Chapter 96: A New Way of Thinking
Furina's voice carried a powerful, challenging intensity. "To give what might be a somewhat extreme example—the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda martial soul, hailed as the foremost auxiliary tool martial soul under heaven. Is it absolutely impossible for its pagoda form itself to contain supreme, unparalleled might and directly suppress an opponent? Is there truly no possibility—or have we simply never dared to imagine such a thing, never found a way to awaken its latent offensive attributes?"
"Now consider the Food-type. Ten thousand years ago, one of the original Shrek Seven Devils, Oscar, had a martial soul of sausages—a textbook Food-type. Yet in the end, he obtained powerful offensive soul skills! This irrefutably proves that even Food-types and Support-types can absolutely walk a path of formidable combat strength! The problem lies in the fact that few dare to challenge this thorn-covered road, and even fewer have blazed a mature, viable cultivation system and methodology for it."
Furina's discourse didn't stop there. She turned her critical lens toward the categories traditionally considered the main offensive forces.
"And for Assault-type and Agility-type soul masters—must your soul ring selections absolutely pile up offensive soul skills or simple amplification skills in the first several positions?" She shook her head slightly. "In my view, for true powerhouses and geniuses, at least in the early stages—the first three, even the first four soul rings—could be entirely devoted to amplification-type skills focused on defense, speed, resistance to abnormal statuses, soul power recovery, or special mobility. Rather than pure offensive soul skills."
"Why? The reasoning is simple. As your soul power rank rises and you reach the levels of Soul Sage, Soul Douluo, or even Titled Douluo, the offensive power of those first four soul skills often proves to be a mere drop in the bucket in high-level combat. They are rarely, if ever, used as primary offensive tools."
"If that is the case, why not use these precious soul ring slots to shore up your own weaknesses, or to strengthen a particular specialty, forging a more well-rounded combat capability and survivability? Ultimate offense is undeniably tempting. But an Assault-type without speed or defense, in a true life-or-death battle, is often the first target to fall."
"As for Defense-type soul masters," her gaze seemed to pierce straight into the thoughts of every listener, "your thinking must go even further beyond the mere concept of 'taking hits.' Is the ultimate goal of defense merely to stand and not fall? No! The highest form of defense is to make the attacker afraid to strike at all—or to make them pay a price the moment they do! Why not pursue soul skills with 'damage reflection' effects? Let the harm your enemy inflicts upon you be partially, or even fully, returned to them! That is the kind of defense that carries true deterrent force—that can truly turn the tide of battle!"
Furina concluded, her voice calm yet resonant with power. "Focusing on a single route, pursuing an extreme path of development—there is nothing inherently wrong with this approach. Countless top-tier powerhouses throughout history have proven its viability. But I would ask every single person here, including Teacher Zhou Yi, who is observing from the side—throughout all history, how many soul masters have truly walked a single road to its 'extreme,' reaching a realm unprecedented before and near-impossible to match after?"
"Too often, the 'extreme' we speak of is merely walking a little further than others within the circle drawn by our predecessors. Today, what I hope to bring you is a perspective that sees beyond that circle—a spark of thought that dares to question and dares to explore."
"The world of soul masters is undergoing unprecedented transformation due to the emergence of soul tools. Those who barricade themselves behind old walls will only be swept aside by the tide of the new era. Only by embracing change and shattering the conventional can one carve out a place for oneself in the future."
Her gaze swept across the room once more. What she saw now was no longer mere confusion, but an increasing number of faces sunk deep in contemplation—and in the eyes of some students, a newly kindled light. The light of "possibility."
Zhou Yi stood at the side of the classroom, arms folded across her chest. Outwardly, she remained utterly composed, but inwardly, great waves were already surging. She had to admit—Furina's discourse on the pathways of soul master development was no mere armchair theorizing built on empty fantasy. It was genuine insight, founded upon razor-sharp perception and bold, innovative thinking. These ideas could only be described as audaciously radical. They completely overturned the traditional concepts that Shrek Academy—indeed, the entire soul master world—had rigidly adhered to for millennia. They were, without exaggeration, unprecedented.
Savoring Furina's suggestion regarding the choice of the first four soul rings more carefully, Zhou Yi discovered a strong thread of practical feasibility woven within. In an age where soul tool technology was spreading by the day, lower-ranked soul masters could entirely make up for their early lack of offensive power by equipping themselves with soul tools. Especially for support-type soul masters, who sorely lacked self-defense capabilities, a single suitable offensive soul tool would be enough to change their entire fate.
If Shrek Academy's freshman assessment were to allow the use of soul tools—and indeed, internal discussions on this matter were already underway—then Furina's theoretical framework aligned perfectly with the existing trends of development. Investing the soul ring resources of the early stages into amplification abilities such as defense, speed, and recovery, then supplementing them with soul tools to provide offensive means—this could indeed forge soul masters who were more well-rounded and more adaptable.
"Of course," Furina's voice pulled Zhou Yi back from her thoughts, "while I encourage everyone to boldly experiment, I must also emphasize that exploration must be conducted within reasonable bounds. One absolutely cannot blindly rush forward. Otherwise, far from benefiting, you might well squander your precious innate gifts in vain."
She swept her gaze across the eager, restless faces below, her tone shifting to one of steady gravity. "This is a long road—one that requires patience and wisdom to feel out. You may begin by breaking free from rigid thinking, and try to envision new pathways suited to yourselves."
"Alternatively—for those of you here who hail from soul master clans, you may also leverage the strength of your families. Let other clan members or affiliated personnel conduct preliminary trials, thereby reducing the risk of exploring it yourselves."
Shifting her approach, Furina introduced yet another topic of even greater controversy. "Furthermore, regarding the selection of soul rings for absorption—I hold a somewhat different view. I believe that plant-type martial souls would do best to absorb the soul rings of plant-type soul beasts, especially those of the same origin or highly compatible attributes as one's own martial soul. By the same logic, beast martial souls should prioritize absorbing the soul rings of soul beasts of the same or closely related species."
Seeing the puzzled expressions surfacing on the students' faces, she elaborated further. "Why? Because this greatly increases the probability of catalyzing the evolution of your martial soul's very source."
"When the soul ring you absorb shares the same origin as your martial soul, and the bloodline quality of that soul ring is sufficiently powerful and its attributes sufficiently compatible, the martial soul has a significantly higher chance of undergoing a beneficial mutation—even evolution. Do you honestly believe that an ordinary Bluesilver Grass, upon absorbing the soul ring of a Cave Demon Spider or a Mandala Snake, could directly metamorphose into a so-called 'Grass King'? The degree of incompatibility and instability involved in such a process far exceeds your imagination."
Hearing this, Zhou Yi's brow furrowed deeply. Her instincts, sharp as ever, told her that Furina's words were subtly—almost imperceptibly—pointing toward that legendary figure from ten thousand years ago: the Thousand-Hand Douluo, the Sea God Tang San. Hadn't his Bluesilver Grass martial soul absorbed the soul rings of beast-type soul beasts in its early stages?
"Student Furina," Zhou Yi couldn't help but interject, her voice carrying a note of scrutiny, "what you're saying almost sounds as though you're questioning the theories laid out by Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang in the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls ten thousand years ago. That work has been revered as the ultimate canon by the soul master world."