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A week later, at the tea house of the Great Spirit Arena in Soto City—
"Did you see it?! The most popular recent release—New Core Competitiveness of Martial Spirits?"
"I saw it! I never expected such precious soul master theoretical knowledge to be distributed for free. The full version is priced at only ten gold soul coins—that's just my monthly stipend!" a great soul master said excitedly.
"Exactly! I really wonder how that 'Scholar' Ye Lan makes any money at all."
There aren't many soul masters on the Douluo Continent, only a few hundred thousand. Even though the population is small, the majority of soul masters still bought the full version. In a land starved of theory, the New Core Martial Spirit Theory offers foundational knowledge more complete than any current academy textbook.
You could say that, just for the sake of educating the next generation of soul masters, people are willing to spend money on it as an educational resource.
In fact, due to the public's admiration for soul masters, many common villages pooled funds to buy one copy, transcribe it by hand, and use it to give their children even the slightest hope during their awakening.
"Now I finally understand why absorbing ten-thousand-year spirit rings is so difficult! Turns out they cause soul shock! To absorb one, your spiritual power has to be at the Soul King level!"
"Right? Now I see why so many people fail when trying to absorb ten-thousand-year rings. Even if their level is high enough, their spiritual strength is too weak to survive the soul shock."
"Erhu, don't think you can play dumb and act weak forever. You've been stuck at level ten without absorbing a ring, trying to leap several levels in one go to become a Great Soul Master. Did you read New Core Martial Spirit Theory? Every time you break through a rank, your cultivation speed increases!"
Erhu scratched his head awkwardly. He had been planning to delay absorbing his first spirit ring just to make a dramatic leap and create big news.
"Is this theory really legit? Could it all just be made up to fool people?" someone questioned, still unable to believe such rare knowledge was being released for free.
"It's definitely real. Don't you know that the chamber of commerce distributing the New Core Martial Spirit Theory is directly under the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan? And that 'Scholar' Ye Lan is the personal teacher of the clan leader's only daughter? The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan is a major force!"
"If the little princess of the clan chose Ye Lan as her master, then that proves Ye Lan is the real deal," a soul master who knew some inside information said confidently.
"Exactly. You don't see the little princess becoming the student of the so-called number one theory master. That alone proves Ye Lan's theories are superior."
"Exactly, exactly! The gap in knowledge is huge, and when it comes to character, Ye Lan's conduct is even more admirable."
"In the martial spirit theory world, Ye Lan is already considered a giant, yet he still humbly uses the pen name 'Scholar'. And that other guy? He calls himself the number one theory master, yet after all these years hasn't even produced a single decent student."
"Don't call him by his name so casually! From now on, call him Teacher!" a Ye Lan admirer declared.
"Yes! He should be called Teacher!"
"Teacher!"
"Teacher!"
Holy Soul Village, near Nuoding City
"Old Jack! Have you read the latest martial spirit theory, New Core Competitiveness of Martial Spirits?" a vegetable farmer asked.
"What's that? I've been staying in the village all this time. You just returned from Nuoding City—any news from there?" asked Village Chief Jack.
Grinning, the farmer pulled out a crumpled promotional flyer from his chest—New Core Martial Spirit Theory.
"Here you go, Old Jack. Take a look. I don't know much about soul masters, but this part I do understand—it says that proper nutrition is vital before awakening the martial spirit, to ensure the child's physical development. My two kids won't be doing hard labor before they turn six anymore. I'll have to buy more meat for them."
The farmer's face showed both financial worry and hopeful expectation for the future.
Jack accepted the crumpled yellow paper. Just by skimming a few lines, he could tell how valuable it was.
And suddenly, it all made sense—why nearby Harvest Village had more children awaken with innate soul power than Holy Soul Village in recent years.
He had originally thought it was just Harvest Village's good luck or better feng shui.
Now he understood. Harvest Village had developed. They had a Great Soul Master who donated every year. The village had new roads and bought many carts with the donated funds.
As a result, commerce in Harvest Village boomed, and life got better by the day.
The children there had better food and weren't hindered by malnutrition during their growth, which otherwise could cause a child who might have awakened with one or two levels of innate soul power to fail altogether.
Jack thought of Tang San, who had already become a Great Soul Master years ago.
But Holy Soul Village was still the same as ever.
Jack sighed deeply. For the sake of the village children, he had to take action.
You can't always rely on others. You have to rely on yourself.
First, he needed to gather enough money to buy the full version of New Core Competitiveness of Martial Spirits.
Holy Soul Village couldn't let its children grow up without proper understanding of martial spirits. He would also organize more hunting trips to ensure better nutrition for the children.
Jack was truly worrying himself sick for Holy Soul Village.
Across the Douluo Continent, a wave of admiration for the "Scholar" had erupted.
Many people gained a deeper understanding of martial spirits and grew increasingly respectful of the Scholar.
Most even began referring to him as Teacher.
Shrek Academy
At dawn, Tang San woke up earlier than usual.
Ever since Ye Lan's New Core Competitiveness of Martial Spirits had been released, it had taken Soto City by storm—it was impossible not to hear about it.
Tang San had read through the theory the previous evening and paid close attention to two specific points.
The first was about the age limit for absorbing soul rings. It turned out that the maximum age wasn't an absolute cap set by his teacher, Yu Xiaogang.
Tang San agreed with this point. After all, everyone's body and martial spirit are different. How could there be a fixed maximum for soul ring absorption?
For example, because of cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill, his physical constitution far surpassed that of typical soul masters.
And with twin martial spirits, his body could likely endure even higher age limits for spirit rings.
That's how he was able to absorb the 2,000-year Man-Faced Demon Spider ring beyond the recommended limit. However, Tang San felt the second half of the theory was off.
It claimed that the actual limit depended on how violent the soul power of the spirit beast was—the gentler the beast, the higher the age of the ring one could absorb.
But wasn't the Man-Faced Demon Spider considered one of the most violent soul beasts? Why hadn't he suffered any side effects?
What Tang San didn't know was that, to a normal soul master, the Man-Faced Demon Spider was extremely violent.
However, after his Blue Silver Grass martial spirit mutated to a poison-type and his psychological makeup aligned perfectly with the sinister nature of the spider, things were different.
That darkness inside him even made the spider afraid—thinking it had just run into a monstrous baby spider.
So what was considered violent by others was unexpectedly gentle for Tang San.
(End of Chapter)