King Gua, Master!

Internally criticizing the mess Tang San left behind by destroying Martial Soul Hall, Bai Cai played dumb, dragging the conversation out until the dean's throat was parched.

"Student Bai Cai, do you understand what I mean?" The dean's lips were cracked as he fumbled around for his water cup.

"What does that mean?" Bai Cai looked as if he half-understood.

When it came to feigning ignorance, Bai Cai—who could even slack off during the hellish cramming sessions of his past life—had an expression that was absolutely flawless.

"I mean..."

His throat felt like it was smoking; the dean coughed twice, "Ahem, ahem."

"Perhaps you should go get a glass of water?"

Bai Cai appeared concerned, but was actually snickering inside. Ralts shared a telepathic link with him and had long since swapped the dean's cup, tossing it into the academy's dense shrubbery.

Ralts's Psychic attribute, according to the martial soul classification of Douluo Continent, belonged to the mental-type category.

Huo Gua's initial martial soul, Spirit Eye, was commonly referred to as just an eye. Even if the eye was subtly connected to the brain, before its secondary awakening, Spirit Eye could still be called a trash martial soul.

The power of a Body Martial Soul was ranked according to the body part; eyes were undoubtedly very important, yet Huo Gua's Innate Soul Power was only level one.

According to the Grandmaster's theory of martial soul core competitiveness, martial soul quality and Innate Soul Power were mutually correlated.

If ten people awakened an eye martial soul, Huo Gua's Spirit Eye would be in the lowest tier of quality—utterly useless.

A true mental-type martial soul, relying on instinct, would definitely be able to utilize mental power!

Ordinary Blue Silver Grass could grow and become tougher when infused with soul power.

Did the Duke White Tiger's family martial soul, White Tiger, require a soul ring to use its tiger claws?

Did Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire Phoenix, which possessed an evil fire that was extremely difficult to extinguish, rely on abilities granted by soul rings?

Those were the inherent characteristics of the martial souls themselves!

Without the help of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, Huo Gua's Spirit Eye could barely be called a mental-type martial soul.

A fake mental-type martial soul like Spirit Eye, without the addition of a soul ring, could only enhance vision when infused with soul power.

A true mental-type martial soul, such as Ralts, was born with the ability to manipulate telekinesis and possessed extremely powerful mental strength.

With the suppression of martial soul quality, the rarity of externalized martial souls, and the unpredictable nature of mental-type martial souls, how could a second-ring Soul Grand Master like the dean possibly detect telekinesis—a variant of mental power?

The dean didn't even know that mental power existed. Even the head of Farnos Junior Soul Master Academy, the fourth-ring Soul Ancestor Anuoji, had not reached the level of touching upon mental power.

For average soul masters, mental power grew alongside soul power; only upon becoming a Soul King could they absorb ten-thousand-year soul rings that carried mental shocks. Attempting to utilize mental power required at least reaching the level of a Soul Emperor or Soul Saint.

A well-trained soul master might notice the anomalies caused by telekinesis.

However, the dean held a high position and lived in comfort; he hadn't even activated his martial soul and was unaware of the existence of mental power. The loss of his water cup would likely remain an eternal mystery.

"Fine, go collect your textbooks and bedding." Parched, the dean waved his hand, letting Bai Cai leave.

Watching the retreating back, the dean remained silent. His earnest advice and analysis of the pros and cons had been a complete waste of breath.

The flaws of an externalized martial soul were truly severe.

After a secondary awakening, the talent of a Body Martial Soul was far superior to that of ordinary soul masters, making it easy to achieve a fusion of soul power and mental power for effortless control. Body Martial Souls were closely linked to the physical body; unless a limb was lost, which would easily end a soul master's path, they had almost no weaknesses.

Externalized martial souls were the exact opposite. According to the secret history of Douluo, when Luo Sanpao was bitten by a Datura Snake, the damage was reflected back onto the Grandmaster's own body.

Based on Bai Cai's exploration, the possessor of an externalized martial soul could not fully control the actions of their soul. For instance, unless the martial soul was retracted, no matter how much he tried to persuade it, Ralts would follow him at every moment.

Bai Cai had considered that as an externalized martial soul, Ralts might be subject to distance limitations. However, Luo Sanpao could move away from the Grandmaster to lure the Datura Snake away, whereas Ralts could not leave his side, suggesting there were other hidden factors.

Furthermore, Bai Cai discovered that the possessor of an externalized martial soul could not use the martial soul's abilities at all. For example, he could not use Ralts's telekinesis, and according to academy records, the Grandmaster had never used his own body to unleash Luo Sanpao's fart-based soul skills.

Of course, the only externalized martial soul possessor Bai Cai knew of was the widely famous Grandmaster with his many exploits. Yet, the secret history of Douluo described how, when he was nearly poisoned to death by a Datura Snake and about to drag Tang San down with him, the Grandmaster still did not unleash Luo Sanpao's soul skills through his own body.

Was it that he didn't want to, or that he couldn't?

Bai Cai believed that, like himself, the Grandmaster could not use the abilities inherent to the martial soul, including soul skills.

In the earliest records of externalized martial souls, the Grandmaster's martial soul, Luo Sanpao, possessed enough intelligence to distinguish the Grandmaster's commands to release soul skills. Moreover, academy records stated that Luo Sanpao could quickly replenish the number of times it could use soul skills by eating white radishes.

According to the records, white radishes were cheap and effective at inducing farts. Unfortunately, the Grandmaster never explained who bore the soul power cost when Luo Sanpao released its soul skills.

Ralts's manipulation of telekinesis did not consume his own soul power. Bai Cai was inclined to believe that when Luo Sanpao released soul skills, the soul power consumption was borne by Luo Sanpao itself. After all, at the time of the battle with the Datura Snake, the Grandmaster was only a second-ring Soul Grand Master and could not perform long-distance soul power transmission.

Without the cultivation experience of other externalized martial soul possessors to refer to, and relying on memories from his past life, the Grandmaster's deeds recorded in academy texts, and his own personal experiences, Bai Cai reached a conclusion.

Bai Cai judged that externalized martial souls possessed extremely strong autonomy; whether it was recovering soul power, mental power, releasing soul skills, or fighting, the externalized martial soul could handle it all.

When an externalized martial soul suffered damage, the portion that could not be mitigated was reflected back onto the host.

Lacking the reinforcement of a martial soul, the possessor of an externalized martial soul had physical strength on par with an auxiliary-type soul master. If they were not careful and suffered damage that pierced the externalized martial soul's defense, their life would likely be in jeopardy.

Luo Sanpao was bitten by the Datura Snake, and the Grandmaster was nearly poisoned to death. All signs proved that the mutation direction of externalized martial souls was not benign.

However, if one could perfectly leverage the advantages and avoid the weaknesses, an externalized martial soul might become a super martial soul on the same level as a Body Martial Soul.

It was well known that total soul power was an important factor in determining soul power level. For possessors of externalized martial souls, the soul power and mental power of the martial soul and the host were calculated separately.

Using a reservoir as a metaphor for soul power and mental power, an ordinary soul master had one reservoir for soul power and one for mental power.

A possessor of an externalized martial soul had two reservoirs for soul power and two for mental power. Even if the reservoir representing the externalized martial soul was smaller than a standard one, the sum of both still surpassed that of an ordinary soul master by more than a little.

Luo Sanpao could replenish soul power and soul skill usage by eating white radishes. The characteristics of an externalized martial soul were closer to a soul beast than a martial soul.

Soul beasts could cultivate, so why not externalized martial souls?

Boldly hypothesize, cautiously verify. Bai Cai knew that if he wanted to become a Titled Douluo and follow in Huo Gua's footsteps, he had to utilize the knowledge and inspiration from his past life.

Destiny should be held in his own hands!