"Atlas!"
Yang Wudi whispered to himself, looking at the long spear in the hands of Yun Ming—a transparent, ancient, yet magnificent crystal spear.
"That is quite fitting!"
After evaluating the name of the Atlas Spear, Yang Wudi began to arrange the next steps, speaking calmly to Yun Ming.
"Ming Er, you have Innate Full Soul Power at level ten. You have now reached the limit of a Soul Scholar and need to obtain a Soul Ring to continue your cultivation."
With that, Yang Wudi took two books from his Storage Soul Tool and handed them to Yun Ming.
Yun Ming took the books and glanced at them. The thicker one had a brand-new cover titled "Star Dou Soul Beast Compendium," while the other was very thin with a blood-red cover that gave off a tragic and dangerous aura, titled "Secrets of the Soul Breaking."
Seeing Yun Ming take the books, Yang Wudi began to explain.
"Study these two books thoroughly when you go back today, especially 'Secrets of the Soul Breaking'."
When Yang Wudi mentioned this book, his tone was serious and his expression solemn.
"This book records and summarizes the entire process and hypotheses of the ancestors of our Breaking Clan as they experimented to find the optimal development path for the Soul Breaking Spear! It serves as an excellent reference for choosing Soul Rings for any spear-type Martial Soul!"
"You could say that every word in this book was bought with the blood of our ancestors!"
"You must study it carefully!"
Upon hearing the profound significance behind the book, Yun Ming responded to his grandfather with a serious expression.
"Yes, Grandfather!"
Seeing that Yun Ming had taken his words to heart, Yang Wudi nodded with satisfaction and continued.
"Today, combine the two books and select a suitable Soul Beast based on the characteristics of your Atlas Spear. Tomorrow, we will set off for the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for your Soul Ring!"
After Yang Wudi made the arrangements, Yun Ming wanted to ask his grandfather about the events of the past to resolve the questions in his heart. However, once Yang Wudi finished outlining the tasks for the day, he left immediately to handle clan affairs and prepare for tomorrow's departure. Yun Ming had no choice but to return to his quiet Small Courtyard to study his Soul Ring options.
The next morning.
Yang Wudi and his grandson, Yun Ming, boarded a pre-arranged carriage, left the Breaking Clan Residence, and set off on the road to the Star Dou Great Forest.
Inside the carriage, Yang Wudi set up a Soul Power Shield to ensure the privacy of their conversation before getting straight to the point, beginning to test Yun Ming on his preparations from the previous day. Yang Wudi asked with interest.
"Ming Er, tell me, what are your thoughts on your First Soul Ring?"
When Yun Ming heard Yang Wudi's question, he felt a strange sensation in his heart. It wasn't that he had no ideas or that things weren't going smoothly; rather, it was going too smoothly, to the point where the entire process felt unnervingly fluid.
Yesterday, after flipping through the "Star Dou Soul Beast Compendium" and "Secrets of the Soul Breaking," his brain had directly deduced the optimal combination of Soul Rings—a scheme where each subsequent Soul Ring slot would be entirely different based on the previous ones.
After finishing "Secrets of the Soul Breaking," he even optimized a scheme for the current Soul Breaking Spear that had a much higher potential. Everything flowed without the slightest obstruction, as if it were instinct.
Seeing Yun Ming lost in thought, Yang Wudi called out softly.
"Ming Er?"
Hearing the call, Yun Ming snapped back to reality and replied.
"Yes, Grandfather."
"I have two types of Soul Beasts in mind for my First Soul Ring."
"The Bewildering Trace Beast and the Ethereal Python, along with a few lower-tier alternatives."
Although the two types of Soul Beasts Yun Ming chose were both rare Space Element beasts, they generally produced auxiliary-type space skills.
Yang Wudi was confused by Yun Ming's choices. They completely contradicted everything he had seen in his decades as a Soul Breaking Spear master; no one with a spear-type Martial Soul would choose these two beasts. However, he chose to trust him for now and continued to ask.
"Explain your reasoning?"
Yun Ming saw the doubt in Yang Wudi's eyes, but he was confident in his choices. Instead of explaining his reasoning for the Soul Ring choice first, he chose to dissect the problems within the Soul Breaking Spear system.
"I feel that the path of adding Soul Rings for the Breaking Clan is too mediocre! Unless you are like you, Grandfather, where you only hunt one type of Soul Beast to continuously increase your attack power!"
Yang Wudi's approach to Soul Rings was an extreme case of a pure attack route; other members of the Breaking Clan did not exclusively hunt the same type of beast. (After all, there aren't that many suitable beasts to keep hunting!)
Yun Ming hit Yang Wudi with a bombshell right from the start. Before Yang Wudi could react, Yun Ming continued to explain.
"For those who possess the Soul Breaking Spear, even those with lesser talent can reach the fourth ring. For those clansmen, this method of adding Soul Rings is fine, but for those with superior talent, this set of Soul Rings is simply not enough!"
"For clansmen above the level of Soul Saint, when fighting against opponents of the same level, two of the first four Soul Skills become largely useless."
Hearing this, the anger Yang Wudi felt—due to Yun Ming's arrogance in daring to look down on the clan's inherited Soul Ring path—subsided slightly, because this problem did indeed exist for those above the Soul Saint level. But wasn't it the same for everyone in the Soul Master World? What was the problem?
Although Yang Wudi couldn't figure it out himself, he wanted to hear Yun Ming's insights.
Seeing that his grandfather did not interrupt him, Yun Ming continued.
"The main attack method of the Soul Breaking Spear is close-quarters combat, and the Martial Soul itself has sufficient attack power. For talented clansmen, the first four Soul Rings do not need to be direct attack-type skills."
"Firstly, mastering spear techniques is enough to compensate for the lack of attack power from Soul Skills. Secondly, because you will inevitably add powerful attack-type skills in the later stages, adding status, auxiliary, or defensive-counterattack skills early on can enrich tactics and strengthen combat capability."
"The Soul Breaking Spear has never lacked attack power. I think it is more appropriate to sacrifice the dispensable attack-type Soul Skills of the early stages in exchange for higher hit rates and fault tolerance."
Yun Ming took a breath and stated his final reason.
"When a Soul Master hunts a beast and absorbs a Soul Ring, they must ensure compatibility with their Martial Soul. Based on that compatibility, one must choose the most suitable Soul Beast skill. After all, excluding Spirit Bones and the Seventh Soul Ring, a typical Soul Master only has eight skills at most; every slot is precious!"
After listening to Yun Ming's 'heretical theories,' Yang Wudi fell into silence.
ps: Seeking monthly tickets and recommendations.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader