Yan Shaozhe, He Knows Nothing

After the conclusion of that somewhat baffling match, the students of Freshman Class 9 were led back to the classroom by Mu Jin.

Watching the students return to their respective seats, Mu Jin gave a few light coughs, attempting to steer the atmosphere back on track:

"Alright, victory and defeat are common occurrences, and sparring is an indispensable part of a Soul Master's growth.

I hope that as classmates, you won't dwell too much on the results. Instead, you should identify your own shortcomings and improve upon them; only then can you make continuous progress and become stronger."

Mu Jin's gaze swept over Wu Feng, who was still leaning limply against Ning Tian's shoulder.

Normally, she would have offered a few comments on the recent match, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of both sides.

However, that match had ended too bizarrely; even she, as both referee and teacher, hadn't fully grasped the process. Now, she could only offer a few vague words of comfort to gloss over the matter.

"Good! Now, let us begin the first lesson you will learn upon entering Shrek Academy."

Mu Jin turned around, erased the words "Class Monitor" from the blackboard, and wrote the two characters for "Offense and Defense."

"Huo Yuhao, as the vice monitor, let the teacher test you: what is your understanding of the offense and defense systems of Soul Masters?"

Just as the classroom fell silent and everyone waited for Huo Yuhao's answer, two figures stood silently at the ajar back door of the Freshman Class 9 classroom.

One of them was exceptionally sturdy, with bronze-colored skin and broad shoulders. His face was free of wrinkles, yet he had a head of white hair like steel needles, which added a sense of weariness to his appearance.

"Lin'er, don't be so impatient." Qian Duoduo, the Vice Dean of the Soul Tool Department, wore a pained expression as he whispered a plea to the heroic woman beside him, his tone filled with helplessness.

"Students are only preliminarily assigned to classes after the freshman assessment. Even if you spot a good seedling now, Yan Shaozhe won't easily let anyone transfer to our Soul Tool Department."

The woman referred to as "Lin'er" was tall, around 1.7 meters, with fair skin and neat, short cyan hair restrained by a simple military cap.

Wearing a well-tailored, dark cyan military dress uniform, she appeared even more spirited and distinguished.

Xian Lin'er shot a sidelong glance at Qian Duoduo, her eyes filled with undisguised frustration at his lack of ambition, her tone turning colder:

"Qian Duoduo, it is precisely because of this timid, shrinking attitude of yours that you never accomplish anything! That Huo Yuhao is an extremely rare Spirit-attribute Soul Master; what does that Yan Shaozhe know about such things?"

Seemingly recalling something, Xian Lin'er's tone grew even more dissatisfied.

"Even this first lesson for the freshmen, allowing these little ones to first come into contact with Soul Tools and form a good impression of them, was something I had to fight tooth and nail for at the Sea God Pavilion meeting. And you? You haven't helped at all."

Hearing Xian Lin'er's blunt reprimand, Qian Duoduo looked even more embarrassed and dared not say another word.

Inside the classroom, Huo Yuhao stood up.

Compared to his previous life, he indeed held a vastly different perspective on this question.

In his past life, in order to eventually topple Tang San, his most critical step had been to forcibly seize control of the God Realm Hub while the God Realm was in chaos.

It was precisely because of that brief contact that he had the opportunity to learn about the development of the Douluo Continent seven thousand years later, as well as Tang San's so-called ten-thousand-year grand plan.

Unfortunately, he had only caught a few hurried glimpses at the time, learning only roughly about the Soul Tool system that would later flourish on the continent, known as "Battle Armor."

Compared to the Ice Extreme War God Armor he and Xuan Ziwen had developed, it was vastly different, even allowing ordinary Titled Douluo to possess combat power comparable to Limit Douluo through the use of four-word Battle Armor.

With these thoughts swirling, Huo Yuhao spoke in a deep voice:

"Teacher Mu, I believe that in today's era of increasingly developed Soul Tools, the traditional boundaries of offense and defense between Soul Masters have become greatly blurred.

Even an auxiliary-type food-system Tool Soul Master, if they hold a sufficiently powerful offensive Soul Tool, can, under specific circumstances, unleash attack power not inferior to that of a power-attack battle Soul Master.

Similarly, an agility-attack battle Soul Master who excels in speed can, if equipped with a Soul Tool with excellent defensive capabilities, take on the responsibilities of a defensive Soul Master when necessary to protect themselves or their teammates.

It can be said that as long as there is sufficient soul power, a Soul Master can use various Soul Tools with different functions to greatly compensate for the shortcomings of their own Martial Soul type, making their combat style more flexible and varied."

Hearing Huo Yuhao's clear and logical analysis, Ning Tian's beautiful eyes flickered. However, knowing that he was a disciple of Spirit Ice, she did not find it strange that he possessed such knowledge about Soul Tools.

As an auxiliary-type Soul Master of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, she also understood the importance of Soul Tools to her.

Although she had never tried to craft Soul Tools herself, she frequently came into contact with and used various types of Soul Tools in her daily life.

In fact, she currently had several high-quality offensive and defensive third-class Soul Tools stored in her personal storage Soul Tool.

Huo Yuhao paused, then shifted the focus of his words and continued:

"However, although Soul Tools can blur the lines of offense and defense between Soul Masters to a certain extent and smooth out some of the quality gaps between ordinary and high-level Martial Souls, they cannot fundamentally change this problem at present."

"For example, a power-attack beast-type Soul Master with a sufficiently strong physique can rely on their robust body to withstand the massive recoil of a Soul Cannon, or even forcibly use high-level Soul Cannons that exceed their own cultivation level."

"But if an auxiliary-type Soul Master with a relatively weak physique were to attempt the same operation, the result would often be no different from suicide."

The Soul Tool technology of this era was still far from reaching the point where it could completely bridge the massive chasm between different types of Martial Souls.

The mainstream combat style on the continent still revolved around the characteristics of the Martial Soul itself and the soul skills mastered by the Soul Master.

Kong Deming's life-bound Soul Tool was too much of an outlier, and in the subsequent development of the era, there were no traces of such Soul Tools.

And the Douluo Continent seven thousand years later, due to the existence of Battle Armor and the extinction of most Soul Beasts, saw Soul Master cultivation focus more on the pure enhancement of soul power and spiritual power.

Thinking of the extinction of Soul Beasts, Huo Yuhao never expected that the Soul Spirit Contract method invented by Electrolux and promoted by his own hands would, in a way, accelerate the extinction of Soul Beasts.

And this was all because he had acted like a fool back then, going to the God Realm without a care for anything else.

"Then, according to the vice monitor, doesn't that mean Soul Tools aren't of much use to truly powerful Soul Masters?" a male student in the back row asked.

Hearing this question from the male student, Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo, who were standing outside the door eavesdropping, both had their expressions turn somewhat ugly.

Because this was the true sentiment of most teachers and students in the Martial Soul Department of Shrek Academy.

Existing Soul Tools were indeed difficult to threaten the lives of those Super Douluo or even Limit Douluo who stood at the pinnacle of the continent.