As Xu Tianxi's words fell, the classroom became completely silent. Lin Jiayi felt a monumental shock, his face paling, and it took him a few seconds to continue speaking:
"Student Kong Tianxi, could you elaborate?"
What a kid! No wonder the Dean sent him to teach this class personally. He just threw out a bombshell right at the start. Any other teacher might have branded him a 'heretic' on the spot.
Xu Tianxi thought for a moment, then said:
"Let me use myself as an example. I am a Spiritual Soul Master. My Soul Master abilities alone aren't enough for me to handle every combat situation, but with the help of Soul Guided Devices, things become much easier."
"For instance, I don't have the ability to fly, but a Flying Soul Guided Device allows me to engage in aerial combat and prevents enemies who are good at escaping from getting away. Or, if I encounter a powerful enemy I can't defeat, I just need to create distance and hit them with a few Fixed Soul Cannon Shells, and the rest of the battle becomes much simpler."
"Of course, this is just the most superficial combination of Soul Master abilities and Soul Guided Device capabilities. There are much deeper levels of integration."
Lin Jiayi nodded, then posed a question:
"But according to what you've said, it seems your enemies can all be dealt with using Fixed Soul Cannon Shells and other Soul Guided Devices. Does that mean Soul Master Soul Skills aren't that important?"
"After all, there's a common understanding that before the Soul Sage level, when expending the same amount of Soul Power, the destructive power unleashed by Soul Guided Devices is often greater than that of Soul Skills."
Xu Tianxi shook his head, holding up two fingers, and slowly said:
"Regarding your question, Director Lin, I have two points to make."
"First, from my perspective as a Soul Master, my Soul Skills are more intrinsically suited to me than Soul Guided Devices, because they are instinctive abilities of my body, making them more proficient to use. Moreover, some Soul Skills cannot be replicated by Soul Guided Devices, at least not yet, such as amplification-type Soul Skills and Domain-type Soul Skills."
"Second, using powerful Soul Guided Devices does not conflict with cultivating my Martial Soul and Soul Power. This is because the power source of Soul Guided Devices is Soul Power, and the user is human. The stronger a Soul Engineer's physique and the more Soul Power they possess, the more powerful Soul Guided Devices they can use. This should also be a common understanding."
"In fact, you already know this without me saying it. If the average physical quality of our Sun Moon Empire's Soul Engineers could reach the average level of the Douluo Three Kingdoms' Soul Masters, our combat power would undoubtedly improve significantly, and using Soul Guided Devices across different ranks would become possible."
With that, Xu Tianxi chuckled at everyone and made a fist, signaling, "I don't think any of you want to be a good-for-nothing who runs out of energy after using a Soul Guided Device twice, do you? Being physically stronger is always better."
The students nodded in agreement, profoundly convinced. Lin Jiayi's brows furrowed, speechless for a moment, while the Hongchen siblings on the roof had their eyes shining.
"Hahaha, as expected of someone I, Xiao Hongchen, admire! He really has some tricks up his sleeve. He rendered Director Lin speechless. Excellent, truly excellent!"
Xiao Hongchen lay on the eaves, laughing with sheer delight. He loved seeing geniuses display their talents and surpass the old guard. It was simply exhilarating.
Meng Hongchen observed Xu Tianxi's confident expression as he spoke articulately through the window, her bright eyes curving into a smile. Little Xu is really quite handsome, much better looking than Xiao.
Having momentarily stumped Lin Jiayi, Xu Tianxi pressed on, moving to the next stage of his argument:
"Just now, I mentioned that my use of Soul Guided Devices is still at the most superficial level, and there are deeper levels. But simply talking about it might be hard to understand. It just so happens that I had a knowledge exchange with Senior Meng Hongchen from the fifth year these past two days, so allow me to use her as an example."
"Oh~ oh~ oh...?"
Hearing Xu Tianxi mention Senior Meng Hongchen from the fifth year, many of the gossiping students started to jeer and make strange noises. Some even looked at Xu Tianxi with newfound admiration, quietly giving him a thumbs-up.
First, you stumped Director Lin, and now you've had a discussion with Senior Meng Hongchen, the number one on the School Beauty Ranking! Brother, you're amazing!
He's very handsome, could Senior Meng Hongchen have been impressed by that?
Outside the window, Xiao Hongchen's cheerful smile froze. He suddenly turned his head, scrutinizing his surprised sister, his gaze becoming very serious.
"Meng, when did you discuss something like this with him? Why don't I know about it?"
Meng Hongchen blinked her big eyes a few times, her voice filled with confusion: "I don't know either. I think when you were teaching him about Soul Guided Devices, he asked us what kind of Soul Guided Devices we liked to research, and I just casually mentioned some knowledge about Melee Soul Guided Devices. Maybe he's referring to that?"
"That's good then." Xiao Hongchen breathed a sigh of relief.
Xu Tianxi was uninterested in the students' ruckus. He calmly organized his thoughts and presented his argument:
"She once told me that among Melee Soul Guided Devices, there is a most precious type called Armor Soul Guided Devices, which can cover various important parts of the human body. These devices are custom-made according to the specific needs of the Soul Engineer, significantly enhancing individual combat power."
"I believe this type of Soul Guided Device is extremely useful equipment for every Soul Master."
"Please allow me to give another example here. This example dates back ten thousand years. At that time, on the Douluo Continent, there was a powerful force that overshadowed both the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires: the Martial Soul Hall. You may have heard of them in the story of Sea God Tang San."
"I won't delve into history, only useful information. According to legend, the Sea God, Angel God, and Rakshasa God from ten thousand years ago were peerless existences who achieved godhood at level 100. Their six major body parts had high-quality Soul Bones integrated into them. After becoming gods, they used these Soul Bones as a foundation, transforming them through Divine Power to link them into a cohesive whole, forming True God Divine Gear, which greatly amplified their combat power."
"This isn't exclusive to gods. Historical records show that Soul Masters, after absorbing enough Soul Bones, can potentially link them together to form Soul Bone Armor. Possessing Soul Bone Armor signifies unparalleled combat power, though it has been extremely rare in the history of the continent."
"Of course, the fact that this knowledge isn't widely known is also thanks to the post-war victors like Shrek and the Tang Sect, who, after carving up the Martial Soul Hall's legacy, sealed away relevant information. They'd rather hoard it than allow other Soul Masters the opportunity to learn it."
The students and the Hongchen siblings immediately understood. It's all Shrek's fault! They sealed away this knowledge after defeating the Martial Soul Hall!
And the Martial Soul Hall, they were so useless, losing to the hateful Shrek even with two gods fighting one!
"Gathering six Soul Bones is naturally a fantasy, but can we try to achieve a similar effect with Soul Guided Devices? We have already researched some advanced Soul Guided Devices based on Soul Bones, so can we continue our efforts and research close-fitting Soul Guided Armor that can replace the function of Soul Bones, to achieve an effect comparable to or even surpassing Soul Bone Armor?"
"From the perspective of individual strength development, I believe this is a very meaningful topic. If we can achieve a breakthrough, the results will undoubtedly be beyond imagination."
Xu Tianxi's voice was rich and full, low and magnetic, his words filled with passion and confidence. His commanding presence made one involuntarily think and believe him.
Lin Jiayi fell into complete silence, unable to refute. These kids nowadays are terrifying! They quote ancient texts and even pull out records of three gods from ten thousand years ago as evidence.
If Xu Tianxi hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't even know about Soul Bone Armor and True God Divine Gear.
I can't discuss historical matters with this child anymore. I probably haven't researched it as deeply as he has. As expected of a genius from a top Hidden Sect of the Original Three Kingdoms.
Seeing Lin Jiayi stunned by his ideas, combining ancient divine gear concepts with modern Dou Armor, Xu Tianxi smiled and extended his right index finger, proposing another groundbreaking direction.
"What I just mentioned was what I consider a deeper level of integration: the integration of Soul Guided Devices with the human body. However, I believe the deepest level of integration is between Soul Guided Devices and Martial Souls. Over the past two days, I've discussed a lot of related knowledge with senior Xiao Hongchen from the fifth year. After our discussions, I came to a seemingly simple conclusion—one that everyone seems to subconsciously overlook."
Lin Jiayi instinctively looked up and then down, eagerly asking, "What conclusion?"
Xu Tianxi smiled faintly, pointed to his own eyes, and said,
"Actually, every Soul Engineer possesses an innate Soul Guided Device: our Martial Soul, isn't that right?"
"This is the greatest gift Heaven gives to every Soul Engineer; with it, we have infinite possibilities. We often worry about Soul Guided Devices being unwieldy, but our Martial Souls don't have that problem."
"If we could create a Soul Guided Device based on our Martial Soul, one that perfectly integrates with it—a Lifebound Soul Guided Device that is intrinsically linked to us—wouldn't that be the most powerful direction for Soul Guided Device research?"
Boom—!
Xu Tianxi's words echoed in Lin Jiayi's ears like thunder, making his vision go black. For a moment, he felt dizzy, muttering,
"Lifebound Soul Guided Device… the theory proposed by Old Man Kong in legends… Where did Xu Tianxi, this natural genius of Soul Guided Devices, come from?"