seemed to be working for the benefit of soul masters. 

Even setting aside the recent information he had shared, the effects of Su Yu's past actions were already beginning to take shape, gradually benefiting the soul master world. 

"Titled Douluo everywhere, Limit Douluo as common as dirt?" 

Du Bushi scoffed at Su Yu's arrogant dream, yet deep down, he couldn't help but admire him. 

Because Su Yu genuinely seemed to be working toward that goal. 

"I'll trust him this once." 

Du Bushi made his decision. 

If Su Yu were only trying to trick them into assassinating Xu Tiannan, there was no need for such an elaborate deception. 

In fact, if the goal were merely to kill Xu Tiannan or even to wipe out Star Luo Empire's top combat forces, there was absolutely no reason to go to such lengths. 

Su Yu translated the resonance frequencies into information and was quite satisfied with Du Bushi's response. 

"Master, we have to act within a month." 

"Within a month… when is Xu Tiannan scheduled to make a public appearance?" 

"This…" 

Jing Hongchen's expression turned strange. 

"What a coincidence." 

"When you went to the Extreme North, Xu Tiannan announced during court that he would accelerate the unification process. To rally support, he's scheduled to deliver a speech in Sun-Moon Square in half a month—it's the final mobilization." 

After hearing this, Su Yu's expression became just as peculiar. 

"What a coincidence indeed." 

No wonder Master had such a strange look on his face. 

It could only be described as fate pushing Xu Tiannan toward his death. 

However, Sun-Moon Square was also one of the most heavily guarded places in the entire city. 

Aside from the imperial palace itself, its defenses were the most secure. 

That was unavoidable—Sun-Moon Square had the highest foot traffic, and whenever the emperor had major announcements, sought to display his achievements, or hosted significant events, they were always held there. 

In the original story, Du Bushi and his group launched their attack on Xu Tiannan in the plaza. However, mere moments after the assault began, the combined defenses of the entire plaza—alongside the Soul Tool Corps—completely thwarted the large-scale assassination attempt by the Douluo Three-Nation Organization. 

Even when Du Bushi burned his life force, temporarily gaining the power of an Ultimate Douluo, he couldn't get anywhere near Xu Tiannan. 

With the timing of the operation basically set, Su Yu planned to use the next half-month to strengthen himself. 

"Breaking through to Rank 90 might be difficult, but constructing the core array for a dual soul core should be feasible." 

Although Su Yu was confident in his ability to form a complementary Yin-Yang dual soul core, he had no intention of testing it on himself first. 

Why take such a life-threatening risk when there were safer alternatives? 

"Unfortunately, the theory behind virtual soul cores makes it impossible to create an infinite number of them." 

Battle armor could be considered an extension of a soul master's body, merging with their martial soul to become one. 

This was precisely why the concept of virtual soul cores was theoretically viable. 

However, during the development process, Kong Deming discovered that no matter how he designed it, the entire battle armor could only serve as a single soul core condensation zone. 

Soul beasts could only form soul cores in two specific locations, and they could only condense them through a Yin-Yang complementary process. Meanwhile, humans had three potential soul core locations and could achieve resonance between them. 

In theory, battle armor should expand these possibilities, allowing it to condense virtual soul cores. 

However, battle armor was not truly a part of the soul master's body. It was only at the moment of fusion that it could be considered an extension of the user. 

This meant that a virtual soul core wouldn't be a permanently condensed soul core. Instead, it had to be formed in real time during battle armor fusion—activated by the core array, using the soul master's internal soul power, and drawing in surrounding elemental energy to condense the core. 

In other words, the virtual soul core had to be formed on the spot every time the soul master fused with their battle armor. 

If it were just a single soul core, that would be manageable. 

But if two virtual soul cores had to be condensed simultaneously, the battle armor would likely explode. 

After all, at the final stage of forming a complementary Yin-Yang soul core, success came down to sheer luck. 

Pure chance! 

As for the resonance-based method of soul core condensation, it required extensive time for adjustment and refinement, making it entirely unsuitable for virtual soul core technology. 

This meant that virtual soul cores could only be formed using the Yin-Yang complementary method. 

By leveraging the pushing force of the soul master's existing soul core, a virtual soul core could be quickly condensed within a short period. 

However, if two complementary Yin-Yang soul cores had to be formed simultaneously during battle armor fusion—one resonating with the soul master's internal cores and the other balancing its own Yin-Yang forces—the whole process would be an explosive disaster. 

A success rate of 50% would drop to just 12.5%! 

Of course, once the battle armor was successfully created and tuned, there wouldn't be a random chance factor anymore. The probability only applied during the tuning process. 

"You think 50% is high?" 

It was already abysmally low! 

The opportunity to craft a super battle armor was exceedingly rare. 

Even for Su Yu, he had only just nurtured his battle armor to the point where he could attempt the super battle armor upgrade. 

And that was with an overwhelming advantage—his immense life force constantly nourishing the armor, his personal runes developing sentience, and using these sentient runes to further enhance the armor. 

Not to mention, he had spent an entire year comprehending the mysteries of a spiritual space where the Plane's Will resided. 

Even with all these benefits combined, it had still taken Su Yu over three years. No—if he counted from the moment he first created sentient metal and formed a contract with it, it had been at least five or six years. 

After such a long time and under such optimal conditions, he had only just met the basic requirements for creating a super battle armor. 

Even assuming there were no other technical issues, there was only a 50% chance of a successful tuning process. 

This probability alone was enough to deter most people. 

(End of chapter.)