First Lesson: The Worth of Martial Souls

The entire tiered lecture hall fell silent.

Everyone was utterly shocked by the scene before them.

Yu Xiaogang, the theoretical Master revered like a god, had actually... been refuted by a six-year-old girl on the spot with an entirely new, unheard-of set of theories, coughing up blood as his convictions collapsed!

The way they looked at the cool, aloof figure on the stage had completely changed.

It was no longer the way one looked at a genius or a monster.

It was... the gaze reserved for the founder of a new era!

They felt as though they were witnessing firsthand the end of an old era and the beginning of a new one!

"Bloodline Tracing Theory... Martial Soul Quality Theory..."

Below the stage, several highly learned teachers repeatedly mulled over these two new terms, their eyes shining with wonder.

These two theories were like two keys, instantly unlocking countless knots they had never been able to unravel before!

Why were the inherited Martial Souls of certain clans simply stronger than those of others?

Why did some Twin Martial Souls cause their owners to explode and die because they could not bear them?

Why could some Soul Masters never break through a certain bottleneck, no matter how hard they tried?

In the past, they could only explain such things with vague terms like "talent" and "luck."

But now, Lin Xi had provided a deeper, more fundamental answer.

Bloodlines!

The quality of a Martial Soul determined far too much from the very root!

Tang San stood beside the stage, his heart equally turbulent.

Blue Silver Emperor!

His Martial Soul was actually the Blue Silver Emperor!

Even he himself had not known this secret! Yet Lin Xi had exposed it in a single sentence and could even use a special method to briefly awaken his Martial Soul's true form!

Just what else did she know?

He looked at Lin Xi's back. That slender figure now seemed incomparably tall and mysterious in his eyes, as though shrouded in endless mist that he simply could not see through.

Lin Xi ignored Yu Xiaogang, who had collapsed in his chair, and paid no attention to the shock of those below the stage.

It was as if she had merely done something insignificant.

Facing the audience once more, her cool voice rang out again:

"'Martial Soul Quality Theory' is merely one of the cornerstones of my theoretical system."

"Next, I will discuss the second point: Spirit Ring Energy Leap Theory."

Another new term!

Everyone immediately pricked up their ears, scarcely daring to breathe for fear of missing a single word.

Even Yu Xiaogang, whose mind had been in a daze, instinctively focused his unfocused eyes slightly upon hearing the new term.

Lin Xi's gaze swept over the attentive faces below as she said indifferently:

"Master's theories contain a second fatal misconception regarding Spirit Rings."

"He believed that the age of a Spirit Ring a Soul Master could absorb was related to the limit the Soul Master's body could withstand. The limit for the First Soul Ring was 423 years, the second Spirit Ring was 764 years... and so on."

"This data cannot be called wrong. But it only applies to the vast majority of... mediocre talents."

Mediocre talents!

The moment those words came out, the expressions of ninety-nine percent of the students and teachers below darkened.

After all, every one of their Spirit Ring configurations strictly followed Yu Xiaogang's theory.

Did that not mean they were all... mediocre talents?

"Nonsense! This is an ironclad law proven with the lives of countless generations of Soul Masters!" someone below immediately retorted indignantly.

"An ironclad law?" Lin Xi's lips curled in mockery. "Ironclad laws are meant to be broken."

She raised her right hand.

Bzzzz!!!

The bewitching blood-red ring rose from beneath her feet once more!

The terrifying pressure of a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ring swept through the entire lecture hall like a tangible tide!

The weaker students turned pale beneath that pressure, struggling to breathe as though even their souls were trembling!

"My First Soul Ring is a Hundred Thousand Year one."

Lin Xi's voice was not loud, yet it echoed clearly in everyone's ears.

"According to Master's theory, I should have exploded and died the instant I absorbed it, my body and soul utterly destroyed, correct?"

"But I am still standing here perfectly fine."

"How do you explain that?"

Looking at the flushed yet powerless faces below, she continued:

"This is the core of what I call Spirit Ring Energy Leap Theory."

"The decisive factor in what age of Spirit Ring a Soul Master can absorb is not merely the body's endurance. More importantly, there are three points!"

"First, the quality of the Martial Soul!"

"My Martial Soul, the Mysterious Sky Soul Suppressing Needle, is a god-grade Martial Soul. Its quality allows it to ignore so-called 'year limits' and bear energy of a higher level. Like an ocean that can contain a hundred rivers, while a small puddle might overflow after just one more rainstorm."

"Second, the strength of one's Spiritual Power!"

"The process of absorbing a Spirit Ring is not merely a contest of the body. It is also a contest between one's will and the remnant soul of the spirit beast. Powerful Spiritual Power allows you to remain clear-headed while absorbing a Spirit Ring, suppressing the spirit beast's backlash and thus absorbing Spirit Ring energy far beyond your body's limits."

"Third, and most importantly, the method of guiding and converting energy!"

"When ordinary Soul Masters absorb Spirit Rings, they use the crudest, most primitive Devouring Method. It is like a starving man swallowing an entire cow without processing it first. It would be a miracle if he did not burst from overeating."

"A truly skilled Soul Master, however, knows how to use their own Soul Power to 'sort out,' 'guide,' and 'convert' the violent energy within a Spirit Ring, unraveling it strand by strand and making it their own. Like a master chef who can divide a cow into hundreds of portions and use different cooking methods to turn them into exquisite dishes."

Lin Xi's words opened the door to a new world for everyone!

So... there was so much to consider when absorbing Spirit Rings!

So... the cultivation method they had always been so proud of was merely the crudest "Devouring Method"!

Yu Xiaogang lay slumped in his chair, listening to Lin Xi's Spirit Ring Energy Leap Theory. For the first time, a glimmer of light appeared again in his ashen eyes.

It was not the light of hope, but... the light of thirst for knowledge!

Like a traveler who had been thirsty in the desert for three days and nights, he frantically absorbed this nectar of knowledge that overturned everything he believed.

Yes! That was it!

That explained it!

Why Lin Xi could absorb a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ring!

Why Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul could support Innate Full Soul Power!

The research he had taken pride in his entire life had only skimmed the surface! He was like a child picking up shells on the beach, while Lin Xi had shown him the magnificent turbulence beneath the deep sea!

"So that's how it is... so that's how it is..." he murmured, looking utterly entranced.

Lin Xi did not stop.

What she intended was a complete overthrow.

"Based on these three points, I can draw a conclusion."

"Master's so-called Spirit Ring Year Limit Theory is nothing but empty talk! It is a trash theory used to bind mediocre talents and mislead geniuses..."

"As long as your Martial Soul quality is high enough, your Spiritual Power strong enough, and your method correct enough, then absorbing a Ten Thousand Year, or even a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ring as your First Soul Ring is not impossible!"

Those words were like throwing a burning coal into a pot of still oil!

The entire lecture hall exploded into uproar!

"A Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring as the First Soul Ring? Th-this is impossible!"

"Too insane! This theory is utterly insane!"

"But... she herself is living proof! There's no reason for her to lie to us!"

"Could it be... that we have been cultivating down the wrong path all these years?"

Countless people's beliefs began to waver and even collapse at that moment.

The way they looked at Yu Xiaogang had changed from their initial respect to sympathy and even... contempt.

A "Master" who had used erroneous theories to guide the Soul Master world across the entire continent for decades?

What a supreme irony!

Sensing the change in the gazes around him, Yu Xiaogang's face turned the color of pig liver. Shame, regret, resentment... all kinds of emotions surged through his heart.

With another "wah," he spat out a third mouthful of blood.

This time, it was not from anger.

It was because the absurdity of his theories, along with the stubbornness and ridiculousness of his entire life, had shamed him half to death!