Soul Skill Training and Soul Skill Development

Gazing at the beautiful scenery before him, Dai Mubai lost himself for a moment.

He found himself thinking that it would be quite nice to live his whole life in a quiet, peaceful village like this, undisturbed by anyone.

But before that thought had lasted a second, Dai Mubai ruthlessly snuffed it out.

The peace and tranquility before him were only appearances. When it came to ordinary people without strength, there was no need for a true expert-even a One-Ring Soul Master...

So long as that person wished it, they could shatter the village's peace and tranquility and bring a calamity down upon it.

In this world of extraordinary powers and severe social stratification, even the weak could not control their own fates, much less ordinary people who had no power at all.

Dai Mubai's own status was especially extraordinary now. There were many things he could not escape simply because he wanted to.

So Dai Mubai suppressed the foolish thought and set off running along the narrow paths between the fields around the village.

Shrek Academy had crude facilities. It could not compare to Heaven Dou Royal Academy or Star Luo Royal Academy, which had fully equipped training grounds.

But there were ways to train with complete facilities, and there were ways to train under crude conditions.

As long as someone genuinely wanted to work hard and improve, there were always more solutions than difficulties.

Just like now: although Shrek Academy was located in a remote village-

Dai Mubai was willing to work hard and exercise, and a morning run around the village was also an excellent way to train.

Though he wore no weights, Dai Mubai did not use Soul Power to ease the strain on his body during his morning run.

The village was not small, either. A single lap along the field paths encircling it was nearly five kilometers.

With a stride length of 0.8 to 1 meter and a pace of seven minutes per kilometer, he ran a full ten laps at a steady speed without stopping once.

After a morning run of nearly fifty kilometers, even Dai Mubai, a three-ring Soul Elder at level 35 Soul Power and a Power Attack System combat Soul Master with a Beast Martial Soul and a powerful physique,

Had steam rising from his entire body and a light sheen of sweat on his forehead.

Although the exercise itself was not particularly effective, it had served perfectly well as a warm-up.

When he finished warming up with his run, the sky had grown considerably brighter, but there was still a good while before the academy cafeteria served its meal.

Dai Mubai went to the open ground where practical combat lessons were usually held and began training the Soul Skills he had recently acquired.

In his previous life, whether Dai Mubai was reading the original Douluo novels or watching the anime and comics adapted from them, he had noticed one issue.

The Soul Masters of the Douluo World seemed terrified that others would learn what their Soul Skills did.

Most of the time, they kept them hidden and rarely used them, as if every Soul Skill were a trump card they would only reveal when Soul Fighting with others.

At other times, not only did they rarely use them,

But aside from some Soul Masters from sects and major powers, the vast majority of those from commoner backgrounds did not even have the notion of training their Soul Skills.

In their fixed way of thinking, every aspect of the Soul Skills they gained by hunting Soul Beasts seemed to be set from the very beginning.

There was no need to train afterward to improve their skill proficiency, increase the power of their skills through proficiency, or shorten their cooldown CDs... and so on.

To Dai Mubai, that seemed more than a little absurd.

Although not every Soul Master was like this, the vast majority really were.

That was because, in the fixed understanding of many commoner Soul Masters, hunting Soul Beasts and attaching Soul Rings was the only way for them to acquire "skills."

Even if a Soul Master cultivated all the way to Titled Douluo, their skill pool would contain no more than nine "skills."

Precisely because the number of skills they could master was so limited, these commoner Soul Masters of ordinary experience treated their Soul Skills as their greatest trump cards and were unwilling to reveal them lightly.

But in Dai Mubai's view, precisely because Soul Skills came from Soul Rings rather than being learned and comprehended by Soul Masters themselves, they needed even more diligent practice after being acquired.

Only then could one become familiar with a skill and master it completely-

As for other people learning what a Soul Skill did, or opponents studying it and finding ways to counter it, Dai Mubai did not consider that a problem at all.

After all, attaching Soul Rings was not actually the only way for Soul Masters to acquire "skills." They could also obtain them by fusing with Soul Bones.

And they could create their own Soul Skills.

If obtaining Soul Bones and creating Soul Skills were still extremely difficult, with exceptionally high demands on talent, background, luck... and so on,

Then Soul Masters could also train their Soul Skills and explore and develop their existing ones in many respects, including methods of use, abilities and effects, forms... and so on.

For example, in the original story, Tang San had obtained the Blue Silver Cage Soul Skill from a Cave Demon Spider with his Fourth Soul Ring. After developing it further, he had created the Blue Silver Thorn Array as another mode of use, in addition to the Blue Silver Cage.

It could be said that only Soul Masters from great families and major powers with deep foundations might be able to create their own Soul Skills, and only genius Soul Masters of extraordinary talent could do so.

But adapting, deriving, exploring, and developing existing Soul Skills was far less difficult, even for ordinary Soul Masters of average talent and commoner birth.

As long as they put in some sweat and effort and had a flash of inspiration, "creating" a new Soul Skill was not actually difficult to accomplish.

It was just that, in the Douluo World, most Soul Masters had neither the awareness nor the habit of training their Soul Skills. As a result, developing new Soul Skills from existing ones

Had gone from being perfectly ordinary and highly feasible to something ordinary people could not imagine.

People often said that the Douluo Continent was the floor tile, the sewer of the fantasy genre. Though it was only a joke, in some respects it was not entirely without reason.

But now Dai Mubai had transmigrated to this world.

Since he knew that some of this world's ideas were outdated and flawed,

And that some methods he knew could increase his strength, Dai Mubai naturally would not abide by this world's ideas. Instead, he would choose the right direction and do the right things.

For example, he planned to train the Soul Skills he currently possessed, improving his proficiency and deepening his understanding and mastery of them, while also

Exploring and developing their potential.

At present, his three Soul Rings had given him four Soul Skills, namely:

First Soul Skill: White Tiger Heavenly Dipper Defense, White Tiger Mountain-Shaking Charge

Second Soul Skill: White Tiger Holy Light Blast

Third Soul Skill: White Tiger Vajra Body

Although Dai Mubai was not particularly familiar with these four Soul Skills and had yet to study them in depth,

He had already formed an initial plan for training and developing them when he had first obtained them.

Take White Tiger Heavenly Dipper Defense, one of his first Soul Skills. It was a comprehensive, all-around defensive skill that protected against a trinity of physical, energy, and mental attacks.

Although its defense was comprehensive and powerful, precisely because it was so comprehensive, using the Soul Skill consumed a considerable amount of Soul Power.

For this Soul Skill, Dai Mubai wanted to train himself to separate its physical, energy, and mental defensive abilities and use each one individually.