"The birth of any cultivation stream is never a smooth journey. This was true for the Extreme Stream, and it was the same for the Fusion Stream—in fact, its birth was even more convoluted."
"The Fusion Stream went through three distinct periods before gradually evolving into what it is today. In its infancy, it wasn't even recognized by the majority of the Soul Master world."
"Many at the time refused to acknowledge it as a new school of thought, viewing it merely as an extension of the Extreme Stream. The origins of the Fusion Stream can be traced back to approximately three thousand years ago."
"At that time, the Extreme Stream was in its golden age; essentially all Soul Masters followed its path. Only a small fraction of Soul Masters with dual attributes or dual traits were attempting to explore cultivation methods suited for them."
"When speaking of the earliest Fusion Stream, one cannot avoid mentioning a renowned Soul Master clan of that era: the Huyan Clan."
The Huyan Clan...
Hearing the surname, Ling Xiao couldn't help but make a connection. He remembered that the master lineage of the Elephant Armored Clan—one of the Lower Four Sects—was surnamed Huyan.
Ignoring Ling Xiao's internal musings, Xu Lin continued from the podium.
"The Huyan Clan might be unfamiliar to some, but most of you should know of the Elephant Armored Clan. The Huyan Clan I am referring to is indeed the ancestor lineage of the current Elephant Armored Clan."
"However, back then, the Huyan Clan had not yet founded the Elephant Armored Clan; they existed as a prominent Soul Master clan."
"Even within the context of the entire Soul Master world at the time, the Huyan Clan's strength was considered formidable. And the initial Fusion Stream was precisely founded by the Huyan Clan."
The early Fusion Stream was founded by the Huyan Clan?
Ling Xiao was genuinely surprised.
In his impression, the members of the Huyan Clan who inherited the Diamond Mammoth Martial Soul were all muscle-bound hulks whose brains were practically made of brawn.
He hadn't expected them to be capable of pioneering the prototype of an entire cultivation stream.
Perhaps sensing Ling Xiao's surprise, Xu Lin smiled briefly before continuing.
"The Huyan Clan's inherited Martial Soul is called the Diamond Mammoth, a high-level Beast Martial Soul. While it doesn't master elemental powers, its defense and strength are exceptional—so much so that they can reach the level of a top-tier Martial Soul."
"It is a Martial Soul with two distinct traits of equal importance. Its only glaring weakness is speed, which is why it is classified as a high-level rather than top-tier Martial Soul."
"Previously, when following the path of the Extreme Stream, some members of the Huyan Clan chose the Defense System while others chose the Power Attack System."
"Regarding the enhancement of their Martial Soul's origin power, they typically hunted Soul Beasts that possessed immense strength or legendary defense."
"By doing so, they could strengthen both their defense and strength simultaneously, following a very standard Extreme Stream path."
"From this perspective, the Diamond Mammoth's use of the Extreme Stream didn't suffer from massive drawbacks compared to dual-element Martial Souls. Even though their Soul Skills were restricted by the 'singular focus' of either Power Attack or Defense, the impact wasn't crippling."
"Looking back now, it was likely because the drawbacks of them following the Extreme Stream were relatively minor that the Huyan Clan became the first to succeed in exploring a new way to fully unleash their Martial Soul's power."
"Of course, because their problem was easier to solve, their solution didn't completely break away from the framework of the Extreme Stream."
"Even so, their pioneering work was extremely significant. The subsequent development of the Fusion Stream by the rest of the Soul Master world was built upon this very foundation."
As she spoke of that era where countless Soul Masters were searching for their own paths, Xu Lin grew visibly more animated.
"The solution the Huyan Clan discovered was perfectly suited for their Diamond Mammoth Martial Soul. They reasoned that since both strength and defense were equally vital to their Martial Soul."
"The Extreme Stream's requirement to choose only one system for Soul Skill effects was too restrictive. It resulted in a waste of their second trait. So, they asked: why not pursue both systems?"
"Furthermore, even if they followed two systems for Soul Skill effects—one primary and one secondary—it had no negative impact on the growth of the Martial Soul's origin power."
"In fact, using Soul Skills from two different systems in tandem allowed them to fully utilize the Martial Soul's origin power."
"Their overall power wasn't weaker than when they focused on a single system; as they refined this method, their power actually increased. Through the Huyan Clan's experimentation, the results eventually confirmed their theories."
"For the Diamond Mammoth, whether they used the Power Attack System as the primary and Defense as the secondary, or vice versa, both were superior to the previous single-system Extreme Stream path."
"Thus, from that point on, the Huyan Clan abandoned the Extreme Stream methods and focused on developing this path most suited to them, naming it the Fusion Stream. That was the initial Fusion Stream the prototype of what we use today."
That really is a clever cultivation method, Ling Xiao marveled internally. Though the adjustments to the Extreme Stream were minor, one had to consider the context of that era.
In an age where the Extreme Stream was the absolute law, having the courage to stop obsessing over "singular focus" and instead forge a new path by blending two systems was truly admirable.
Seeing that many students were hanging on her every word, Xu Lin nodded with satisfaction and continued.
"Although the Huyan Clan founded the initial Fusion Stream, this method of blending two paths did not immediately win the recognition of the broader Soul Master world."
"At the time, aside from some support from Soul Masters with dual-attribute Martial Souls, most Soul Masters believed that while the Huyan Clan's Fusion Stream differed from the Extreme Stream, it hadn't fundamentally broken away from it. They viewed it as a mere extension, not a new school of cultivation."
Ling Xiao nodded silently, not finding this surprising.
The method created by the Huyan Clan was perfectly tailored to the Diamond Mammoth, but it didn't offer a clear advantage for other Martial Souls. For single-attribute Martial Souls, the Extreme Stream remained the most efficient path.
For other dual-attribute Martial Souls, this method didn't necessarily solve their core issues. There was a crucial distinction: the Diamond Mammoth possessed two physical traits—strength and defense—not two elemental attributes.
By following both the Defense and Power Attack systems, they could simultaneously strengthen both traits in their Martial Soul's origin because many defensive Soul Beasts are also strong, and vice versa.
In essence, while the Huyan Clan "fused" two systems in terms of Soul Skill effects, their method of strengthening the Martial Soul's origin was still effectively the Extreme Stream.
At most, other Soul Masters with Martial Souls similar to the Diamond Mammoth might try the Huyan Clan's Fusion Stream. However, unless their two traits were of equal importance, it wasn't a very attractive option.
For Martial Souls like the Vigorous Orangutan or the Armor Plated Giant Rhinoceros, which specialize in strength and defense but clearly prioritize one over the other, the Extreme Stream was already sufficient.
They had no real need for the Fusion Stream.