Douluo: Let me loot an airdrop first.

Chapter 8: The Enhancement Direction of the Useless Martial Soul Blue Silver Grass

"Unfortunately, Yu Xiaogang couldn't concentrate on his studies. He couldn't produce any profound theories of his own, yet he wanted to be praised. So he integrated the theories he had seen and heard over the years and published them as his own views. This wouldn't have been a big deal, but after integrating and publishing his many views and theories, he was unwilling to delve into the 'Ten Core Competencies of the Martial Soul World' that he had compiled. In the end, he only knew what it was but not why it was so."

"Xiao Gang once proposed the 'Martial Soul Mimicry Theory,' saying that plant-based martial souls are not limited to absorbing the soul rings of plant-based soul beasts, and that beast-based martial souls can also absorb the soul rings of plant-based soul beasts. Xiao Ning, tell me, is this theory right or wrong?" Old Qi asked Ning Yuanshan suddenly, his eyes burning with interest.

"Of course that's correct!" Even if Ning Yuanshan hadn't read the original work, he would have answered the same way. "My martial soul is a wooden box. If spirit rings can only be obtained from species corresponding to my martial soul, then wouldn't I be unable to cultivate?"

"That's right. The reason why this misconception exists in the Soul Master world is that, generally speaking, it is easier to absorb Soul Rings from species that are compatible with one's own Martial Soul, resulting in a more significant increase in strength. Moreover, if one decides to absorb Soul Rings from a species without research, it is very likely to result in the body exploding and death."

"Any Soul Master can only acquire ten Soul Rings in their lifetime, right? Therefore, the choice of each Soul Ring is made with utmost care. Unless there is truly no better option, why bother hunting Soul Beasts across species to obtain Soul Rings?"

"The form and function of a martial soul can be influenced by the choice of spirit rings. Tang San, who is from the same village as you, has a martial soul like Blue Silver Grass, which is nothing special. If you were to choose spirit rings to add extra effects to Blue Silver Grass, what kind of enhancement direction do you think you could take?" Qi Lao had been communicating with Ning Yuanshan all the way and found him to be very intelligent and imaginative, so he decided to test him.

"Is there any way to make the Blue Silver Grass more resilient? Or add some toxins?" Ning Yuanshan remembered that in the original story, Tang San obtained this enhancement by hunting the Datura Serpent, so he answered casually.

"In the Douluo Continent, there are many plant and animal soul beasts that possess both resilience and potent poison. If we choose this direction for enhancement, I think it would be best to hunt down 'poison vine' type plant soul beasts."

"Poison vine?" Ning Yuanshan murmured. He didn't know how many kinds of poison vine-type spirit beasts there were on the continent. If what Elder Qi said was true, plant-type spirit masters were generally better at hunting plant spirit beasts. For example, if Tang San hunted "Mandala Vine" it would be more effective than hunting "Mandala Snake".

"If I were to advise Tang San on the direction of his spirit enhancement, I would suggest he go for a support-oriented path, such as a food-type or a healing-type spirit. The Blue Silver Grass spirit lacks offensive power; a control-type spirit might be somewhat effective, but are Blue Silver Grass spirit masters really more suited to a control-type path than those with vine-type spirits?"

Seeing Ning Yuanshan's thoughtful expression, Elder Qi inwardly praised him for being inspired by his words and able to think independently. He nodded involuntarily and continued his analysis: "To adapt to more combat scenarios, control-type Soul Masters often enhance their Martial Soul's ice and fire resistance when acquiring Soul Rings. Therefore, Blue Silver Grass, which doesn't possess resilience or toxicity, would need to waste one or two Soul Rings to strengthen its ice and fire resistance..."

Ning Yuanshan remained silent. He recalled that in the original story, Tang San's immunity to both ice and fire was solely due to the combined power of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well and the Immortal Herb. Without such a power-up, how could he possibly defeat a fire-attribute spirit master? This was a problem that all plant-based control-type spirit masters had to consider. Just as in the Spirit Master Competition, the Plant Academy was completely countered by the Elemental Academy.

Soul rings can influence the development direction of a martial soul. This is something all soul masters on the continent know, but no one has ever researched it in depth or made such bold assumptions as Elder Qi.

Tang San's fifth soul skill, "Blue Silver Overlord Spear," is essentially using the fragile Blue Silver Grass martial soul as a powerful offensive martial soul. Although the spear formed by this soul skill is certainly not as powerful as the soul skills of powerful offensive martial souls like "Formation Breaking Spear," it does greatly improve the problem of insufficient attack power for non-powerful offensive soul masters when acting alone.

As if sensing Ning Yuanshan's thoughts, Elder Qi sighed slightly and added, "No spirit can perfectly suit all situations, so choosing a trustworthy spirit master partner is especially important. Ultimately, what kind of spirit master you want to become depends on your personal choice. The reason I suggested the Blue Silver Grass spirit go for the food-type is because food-type spirit masters are extremely rare on the Douluo Continent. Instead of relying on the Blue Silver Grass spirit to compete with other control or power-attack spirit masters, why not consider a less competitive path? Compared to other food-type spirits with innate amplification effects, Blue Silver Grass might be inferior, but it consumes very little spirit power, allowing it to win through quantity. If Tang San goes for the food-type, then both empires will treat him as an honored guest..."

Master Qi genuinely cared about his students. His proposed areas of focus weren't like Yu Xiaogang's approach, which involved drastically improving his disciples' abilities to prove his "master" title was well-deserved. Master Qi, like modern college application experts and career planners, fully considered future employment prospects.

Afterwards, the old man and the young man talked about martial spirit knowledge in great depth and detail. Ning Yuanshan couldn't help but admire Qi Lao's extensive knowledge. "It seems that I have a lot to learn in the future. I was worried before that I would not learn anything useful at Notting Junior Academy without Master Qi..."

The current Douluo Continent world is real, and many things cannot be simply applied blindly based on the experience of the original work. Moreover, many parts of the original work are unclear or ambiguous, even purely limited to the chosen one, Tang San, and lack universal applicability. For example, when the Empire and the Spirit Hall went to war in the original work, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang trained soldiers by having them run under a gravity field. When the soldiers questioned whether anyone could withstand such intense training, Yu Xiaogang's method of verification was to have Tang San demonstrate.

Can the soldiers' endurance be the same as Tang San's?

Numerous examples fully demonstrate Qi Lao's assessment of Yu Xiaogang: "He only knows the 'what' of martial spirit theory, but not the 'why'." Yu Xiaogang was unwilling to delve into those theories, simply applying them mechanically without regard for individualized instruction or tailoring teaching methods. After taking Tang San as his disciple, the Grandmaster's application of the theories became increasingly rigid. He attributed Tang San's success to his own teaching level, completely forgetting that scientific research involves bold hypotheses and rigorous verification. If Tang San hadn't possessed extraordinary talent, someone else might have been killed by the Grandmaster long ago.