Actually, You Were the One Who Held Yourself Back

"How is that impossible?"

"You could even say it was your own problems that kept you from breaking through level 30."

"Your Martial Soul isn't weak. You're the weak one."

Chu Feng spoke softly, but his words struck Yu Xiaogang's ears like thunder. He glared furiously at Chu Feng. "Shut up!"

Chu Feng looked at Yu Xiaogang with contempt, utterly unconcerned by his anger. "You originally had a chance to change your Martial Soul, but you insisted on turning it into a Martial Soul that could only fart."

"Impossible. This is a Martial Soul defect. How could a Soul Ring configuration fix it?"

A Martial Soul defect was innate. Unless the defect was addressed, his level could not increase.

"Tell me, then. How do you fix it?" Yu Xiaogang's eyes were bloodshot, and he panted like an ox.

He thought Chu Feng was trying to frighten him into conceding.

Chu Feng leaned back in his chair and looked at Yu Xiaogang, who was already on the verge of collapse. With a chuckle, he said, "Strictly speaking, your Martial Soul isn't defective."

"It mutated, severing the bloodline pathway between your Martial Soul and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's Martial Soul."

"Mutated?" Yu Xiaogang froze.

He had always believed his Martial Soul was an incomplete Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. After all, he was a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

He had never considered that his Martial Soul might be a mutated Martial Soul.

"Since the bloodline pathway was severed, once your Soul Power reached level 29, it would instinctively reject any further increase in Soul Power, leaving you forever unable to break through level 30."

"So the first priority in configuring your Martial Soul should have been reconnecting that bloodline pathway."

"For your first Soul Ring, you could have chosen a Ten-Year Lightning-Patterned Shrew."

"It's-"

"A Ten-Year Lightning-Patterned Shrew? What kind of roadside stray is that? You want me to take a ten-year Soul Ring?" Yu Xiaogang raised a hand to interrupt Chu Feng.

Ten-Year Lightning-Patterned Shrews were even more common than stray dogs by the roadside. They were Soul Beasts no one would even spare a glance, only slightly better than ten-year solitary bamboo.

How could a Soul Beast like that possibly serve as his Martial Soul's first Soul Ring?

It was already weak. Wouldn't adding a Soul Ring like that only pile weakness upon weakness?

He, a Soul Master, would also become a roadside stray that other Soul Masters could casually kick to death.

"That's why you'll never be a great Soul Master theorist."

"If you were given a powerful Soul Beast as a Soul Ring, could you even use it?"

Chu Feng's reply was merciless. Just look at the sorry state Luo Sanpao was in now. Its first Soul Ring was a hundred-year one, yet the resulting skill was nothing but farting.

"The Lightning-Script Shrew's purpose isn't to give you a powerful Soul Skill. During absorption, it guides the lightning origin to permeate your Martial Soul's bloodline, clears the tiny Soul Power channels within it, and stabilizes the mutated Martial Soul."

"That prevents your foundation from cracking apart when you first begin cultivating."

"That's a great idea, Boss!" Tang San clapped his hands and exclaimed.

"What's so great about it?"

Xiao Wu tilted her head, not quite understanding. Even though she was a Soul Beast, she still felt a Ten-Year Lightning-Script Shrew was not a good choice for a Soul Ring.

"That's what makes Boss so brilliant." Tang San gazed at Chu Feng onstage, his eyes full of admiration.

"Most Soul Masters believe acquiring a Soul Ring is about gaining a powerful Soul Skill to make their Martial Soul more powerful."

"But Boss proposed a new approach. Absorbing a Soul Ring can be about changing the Martial Soul itself."

"Following that line of thought, perhaps even a weak Martial Soul could mutate into a powerful one."

Tang San grew more excited as he spoke. This was completely different from the Martial Soul theory Yu Xiaogang had taught him before.

Onstage, Chu Feng continued, "Once the bloodline pathway is cleared, you just need to cultivate steadily."

"Then obtain another Soul Ring provided by a lightning-attribute lesser-dragon Soul Beast."

"Finally, at level 29, get help from others to kill a two-thousand-year-old Lightning-Spined Earth Dragon."

"What good would killing it do? I couldn't absorb it anyway," Yu Xiaogang retorted instinctively.

Everyone knew Soul Masters could only absorb a Soul Ring at level 30. Besides, whether his Luo Sanpao Martial Soul could even absorb a two-thousand-year Soul Ring was a question in itself.

Yu Xiaogang was also feeling miserable now.

Because he felt there was nothing wrong with Chu Feng's reasoning.

If his Luo Sanpao Martial Soul had truly followed Chu Feng's Soul Ring configuration, it really could have carved out a path.

Even if he still could not break through level 30, he would not have been as useless as he was now.

"No, this Soul Ring isn't for you to absorb to reach level 31."

"The first two Soul Rings would already have planted bloodlines of the same origin inside your Martial Soul as a 'bridge.'"

"When absorbing this Soul Ring, you would rely on the resonance between three layers of bloodlines of the same origin to temporarily reconnect the severed bloodline pathway."

Chu Feng brought his palms together, making a connecting gesture.

"Together with the tremendous Soul Power provided by the Soul Beast itself, that would instantly let you break through the level-29 ceiling and advance to Soul Elder."

"Then you would pour the Soul Ring into your body and form a Soul Skill."

With that, Chu Feng fell silent and looked at Yu Xiaogang with a smile.

That was his solution.

Of course, this plan would only temporarily open the bloodline pathway. It would not completely eradicate the defect caused by the Martial Soul mutation.

But at least it would let him break through to Soul Elder, wouldn't it?

Only after a moment of silence did Yu Xiaogang speak. "This bridge would only allow passage temporarily. Even if I became a level-30 Soul Elder, the road ahead would be even harder."

"This temporary bloodline pathway could shatter at any moment."

"When that happens, my Martial Soul would deteriorate at best, and my Soul Power would regress at worst."

After studying Soul Master theory for so many years, he could not refute this proposal.

He could only point out the problems it contained.

"But you could break through," Chu Feng said indifferently.

Yu Xiaogang lowered his head and fell silent again.

Yes, as long as he could break through, that was enough. His question had been answered, which also meant he had lost this round again.

But this time, he actually felt little anger. What he felt more was desolation.

He had painstakingly researched Soul Master theory for half his life, only to lose to a child in the very field he excelled at most.

So he had ruined his own Martial Soul with his own hands.

Life really was meaningless.

Seeing Yu Xiaogang in this state, Chu Feng clapped his hands, stood up, and turned to face everyone in the hall. "Everyone, it seems the outcome has been decided."

"Everything you've heard about Shrek Academy was this man's slander against the academy."

This farce could end now.

Clap, clap, clap!

Applause rose from everyone in the hall.

"What a genius. No wonder he can be a teacher at such a young age."

"I told you, these children don't look like bad people."

"Earlier, you said those few looked like chicken thieves and dog snatchers."

"..."

The people in the hall talked, their words almost entirely filled with praise for Chu Feng.

Their eyes had truly been opened today. Not only had they learned some outrageous Soul Master theories, they had also seen a peerless monster.

Once they went home, Chu Feng's performance today would give them something to talk about for a long time.

Chu Feng bowed slightly to everyone in the hall, then turned sideways to look at the silent Yu Xiaogang.

"Will you go to prison yourself, or shall I send you there?"