Ning Fengzhi said earnestly, "Qinghe, there's something I must warn you about. From the time I've spent with this child recently, if you truly want to earn his help in the future, then never try to recruit him. Instead, be his genuine friend."
Xue Qinghe was taken aback. He met Ning Fengzhi's gaze, and after a long moment, slowly nodded. "Teacher, I understand. Thank you for your guidance."
Walking back toward the academy, Tang San's mind was filled with Xue Qinghe's earlier words. Father, what exactly caused your conflict with Spirit Hall? And where is Mother? Although Xue Qinghe hadn't mentioned anything about his mother during the conversation, Tang San still had a vague feeling that his father's retirement was directly related to his mother.
The teahouse wasn't far from Shrek Academy, and Tang San quickly returned to the academy, heading straight for the wooden cabin in the forest behind the school. This place had already become their exclusive training ground.
By now, not only had the team members returned, but the Great Master and Liu Erlong had come back as well. Only Flandre was absent.
"Xiao San, you're back." The Great Master spotted Tang San returning and waved him over.
"Teacher, were you looking for me?" Tang San walked closer and asked.
The Great Master shook his head. "I'm going to train Rongrong individually. You should come along too. What I'll be covering will benefit you as well, and I'll need your help with her training."
"Oh?" Tang San glanced at Ning Rongrong nearby. At this moment, the others were all around the cabin — some meditating and cultivating, others sitting together chatting. Only Ning Rongrong stood beside the Great Master.
"Follow me." The Great Master led Tang San and Ning Rongrong deeper into the forest. Not even Liu Erlong followed them.
After walking roughly several hundred meters, the Great Master stopped in a relatively open clearing.
Ning Rongrong asked somewhat nervously, "Great Master, what kind of special training are you going to put me through?" She still had lingering fears from the Great Master's previous hellish training regimen.
The Great Master said, "Rongrong, if I remember correctly, your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan should have a technique called Split Mind Control. What level have you cultivated it to?"
Ning Rongrong was momentarily stunned, then answered, "I've just recently cultivated it to the Three Apertures Heart Controller stage. I can barely manage to use it."
The Great Master furrowed his brow slightly. "So you're still only at the most elementary stage. The special training I have planned for you is exactly in this area."
"Although we beat the second team of Tian Dou Royal Academy easily today, that second team definitely doesn't represent the general strength of advanced Soul Master academies. Especially now that Tang San's and Mu Bai's abilities have been exposed, the opponents you'll face in the future will only grow stronger. And your Martial Soul, which has already evolved to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, possesses an unparalleled advantage. You could say that whether or not you can win the championship in the future will depend heavily on your abilities."
Ning Rongrong giggled. "Great Master, are you praising me?"
The Great Master's expression turned stern. "I'm not praising you — I'm praising the Martial Soul of your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. With your current abilities, it's still very difficult for you to bring out the full power of your Martial Soul. The role you play for the team in battle isn't all that significant."
Tang San, standing nearby, said with some puzzlement, "Teacher, Rongrong is already level forty, and her support abilities are already quite impressive. She can simultaneously boost four of our stats by fifty percent — that instantaneous burst of power can practically elevate our entire team by a tier!"
The Great Master said calmly, "You're not wrong. She can indeed simultaneously boost four of your stats by fifty percent. But ask Rongrong this: if all seven of the Shrek Seven Devils were fighting together, and she had to boost all six of you at once, how long could she sustain it?"
Tang San looked at Ning Rongrong in confusion, but her expression had already changed. "Great Master, how do you know about the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's secret?"
The Great Master said, "Don't forget, I come from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family — one of the Three Great Clans. The secret of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's Martial Soul isn't all that well-hidden, so it's nothing strange that I know about it. Not only do I — virtually any powerful Soul Master knows this secret. But even so, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan remains the most powerful support-type Martial Soul family. Do you know why?"
Ning Rongrong shook her head blankly.
Tang San couldn't help but ask, "Is it because of that Split Mind Control technique you mentioned just now, Teacher? Could you explain more clearly — what exactly is the secret of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's Martial Soul?"
Ning Rongrong turned to the Great Master, who nodded and said, "That's right. The reason the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda has always maintained its title as the number one auxiliary Martial Soul is partly due to the nature of the Martial Soul itself, but the more important factor is this Split Mind Control. Increasing your Soul Power is certainly important, but for your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, this Split Mind Control is even more critical. If I'm not mistaken, Rongrong's father, Clan Master Ning, has already reached the level of the Seven Apertures Wise Heart in this Split Mind Control ability. Am I right, Rongrong?"
Ning Rongrong nodded, and at the same time cleared up the doubt in Tang San's heart. "The secret of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul lies in its Soul Power consumption. The higher the Soul Power level, and the more Soul Rings one has, the more pronounced this drawback becomes. With my current situation, if I were to provide all four types of fifty-percent augmentation to all six of you simultaneously, I could only hold it for three seconds at most."
"Three seconds?" Tang San was shocked.
The Great Master spoke gravely, "I called Rongrong aside specifically so that everyone wouldn't hear this secret. This world is fair. Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is extraordinarily powerful in its auxiliary support, it also has its limitations. Because a Soul Master's Soul Power is finite. No matter how excellent your Martial Soul is, without adequate Soul Power behind it, it can't produce sufficient effects. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's Soul Power consumption is terrifying precisely because its auxiliary abilities are so powerful. Consider this — Rongrong, with only forty levels of Soul Power, can boost all six of you by fifty percent across four attributes. What kind of concept is that? If it could be sustained over a long period, then wouldn't every Soul Master be invincible? That day, when Rongrong was providing support to Flandre, Erlong, and the others while we were hunting Soul Beasts, it was then that I realized this problem. If it can't be effectively solved, then in your future competitions, her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul will struggle to play its true role."
Tang San finally understood. "So the solution you're talking about is the Split Mind Control of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan?"
The Great Master nodded. "That's right. Split Mind Control refers to simultaneously controlling your different Soul Skills to produce their effects. This method of control is useful for any Soul Master, but its significance for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan is especially enormous. For ordinary Soul Masters, the more powerful a Soul Skill, the more Soul Power it consumes. But the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan is not like that. Each of their Soul Skills consumes the same amount of Soul Power at the same level. Simply put — if Rongrong is a Great Soul Master at level twenty, then each of her two Soul Skills consumes one unit of Soul Power. When she reaches level thirty, her three Soul Skills still consume equal amounts. However, since the degree of augmentation increases, the Soul Power consumed by each will become two units, and so on. This means that if she simply releases all of her Soul Skills simultaneously for support, the Soul Power consumption would be an astronomical figure. Forget her — even a Titled Douluo would struggle to withstand that level of expenditure."
"And Split Mind Control is precisely the key to solving this problem. During combat, you could say that every participant's auxiliary needs are different. For example, with Rongrong's current four Soul Skills, for you, the most important one is only the Soul Power augmentation. The other three supplementary effects aren't very useful on you — they'd only drain more of her Soul Power. What Mu Bai needs is augmentation to attack, defense, and Soul Power, while the agility boost isn't as important. It would be great to provide full support, but when Soul Power is limited, providing augmentation only at the most critical points will undoubtedly allow the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's auxiliary abilities to be fully utilized."
"As far as I know, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's Split Mind Control is divided into five realms: the Three Apertures Control Heart, the Four Apertures Constant Heart, the Five Apertures Dispersal Heart, the Six Apertures Mastery Heart, and the Seven Apertures Wise Heart. Each realm represents the number of Soul Skills that can be controlled simultaneously and the number of simultaneous releases. The Three Apertures Control Heart, for instance, means being able to simultaneously manipulate three Soul Skills to provide precise augmentation to three targets. The Four Apertures Constant Heart means simultaneously manipulating four Soul Skills to augment four targets. With this kind of precise augmentation, it becomes possible to achieve what I described earlier — applying the most appropriate augmentation to those who need it most."
At this point, the Great Master paused. He gave Tang San a meaningful look before continuing, "For ordinary Soul Masters, Split Mind Control isn't particularly significant, because each Soul Skill consumes a different amount of Soul Power, and their total Soul Power may not even be enough to release all their Soul Skills once. As a result, the cultivation method for Split Mind Control has gradually been lost. Only the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan still possesses it. Rongrong, I hope that before the final tournament begins, you will have at least reached the level of the Four Apertures Constant Heart. That way, you can simultaneously augment four people at minimum, releasing different auxiliary Soul Skills at different moments. That is the true essence of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. Do you understand?"
(End of chapter)