"In other words, when you obtain Soul Rings in the future, try to acquire rings with similar abilities. They don't have to be identical, but the general direction should align — to avoid the situation where your own Soul Rings conflict with each other and end up restricting your strength instead."
At this point, a faint, cold smile crossed the Great Master's face. "Many people think
The Great Master didn't stand on ceremony — after all, in his eyes Tang San was merely a child, and asking his opinion was only a formality.
The moment the topic turned to Martial Souls, the Great Master's excitement was unmistakable. He nodded slowly. "Based on my theory and a comprehensive analysis of Blue Silver Grass, I recommend that you develop in the direction of the Control Type. A Control Type is sometimes classified as a Battle Soul Master, sometimes as a Tool Soul Master — it exists in the space between the two."
"Control Type?" Tang San asked. "Master, what kind of abilities does a Control Type have?"
The Great Master replied, "A Control Type Soul Master uses their Martial Soul to restrict the opponent, achieving either a supportive or offensive purpose. Take your Blue Silver Grass, for instance. Although Blue Silver Grass is inherently weak, it isn't without its advantages."
"Blue Silver Grass has advantages?" After his own Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul awakened, Tang San had taken the time to observe this grass in its natural form. He hadn't found anything remarkable — it was simply quite vigorous in its life force, and could be found practically anywhere.
The Great Master raised his right hand and held up one finger. "First, the Soul Power consumption of Blue Silver Grass is extremely low — even lower than a Food Type Martial Soul. This means you can use it freely and in large quantities without depleting your reserves."
Tang San nodded. The Great Master was right. Blue Silver Grass's drain on Soul Power when released in small amounts was virtually negligible. He would need to channel its form to a length of over ten meters before he even began to feel a slight burden on his reserves.
The Great Master raised a second finger. "Second, Blue Silver Grass is far too ordinary, which makes it far more deceptive than other Martial Souls — especially against low-intelligence Soul Beasts. Even if you summoned your Martial Soul right beside them, they might not even notice."
He raised a third finger. "Third, Blue Silver Grass has an exceptionally broad range of developmental directions. Because its baseline is so low, it can be cultivated in multiple directions. And its inherent weakness means it won't reject Soul Rings of any attribute."
"Martial Souls can reject Soul Rings?" Tang San asked, surprised.
"Of course," the Great Master said. "If the martial soul and the Soul Ring's attribute are in opposition, attempting to affix the ring to the soul will trigger a rejection. Beast-type Martial Souls, for example, have great difficulty absorbing rings imbued with poison. Although Martial Souls are energy constructs, in a sense they are also living entities — a secondary manifestation of the host's own life. If you forced a poison ring onto a beast soul, you'd likely be the one poisoned first. Very few beast souls can absorb toxins internally without transferring them to the host. But Blue Silver Grass is different. It's a plant, and a weak one at that — absorbing poison poses no difficulty at all."
As he spoke, he raised a fourth finger. "And on top of everything, you have a fourth advantage: Innate Full Soul Power. The reason no truly powerful Blue Silver Grass Soul Master has ever appeared on the entire Soul Land is that the Soul Power a Blue Silver Grass grants its host upon awakening is far too meager. And innate Soul Power is directly proportional to the speed of later cultivation. If your starting Soul Power is too weak, it becomes nearly impossible to reach higher levels, and hunting Soul Beasts in the later stages of cultivation grows correspondingly harder. But you're different. You have Innate Full Soul Power — and whether that power comes from Blue Silver Grass or from the hammer Martial Soul doesn't matter. You can channel it into Blue Silver Grass all the same. So cultivating Blue Silver Grass will cost you nothing."
Tang San silently marveled. The Great Master truly deserved his title — choosing him as a teacher had been the right decision without question. To draw out so many advantages from something as common as Blue Silver Grass spoke volumes about the depth of his research. Those who called such an accomplished Martial Soul researcher a theoretical eccentric were being absurd.
The Great Master's excitement was clearly building. He continued, "After careful study, I've concluded that developing Blue Silver Grass in the direction of Control Type is by far the most favorable path. Grass is flexible — it can be freely shaped into various forms. The simplest application is as a rope, used to bind an opponent."
Tang San said, "But Blue Silver Grass is so fragile. It would snap at a single struggle. How could it possibly hold someone?"
The Great Master replied, "That's precisely where the developmental path comes in. If you develop toward Control Type, your Soul Ring selection should focus on two aspects. First: resilience. Second: poison. As your Soul Power grows, your Martial Soul will become progressively stronger. Once you channel more Soul Power into Blue Silver Grass, it will become far tougher than ordinary wild Blue Silver Grass. And once you add the enhancing effects of Soul Rings, binding an enemy becomes entirely feasible. Furthermore, if Blue Silver Grass carries a poison effect, it will naturally be capable of serving an offensive role as well."
Now Tang San understood completely. Restrict the enemy, add poison. If Blue Silver Grass could truly accomplish both, then his Hidden Weapons would no longer need to hit moving targets — they'd only need to hit stationary ones.
Of course, all of this depended on first clarifying the relationship between Soul Power, Soul Rings, and his
(End of Chapter)