In the depths of a majestic temple shrouded in clouds and mist in the God Realm.
Tang San sat before the core of the God Realm, his profound eyes, akin to a starry sea, gazing at the projection of the Douluo Continent below.
The light representing the chosen one fluctuated violently, like a candle in the wind, emanating an indescribable aura of gloom and deficiency.
"Hmm?"
Tang San's eyebrows slightly furrowed as his divine consciousness, fine as silk, instantly pierced through the boundary, precisely linking to the fragment of his spirit residing deep within Wang Dong's soul.
Through his daughter's perspective, the scene of Huo Yuhao lying pale and desperate on the hospital bed in Shrek Academy, with bandages wrapped around his lower body, vividly entered his "vision."
"Hmph... So it was damaged there?"
Tang San's divine consciousness emitted a barely perceptible chuckle within Wang Dong's body, carrying a trace of understanding and... peculiar relief. "This saves some trouble."
In the meticulously crafted destiny script he had laid out for his daughter, Huo Yuhao, this "son-in-law," was merely a pawn that needed repeated refinement, testing, and tempering until fully aligned with his desires.
Now, this "accident," in Tang San's view, was not a misfortune but rather the removal of a potential "trouble" that even he, the "father-in-law," found somewhat troublesome.
"Before this, it spares me from having to suppress his... inherent flaws." Tang San's divine consciousness whispered deep within Wang Dong's consciousness, exuding a sense of supreme control.
"This is good. Without this 'interference,' Wutong's interactions with him will be purer. As for recovery... when he ascends to the God Realm and reshapes his divine body, it can be restored. For now, let them develop on their own."
He withdrew his divine consciousness, no longer paying attention to the tragedy below, treating it as just an insignificant interlude in the script.
As long as Huo Yuhao's "potential" and "destiny" remained intact, this minor "deficiency" was negligible on the chessboard of the God King.
...
Shrek Academy, infirmary.
Huo Yuhao lay on the cold hospital bed. His external injuries had healed under the efforts of the academy's top healing soul masters, leaving only smooth scars.
However, the irreparable void deep within his body gnawed at his soul day and night like the most malevolent curse.
Every breath, every movement reminded him of what had been taken away—the very essence of his masculinity.
"Dai Huabin... White Tiger Duke Manor..." Huo Yuhao's hollow gaze fixed on the ceiling, his jaw clenched tightly, emitting a grinding sound.
Boundless hatred, like venomous vines, grew wildly and entwined within his heart, almost bursting through his chest.
This hatred was no longer solely directed at Dai Huabin personally but extended toward the entire Dai family and even the man named father—Dai Hao—who had abandoned his mother!
This deep-seated hatred and despair acted as the most potent catalyst, violently stirring his spiritual sea.
The faint yet vast gray divine consciousness of the broken remnant soul of the Holy Spirit of Necromancy, resting dormant within, seemed disturbed by this extreme negative emotion, trembling slightly and emitting a weak but exceptionally pure aura of death and the undead.
Electrolux.
This fragment of the Holy Spirit of Necromancy from another world, under the immense spiritual shock of Huo Yuhao's overwhelming hatred and castration of his life essence, saw its awakening process greatly accelerated.
If Gu La were present, he would surely marvel at the fate-defying "turning misfortune into blessing" halo of the chosen one; the ultimate humiliation of losing the symbol of manhood had become the key to awakening the hidden grandpa system.
Huo Yuhao was oblivious to all this. He only felt something cold awakening deep within his soul, bringing a strange calm, which was quickly overwhelmed by deeper waves of hatred.
He clenched his fists tightly, nails digging deeply into his palms, blood seeping out.
"Power... I need more power... destroy them... destroy everything..." he silently roared in his heart, like an injured lone wolf.
In a secluded courtyard deep underground in Shrek City.
Here, Gu La had excavated a space thirty meters deep, constructing a vast and intricate underground laboratory.
Thick alloy walls isolated the interior from the exterior, while complex energy shielding arrays operated silently, turning this place into an absolute forbidden zone.
Inside the laboratory, scorching heat distorted the air. A massive forging table made of special high-temperature-resistant alloy dominated the center.
Gu La stood shirtless, revealing a lean and powerful musculature that seemed to harbor volcanic strength.
A month had passed since Huo Yuhao's incident spread throughout the Outer Court. While others pitied him, they soon forgot about his plight.
Taking advantage of Huo Yuhao's fluctuating destiny and despair, Gu La deduced the truth about his and Tang Wutong's future third martial soul based on his observations.
Both sacrificed part of their divine consciousness fragments, completely fusing with Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao, becoming something akin to a martial soul.
This method worked only for deities. Gu La's spiritual power was still far from divine consciousness, but he had the Groudon clone, which could temporarily lend him God-level power to attach a third martial soul to himself.
Next, he considered the goal of the third martial soul. He no longer considered Pokémon but planned to rely on the characteristics of the martial soul to obtain a divine artifact.
Initially, he intended to wait until forging a Four-Word Battle Armor, then transform the armor into a martial soul. Since the armor included weapons, transforming it into a martial soul would be immensely powerful. However, since the armor already fused with his body, making it a martial soul seemed redundant.
Then he considered forging a sword or spear as a martial soul in the future. The spear, with references from Yun Ming and Na'er, combined with the essence blood of Gu Yue and Tang Wulin, gave Gu La confidence in forging a Dragon God Spear.
But upon reflection, a pirated version could never match the genuine Dragon God. It might even fall short of his subordinates' "Pokémon", so he abandoned this idea.
Finally, he considered transforming his mecha into a martial soul because he had already gathered countless rare metals for the originally planned God-level mecha and still worried it wouldn't be enough.
Upgrading the mecha and adding new functions in the future might require resources from an entire continent, or even venturing into space to gather resources from other planets.
Once the mecha became akin to a divine artifact, it could be nurtured with soul power, saving countless resources over time. Even without achieving godhood, Gu La, fully merged with Celebi, didn't lack the time to wait.
Moreover, he had a divine-level equipment called "Pulse Engine" obtained from a previous lottery that he hadn't used yet, which could be integrated into the mecha as its core, together forming the third martial soul.
If transforming the mecha into the third martial soul failed, he would purchase Mega Latios to integrate into his body as a hub to fuse with divine-level equipment and the mecha, leaving the rest to the system to solve.
After considering everything, he returned once to the Legend of the Dragon King timeline, synchronizing with Mu Yi's forging level, reaching Rank Eight Saint Craftsman.
Indeed, although Mu Yi hadn't broken through to Soul Emperor, with his body transformed by Living Gold and awakened innate gold and Ultimate Wood intrinsic martial soul, once he mastered Soul Refining, he immediately skipped the Seventh-Level Saint Craftsman to become an Eighth-Level Saint Craftsman, just one step away from Heavenly Refining.
This final step was also the hardest, trapping countless blacksmiths. The most basic elemental lightning tribulation blocked those below Title Douluo.
However, Mu Yi was confident in condensing his soul core before breaking through to Soul Emperor. Once he reached Soul Saint, he would probably attempt Heavenly Refining.
Gu La was satisfied. Returning to the current timeline, he rented a courtyard in Shrek City, dug out a basement, preparing to Soul Refine all the collected metals.
Others needed to reach Title Douluo to equip Three-Word Battle Armor, but Gu La could manage it at the Soul Emperor stage. After all, both his physical prowess and mental strength did not fall short of ordinary Super Douluos below Limit Douluo.
By then, even if Ye Xishui, that madwoman, and Long Xiaoyao, that foolish simp, chased after him together, he wouldn't fear.
Recalling, he wielded two Soul Refined hammers in his hands. Both were blood-sacrificed Soul Refined hammers. As Gu La's strength increased and he forged more metals, in about three years, both would naturally evolve into Heavenly Refining, significantly boosting forging efficiency.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The heavy, rhythmic hammer strikes echoed like thunder in the underground space.
Each hammer blow landed precisely on the massive ingot of silvery-gray metal flowing with star-like specks on the forging table—Starfall Secret Silver.
Gu La's eyes shimmered with pure golden light, the essence of condensed flames. His spiritual power enveloped the metal ingot like an invisible giant net, perceiving the finest particle structure, energy flow, and... the latent, yearning-to-be-awakened sentience buried deep within the material's essence.
"Soul refining... granting life and soul to metal."
Gu La exclaimed. Soul Refining wasn't easy for him either; even without resting, he could forge at most two pieces a day. Any slight interference meant he could only forge one.
The crimson-gold flames on the Blazing Flame Gold Hammer surged violently. The hammerhead seemed to transform into a miniature sun, carrying the power to smelt everything and create life, smashing down fiercely.
The Heavy Mountain Hammer assisted on the side, utilizing the Shock Technique to shake the metal and convey primal vitality.
Boom—!!!
No longer just the sound of metal clashing, but a crisp thunderous boom. The Starfall Secret Silver instantly burst forth with dazzling silver radiance.
The entire metal block trembled, expanded, contracted, as if alive. On its surface, countless fine golden veins resembling star patterns spontaneously lit up, greedily absorbing the immense soul power and spiritual imprints contained in Gu La's hammer strikes.
A faint yet unmistakably clear wave of joy, dependence, and familial affection, akin to a newborn infant, emanated from this piece of Starfall Secret Silver, clearly linking to Gu La's spiritual core.
"Success!"
Gu La's eyes sparkled with delight. This soul refinement's fusion degree was extremely high, already possessing initial lifelike sentience. If not for his limited strength, it could have been material for Heavenly Refining.
"Almost there... Once all the metals are Soul Refined and the Three-Word Battle Armor is completed, it will be time to start crafting the 'Future' mecha."
Gu La gazed at the Starfall Secret Silver on the forging table, pulsing with joyful sentience, his eyes burning with fervent flames.
Years of silent preparation since learning about mechas had finally led to the harvest season!
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