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**
Hearing Mu Chen's words, Ling Xiao thought to himself, As I suspected.
To be honest, having a teacher who could guide him to become a powerhouse was naturally for the best, but he was equally afraid of running into a "trap" of a teacher like Yu Xiaogang.
"Senior, if you wish to take me as your disciple, what can you teach me?"
Seeing Ling Xiao ask this, Mu Chen couldn't help but laugh.
If it were anyone else, they would have been ecstatic to be taken as his disciple; who would bother asking more? This child certainly had a mind of his own.
Instead of answering directly, Mu Chen asked back, "Then, what do you want to learn?"
"I want to learn how to become a true powerhouse. Yes, a peerless powerhouse."
Nodding, Mu Chen smiled faintly.
"Every Soul Master on the continent surely thought the same as a youth. But in the end, how many actually become true powerhouses?"
"Ling Xiao, you must realize that true powerhouses are never 'taught' by teachers. As the saying goes, 'The master leads you through the door, but the cultivation is up to the individual.' How far you can walk on this path of the Soul Master ultimately depends on you."
"However, as a teacher, I can build the foundation for you to become a powerhouse. A skyscraper rises from the ground; if there is no stable foundation, no matter how tall the building is, it will eventually collapse."
Mu Chen turned around, placing his hands behind his back as he looked out over the lake. He asked calmly, "What do you think is needed most to become the kind of powerhouse who stands at the pinnacle of the Soul Master world?"
What is needed most? Ling Xiao fell into deep thought.
He wanted to say a powerful Martial Soul, Soul Rings, and Soul Bones.
But his intuition told him this was wrong. After all, if that were the case, wouldn't a so-called "powerhouse" just be an object piled together with Martial Souls, Soul Rings, and Soul Bones?
What kind of powerhouse would that be? It would be just like Tang San; almost his entire strength was manifested through Soul Rings and Soul Bones.
If you took away those One Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings, those Soul Bones, and the Sea God Trident, what would he have left? He had almost nothing that truly belonged to himself.
Even if he eventually became the Sea God and the Asura God, so what? His two Martial Souls and his own abilities had practically zero connection to the Sea God's power.
Even the Asura God's trials were mostly completed by Tang Chen; Tang San just picked up the rewards at the end. His strength could basically be said to be inherited from others.
He was merely an inheritor and a vessel for those powers; he never truly created a power of his own. What kind of "true powerhouse" was that? Ling Xiao disdained becoming that kind of "powerhouse."
"It is the understanding and application of the Martial Soul," Mu Chen said, his back still turned.
Then, he turned to face Ling Xiao.
"Do you understand?"
"Understanding and application of the Martial Soul..." Ling Xiao whispered, a look of doubt in his eyes.
He didn't quite understand what that meant. Could someone become a powerhouse simply by having a good enough understanding of their Martial Soul?
Seeing the confusion in Ling Xiao's eyes, Mu Chen didn't find it strange. He continued, "Tell me, for us Soul Masters, what is the greatest function—or rather, the significance—of a Soul Ring?"
Hearing this, Ling Xiao replied immediately, "Naturally, it is to provide us Soul Masters with Soul Skills. Soul Masters obtain Soul Skills by absorbing Soul Rings."
This was a very basic question.
Ling Xiao found it a bit strange that someone would even ask it.
Smiling and shaking his head, Mu Chen said, "That is its most fundamental function. Ordinary people might think so, but if you want to become a peerless powerhouse, you cannot have such a shallow understanding."
"Shallow..." Ling Xiao bit his lip, pondering deeply.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he recalled the knowledge Xu Lin had taught during a Martial Soul class.
He answered with some confidence, "Soul Rings don't just provide Soul Skills; more importantly, they strengthen the Martial Soul Origin of the Soul Master. The process of obtaining a Soul Ring is also the process of cultivating the Martial Soul."
Ling Xiao felt he must have gotten it right this time!
Mu Chen nodded again, but his next words disappointed Ling Xiao once more.
"That is indeed an important function, but there is more. There is another equally important function that few people notice."
"There's more?"
Ling Xiao fell silent.
He had never considered that a mere Soul Ring could have so many purposes.
Seeing this, Mu Chen revealed the answer: "It is learning."
Learning? Ling Xiao frowned.
Learning what?
Mu Chen explained in detail: "You should be able to see that on our Douluo Continent, the profession of Soul Master places great importance on Martial Soul aptitude."
"What kind of Martial Soul you have is important, but the level of Innate Soul Power is even more crucial. The former determines how strong you are compared to those in the same realm in the early stages, and the latter determines how high you can eventually reach."
Ling Xiao nodded.
He understood this well.
This was why Spirit Hall was so invaluable; they awakened Martial Souls for commoners on a massive scale to scout talent. They didn't just want those with great aptitude; those with poor aptitude could also join.
As long as one could cultivate into a Soul Master, they could join Spirit Hall. Because of this, Spirit Hall possessed a vast number of top-tier powerhouses, and their middle-to-low-end Soul Master groups were even more enormous.
In terms of sheer scale and prestige, they were far superior to the Shrek Academy of ten thousand years later, which stood aloof from the three great empires.
The latter had an extremely high threshold, refusing anyone who wasn't a genius—hardly a case of "education for all."
Mu Chen continued, "The Soul Master profession is heavily influenced by Martial Soul aptitude. If someone has Innate Full Soul Power like you, then you will face no bottlenecks before reaching Rank 95."
"As long as your Soul Power cultivation is sufficient, you can advance by absorbing a Soul Ring and continue cultivating. People like Yan and Xie Yue, provided they don't die prematurely, are destined to become Titled Douluos."
Ling Xiao was somewhat shocked.
He had always known Innate Full Soul Power was precious, but he hadn't realized it was this precious. In the eyes of most Soul Masters, a nine-ring Titled Douluo was an unreachable existence.
He recalled how, in the future, when Flender and the others from Shrek went to the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, Dugu Bo—the Poison Douluo—simply manifested his nine Soul Rings, and the Shrek group didn't dare utter a word before retreating.
At that time, the Poison Douluo was only Rank 91, let alone Rank 95. Yet, those with Innate Full Soul Power faced no bottlenecks before Rank 95. However, he couldn't help but think of Yu Xiaogang.
That man took Tang San—someone with Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls—as a disciple to 'prove himself.' Did he take everyone else for fools? What the hell did that prove?
"But even Innate Full Soul Power only ensures you have no bottlenecks before Rank 95. Once you reach Rank 95, do you know how to break through the bottleneck?"
"This..." Ling Xiao suddenly found himself stumped.
He really didn't know much about how to break through after Rank 95. In his memory, Chen Xin, the Sword Douluo, once mentioned that to break through after Rank 95, one must have an "enlightenment," but he hadn't gone into detail.
Ling Xiao still didn't quite get it.
As for Tang San, he remembered that after Tang San broke through Rank 90, he added nine rings to the Clear Sky Hammer.
Through absorbing Soul Rings and Soul Bones, he boosted his level to Rank 99. It seemed it only took him about half a year to go from Rank 90 to Rank 99—it wasn't a long time regardless.
It was utterly ridiculous.
It was highly unnatural.
It would be somewhat logical if that method only promoted someone to Rank 95. Ling Xiao felt it must have been the influence of the Sea God Trials that allowed Tang San to reach Rank 99 through that pure "power-injection" method.
After all, if the Soul Power gained from absorbing Soul Rings alone could allow someone to jump from Rank 95 to Rank 99, then wouldn't Rank 95 to 99 still just be an accumulation of Soul Power?
Couldn't those Soul Masters who reached Rank 95 simply keep cultivating via meditation to accumulate energy?
Even if meditation was slow, couldn't they find Soul Bones, natural treasures, or even medicinal pills to increase their Soul Power in a short time?
Absorbing Soul Rings wasn't the only way. If one could break through like that, it wouldn't be much of a bottleneck.
Furthermore, that wouldn't explain why Tang Chen could reach Rank 99 on his own, while Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi both admitted that they could not reach Rank 99 if they relied solely on themselves.
**
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I have 60 advanced chapter now on Patreon. I will post 5 advanced chapter on Patreon everyday except Sunday