A few drops of warm blood dripped onto the freshly drawn Spiritual Array. The moment they fell, the blood seemed to gain a life of its own, rapidly spreading along the entire magic technique, and then a swath of crimson gathered on the cold mechanical body.

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and still felt a bit uneasy. Taking advantage of the fact that the wound hadn’t healed, he squeezed a bit more blood onto a few ritual candles, and with the last bit left, he directly smeared it on the forehead of the artificial saintess’ body.

Then he looked up and saw a few technicians giving him a subtle look, instantly putting on a serious face and saying, "This is called rigor."

The technicians glanced at each other, then at the obviously operational alchemy magic technique, and thought about Yu Sheng’s reputation as a "Dark Angel expert," each convincing themselves that perhaps this is how the Hidden Monastery’s angel technology made Mechanical Souls.

Erin’s gaze was fixed on the steel body on the assembly platform. At this moment, the blood had already seeped into the living metal, and the ritual candles at each node of the Alchemy Array began to burn fiercely, with a unique pale glow gradually emerging in the flames—just like the candelabras in the Great Cathedral of the Soul Wilderness.

"And then?" the little puppet’s tone was inexplicably nervous, "Why isn’t it waking up yet?"

To be honest, Yu Sheng wasn’t sure either. After all, all his plans largely lacked plans. His train of thought had only reached as far as spirit injection, with no clear idea of the next step.

All his inspiration came from when he was rubbing Erin’s body—all using inorganic material to form shells, all needing a life-giving activation process, all needing spirit infusion, and he figured these two things aren’t much different.

— Right, spirit infusion.

Yu Sheng clapped his hands: "I just remembered, isn’t it time to call the soul?"

Erin: "...You were just emphasizing rigor, can’t you at least change the phrasing now?"

Yu Sheng maintained his composure: "Then let’s call it injecting the Mechanical Soul."

"That’s more like it," Erin quickly accepted the term, "So, how to proceed? Should we have C model find an artificial saintess without a body over at Valhalla to give it a try? But the key is how to try... dive right in?"

"I think we first need something like a corridor that can accurately connect the Mind Body from the Soul Wilderness with the body in the present world—" Yu Sheng was musing while stroking his chin when he suddenly looked up at Luna, "You go find a suitable candidate; I’ll personally take a trip to Valhalla."

Speaking, he had already sunk his consciousness, and in a brief moment of daze, the glorious and solemn spires and high walls of Valhalla appeared in his vision.

...From a distance, it truly looks magnificent.

Yu Sheng shook his head, trying hard to shift his attention from the details of the surrounding architecture, then began to focus, setting his sights on the city.

With a thought, his figure vanished from the garden in the Knight’s Quarter, reappearing a second later on a high platform near the Black Cathedral.

Here, beneath the crown of the Crystal Giant Tree, a massive crystal branch drooped down from the treetop, connecting obliquely to the platform and spreading along the platform’s edge down into the city below.

This obliquely descending crystal structure emitted a faint glow, resembling a magnificent long bridge of souls.

Wherever the branches of the Crystal Giant Tree reached, the power of the World Bridge permeated, making the nodes nearby ideal for constructing channels to connect space and time.

Yu Sheng clearly sensed the blood traces he had just left in the real world.

He approached the edge of the platform, and the crystal branch descending from the sky began to shift with his thoughts—the crystallized surface of the branch swiftly smoothed out, forming a giant mirror near the platform, whose edges wriggled into shape, transforming into the form of a gigantic doorframe.

Almost in a blink, a mirror gate over ten meters high appeared at the end of the platform, its edges surrounded by crystalline vines, which extended into the sky.

...Yu Sheng felt that maybe his house-building skills were indeed somewhat lacking, but his ability to create gates seemed to be increasingly adept.

Just then, he heard footsteps behind him.

Turning around, he saw Luna bringing a girl with long fiery red hair to the platform.

"Her name is Shilude," Luna introduced, "I was recruiting test subjects by the cathedral, and she was the first to sign up, saying she wanted to give it a try."

Yu Sheng looked at the red-haired girl before him, feeling she seemed familiar. After a couple of seconds, he clapped his hands: "Oh, I remember now, met her some time ago."

She’s the architectural prodigy who, after her tower collapsed near the grand high wall, went on to build a bridge on the spot, and is now living with her Knight Order under the bridge in tents.

Thinking of this, Yu Sheng immediately felt a sense of camaraderie with the red-haired girl—frankly speaking, his confidence in building houses currently relied entirely on the architectural prodigies in this city...

"This is the first test and may carry some risk since this operation process we’re working with is certainly not in the user manual left by those Hidden Monastery mystics," Yu Sheng cleared his throat, refraining from mentioning the tent under the bridge incident, and turned seriously to Shilude, "Of course, the worst-case scenario is that your Mind gets temporarily stuck in a faulty body, but I certainly have a way to get you out—are you okay with that?"

"I’ve already understood the risks; Luna told me about them before," Shilude said earnestly, "But I still want to give it a try. After all... many of our brothers and sisters have lost their shells."

"During the battle on the Holy Realm Star, a unit from the Hidden Monastery inflicted significant damage on the United Fleet using anti-aircraft cannons near the equator. To destroy those cannons, Shilude and her Knight Order detonated the macro-element reactor in the bunker... their bodies couldn’t be preserved."

Yu Sheng silently nodded after listening, his gaze resting on the red-haired girl in front of him.

The other party returned a faint smile.

"If my test succeeds, can we try to start the Brass Knight production line next?" she asked. "Although those cold metal shells aren’t flesh, once we have bodies, everyone can at least go home and have a look... I’ve heard many brothers and sisters have gone home and visited their families."

"No problem, I can arrange that."

"Good."

Shilude nodded, and after Yu Sheng’s confirmation, she stepped toward the mirror door standing at the edge of the platform.

But she didn’t pass through the door; instead, her figure became slightly blurred upon touching the door. Her reflection was cast onto the mirror surface of the door, and after a brief delay, that shadow turned and walked into the depths, disappearing into the mirror.

Yu Sheng watched this scene thoughtfully. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

It seemed that, like Luna, the Artificial Saintesses and Brass Knights, including Shilude, had their souls deeply blessed by the Blood Transferring Ceremony, becoming part of this Soul Wilderness. Even if they "travel" to the present world through some means, it’s essentially just a thread from their mind controlling the shell in the real world.

...But back to the point, how does this principle work?

Hu Li and Erin also received his blood transfer, as well as the group of fairy tale kids. So many have "registered" with him, and they all possess the "access rights" to enter the Soul Wilderness, but after the Blood Transferring Ceremony, aside from this "registration certification," none displayed this direct soul binding to the Soul Wilderness.

Though it seems good for the Artificial Saintesses and Brass Knights for now, Yu Sheng still wants to understand the reason behind it.

...Could it be because the technology for the Artificial Saintesses and Brass Knights originated from the "Dark Angel"? Or because their souls were modified by the Hidden Monastery, placing them between life and death, thus better fitting this Soul Wilderness?

Part of Erin’s soul comes from the Dark Angel "Omen Goddess," and the fox girl from the Exotic Realm fits the definition of the Dark Angel in some way, but neither showed soul binding to the Soul Wilderness after the Blood Transferring Ceremony... so perhaps the issue remains in the "state between life and death after soul modification"...

In contemplation, Yu Sheng’s gaze turned to the real world.

On the assembly platform, the cold mechanical shell lay quietly in the Spiritual Array, its exterior reflecting the pale glow of the ritual candles.

But suddenly, the body trembled slightly.

Everyone’s gaze instantly focused on the assembly platform.

"Hey, hey, it moved!" Erin was the first to exclaim, "Yu Sheng, look! It’s alive! You successfully summoned the soul!"

Yu Sheng felt that expecting good words from this little one seemed indeed too much.

At almost the same time, the Artificial Saintess lying in bed—Shilude—opened her eyes.

A group immediately gathered around.

"Shilude, how do you feel?" Luna was the first to ask.

The newly "awakened" Artificial Saintess slowly sat up, rotating her mechanical eyeballs, a stream of deep blue light flashing in her eyes.

"Very... incredible," Shilude adapted for a while, raising her hands to observe her fingertips, "so light... feels more flexible than my previous body, even... with a feeling of truly ’being alive’."

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow at her words but said nothing.

Beside him, several scientists immediately took out their data terminals to record Shilude’s awakening state and every detail she recounted.

On the contrary, Erin, who was usually loud and restless, suddenly became quiet, the little puppet sitting on the platform watching Shilude move her limbs, staring for a long time without knowing what she was pondering, then suddenly mumbled: "Why hasn’t it shrunk..."

The people on-site didn’t understand immediately, except Yu Sheng who suddenly realized a few seconds later and widened his eyes: "I’ve already said your 66.6 centimeters aren’t my problem!"