There was also the incomplete version of Solar Corona Prism Guard—Solar Corona Light Shield:
Although it could disperse attacks or have its defenses adjusted manually, that took time, leaving it vulnerable to an instantaneous breakthrough from an explosive attack concentrated on a single point.
Moreover, most situations did not require defense from every direction; it was enough to guard the side under attack. By maintaining the normal output, he could effectively strengthen the defense, or maintain its original strength while reducing Soul Power consumption.
Of course, there were drawbacks too. The reduced area covered by the Soul Skill lowered the speed at which it absorbed Sunlight Energy, and no one else could supply its Soul Power. There were pros and cons, but on the whole, it made Xiang Yang's tactics more flexible.
Besides those, there were several ideas that could not be realized because of his limited Soul Power reserves. But ever since developing these Self-Created Soul Skills, Xiang Yang had finally made up for his weaknesses.
Star Dou Great Forest
"Ah, we're finally here! I'm starving! I want food!" The tranquility of dusk was shattered. Several wild cats started in fright, and with a "Meow!" they vanished.
"Fatty, keep it down. Stop howling like a ghost and wailing like a wolf. You've scared my Zhu Zhuqing." A blond man following close behind spoke up.
"All right, all right, let's hurry inside. Everyone's been traveling all day, so let's find somewhere to rest first."
"Yeah, exactly! I want a bath. I feel awful."
A jumble of footsteps approached. A closer look revealed the Shrek group, who had come specifically to obtain Soul Rings. Unlike in the original story, where Zhao Wuji led the group alone, Flender had come along as well. After all, the Soul Beasts they needed to find this time would not be easy to locate.
As Tang San walked, he looked at the brightly lit shops lining the street. "This town really lives up to its name as the closest one to the Star Dou Great Forest. There are so many shops selling weapons and armor, and medicines too... Maybe they have some of the herbs I need."
Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm. "Third Brother, look! There's an inn over there. Come on!" Xiao Wu pulled Tang San quickly toward the front desk to arrange their lodging. Naturally, she brought him along because all her money was kept with him.
Unlike in the original story, Xiang Yang's influence had brought the two of them to Shrek three years early. Even Tang San, who kept up a schedule of two Soul Fights a month, had accumulated tens of thousands of Gold Soul Coins, let alone Xiao Wu. Although group training took up a good deal of her time, she still managed to maintain a pace of at least one fight a day.
Her low Soul Power Level in the early days and her rather rash temperament had caused her to lose quite a few matches, but her strength was simply far beyond the norm among low-level Soul Masters. Among those of the same level, as long as their Martial Souls or Soul Skills had no spiritual attribute, she could deprive even a level 29 Soul Grandmaster of their vision for at least ten seconds or so.
Unfortunately, she was the sort who loved having fun and spent money with a lavish hand. On one occasion in particular, she made a bet and lost twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins in one go. That gave everyone except Ning Rongrong a shock, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing included.
Although the two of them came from extraordinary backgrounds, their families had directly supplied their cultivation resources when they were living at home rather than giving them money. So, wealthy as they were, they had never squandered money quite like that.
After that, Tang San and Xiang Yang forbade Xiao Wu from carrying more than a hundred Gold Soul Coins. Tang San had objected, but he had not wanted to go that far; after all, the money Xiao Wu spent was earned through her own matches, one fight at a time. In the end, however, Xiang Yang persuaded him with a talk about "the dangers of gambling" and "a child carrying gold through a busy marketplace."
How should it be put? What had happened was actually a product of Shrek's own atmosphere. As had been said, all of Shrek's teachers came from humble backgrounds. That was not to say there was anything wrong with it, but it really had given the students quite a few bad habits.
As the saying went, Shrek Academy was a Monster Academy, so it accepted only monsters, not ordinary people. Emmm... the problem was that those people were already gifted. They would be geniuses wherever they went and had plenty of choices. Shrek claimed it would rather go without than settle for less, but in reality, it was just putting on a brave face because it lacked resources.
Then there was the saying that anyone who did not dare stir up trouble was a mediocrity. Although there had been no cases of deliberately bullying ordinary people, when it came down to it, wasn't that just the strong preying on the weak? What if they provoked someone they could not afford to offend? Could the teachers guarantee they would always be at the students' side? Could they guarantee the students could handle everyone they provoked? Even if they could, what if the other party bore a grudge and took revenge when the teachers were not around?
On top of that, they even encouraged gambling and the like. Their survival experience was indeed useful, but it had more negative effects than positive ones. Otherwise, the protagonist's group would not have been the only ones to grow and succeed.
Fortunately, Xiang Yang was held in high regard here, and everyone knew at least something of his abilities and character. Naturally, they would not do the things he detested.
"Boss, I'd like a room." Xiang Yang followed close behind and booked a room for himself as well. Everyone had plenty of savings, and they were not new acquaintances, so there was no need for formalities. Each could take care of their own expenses.
"Certainly." Before them stood an elderly man with a graying beard. He glanced at the group and said, "Hello there, young man. There are still a few rooms next to each other on the second and third floors. Will those do?"
Xiang Yang turned to look at the others. "Either is fine with me." "Brother Yang, you decide." "No problem." "That works." "If they're next to each other, even better!" "Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, let's share a room."
Seeing that none of them objected, Xiang Yang agreed. After they had each finished checking in, they arranged to meet in half an hour.
Xiang Yang followed a young attendant up to the third floor, step by step. The man had no Soul Power and was probably an ordinary townsman.
The room was simple, with a single bed about two meters long and a bathroom. He first stretched to loosen his muscles, then spent ten-odd minutes washing up. There was still plenty of time before their meeting, and thinking there was nothing to do in his room, he decided to take a look around the streets.
"Come take a look! Strong, durable leather armor, perfect for use in the Star Dou Great Forest!"...
The cries of vendors rose and fell without cease, and Xiang Yang saw quite a few new things. Although Suotuo City was also a major city, its prosperity ultimately came from its reputation as a "granary." When it came to trades such as smithing weapons and armor, it truly could not compare with the town beside the largest gathering place of Soul Beasts on land.
"Not bad at all. Ah Yang, are you going to buy one?" Xiang Yang, who was standing among the onlookers at a weapons shop, replied without turning his head, "Of course not. How could the weapons here compare to the ones you make?"
"Haha, of course! Little San is the best." A sweet, lively voice rang out at his words. It was Tang San and Xiao Wu. After a long bath, she had grown bored and gone to Tang San's room to pull him out shopping with her. As it happened, he had been thinking the same thing.
Because this world had healing Soul Masters, its herbalism and medical arts were extremely rudimentary. Most remedies were only ordinary ones for stopping bleeding, removing poison, and the like. Even setting aside the differences in some formulas, their effects could not be guaranteed even when the formulas were the same.
This worked greatly to Tang San's advantage. Although he was more skilled in the study of poisons, medicine and poison were, as the saying went, branches of the same family. Following Xiang Yang's advice, he spent a great deal of time testing herbs and went on to develop quite a few medicinal and pill formulas.
Quite a few were effective for Soul Masters, such as the Spirit-Clearing Pill, which boosted the spirit much like his first Soul Skill, and the Strength Pill, which increased strength for a short time. When Ning Rongrong learned of them, she immediately asked to buy them. At first, Tang San did not think he needed money, so naturally he had no intention of handing over the pill formulas. But after discussing it with Xiang Yang, he decided that since they wanted to build a good relationship with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect anyway, it was better to start early.
As for the formulas for treating ordinary injuries and illnesses, Xiang Yang had taken them all. Tang San did not know what he had done with them, but he did not mind either way. They were of little use to him and could only be considered byproducts.