Cyclops

The Cyclops was a special Soul Beast of the Star Dou Great Forest. Apart from the enormous eye in the middle of its forehead, it was no different from a human. It possessed high intelligence and a highly social nature, and could weave clothes out of branches and vines.

A hundred-year Cyclops was over five meters tall, a thousand-year Cyclops exceeded eight meters, and a ten-thousand-year Cyclops was over fifteen meters tall. There were no records of hundred-thousand-year Cyclopes.

As a spiritual-type Soul Beast with high intelligence, the Cyclops's brains were considered a great tonic by certain Soul Beasts. Among those that hunted Cyclopes were overlords who had inherited top-tier bloodlines.

Dragon-type Soul Beasts, phoenix-type Soul Beasts, lion- and tiger-type Soul Beasts, and other overlords had hunted Cyclopes for years. As a result, Cyclopes were relatively rare, and could be found in the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Deep Sea Mermaid: Known to appear in the Far North Icy Sea. Acquisition records unavailable; age records unavailable.

Plant Spirit: Known to appear in any Soul Beast forest. Acquisition records unavailable; age records unavailable. Possibly legendary.

Heavenly Snow Woman: Known to appear in the Far North Core. Acquisition records unavailable; age unknown.

None of the Soul Rings suitable for Ralts came from ordinary Soul Beasts. If not for the promise to help the freshman champion obtain Soul Rings, Bai Cai wouldn't have revealed Ralts's other Soul Skills.

Of course, even if Shrek Academy promised to help obtain suitable Soul Rings at the limit of what she could absorb, it might not be willing to provoke the Deep Sea Mermaids and the Heavenly Snow Women.

Aside from the Cyclops, Bai Cai had to find several alternative Soul Beasts, in case they couldn't find one and the academy simply captured another spiritual-type Soul Beast to fob her off.

Bai Cai cherished Ralts dearly and was determined to give her an unlimited future. Unless a Soul Beast met the requirements, wasting a Soul Ring slot would mean betraying Ralts's trust and hard work.

After class, the students filed out of the classroom in twos and threes. Wang Yan watched them leave with a warm smile, then stood beside the lectern and tidied his lesson plans.

"Xiao Bai?"

Wang Dong lingered outside the classroom, her eyes full of anticipation. "Xiao Xiao said we're going to the cafeteria at noon to celebrate."

"You go ahead." Bai Cai smiled and waved goodbye.

Turning quickly to face Wang Yan, Bai Cai hesitated before asking, "Teacher Wang Yan, can the academy honor its promise to help me obtain a suitable Soul Ring?"

"Oh?"

After gathering his thick stack of lesson plans, Wang Yan glanced around the classroom. Only a handful of students still lingered there. "Let's talk in the office."

Wang Yan left the classroom first. Bai Cai gathered her class notes, then headed to the simple office beside the classroom.

"Your knowledge of Martial Soul Theory is strong, and your foundations are solid. Teacher Zhou Yi thinks highly of you."

Wang Yan picked up a cup of fragrant tea and asked, "Have you decided what kind of Soul Beast's Soul Ring you want?"

Bai Cai cupped the glass of ice water in both hands, took a deep breath, and said earnestly, "The requirements for Soul Rings for my Martial Soul are rather strict."

"A spiritual-type, detached Martial Soul, with a combination of attributes and characteristics that almost never occurs. The academy is troubled by this, too."

Wang Yan set down his porcelain cup. The fragrance of tea filled the air. "What kind of Soul Beast, and what age are you looking for?"

Sipping the ice water, Bai Cai replied calmly, "Deep Sea Mermaid, Heavenly Snow Woman, or Plant Spirit. I need one between seven and eight hundred years old."

Soul Rings from spiritual-type Soul Beasts placed greater emphasis on spiritual power, while the threshold for physical strength was somewhat lower.

Of course, Deep Sea Mermaids and Heavenly Snow Women were both Soul Beast groups with top-tier bloodlines. Their Soul Rings were incredibly domineering, requiring not only spiritual strength but also physical strength.

Tang San had cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill since childhood and trained by blacksmithing for six years. Even so, the Soul Ring of a Man Faced Demon Spider just over two thousand years old had nearly made him explode.

The Shrek Academy library contained no records of the difficulty of absorbing Soul Rings from Deep Sea Mermaids or Heavenly Snow Women.

But the Man Faced Demon Spider's inherited bloodline was far inferior to those of Deep Sea Mermaids and Heavenly Snow Women—the difference was like fireflies beside the bright moon. One could imagine how domineering their Soul Rings were.

If she didn't trust Ralts, Bai Cai wouldn't even dare absorb a Deep Sea Mermaid or Heavenly Snow Woman Soul Ring over four hundred years old.

"Student Bai Cai." Wang Yan took a deep breath and forced himself to remain calm. "Deep Sea Mermaids are among the overlords of the sea, and Heavenly Snow Women are the foremost overlords of the Far North. Shrek Academy can't afford to offend them."

"Plant Spirits are elusive. The few fragmentary mentions in ancient legends aren't enough to rely on."

"Let's talk about Soul Beasts that are actually feasible."

Wang Yan handed her a Soul Beast Pokédex and patiently advised, "Ordinary Soul Beasts may still suit your Martial Soul."

"Teacher Wang Yan."

Bai Cai deliberately addressed him by his full name to show how serious she was. "Do you remember the Martial Soul Evolution theory?"

"Humanoid Soul Beasts?" Wang Yan furrowed his brow.

Ralts was a spiritual-type, detached Martial Soul with a humanoid form. According to Martial Soul Evolution theory, she should receive Soul Rings from humanoid Soul Beasts.

"But absorbing Soul Rings from humanoid Soul Beasts doesn't necessarily mean your Martial Soul will evolve."

Not wanting Bai Cai to stray down the wrong path, Wang Yan kindly explained, "The higher the quality of a Martial Soul, the lower the chance of it evolving. Yours is clearly a top-tier Martial Soul. You'd be better off choosing Soul Rings with stronger Soul Skills."

"Teacher Wang Yan."

Summoning Ralts, Bai Cai hugged the little creature with blue hair. "Grandmaster, the Radiant Sacred Dragon, Martial Soul Evolution theory—I believe you should know about them."

The Shrek Academy library held no shortage of rare, one-of-a-kind books. As a senior teacher, Wang Yan might not have read every book in existence, but he was certainly well-read.

"An innate deficiency!"

After staring at Ralts for a long time, Wang Yan suddenly understood. Shocked, he cried, "Humanoid! Humanoid! Your Martial Soul is actually in its infancy!"

At that moment, Wang Yan finally noticed what made Ralts different.

A Beast Martial Soul Awakening always took an adult form. Anything else was a mutation, and most Mutated Martial Souls suffered from innate deficiencies. Detached Martial Souls, one of the mutated forms of Beast Martial Souls, could likewise suffer from innate deficiencies.

Take Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang, for example. He came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and had at least inherited a Martial Soul from either his father or mother. Most female Soul Masters who married into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had dragon-type Martial Souls or top-tier Martial Souls.

The Radiant Sacred Dragon was a super Martial Soul resulting from a mutation or reversion to an ancestral form of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. It was extremely difficult to awaken. Grandmaster had only partially awakened it, and the Radiant Sacred Dragon was innately deficient, becoming Luo Sanpao.

Top-tier Martial Souls already represented the limit of stable Martial Soul inheritance. Super Martial Souls such as the Godly Taotie Bull, Radiant Phoenix, and Radiant Sacred Dragon were difficult to pass down to descendants reliably.

So what form did a Soul Master's Martial Soul take when they failed to awaken a super Martial Soul?

Shrek Academy had once gathered information on the descendants of several Titled Douluo with super Martial Souls. Their research showed that the descendants of those who awakened super Martial Souls either inherited an inferior or degraded Martial Soul, or simply inherited the other parent's Martial Soul.

Bai Cai's detached Martial Soul resembled a young child, matching the traits of a degraded super Martial Soul. What's more, Bai Cai's Innate Soul Power wasn't low, so the chance of fully awakening a super Martial Soul was extremely high.

Use multiple Soul Rings from humanoid Soul Beasts to help Ralts's Martial Soul fully awaken.

Student Bai Cai, was this your plan?

His excitement showed plainly on his face. Wang Yan even crushed his porcelain cup in his grip, splashing tea everywhere.