Xu Lin finished speaking and paused, giving the children some time to digest the information. For six-year-olds, these concepts weren't something they could grasp instantly; they needed a moment to think.
Sitting in his seat, Ling Xiao's eyes flickered with thought as his fingers absentmindedly tapped the desk. He was organizing his mind—he already understood the Extreme Stream that Teacher Xu Lin had just explained.
However, a question soon occurred to him.
If the Extreme Stream meant a Soul Master devoted all their effort toward a single direction of cultivation and focused solely on a single innate attribute to strengthen their Martial Soul's origin.
Then what if the Martial Soul itself possessed two attributes or characteristics? How would one follow the Extreme Stream then? As if reading the thoughts in his eyes, Xu Lin observed him for a moment before speaking.
"Ling Xiao, do you understand? Do you have any questions?"
Nodding silently, Ling Xiao asked, "I understand, Teacher. I was just wondering—if a Soul Master's Martial Soul has two attributes or traits, wouldn't it be impossible to specialize in a single direction to follow the Extreme Stream when strengthening the Martial Soul's origin?"
A hint of surprise flashed in Xu Lin's eyes.
She truly hadn't expected Ling Xiao to grasp the concept so quickly, let alone ask such a critical follow-up question. She couldn't help but remark, "Student Ling Xiao, you really are clever. That is another very valuable question!"
At this point, it wasn't just Xu Lin who was surprised.
Ling Xiao had inadvertently "flexed" on his peers. Upon hearing his words, the children in the class couldn't help but turn to look at him, some even whispering among themselves.
Even Xu Yu and Tuoba Yu'er looked at him with a mix of surprise and admiration.
Hu Liena, on the other hand, couldn't help but grumble under her breath, "Dammit, how did this guy Ling Xiao get so smart all of a sudden? I only just figured that part out myself!"
"It is as you say," Xu Lin explained to Ling Xiao.
"If the power of a Martial Soul's origin possesses two attributes or traits, it is indeed inconvenient to follow the Extreme Stream."
"Choosing one of the four major cultivation directions isn't the problem—you simply pick the one that fits the Martial Soul's characteristics—but strengthening the Martial Soul's origin becomes quite troublesome."
"However, three thousand years ago, during the era when the Extreme Stream was at its peak, it was still possible for such people to follow it," Xu Lin continued.
"In cases where the Martial Soul doesn't possess elemental power but has two distinct physical traits, the situation is slightly better. Generally, when strengthening the Martial Soul's origin, one simply chooses Soul Beasts that possess those same two traits."
"While the number of Soul Beasts that meet these specific requirements is smaller, they are still far more common than Soul Beasts that simultaneously possess two corresponding elemental attributes."
"But if a Martial Soul has two elemental attributes, it becomes a problem because Soul Beasts that master those same two elemental powers are extremely rare."
"This makes it impossible for a Soul Master to achieve an 'extreme' enhancement for both attributes simultaneously. Furthermore, for most dual-attribute Martial Souls in this world, the two attributes are not of equal strength."
"Usually, one is primary and the other is secondary. Therefore, at that time, Soul Masters with dual-element Martial Souls basically chose their primary attribute as the focus for extreme enhancement."
"The secondary attribute was treated as an extra power, used simply to buff themselves or the primary attribute, without any intentional effort to strengthen it."
Hearing Xu Lin's words, Ling Xiao found it a bit difficult to accept.
"If a dual-element Martial Soul only chooses the primary attribute for extreme enhancement, wouldn't the secondary attribute be wasted?"
"That is true, but it was a choice made out of necessity. It wasn't that no dual-attribute Soul Masters tried to use Soul Rings to strengthen their two attributes separately, but the results were poor. It couldn't compare to the path of focusing solely on the primary attribute."
Xu Lin explained further, "For example, take a Martial Soul with Wind and Fire attributes. If the user follows the Power Attack System and Fire is the primary attribute, their Fire-based attack power would be quite strong after the first Soul Ring enhancement."
"For the next Soul Ring, even if they hunt a Wind-attribute Soul Beast—since the second ring is naturally more powerful than the first—they might gain a decent Wind-attribute attack."
"However, if that second ring were a Fire-attribute Soul Beast instead, it wouldn't just further expand the Fire power within the Martial Soul's origin; the resulting Soul Skill would also be stronger than one from a Wind-attribute beast."
"This is because by the time they obtain the second Soul Ring, the Fire power in the Martial Soul's origin is already far superior to the Wind power."
Xu Lin thought for a moment and offered another example.
"Are you familiar with the Martial Soul known as the Flame Lord?"
"Uh, I... I know a little."
Ling Xiao paused, nearly blurting out that he had just fought someone with that exact Martial Soul not long ago.
"The Flame Lord is a top-tier Beast Martial Soul. It is an ancient Martial Soul, quite rare throughout history."
"It possesses both Fire and Earth attributes—Fire is primary, and Earth is secondary. But do you know why it was named 'Flame Lord'? That name doesn't reflect any Earth-attribute characteristics at all."
Ling Xiao thought about it, and his eyes lit up as he quickly realized the answer.
He spoke up, "Is it because when the first person to awaken the Flame Lord followed the Extreme Stream, they put all their effort into developing the Fire-attribute origin power?"
"As a result, when the Martial Soul first appeared in the world, it displayed such overwhelmingly powerful Fire abilities—like a master of the world of flames—that it was named entirely based on its Fire traits."
Xu Lin nodded.
"Exactly. During that era of highly developed Extreme Stream dominance, Martial Souls with dual traits were often seen as a poor fit for the prevailing ideology."
"Even powerful souls like the Flame Lord were viewed as wasting their potential because their dual elemental attributes conflicted with the requirement for singular, absolute focus.of their talent."
"To the Soul Master community of that time, the Extreme Stream was not the most suitable path for them. Consequently, more and more people realized that the world's Martial Souls are diverse, and not all of them are meant for the Extreme Stream."
"To fully unleash the potential of their Martial Souls, those dual-attribute Soul Masters began to experiment with other paths. Through this exploration, a new cultivation school gradually emerged: the Fusion Stream."
So that's how it is, Ling Xiao thought to himself.
Eras evolve, and the cultivation streams of the Douluo Continent are not stagnant.
From the original Extreme Stream, to the realization by dual-attribute Soul Masters that it didn't suit them, they sought other ways to explore the cultivation methods best for their own Martial Souls.
He was now quite curious about what the Fusion Stream actually was and how dual-attribute Soul Masters solved their dilemma.
Seeing that the children in the class had mostly understood, Xu Lin prepared to continue the lesson.
She addressed the students below, "Next, I will tell you about the Fusion Stream. Compared to the Extreme Stream, the Fusion Stream is a bit harder to understand and more complex. You must all listen closely!"