Tang San and Tang Hao were both rooted to the spot in a daze.
Under normal circumstances, only a one hundred thousand year Soul Ring could grant two Soul Skills. Yet, according to Xiao Lin, it was possible for ordinary Soul Rings to yield multiple skills?
"Hmph, incredible, right? Actually, I've had this conjecture for a long time. It's just that Little San's experience today has made me firmly believe in it."
Xiao Lin smiled triumphantly.
"The Three-Eyed Salamander isn't naturally a sensory-type Soul Beast. Its so-called 'perception' is actually just observation through the single eye at the back of its head. But Little San gained a sensory ability. Besides the innate potential of the Blue Silver Grass, wasn't this guided by my words?"
"Furthermore, apart from me, no one else knows that Blue Silver Grass has sensory potential. No—I should say the Blue Silver King. Little San's Martial Soul is definitely not ordinary Blue Silver Grass."
"The Blue Silver King, through its 'subjects,' the ordinary Blue Silver Grass, gains the ability to perceive its surroundings. Wherever there is grass nearby, Little San will likely have the possibility of sensing it in the future."
Xiao Lin was drawing conclusions by working backward from the "correct answers" he knew from his past life, but there was another part he had discovered himself.
"Also, consider how certain clans always have identical Soul Skills. Take the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, for example. The Soul Skills of their Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda are almost identical across generations."
"If the clan didn't have such a preconceived notion, the rings they obtain should be different. For instance, if they hunted a strength-oriented Soul Beast, the resulting skill could be a strength boost, but it could also be strength-leeching or strength-transfer."
"These are all possibilities. But why is it always a strength boost? Besides the fact that amplification is generally the most powerful and practical choice, the only other reason is the Soul Master's cognition."
"Because they believe a strength boost is best, that is what they get. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect must have this clan ideology ingrained in them."
Xiao Lin's words left the two listeners dumbstruck.
So that's how it is?
"Furthermore, Uncle Hao, almost every Soul Ring you added was for the strength attribute. Doesn't that further prove my theory?"
"It was your own cognition and the desire in your heart that determined the nature of your Soul Skills. It's the same for various professions in the Soul Master world; an attack-type Battle Soul Master almost never gets a defensive skill unless it's for the sake of better attacking."
"But..." Tang San suddenly interrupted.
He was puzzled.
"If that's the case, then aren't there endless varieties of skills? As long as we imagine a certain skill, we have a chance to get it?"
"Little San, you're too naive. Did you forget about Martial Soul compatibility? You were able to awaken a bit of perception because Blue Silver Grass itself possesses that trait," Xiao Lin shook his head, looking dissatisfied with Tang San's interruption like a teacher with a poor student.
"But even so..." Tang Hao interrupted Tang San this time to ask his own question.
"Even if we set aside civilian Soul Masters, many knowledgeable Soul Masters still only have one Soul Skill per ring."
"That's simple: a thinking trap. Aside from me saying this, almost all Soul Masters believe they can only get one skill. How could they possibly get more? Even Little San didn't technically get 'multiple' skills; it just gave him the possibility for Self-Created Soul Skills."
Xiao Lin waved his hand.
Multiple formal skills per ring were actually quite unrealistic. The Soul Power within one ring was too limited. Xiao Lin simply wanted to obtain additional functions under a single skill or the ability to create new ones.
Take his Horned Dragon Staff, for instance.
Although he had already decided his first Soul Skill would increase attack power, he also wanted to make the staff harder—this was achievable. Additionally, if he wanted to create a skill that allowed the staff to extend and retract, was that possible? It likely was.
After all, his Horned Dragon Staff was already 2.5 meters long. Even if he retracted it, reinforcing the weapon's innate abilities would allow it to extend; the length might not be huge, but the function must exist.
Furthermore, he didn't actually crave multiple skills.
It was normal for hundred-year or even thousand-year rings not to have them. But ten-thousand-year rings might offer that chance, so why not try? Xiao Lin knew about the existence of "Soul Spirits" from future eras and how they provided multiple skills.
Even without Soul Spirits, he felt it was necessary to research if ten-thousand-year rings held this potential. After all, one could obtain a ten-thousand-year ring as early as the fourth slot—which he recalled Tang San doing in the original story.
Tang Hao was deeply shocked by Xiao Lin's conjectures. He had originally planned for Tang San to receive Yu Xiaogang's education, but looking at it now, wasn't Yu Xiaogang just a complete waste?
Yu Xiaogang's theories were either obvious common sense or minor adjustments to existing knowledge. Some were even laughable. "There are no trash Martial Souls, only trash Soul Masters." Wasn't that just calling himself a waste? "Grandmaster" Yu Xiaogang indeed.
Tang Hao thought to himself: if Xiao Lin had awakened that trash Martial Soul of Yu Xiaogang's, Xiao Lin would surely have broken the Rank 30 bottleneck and become at least a Soul Saint with ease. If the man couldn't even understand his own Martial Soul, how could he teach his son?
Tang Hao let out a silent sigh of relief.
Thank goodness he had met Xiao Lin at the most critical moment.
"Xiao Lin, then what is the other new conjecture you mentioned?" Tang Hao composed his complex emotions and asked, his eyes now carrying a trace of genuine respect.
Everyone respects true talent, and Tang Hao was no exception.
"Uncle Hao, let me tell you, this conjecture is truly extraordinary." Xiao Lin's lips curled into a confident smile.
"I call this new theory: The Theory of Martial Soul Shattering Evolution. This idea came to me just now when I saw Little San's Blue Silver Grass shatter and then regenerate."
"Martial Soul Shattering Evolution?" Tang Hao and Tang San both froze, staring at Xiao Lin in disbelief.
"I have never heard of a Martial Soul evolving," Tang Hao said, his face filled with shock.
This was something he hadn't even dared to imagine.
"Exactly," Tang San chimed in.
Wasn't a Martial Soul fixed from the moment of awakening? Evolution? Was that even possible?
Tang San felt like his brain was about to explode from all this new information.
I'll just leave the research to Brother Lin and focus on my Self-Created Soul Skills.
"It's nothing special. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has legends like this," Xiao Lin didn't think it was nonsense.
Martial Soul evolution was entirely possible.
"Uncle Hao, your Clear Sky Hammer is the world's number one Tool Martial Soul, so it's normal not to pay attention to such things. But do you know what the Clear Sky Sect's Martial Soul was before it became the hammer?"
"Also, I've heard the Clear Sky Sect has a technique called the Great Sumeru Hammer. Is that not a form of evolution for the Clear Sky Hammer?"
The moment those words left Xiao Lin's mouth, Tang Hao and Tang San were both stunned, standing as still as wax statues.