Outside of Saint Soul Village, on a small hillside.
Lu Feng sat on the ground, sketching and writing. Beside him, a few crude "little towers" had been stacked using small stones.
To a passerby, he would look like just another kid playing by himself.
"Tang Chen, Power Attack System."
"Qian Daoliu, Power Attack System."
"Bo Saixi, Power Attack System."
"Golden Crocodile, Azure Luan, Fierce Lion, Radiant Feather, Chopstick Brothers..."
"Tang San."
Halfway through his thoughts, Lu Feng suddenly paused and kicked away the stone representing Tang San.
"That guy's just a cheat—no reference value at all."
Before transmigrating, Lu Feng used to read novels purely for entertainment and never thought too deeply about them.
But now, in the world of Douluo Dalu, having awakened innate soul power, he had no choice but to seriously plan his future development path.
In front of him were several circles drawn in the dirt, each representing a major soul master path: Power Attack, Agility Attack, Control, Defense, Support, Healing, and Food.
The circle for Power Attack was stacked with a little mound of stones. The ones for Agility and Control had a few scattered stones as well.
There was no helping it—most of the famous titled Douluos in the continent were of the Power Attack type.
As for Support?
Ning Rongrong counted as one. Oscar? Maybe half of one at best.
"Oh—my apologies. How could I forget you, elder?" Lu Feng picked up a leftover bone and placed it in the Defense circle.
Looking at the clusters of stones before him, Lu Feng had found his answer.
"Alright then—my main future path will be Power Attack. I'll keep one or two Agility-type martial souls in reserve. If I can't win, I can at least run."
"As for Control and Support… better to not spread myself too thin."
He knocked down all the stones and began a new round of simulations.
"Qian Renxue, Balanced Flow."
"Zhu Zhuqing, Extreme Flow."
"Shui Bing'er…"
"Ye Lingling…"
Lu Feng looked at the two roughly equal piles of stones in front of him and frowned slightly.
In Douluo Dalu, regardless of system type, a soul master's development generally fell into two categories: Balanced Flow and Extreme Flow.
Balanced Flow had the advantage of versatility—capable of both offense and defense, holding their own against nearly any opponent. Kind of like a top-lane fighter in a MOBA game: can dive 1v9 or stall for a surrender vote.
The textbook example was Dai Mubai from the original novel. His stack of percentage-based all-around buffing soul skills was enough to make Lu Feng jealous just thinking about it.
Of course, a Balanced Flow soul master didn't mean having every kind of skill. Rather, they supplemented their core strengths with some auxiliary abilities.
An Agility-type soul master, for example, could pick up defensive or support soul skills, but would never waste a soul ring on something like healing.
After all, not every assassin is Master Yi.
On the other hand, Extreme Flow was just as the name implied—maximizing a single advantage to the utmost.
This ensured that no matter the battle, they would always dominate in at least one aspect.
The best-known martial soul for this was the Clear Sky Hammer.
According to the original story, nearly all the soul rings of Clear Sky Hammer users enhanced pure strength.
When Tang Hao first became a Titled Douluo, he was able to break through the siege of Qian Xunji and the Hum-Ha Duo—proof of how terrifying Extreme Flow soul masters could be.
Originally, Lu Feng had intended to use different martial souls and cover every aspect, aiming for a Balanced Flow route.
But once he calmed down and really thought about it, he realized things weren't that simple.
"Balanced Flow is like a warrior—jack of all trades. In battle, they can always perform decently, but the downside is clear: against a higher-level Balanced soul master, there's basically no way to win."
"Extreme Flow is the opposite—more like an assassin. There are countless cases of them punching above their level and pulling off miraculous turnarounds!"
"But..."
Lu Feng stood up and gazed at the setting sun in the distance.
"I'm not the kind of person who enjoys walking a tightrope."
In another world—especially a fantasy realm where strength reigns supreme—what's the most important thing?
Wielding power, leading armies with grand gestures?
Roaming the world with sword in hand, singing of blood and brotherhood?
No!
Stability is the most important.
As the saying goes: what's the difference between a 90% chance of survival and certain death?
In a fight: gang up when you can, don't solo.
Backstab when possible, don't frontal assault.
If you're not at least one major realm above your opponent, don't even think of making a move!
Lu Feng knocked over the piles again and drew a triangle in the dirt.
"Strength, Speed, Defense."
Soon, he erased it and replaced it with a pentagram.
"Besides the three MMORPG basics—Attack, Speed, Defense—I should add Soul Power and Special Effects."
"Soul power consumption and recovery are also crucial for training. In the original, Tang San had the Blue Silver Domain's Endless Vitality, while Bo Saixi was dubbed the ocean's unrivaled queen. Fighting them was like getting spawn-camped at enemy high ground."
"As for Special Effects—lightning, fire, ice… most of those come innately with martial souls. It's hard to acquire them later."
"Sigh, if only I could one day find the live-action version of Three Thousand Thunder Movements from Battle Through the Heavens!"
He stared at the pentagram in front of him but still felt something was missing.
Stretching a bit, he casually looked toward the village.
A few wisps of cooking smoke rose slowly from within.
A small, skinny figure walked out of the village chief's house, carrying a tiny basket on his back.
It was Tang San—probably off to borrow rice again.
Ever since their martial soul awakenings, both he and Tang San had become local stars in Saint Soul Village. Even the miserly daughter-in-law of Old Jack had stopped complaining about supporting Tang San.
After all, he was a future Soul Master.
Seeing Tang San reminded Lu Feng of something.
"Oh! I forgot—Spiritual Power!"
In the original, spiritual power was mentioned only rarely. The continent didn't even have a proper cultivation method for it.
The only ways to improve it were passive growth through soul power or absorbing a soul bone from the head.
"Purple Demon Eye, Purple Demon Eye!"
With a thought, Lu Feng checked his "inventory."
He still had only 6 fragments of Purple Demon Eye.
"Looks like I'll have to supervise Tang San's training more often!"
Creak~
Opening the courtyard gate, a thick aroma of meat filled the air.
Entering the kitchen, he lifted the clay pot lid to reveal fully braised pig trotters.
Lu Feng picked up a piece of skin with his chopsticks, placing it into his mouth—the delicious flavor instantly blossomed on his tongue.
Children of poverty grow up fast, and in his previous life, Lu Feng had trained himself to be an excellent cook.
The pig trotters had been chopped into several large pieces. Lu Feng picked up the biggest and sat on a small stool, gnawing contentedly.
Halfway through, he noticed a small arrow wound on the leg bone.
He stood on tiptoe and looked toward the western part of the village. A faint wisp of smoke was now rising from Tang San's house.
"Judging by the time, it's about time I went to collect that debt!"