Wu Feng: Wuwuwu, Young Master is so good to me...

Wang Yan told the students to set their minds at ease, saying that Teacher Zhou Yi had simply been experiencing some emotional volatility lately, and that she truly hoped to get along well with everyone, and so on.

The students below were silent, as anyone could tell that these words were false.

Wang Yan cleared his throat, knowing that his words lacked persuasion and were indeed untrue, so he used a few sentences to pull their thoughts back on track.

"Alright,"

"but regardless of anything else,"

"congratulations to everyone for officially becoming first-year students of the Shrek Academy Outer Academy!"

The students below felt their spirits lift involuntarily.

That was right;

they had all emerged victorious from two rounds of competition, and in terms of talent and strength, they were the cream of the crop among their peers!

"However,"

Wang Yan's expression tightened:

"You must never let your guard down. Assessments like this will take place every year for the next six years..."

The atmosphere beneath the podium turned serious once more.

The students wore earnest expressions, devoid of heaviness or pessimism.

"The promotion standards from the fourth year onwards are quite complex; your soul power, soul fighting points, and other metrics must all meet the requirements, but for now, we are still in the first year,"

"The standard for advancing from the first year to the second year is reaching level twenty."

Everyone actually already knew this standard;

it was no secret, and for students who had passed the freshman assessment, it was not particularly high.

Many students below were already two-ringed, and there were even some three-ringed ones.

"There are eight months left in this semester,"

Wang Yan exhorted:

"I hope everyone can successfully pass the second-year entrance assessment."

Shrek had one semester per year, lasting eleven months, with the twelfth month off.

Upon returning, students were required to take promotion exams;

those who passed moved up a grade, while those who failed were dismissed.

Next, Wang Yan explained the differences in the curriculum from the first to the sixth year at Shrek Academy, as well as which courses were relatively more important.

To Lu Ran's surprise—or perhaps lack thereof—

Wang Yan specifically mentioned Soul Tools.

"As everyone knows, the collision with the Sun Moon Empire continent four thousand years ago changed too much: new Martial Souls, new Soul Beasts, new technologies... and a new Soul Master system."

Under the gaze of the students below, Yan Shaozhe took out an exquisite silver Soul Tool.

It was quadrilateral, but the edges were extremely smooth, a combination of a square and a cylinder.

It was the length of a forearm and the thickness of a palm.

"This is called a Soul Tool Sprayer. It is filled with fire-attribute gemstones and can spray Sulfur Flame. It has miraculous effects against those below the third ring, and any Soul Master can activate it."

"With it, support-type Soul Masters can attack or defend themselves, and melee-type Soul Masters can also launch long-range attacks."

"Some might say, 'So what?' Soul Masters from ten thousand years ago discovered the explosive power of fire-attribute gemstones and could achieve something similar; it's just that the power and range were inferior, making it no different from ordinary weapons."

Wang Yan's expression was serious:

"But I want to say,"

"No,"

"this is completely different."

"All traditional weapons, including hidden weapons, are merely extensions of a Soul Master's power. The stronger the Soul Master becomes, the less effective traditional weapons are. A level thirty Soul Grand Master might be able to defeat a level forty Soul Elder using a Godly Zhuge Crossbow, but an eighty-level Soul Douluo could never defeat a ninety-level Title Douluo using a Godly Zhuge Crossbow."

"These weapons require practice to use, lack growth potential, and have a low ceiling..."

"Please note, I collectively refer to them as 'weapons' because they can only be used on the battlefield."

"But... Soul Tools are completely different,"

The students below listened with rapt attention.

Wang Yan's voice was gentle and his enunciation clear:

"Soul Tools are not Soul Tool weapons, but Soul Tool items. Look, the lights above our heads are not weapons, but they are Soul Tools. This storage ring I have is not a weapon, but it is also a Soul Tool. While it's true that Soul Tools are more famous as weapons..."

"But their applications are extremely broad, from daily life to the battlefield,"

"Most importantly, they have formed a complete research theory and are still developing further..."

Lu Ran understood him clearly.

Simply put, Traditional weapons have a low upper limit; their tech tree has reached its end, with no room for progress.

Soul Tools have a high upper limit; their tech tree is still climbing, flourishing and growing.

Hmm, the traditional faction is going to lose!

He couldn't help but shake his head, sighing at the end of an era.

But Wang Yan's thinking was only half right.

The future belonged to Soul Tools, But he certainly wouldn't have predicted that future Soul Tool development would require forging technology, And the most crucial foundational technology at that, The kind that, if missing, prevents any development.

Didn't see that coming, did you? The traditional faction is back!

The strength of the older generation!

Lu Ran felt very gratified.

But then he thought, Yan Shaozhe, as the head of the Martial Soul Department and Shrek Academy, had always refused Soul Tools.

Yet the teachers below, Zhou Yi, Mu Jin, and Wang Yan, were all praising Soul Tools.

It felt like a betrayal...

Wait, Yan Shaozhe himself seemed to be secretly using Soul Tools, and expensive spirit-amplifying Soul Tools at that...

Never mind, then.

"What are you smiling about?"

Wu Feng, sitting beside him, Saw Lu Ran shake his head and nod slightly, her beautiful eyes narrowing:

"You're not getting delirium, are you?"

Hahaha! The young master is mine now!

"..."

Lu Ran silently glanced at her, Then raised his hand, clenched it into a fist, and lightly tapped her forehead:

"Ah..."

Wu Feng flinched, clutching her head, her beautiful eyes wide:

"Huff, huff..."

Looking like she was about to pant.

"The future of Soul Tools is incredibly vast. You are all students of the Martial Soul Department, but your teacher still hopes you will choose to take Soul Tool courses,"

"To grasp the most basic principles of their creation and use."

Wang Yan's tone was sincere, And it was indeed what he truly thought.

He believed that Shrek, and even the Douluo Three Kingdoms, were stagnating and would sooner or later be defeated by the Sun Moon Empire.

If nothing else, Soul Tools ranged from Rank 1 to Rank 9, just as Soul Masters ranged from Ring 1 to Ring 9.

Their combat power could correspond to each other, But Soul Tools, once crafted, could be stored. If stored and maintained properly, they could last for a hundred years without issue.

And in a hundred years, they could outlast ninety-nine percent of Shrek and the Three Kingdoms' Soul Masters.

They could win by attrition alone.

Not to mention that the Sun Moon Empire had never stopped advancing, And in the future, they might even develop Soul Tools capable of countering Limit Douluo.

As for the fact that Soul Masters required extremely high spiritual power, that was a fact. A group of first-year students, let alone having much spiritual power, barely had much Soul Power either, and that was also a fact.

However, the requirements for crafting a Level 1 Soul Tool are not high, so there shouldn't be any problems, right?

Soul Guidance Department, second floor of the grey teaching building.

About fifty students sat quietly in a large classroom, an even split of boys and girls, all wearing uniform green school attire.

A young female teacher with bronze-toned skin and a brown high ponytail

stood on the podium, her clear voice echoing throughout the room:

"Soul Tools have diverse uses and are categorized by function into offensive, defensive, auxiliary, and fixed-projectile types..."

Below the podium, Huo Yuhao involuntarily clenched his fists.

No wonder Teacher Fan Yu values me; it turns out I possess a spiritual attribute!

This is what I excel at... this is what I am meant to do!

In his deep blue eyes, the image of the Duke's Mansion being blasted to ruins by his fixed-projectile soul cannon shells slowly emerged.

Huo Yuhao couldn't help but grin, revealing his snow-white teeth:

It's truly... it's truly wonderful!