Chapter 34: Restart

Ta Li Ni hurriedly unfastened the leather strap, Lei En stepped down from the rune platform, twisted his whole body a few times, and loosened his muscles.

After lying still for over an hour, his body became a bit stiff.

The Soul Transformation ceremony was somewhat easier than he expected; the music player was extremely effective at easing the pain.

He immersed himself in the songs, listening to more than a dozen; aside from the last ten minutes, which were somewhat painful but still bearable, the earlier part was only a little uncomfortable, not reaching pain, the spiritual protection scroll had no effect, and the fifty Gold Shields were wasted.

The whole process was less grueling than yesterday's soul test.

If he hadn't known he was still in the Soul Transformation ceremony, Lei En would have thought he was about to fall asleep.

Of course, to outsiders, this appeared as an expression of extremely strong Willpower.

Viola and Ta Li Ni saw Lei En's relaxed face, their hands and feet trembling, not a drop of sweat on them, and their expressions instantly changed.

The two gazed at Lei En as if he were a priceless treasure, eager to reach out and touch him.

Lei En snapped back to reality, feeling a little creeped out by their stare, froze, and asked, "Ladies, what's wrong with you?"

"Lei En, you succeeded!"

Viola, rarely losing composure, couldn't hide the excitement in her lake‑blue eyes, exclaiming, "Perfect Soul Transformation, goddess above! Lei En, your ceremony actually achieved a perfect Soul Transformation!"

"Indeed, it's nothing short of a miracle!"

Ta Li Ni was also visibly excited; even now, she still couldn't believe Lei En truly made it through.

Lei En nodded and smiled, "I know, thank you both for your help."

Viola kept exclaiming in amazement, then shook her head, "I didn't really help; this is your own talent, goddess, perfect Soul Transformation…" Her words were full of envy and a bit incoherent.

Lei En realized he had perhaps underestimated the impact of a perfect Soul Transformation on others.

If this spread, it could bring huge trouble, even endangering his life.

After consideration, he said seriously, "Ladies, I hope you can keep this secret for me."

Viola immediately understood Lei En's intention, suppressed her smile, and said sternly, "Mr. Lei En, rest assured, once we leave this room, Ta Li Ni and I will never bring up Soul Transformation again; that's the responsibility of our Zi Luo Lan Zhi Jia."

Ta Li Ni also nodded in agreement.

"Thank you." Lei En put on his coat and said, "I'm a bit tired, need to rest for a while; you ladies don't mind, do you?"

"Of course, it's only natural." Viola led Ta Li Ni out of the room and closed the door.

The room had a sofa and tea prepared for rest after the Soul Transformation ceremony. Lei En went and sat on the sofa, beginning to explore the changes after the transformation.

The biggest change was that the phone rebooted!

At the moment the ceremony ended and the soul completed its metamorphosis, a flash struck his eyes, and the phone interface that had always been present vanished.

Before he could react, the long‑missed boot screen appeared again.

This boot took longer than the one at the beginning of his crossing.

At this moment, Lei En lost all the functions the MutatedPhone had given him—Soul Eye, the Voice of All Things, and the gyroscope—none of those abilities remained.

For half a month he had been using the MutatedPhone constantly, merged with himself; now unable to use those functions, he felt somewhat unaccustomed.

It was like being stripped of sight and hearing, regressing to a weakened state, causing an inexplicable anxiety in his heart.

Fortunately, this should be only temporary.

Lei En comforted himself, noting silently that if he performed another Soul Transformation ceremony later, the phone would reboot again, and that would be his most vulnerable moment.

After patiently waiting ten minutes, the familiar phone interface finally returned, unfolding before his eyes.

Lei En immediately noticed the first change: the battery dropped from full to 10%, only ten bars, similar to when he first crossed.

But the two differed; he didn't feel bodily weakness, even felt stronger and healthier than before.

He casually activated a function, consuming some battery, and soon understood.

"It must be that after the soul's metamorphosis, the battery's maximum capacity also increased."

"These ten bars equal the pre‑reboot full bar, meaning the battery cap grew tenfold. Battery is my soul strength; this ceremony caused my soul strength to surge tenfold as well!"

Lei En was greatly delighted; a perfect Soul Transformation truly is powerful.

Before the ceremony, his soul strength was already high, surpassing most ordinary people, though still not matching Transcendents.

But after the soul's metamorphosis, it skyrocketed tenfold, far exceeding a first‑level Transcendent.

Lei En often secretly observes Transcendents; he knows their soul strength better than they do themselves. Roughly estimating, his current soul power is comparable to a second‑level Transcendent, and after mastering meditation, the gap will widen further.

Moreover, the benefits of a perfect Soul Transformation go far beyond this.

First, the potential is immense, with a higher soul‑energy ceiling; second, meditation efficiency is higher, so with equal meditation time Lei En gains more soul‑energy and can cast more spells; third, soul‑energy recovery is faster.

Any cultivation related to soul‑energy, a perfect Soul Transformation gives all sorts of advantages over same‑level Transcendents.

However for Lei En, the most important point is that a perfect Soul Transformation also raises the fusion degree of his Demon Soul!

He has already decided to become a combat Wizard, and fusion degree is the key factor for a combat Wizard's strength.

Each time the Demon Soul's fusion degree rises a bit, conflicts lessen, more Elements are obtained, and after several accumulations the effect becomes astonishing.

Combined with the Soul Eye and the high‑quality World Tree Seed in Viola's hand, the fusion degree certainly won't be low.

All of a sudden, Lei En felt fully confident about his future!

Then came other changes to the phone; all functions remained, though a few seemed enhanced.

The Voice of All Things could now hear farther; even the room's soundproofing couldn't block external waves. The gyroscope's perception became finer, as if each muscle could be controlled individually.

Most importantly, the Soul Eye also seemed altered, its visual range amplified, yet Lei En sensed there was another function he couldn't yet discern.

His attention was drawn to a newly appeared icon.

The first icon was a stack of books; Lei En recognized it instantly—it was the mobile app developed by the library of his past life, an online library, i. e., a reader.

He opened the icon with anticipation, and indeed, it was his personal library.

It already contained many books, available for free reading.

Lei En flipped through, then slapped his thigh, muttering "what a pity."

These books were ones he had already read and downloaded offline, which is why they were brought to Ai Lun E Si. Since he had only recently changed phones, the reader held only a few hundred books—some he'd read, others he'd downloaded for testing as an administrator—just over five hundred in total.

These over five hundred books are a chaotic mix of everything—reference works, history books, dictionaries, novels, personal essays, memoirs, covering many fields, and only a small portion might be useful.

Lei En actually even came across a volume titled "Five-Year College Entrance Exam, Three-Year Simulation," which left him feeling quite helpless.

"Why don't you give me a copy of 'Postpartum Care for Sows'?"

The library where he works holds millions of volumes, over ninety percent of which can be read online; had he known, he would have frantically downloaded them offline and wouldn't have needed to bring the entire library here—just a few tens of thousands would have sufficed.

Lei En finished browsing the catalog and could only shake his head in regret.

He then examined the second icon, a black vortex‑shaped design with a deep center that seemed capable of swallowing things.

"This icon looks unfamiliar," he thought.

Lei En couldn't recall which mobile app it belonged to, but when he tried to open the icon, a suction force surged in his mind, and an inexplicable hunger rose within him.

This hunger wasn't for ordinary food, but a craving for something else.

He sensed two objects in his coat—two Soul Stones containing the demonic souls of Gold‑Eating Ants; holding them in his hand made the feeling even stronger.

Lei En quickly exited the state and instantly understood that opening this icon would allow him to fuse demonic souls.

This is an ability that every human who has completed Soul Transformation possesses.

"So the new ability I gained, even if it wasn't a function the phone originally had, will manifest as an icon," Lei En realized.

However, he cannot fuse demonic souls now; he must first obtain the World Tree Seed.

Lei En wasn't tired to begin with—rest was merely an excuse; having mostly figured out the phone's functions, he got up and left the room.

At the doorway, a female attendant waited; upon seeing Lei En emerge, she said immediately, "Mr. Lei En, Ms. Viola asked me to tell you she's waiting for you upstairs and you can go up at any time."

Lei En nodded, followed the attendant onto the elevator to the fifth floor, and pushed the door open.

The room contained only Viola, who sat on the sofa as if waiting for Lei En; when he entered, she rose at once and said, "Mr. Lei En, please have a seat."

"Ms. Viola," Lei En sat opposite her.

"Lei En, just call me Viola," Viola said with a smile while personally brewing a pot of tea for Lei En, its fragrance drifting from the cup.

"Alright, Viola," Lei En replied calmly, smiling, "You don't have to keep calling me Mr. Lei En."

He could sense that Viola's attitude toward him had changed considerably since yesterday.

This isn't to say Viola's attitude yesterday was poor; as a Ten Thousand Spirits Wizard, she naturally carries a hint of arrogance toward ordinary people, and even when she is courteous, it's the polite distance one shows to a customer.

But after witnessing the Soul Transformation ceremony today, that sense of distance vanished entirely.

Viola not only treated herself as an equal transcendent but also subtly placed herself a step above, and every move she made drew them closer, as if she were a friend.

"It seems the perfect Soul Transformation truly amazed her," Lei En thought, smiling to himself.

Lei En gave himself a smug smile, habitually activated his Soul Eye, and immediately noticed that Viola's soul seemed different from before.