Chapter 63: Artificial Machine God (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

The armor had been custom-crafted entirely to match Xu Tianran's physique, requiring no complex operations or adjustments—it simply needed to be detached into components and fitted directly onto his body.

"Hum!"

As Xu Tianran poured his soul power into it himself, the soul-tool array activated once more. A series of low hums resonated through the air as every part of the armor bonded tightly with Xu Tianran. Countless microscopic, naked-eye-imperceptible threads quietly pierced through his skin, connecting directly with his necrotic nerves.

At that very moment, Xu Tianran felt a long-absent surge of vitality in his thighs. Testing the sensation, he cautiously lifted one foot—and actually stepped forward.

Widening his eyes, joy flooded Xu Tianran’s features, and he burst into laughter, "Good! Excellent! Professor Douya, you—and all of you—have done an extraordinary job!"

The "all of you" at the end was not meant for the soul engineers present, but rather for the Abundant Church standing behind Douya. In front of outsiders, it was inconvenient for him to directly praise the miracle of Abundance as living up to its reputation, so he could only express it this way.

In his view, while the soul tool itself was quite remarkable, the true power lay within the divine energy of the God of Abundance embodied inside it. Otherwise, how could such a feat be achieved in just a few short days?

Consequently, Xu Tianran’s estimation of the Abundant Church rose even higher. The man who had previously only been good at drawing grand blueprints began to seriously consider actually baking the cake.

The miracle of the Crown Prince standing up thanks to a soul tool was unfolding right before their eyes. The numerous soul engineers widened their eyes as well, looking at Douya with even greater reverence. They completely cast aside their previous arrogance, deciding that assisting the professor as a mere laborer wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Unmoved by the cascade of praises, Douya displayed no emotional fluctuation whatsoever and simply stated flatly, "Your Royal Highness, do not be too overjoyed just yet."

"Hm?"

Xu Tianran frowned. Just as he was about to ask what that was supposed to mean, he heard:

"This is merely a prototype, shown to you for demonstration purposes only."

The words were astonishing. Xu Tianran, who had been joyfully testing various movements, froze completely in place at the statement, and the expressions of everyone around him instantly solidified.

What did they just hear?

They heard that this armor, manufactured in just three days and far surpassing any Class 9 soul tool, was merely a prototype!

If this was just the prototype, what would the finished product be like?

Thinking of this possibility, Enge Hongchen felt his throat tighten as he swallowed hard.

Recovering his wits, Xu Tianran asked in a dry voice, "What do you mean by that, Professor Douya?"

He shared the exact same thought as Enge Hongchen. If a mere prototype already far exceeded a Class 9 soul tool, what on earth would the finished product look like?

Could it possibly be a Class 10 soul tool still undergoing research?

Noticing the shock and suspicion in their eyes, Douya frowned slightly, his tone carrying a hint of displeasure. "I have always believed that grading soul tools by numerical ranks is a truly foolish endeavor."

Without explaining why, he bypassed the subject and answered directly, "This is indeed just a prototype. We have much better schemes and plans for the final product. With all due respect, Your Royal Highness, the personnel you have arranged here will likely be of no use whatsoever in the subsequent research."

Understanding the underlying meaning of his words, Xu Tianran waved his hand to dismiss all outsiders, leaving only Enge Hongchen and another academy director from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy present in the room.

Xu Tianran said, "Professor, speak freely. These men are entirely trustworthy."

Although thoroughly disdainful of Xu Tianran's hypocritical behavior—fretting over his own safety while pretending to be a magnanimous ruler—Douya nevertheless continued, "We refer to the plan for advancement as Mechanical Ascension, the Artificial Machine God."

"The Divine Soul Body... National Mechanization... The Mechanical Divine Realm..."

Through Douya's exposition, a flawless blueprint unfolded before Xu Tianran. From ascending to godhood and entering the divine domain to establishing a divine kingdom upon the mortal realm, every step was detailed down to the minutest degree. In his depiction, not only would Xu Tianran ascend to godhood, but the subjects of the Sun Moon Empire would likewise ascend alongside him as divine citizens!

Emerging from his shock, Enge Hongchen felt his scalp tingle. As Douya's explanation grew increasingly profound, he realized he could no longer understand a single word being said. This meant that the content currently being lectured was entirely beyond the scope of a Class 9 soul engineer—it was on a completely higher plane!

He even had a vague intuition that this might even transcend the boundary of Class 10. A terrifying thought arose in Enge Hongchen's mind as he boldly guessed that the man before him had likely stepped into the legendary Class 11 or even Class 12.

Only such a being could possibly devise a divine ascension plan of this magnitude!

How could Xu Tianran fail to see what Enge Hongchen had deduced? He stared fixedly at the eloquently speaking Douya and the proposal document he had presented. Reason told him that the sudden appearance of this plan and its architect carried highly suspicious motives, but the greed within his heart could simply not be suppressed.

This was a method to attain godhood!

Never in the history of the Sun Moon Continent had a mortal ever achieved godhood, but the Douluo Continent had!

To his knowledge, Shrek Academy had once been nothing more than a run-down rural academy; its rise to its current colossal status was entirely thanks to the seven deities it produced ten thousand years ago—a legacy that had endured and continued to thrive down to the present day!

The might of deities was still vivid in his memory. He knew that the Abundance Chaos of a few years ago was merely a battle among several gods, yet its mere aftermath had caused endless catastrophes across the world, instantly obliterating factions large and small from the face of the earth.

Xu Tianran had occasionally daydreamed that if he possessed the power of a god, he would no longer need to endure all these years of forbearance; he could openly accomplish whatever he desired, and not a single soul would dare to obstruct him.

And now, his daydream had become reality. A method to achieve godhood—likely a genuine one—had been laid out so openly right before his eyes!

The greed and restlessness in his heart could no longer be contained, fully betraying themselves upon his face.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Tianran summoned his remaining scrap of reason to ask in a deep voice, "What is your ultimate objective?"

The question felt somewhat familiar to Douya, who then answered Xu Tianran's query.

"Your Royal Highness, you are well aware of who I am. Therefore, what do you suppose my objective is?"

Douya hailed from the Abundant Church, a fact Xu Tianran naturally knew. He had initially forged an alliance with Hellar, the High Priest of the Abundant Church, who had helped restore his crippled body while sending this specific individual to execute their arrangements.

Thus, the other party's goal was self-evident.

An answer surfaced within Xu Tianran's mind.

He... no! The Abundant Church intended to unseal that foreign deity who had crossed the boundless sea!

Upon realizing this truth, even Xu Tianran could not help but feel a wave of panic. One had to understand that this was a true deity—and one that had been jointly sealed by multiple gods at that! How could a mere mortal like him dare to touch such a thing?

Furthermore, he could not be certain whether the indigenous deities of the Douluo Continent were watching closely at this very moment. What if divine retribution struck from the heavens the very moment he agreed...

A profound terror bred in his heart, but as Xu Tianran gazed upon the manual of godhood before him, hesitation gripped him at last.

Everyone around him was watching, waiting for his response.

The words "godhood" and "divine retribution" clashed fiercely within Xu Tianran's mind, utterly incompatible, until one of them violently shattered the other's spine and completely occupied his entire brain.

Ascend to godhood! Ascend to godhood! It was still, goddamn it, ascending to godhood!

Greed completely devoured reason at that very moment!

Xu Tianran opened his eyes, his tone resolute: "I agree."

"Aha~"

A cheerful chuckle echoed from a corner of the room.