Lin Feng remained behind the forge shed, the mundane sounds of Holy Spirit Village washing over the profound, silent revolution happening within his mind. The terrifying mechanical voice of the Infinite Fusion System (IFS) had receded, leaving behind a glowing, persistent interface only he could perceive. The reality of his cheat—a true, unrestricted path to power—ignited a cold, calculating joy. He was no longer the tragicomic Scrawny Chicken Master; he was the future Fusion Emperor.
The next few days were spent in a whirlwind of internal research. Lin Feng, feigning illness to avoid the villagers' sympathetic glances and Tang San's presence, secretly devoted his attention to the system's core functions. The IFS was terrifying in its simplicity. It allowed him to fuse any two or more items, concepts, or energies to create a single, exponentially more powerful result. The 'no restriction' clause was the true cheat. It meant he wasn't limited to fusing soul tools with soul tools or spirit herbs with spirit herbs. He could fuse a pebble with the 'Concept of Invulnerability,' or a weak soul beast with the 'Essence of a Godly Soul,' provided he could acquire the materials or the subtle energy concepts.
The system's initial library was minimal, but the first major quest—"Break the Limits: Achieve Level 1 Soul Power from Level 0"—was absolute. Lin Feng knew he couldn't use conventional methods. Level 0 was the definition of no talent; his body lacked the basic channel to sense and absorb external energy. Therefore, the solution had to be internal, conceptual, and reliant on fusion. His first experiments were subtle tests of the system's limits: he fused two common, non-medicinal weeds. The result was a slightly stronger, slightly more aromatic weed. He fused a piece of iron slag with the 'Concept of Sharpness' he recalled from a childhood fantasy story. The slag gained a faint, almost invisible edge. The system worked perfectly, but the initial results were weak because his source materials were meaningless.
Lin Feng needed to find a source material worthy of breaking a cosmic law. He realized the most powerful resource he possessed was not physical but mental: his knowledge of the future. He began to internalize this concept, thinking of his memories as a stored, potent energy source—the 'Plot-Knowledge Essence.' He decided on the complex fusion necessary to achieve Level 1. It required three components:
Level 0 Innate Soul Power (The Flaw): The fundamental limitation he needed to destroy.
The Concept of Infinite Possibility (The Catalyst): A metaphysical idea that, when fused, would force a transformation beyond the accepted limits of reality.
Plot-Knowledge Essence (The Fuel): The raw, powerful energy stored in his memories of the Douluo Dalu world.
The fusion process, initiated inside his mind, was agonizing. Lin Feng felt his entire essence, the core spiritual energy of his being, being violently torn apart and reconstructed by the IFS. It felt as if his body's spiritual circuits were being rewired with molten gold. The Plot-Knowledge Essence burned away, feeding the process and causing him to temporarily black out from the sheer mental strain. It took hours of excruciating, silent suffering behind the forge shed, during which he nearly failed the quest multiple times as his physical body threatened to collapse under the influx of conceptual power. He mentally screamed at the system to keep fusing, fusing, fusing!
The Breakthrough and the Subtle Shine
Finally, the chaotic energy coalesced. A powerful, icy stream of pure spiritual energy—Soul Power—flooded Lin Feng's newly formed meridian channels. He could feel the energy flowing, not just in his body, but in the ambient air around him. The change was instantaneous and absolute.
[QUEST 1 COMPLETE! REWARD DISBURSED.]
[HOST STATUS UPDATED: INNATE SOUL POWER: LEVEL 1. BODY RESTRICTIONS: REMOVED. MARTIAL SOUL POTENTIAL: UNLOCKED.]
The system had successfully fused his zero-level potential into a true beginning. Not only did he achieve Level 1 Soul Power, but the system stabilized itself, creating a hidden 'System Soul Sea' within his core—an internal reservoir that could safely hold and control the vast, unnatural energies of future fusions. The Martial Soul Evolution Boost immediately went to work on the pathetic Scrawny Chicken, which began to shimmer with a new, subtle purple-gold sheen and emitted a faint, high-pitched spiritual chirp that only Lin Feng could hear. It was still recognizable as a chicken, but its energy felt ancient and pure. The first step was complete. Lin Feng was a true Spirit Master, and his talent was now, paradoxically, the highest on the entire continent—infinite.
Setting the Stage for the Red Ring
Lin Feng emerged from the shed, his eyes shining with a cool, dangerous clarity. He now had access to the Fusion Blueprint Library (Tier 1), which contained basic formulas and theories for manipulating nature and energy. The next goal was the 100,000-year Red Soul Ring demanded by the unwritten rules of his future path. He knew the common path: risk life and limb in the Great Star Dou Forest for a soul beast. But the Fusion Path was superior. Using his newly acquired knowledge, he realized that he could bypass the danger and the moral quandaries by fusing spirit herbs. He just needed the correct ingredients.
His mind immediately drifted to the Sunset Forest and the legendary medicinal garden hidden there. However, he was only Level 1. He needed a stepping stone. Using the plot knowledge as his guide, he recalled a lesser, but still ancient, spirit plant that grew in a specific, remote mountain range known for weak ancient soul beasts. He would need to fuse that 10,000-year plant soul with a massive external energy source to bridge the 90,000-year gap. The target was set, the journey was planned, and the fate of Tang San, still blissfully unaware and training his Blue Silver Grass, was about to be irrevocably altered. Lin Feng had the cheat, and he was ready to play the game on a level no one else could comprehend.