Chapter 66: Trapped by Zhao Xuanzhen, Yuan En Falls Deeper and Deeper

Moonlight fell like silver gauze, outlining the girl’s curving silhouette, the cotton white tank top clinging to her full chest.

Chestnut-red strands brushed her nape, revealing faint blue veins along her shoulder blades—like entwined thorns and vines of a midnight rose.

Zhao Xuanzhen followed Yuan En Yehui into the room; the work-study dormitory’s conditions couldn’t even be called spartan—only dilapidated.

The wooden cabin leaked wind from all sides; the soul-tool lamp hanging from the ceiling flickered intermittently, giving off an eerie vibe. A single bed and a wooden table with chairs were the entire furnishings.

“Sorry, boss, the dorm conditions are limited.”

Yuan En Yehui’s face flushed with embarrassment—she’d asked someone for help but hadn’t even provided decent conditions; it was truly indefensible.

“It’s fine.”

Zhao Xuanzhen had anticipated this; after all, the East Sea F4 from another timeline fared worse—two men and two women crammed into one small wooden cabin, separated only by a single curtain.

At least Yuan En Yehui had a single dorm; the room was clean and tidy, clearly not the messy type. Zhao Xuanzhen also caught a pleasant, soothing fragrance—beautiful girls always seemed to smell nice.

“Give me the blueprints.”

“Mm.”

With a swift brush of her palm along her slender waist, Yuan En Yehui produced a stack of blueprints.

A Single Character Battle Armor could not be fully depicted on a single sheet—it consisted of multiple components: chestplate, arm guards, headband, and more.

The highest-grade battle armor had eleven parts; each required individual design details, with the mechanical designer sketching core arrays, connection pathways, and soul-power channels. Complex parts needed multiple sheets to avoid overwhelming the armor fabricator.

Zhao Xuanzhen sat before the wooden table, spreading the blueprints flat and flipping through them one by one.

Yuan En Yehui quietly poured him a cup of hot water, then suddenly remembered: her boss came from the Spirit Transmission Tower and usually drank various spiritual teas; the Xuanlong Coffee Shop’s coffee even contained trace spiritual ingredients, widely adored by Shrek Academy students.

Thinking of this, Yuan En Yehui rummaged through her storage soul-tool for a long while, finally pulling out half a bag of precious tea leaves. With delicate fingers, she pinched a pinch of dark green leaves and scattered them evenly over the water’s surface, adding a single hue to the plain boiled water.

The dorm had only one wooden chair; Yuan En Yehui stood silently behind Zhao Xuanzhen, her beautiful eyes fixed on the cold, competent boy studying the battle armor blueprints.

After thoroughly reviewing all the blueprints, Zhao Xuanzhen returned to the first overall design sketch and pulled out a pencil to begin marking.

A true expert reveals his skill at once: Yuan En Yehui was a Level Four Mechanical Repairer, and repairers required knowledge of both mechanical design and manufacturing—making her a half-baked mechanical designer.

After obtaining this Single Character Battle Armor blueprint, Yuan En Yehui had privately studied it; she’d barely understood the general structure, but several sections were obscure. Seeing Zhao Xuanzhen’s revisions, her mind suddenly cleared—she silently rejoiced to have such an outstanding boss.

Two and a half hours passed swiftly; one sat, one stood, one drew, one watched—until every blueprint was marked. Zhao Xuanzhen rubbed his temples and turned to the red-haired girl beside him.

Steam curled upward; Yuan En Yehui cradled the hot tea, releasing soul power to maintain its warmth. From Zhao Xuanzhen’s angle, he caught the moonlight pooling in the hollow of her collarbone, gently swaying like wine too rich to hold, trembling along her graceful curves.

Seeing Zhao Xuanzhen finish, Yuan En Yehui hurriedly offered the tea, eager: “Boss, what do you think of the battle armor blueprint? Can we start manufacturing right away?”

“Hmm…”

Focusing so intensely on the blueprints had drained him. Zhao Xuanzhen sipped the tea—bitterness mixed with wood shavings flooded his mouth. He swore, in two lifetimes, he’d never tasted such terrible tea; his handsome features twisted in disgust as he sighed:

“What a cruel way to treat a guest!”

Yuan En Yehui froze, then walked aside, silently and painfully tossing her treasured tea leaves into the trash, replacing it with plain boiled water.

Zhao Xuanzhen nodded in satisfaction, gesturing to summon a stone chair and motioning for Yuan En Yehui to sit beside him. He unfolded the full battle armor sketch and said:

“This battle armor blueprint has many flaws. I’ll explain them to you one by one.

From the armor alone, it’s clear you have dual martial souls—one is a power-type beast soul, with formidable physique and skilled in close combat. The other is a dark, evil-type soul, capable of both ranged and melee, with curse-erosion abilities…”

Yuan En Yehui nodded vigorously. She’d only worked at Xuanlong Coffee Shop to earn money and had never told Zhao Xuanzhen about her dual martial souls; they’d never fought or trained together—only a wealthy boss and a skilled employee.

Zhao Xuanzhen’s insight wasn’t surprising; battle armor must match the soul master’s own traits. High-level mechanical designers could analyze a soul master’s martial soul simply by studying the armor blueprint.

For instance, this Single Character Battle Armor blueprint contained two core concepts: enhancing the Titan Ape’s berserk strength and amplifying the Fallen Angel’s evil abilities.

“You have dual martial souls,” Zhao Xuanzhen continued. “That’s the problem. Even as Single Character Battle Armor, the design difficulty between single and dual martial souls is incomparable.

Dual martial soul armor is vastly more complex—especially for a genius like you with SSS-tier dual martial souls. To design a perfect fit, you’d need a Level Six mechanical designer. But this designer seems only Level Four.

“She’s the highest-level mechanical designer in our class…” Yuan En Yehui sighed.

“Perhaps due to skill limitations, this blueprint is far from complete. I see many areas that can be improved.”

Zhao Xuanzhen pulled out the right-hand armor blueprint. “For example, judging from the designer’s intent, after martial soul manifestation, your body will change drastically—your fists will swell enormously for offense.

Thus, hand armor flexibility is crucial. The palm must include a transformation array so the armor can continuously cover your fists and forearms regardless of deformation.

The core array on the back of the hand should enhance your blood qi and amplify soul power—ideally designed as a dual-loop array…”

Zhao Xuanzhen explained the design flaws with piercing insight. Yuan En Yehui listened, entranced, lost in the imagined power of her future Single Character Battle Armor, and finally blurted: “Boss, can you help me perfect this armor blueprint?”

“Yes.”

Under Yuan En Yehui’s hopeful gaze, Zhao Xuanzhen nodded calmly, then shifted tone, his expression serious:

“But it’ll cost extra.”

Yuan En Yehui nearly toppled onto the table, her pretty face contorted in distress: “Will you give me a 30% discount this time?”

“Don’t rush to haggle.”

Zhao Xuanzhen smiled warmly at the poor girl, leisurely saying: “This Single Character Battle Armor still hides a fatal flaw. You need to consider it seriously.”

“Boss, speak.” Yuan En Yehui perked up.

“Forging metal.”

Zhao Xuanzhen cut straight to the point: “Thousand-Forged metal is the baseline for Single Character Battle Armor. Most choose Thousand-Forged metal.

But your case is special. Designing Single Character Battle Armor for dual SSS-tier martial souls is nearly as difficult as designing a standard Two-Character Battle Armor. Thousand-Forged Grade One metal barely supports both souls.

Use Spirit-Forged metal instead. Let the armor truly fuse with your body, eliminating the donning process entirely, becoming a true extension of your soul.”

Go even further—use Spirit-Infused Alloy to forge the armor. The alloy combines two Spirit-Forged metals, each tuned to one of your dual martial souls.

Spirit-Forged evolves into Soul-Forged. Thousand-Forged cannot evolve into Spirit-Forged. That’s the difference between Single Character Battle Armor and Spirit-Forged Battle Armor.

This way, the armor achieves near-perfect fusion. When you upgrade to Two-Character Battle Armor later, you won’t need to repeat the four steps of Single Character Armor creation.”

Yuan En Yehui fell into thought, her slender fingers tracing her fair, smooth jaw. The more she considered, the more Zhao Xuanzhen’s words made sense.

Ordinary Single Character Battle Armor had too many flaws. Just the donning process alone was deadly. And Thousand-Forged metal couldn’t evolve into Spirit-Forged—meaning when upgrading to Two-Character Armor, you’d have to buy Spirit-Forged metal again, hire a designer and fabricator anew.

Zhao Xuanzhen waited calmly for Yuan En Yehui’s decision. She was intelligent, a soul master who pursued strength—she had no other choice.

No matter how hard the little monkey struggled, it couldn’t escape the true Buddha’s… true boss’s five-finger mountain!

As expected, Yuan En Yehui’s expression hardened. She said firmly: “Boss, I want to forge the Single Character Battle Armor with Spirit-Infused Alloy!”

“I support you.”

Zhao Xuanzhen chuckled, then struck straight at her core: “By the way—what materials will you use for the Spirit-Infused Alloy? Do you have a source? Do you have enough funds?”

Triple death blow!

Yuan En Yehui leaned back dramatically, her already full chest thrusting higher.

Zhao Xuanzhen pressed on: “Switching from Thousand-Forged to Spirit-Forged will skyrocket both design and manufacturing difficulty. My fee will rise too.”

Final blow!

Yuan En Yehui was struck like lightning—suddenly dragged back to reality. She’d been so focused on enhancing the armor, she’d forgotten she was penniless!

She shook her head, gazing at the refined, jade-like wealthy young master before her, and ventured: “Boss, if I buy the Spirit-Infused Alloy from you, plus all design and manufacturing fees… how much in Federal Credits?”

“Use my channels…”

Zhao Xuanzhen pulled out his soul-communication device, opened a calculator, and tapped away: “Let me calculate… Spirit-Infused Alloy isn’t cheap. Fusion rate matters—90% and 60% differ by a thousandfold.

Assume 75% fusion rate, mid-to-high-grade alloy, eleven armor components, plus my fee…”

“Oh my, this number got long. Let me count it for you.”

“One zero, two zeros, three zeros, four zeros, five zeros…”

“Stop! Boss, stop!”

The heartless boss meticulously calculated each digit—each zero a spear piercing Yuan En Yehui’s heart, making her chest ache with pain as she desperately interrupted Zhao Xuanzhen.

“Still going for Spirit-Forged Single Character Battle Armor?”

“Yes!” Yuan En Yehui declared firmly.

Once you’ve seen the ocean, all other waters pale. After Zhao Xuanzhen’s analysis and her own reflection, Yuan En Yehui would sell her pots and pans to forge Spirit-Forged Battle Armor!

“How much do you have? Is it enough?”

“This topic’s a bit sensitive. I can only say my accumulated contribution points are between ten thousand and one million.” Yuan En Yehui answered vaguely, feeling uneasy.

Zhao Xuanzhen paused for two and a half seconds, then asked: “So… between twenty thousand and one million?”

Yuan En Yehui: Σ(°△°|||)︴

Dammit—he’s figured me out!

Shrek Contribution Points and Federal Credits exchange at roughly 1:100. Yuan En Yehui had held multiple jobs for three years; after daily expenses, she’d saved over ten thousand points—over a million Federal Credits.

At first glance, it seemed like a fortune. But a Spirit Transmission Tower white-grade ten-year soul spirit cost ten million credits. A hundred thousand couldn’t even buy a high-quality century soul spirit—let alone a Spirit-Forged Single Character Battle Armor. Yuan En Yehui remained broke.

Wretched capitalist! A single coin crushed a titan-like woman!

“Boss, I’ll write you an IOU. I’ll work off the debt slowly, okay?”

Under the lure of the Spirit-Infused Single Character Battle Armor, Yuan En Yehui willingly climbed onto the black car, utterly defenseless.

“I have another idea.”

Zhao Xuanzhen revealed his true intent, his deep, abyss-like eyes fixed on Yuan En Yehui: “Join the Spirit Transmission Tower. Become my direct subordinate.

Don’t obey the Tower Master—only me. From now on, your forging metals and battle armor are my responsibility. Want to fuse any soul spirit? Just name it.”

“What do you say? Think about it?”

Yuan En Yehui had exceptional talent—her awakening was key to opening the Hell of Demons. Zhao Xuanzhen decided to keep her close for cultivation. The Yuan En Clan was powerful; Clan Head Yuan En Zhentian had the potential of a quasi-god. Yuan En Tiandang could also reach the Ultimate Douluo.

The Yuan En Clan was as poor as Yuan En Yehui. By building a good relationship with her, securing the Hell of Demons, eliminating Er Ming early, and promising benefits like battle armor, these Titan Ape soul masters would become elite enforcers.

“Spirit Transmission Tower…”

Yuan En Yehui hesitated. Unlike in another timeline, she was an employee of a core Spirit Transmission Tower disciple and had joined no faction.

They’d known each other three years. Yuan En Yehui held Zhao Xuanzhen in high regard, trusting his noble character—Spirit Transmission Tower would never mistreat her.

“I… I’ll join the Spirit Transmission Tower.”

She was a girl who appeared cold but had a warm heart. She couldn’t bear to owe others. If she didn’t join, she’d owe Zhao Xuanzhen too much. Yuan En Yehui made her decision—she would embrace the Spirit Transmission Tower, leaving behind her penniless girl identity!

"Welcome."

Zhao Xuanzhen exhaled softly; all three years of effort had not been in vain!

In a mood as refreshing as the evening breeze, Zhao Xuanzhen smiled: "Yuan En, since you're willing to join the Spirit Tower, I will certainly not let you down."

"Don't use that armor design anymore—I'll design a new Spirit Armor for you."

"Really?" Yuan En Yehui's eyes lit up.

"Of course. Before formally designing the armor, I need to understand you deeply."

"I understand."

A mecha designer isn't a daydreamer; Yuan En Yehui knew Zhao Xuanzhen's knowledge of her abilities was limited to that armor design—he needed to witness her dual martial souls firsthand.

"Boss, let's go fight outside!"

Yuan En Yehui's battle spirit surged, eager to challenge: "I've wanted to fight you since three years ago!"

"This is perfect—real combat will help you get to know my dual martial souls!"

Zhao Xuanzhen agreed cheerfully: "Agreed. Let's go."

(End of Chapter)