"Dragon girls…"
Xu Cheng ignored Shangguan Weier, who was kneeling on the ground trembling, and slowly stood up. His gaze swept over the three beautiful figures — each clad in pink dresses, with fair skin exposed at the neck, but beneath the fabric, faint crimson scales could be seen.
He brought his fingers together and lightly touched his temples.
As his blood-red eyes slowly closed, a crimson hue spread outward around him.
Above the underground city, it was as if a massive blood-red eye had appeared, casting its gaze down upon the land.
…
A few minutes later.
When he reopened his eyes, Xu Cheng casually waved at the visibly shaken Shangguan Weier. "Alright, send them away."
"Yes!" Shangguan Weier, still stunned by Xu Cheng's sudden show of power, quickly snapped out of it and hurried to lead the dragon girls away.
"Did you discover anything, Elder Yi?"
Xu Cheng asked inwardly.
"These dragon girls are strange," Electus (Yi Laike Si) mused. "Their blood carries a faint trace of dragon lineage. You see, in your world, to contain dragon blood without dying, one must either be a soul beast born with such lineage, or have accidentally consumed a rare dragon-blood-infused spiritual fruit. But there's one commonality—they're always soul beasts."
"Humans can't inherit dragon blood. Even if your martial soul is dragon-based, it wouldn't contain true dragon blood. But these dragon girls, because of their half-human, half-beast nature, have reached some kind of critical threshold. It's so precise, they feel less like natural beings and more like man-made soul tools."
…
Xu Cheng nodded slightly.
These dragon girls were barely mentioned in the original story—only in passing.
But he had always found them suspicious. Now was the perfect chance to investigate.
Elder Yi's hesitant analysis only reinforced his doubts.
"Dragon girls…" he murmured, then shook his head.
According to Elder Yi, these girls might have been created with the favor of a creator god, or perhaps even carry traces of divinity. So what was their purpose?
Could they be… failed experiments?
"You're not satisfied, Your Highness?" Shangguan Weier asked cautiously.
"Don't act on your own in the future. You're clever, but clever people are the ones most likely to do stupid things…" Xu Cheng tapped the armrest lightly and gave her a faint glance.
Dragon girl… Wouldn't the Silver Dragon King count as one?
…
"Hmm? A spatial folding soul tool array?" Jing Hongchen shifted in his seat, looking surprised as he examined the paper on the table. He looked at Xu Cheng with disbelief. "You've started researching soul tools now?"
"You're all too busy. With so many projects, I had to get my hands dirty myself," Xu Cheng said as he sipped his tea.
Elder Cheng was focused on soul ring development—non-negotiable. Elder Jing himself had been reinforcing the underground city walls. Elder Kong was obsessed with Xu Cheng's newly proposed "Starlink Railway Project." Ever since he saw the plan three days ago, the old man who had been quiet for years suddenly sprang to life.
Even Xuan Zhiwen wasn't idle—his all-terrain turret had undergone three rounds of optimization, making great leaps in speed, load capacity, and soul power storage.
So Xu Cheng decided to personally handle the spatial folding soul tool array.
"To project a level-nine fixed-installed soul cannon shell across space directly into an enemy nation's capital—bypassing Titled Douluo interception… pfft!" Jing Hongchen sprayed his tea out.
He stared at Xu Cheng, his face twitching. "Good grief, is this what space tech is for?! What kind of grudge do you have with Shrek?!"
However…
As he flipped through the feasibility paper for the spatial folding soul tool array, awe slowly replaced disbelief.
It might actually work. Whoever came up with this was a genius!
For thousands of years, the Sun-Moon Empire's soul tool development had focused almost entirely on power. And while they'd made impressive strides in that area, no one had ever thought of using alternative technologies—like spatial storage.
A technique previously limited to storage rings and spatial pouches… Xu Cheng was now using it to its fullest potential.
Spatial folding… wait a minute!
Jing Hongchen suddenly paled and exclaimed, "If it's truly spatial folding, doesn't that mean it could also transport people? We could sneak into the Sea God Pavilion undetected—"
"…" Xu Cheng was speechless.
It had been thousands of years, and if not for his intervention, the Sun-Moon Empire would still be stuck on the idea of increasing soul tool power—ten-level, thirteen-level, maybe even fourteen.
The truth? This continent lacked imagination.
They could have had a tech revolution, but they didn't. Not because it was impossible, but because of their sheer creative poverty.
That said, focusing on raw power did match the current national situation. And spatial folding wasn't something that could be accomplished overnight either.
"This tech is extremely difficult, and I suggest we put it on hold for now," Xu Cheng said, shrugging.
It was like a bucket of cold water to Jing Hongchen, who stared at him blankly. "Why?"
"Because we have more urgent matters. You don't build skyscrapers without laying a solid foundation first—it'll collapse." Xu Cheng raised his hands in explanation.
"We have too much on our plate. Developing spatial folding would require mobilizing everyone in Mingde Hall, day and night, for over a decade. There are too many hidden technological barriers, too many unknowns. Right now, our only understanding of spatial tech is basic storage."
"Even if we pour in resources and succeed, what's the point? It's not like we can't send a level-nine cannon shell into Shrek City. Or that we need to teleport you into Shrek to start a brawl. The reason we've maintained peace is because we fear Shrek's gods. You doing that would be walking into a trap."
Jing Hongchen: "…"
"So you're saying the tech is… useless?" he asked hesitantly.
"Absolutely not!" Xu Cheng replied firmly.
"Damn it! Then why mess with an old man like this?! Can't you just say everything at once?" Jing Hongchen grabbed him by the collar, fuming.
"Cough… I got a little carried away," Xu Cheng grinned awkwardly.
"Fine, talk. I'm listening," Jing Hongchen took a deep breath. This brat really had piqued his interest.
"This spatial folding tech must be developed. No matter what—it's a barrier we have to break through," Xu Cheng said, dropping a bombshell that left Jing stunned.
"Because our goal… is the stars and the sea." Xu Cheng smiled.
"The stars… and the sea?!" Jing Hongchen's throat bobbed.
"That's right. Raise your perspective—we need to think bigger. Our future enemies… are gods," Xu Cheng said internally. Though honestly, that's not even accurate. When I take over Destruction's role, I'll probably be running the god realm myself. Fighting myself? No thanks. My true goal lies even farther ahead.
From a bystander's perspective, looking at the Douluo world was like how the gods view the planet—like watching ants.
So-called "omnipotent" gods could be wiped out by a space storm—like a giant fart blowing apart an anthill.
But the description of the Creator God was on another level entirely—almost like a higher-tier existence compared to the current gods.
Which meant either: 1) the god realm had decayed—its divine power eroded over generations; or 2) the Douluo World was just one tiny world among many.
After all, in Divine Seal, there's also a Creator God—but that one directly created the entire universe, unlike the one in Douluo's history. Though "universe" remains a debatable term, one thing is clear:
The current god realm is far from the pinnacle.
Of course, as much as Xu Cheng ridiculed them, from his current position, gods were still far beyond his reach.
Which is why space storms—the very things the gods feared—were worth researching. Space, this abstract technology, had immense potential.
It was like different levels of civilization.
"Gods?" Jing Hongchen's face turned serious.
For the Sun-Moon Empire, that was an invisible yet massive pressure.
Which is why he and Elder Kong—even in old age—had never relaxed for a moment.
The phrase "Shrek is blessed by the gods" wasn't just a metaphor. It was based on history.
Just like four thousand years ago…
But to elevate the battlefield to the divine level? Even he felt daunted.
"I need to make sure I understand this. You're saying that space-folding technology must be developed because of its high ceiling, since it will be essential for dealing with future divine-level threats. But for now, we need to lay the groundwork first... I'm really curious, what exactly do you mean by 'groundwork'?" Jing Hongchen quickly caught on to the key point and asked urgently.
"Control resources, and increase the efficiency of resource utilization."
Xu Cheng replied after a brief pause.
Without the blockade of the "Trisolaris" (Tang San), the potential was massive. The resources on Douluo Planet alone were enough to support interstellar travel. Plus, the surrounding star systems could provide even more. Once the limit of Douluo Planet was broken, resources would flood in instantly, and a true technological explosion would begin.
But before that moment arrived, if they wanted to push development speed to its absolute limit, relying on the territory of the Sun Moon Empire alone wouldn't be enough.
And so, Xu Cheng set his sights on the vast but wastefully managed lands of the three original nations of the continent.
Once, Shrek Academy had sat at the center, enjoying the resources of those three countries. But times had changed.
The world had changed, gentlemen!
Although he wouldn't launch a direct attack on Shrek Academy, when it came to using other means to extract resources—well, that was something he was very good at...