Douluo Continent: Starting by controlling the Holy Maiden of the Holy Spirit Cult

Chapter 41 Ah Jin, are you serious?

Ten minutes later, with a whistle, the two groups of students quickly assembled in front of Mu Jin.

In a running race, given the permission to use soul power, combat-type soul masters with strong physical foundations undoubtedly have an advantage. Even though all the non-combat-type freshmen are equipped with soul tools, many people still cast disdainful glances at them.

Shrek Academy, through millennia of accumulation, has built a super-large playground that allows these hundred or so new students to stand on the same starting line.

"All freshmen, on your marks, get set—" Mu Jin said, putting the whistle hanging around her neck into her mouth as she addressed the eager freshmen at the starting line.

"唳——"

As the whistle blew, several agility-type Soul Masters took the lead and quickly widened the distance between themselves and the main force. Power-type Battle Soul Masters with strong explosive power followed closely behind, followed by physical defense-type Soul Masters. Although all the non-combat freshmen activated their Soul Power and ran out in their Propeller Shoes the moment the whistle blew, they were still quite far behind the combat-type elites at first.

Even someone as strong as Ning Tian, ​​whose soul power reached level 33, inevitably lagged behind the main force. However, her advantage lay in her abundant soul power. Her propulsion shoes unleashed a powerful forward thrust, allowing her to accelerate steadily and quickly leave behind the group of non-combat soul masters, catching up with the defensive soul master squad ahead.

Agility-type Soul Masters maximized their speed advantage. After they had run two full laps, the group lagging behind had only just reached the finish line of the first lap. However, this was when their physique and willpower began to be tested. In terms of pure physical attributes, the offensive and defensive types were still superior. Even after running two laps in a burst, they were still not out of breath and appeared to be in complete control.

Around the time the group that was at the front had reached the third lap, the non-combat Soul Masters with sufficient Soul Power had caught up completely, and most of them had reached the middle level of the main group. This surprised many combat Soul Masters who originally had prejudices against Soul Tools.

Have soul tools truly been able to change the world of soul masters?

Ning Tian, ​​relying on her abundant soul power, was still struggling, but she was already quite far ahead. Many agility-type soul masters who couldn't keep up had begun to fall behind one by one. Currently, the one running at the forefront was no longer an agility-type soul master, but Xie Huanyue, whose soul power was as high as level 40.

Xie Huanyue almost jumped for joy. In the past, his fat body greatly affected his mobility. After losing weight, he won first place in the running competition with the highest soul power in the class and a strong attack-type physique.

In the fourth lap, Ning Tian, ​​with the help of his soul tool, had completely overtaken everyone except Xie Huan Yue and was in second place. Meanwhile, the agility-type soul masters who had initially run with all their might had all fallen to the middle of the pack due to exhaustion.

As for those non-combat-type Soul Masters who were not favored, they all managed to reach the upper ranks of the main force by virtue of their Soul Guidance Devices, which surprised many combat-type Soul Masters.

Seemingly determined to showcase his acting skills, Huo Yuhao lagged far behind everyone else, even blowing a kiss to his teacher as he passed by Mu Jin. Judging from his relaxed expression, he was clearly hiding his true abilities. While Xie Huan Yue had already completed his fourth lap, Huo Yuhao had only just begun his third.

"This kid..." Mu Jin was so angry that she almost exploded with rage after Huo Yuhao teased her every time he finished running a lap. Just now, this kid even sneaked up next to her and deliberately leaned close to her face, so that she kissed Huo Yuhao on the cheek before she could react.

Enraged, Mu Jin loudly announced, "In today's running race, the last-place runner is not allowed to eat for the entire day! The bottom thirty runners are not allowed to eat lunch!"

"Ah Jin, are you serious?" Huo Yuhao, hanging at the back, looked surprised. Food is essential for survival, especially in the Douluo World where cultivation and fasting are forbidden. Seeing the gloating looks from the new students in front of him, Huo Yuhao steeled his resolve.

Fine, you despise me, right? You're mocking me, right? It's perfectly normal and logical for me to act like a complete novice and run slowly. I run so gracefully, why are you all targeting me?

Although the registration form for Mu Jin recorded Huo Yuhao's true soul power as level 29, she never imagined just how exaggerated Huo Yuhao's true strength was.

When Huo Yuhao awakened for the second time in the Holy Spirit Cult, he had a full soul power of level 30 innately. After a year of tempering in the blood pool, he also possessed the physique that only a powerful attack-type battle soul master could have. Later, he fused with the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm and successively obtained two million-year soul rings, which made his actual soul power break through the level 40 Soul Master barrier long ago!

He simply hadn't reached the required level of spirit rings, not that he lacked the spirit power equivalent to a Spirit Master or higher. Bibi Dong once said that if he hadn't resorted to compressing his spirit power to increase his level, he might have already become a Spirit King, provided he had enough spirit rings.

Then, all the freshmen who were still rushing forward saw a dark shadow whizzing past.

Too fast, far too fast! With the support of the soul tool, Huo Yuhao's burst of speed instantly exceeded the level of a normal agility-type battle soul master. In less than ten seconds, he completed the third lap and then continued to advance towards the fourth lap at the same speed.

"This guy is really amazing!" Ning Tianjiao snorted. When this guy was with them, he always kept a low profile. Most of the time, they treated him as a cheat code for cultivation and overlooked his talent.

"Good heavens!" Even Xie Huanyue, who was running in the lead, was shocked by Huo Yuhao's sudden speed. But Huo Yuhao, you've been holding back. Didn't he also hold back when he awakened the legendary Sun God Ape Martial Soul?

Just as Huo Yuhao was about to overtake Ning Tian after quickly completing the fourth lap, Xie Huanyue suddenly stopped. He bent his upper body into a horse stance, pressed his right fist against the ground, and his elastic calves pressed down hard like a pump, while wisps of steam began to rise from his body.

Huo Yuhao, who had just overtaken Ning Tian, ​​saw this familiar scene and almost slipped. It wasn't just similar, it was exactly the same.

The next moment, Xie Huanyue's body shot forward almost in a flash, a speed that even a speed-attack type Soul King could not match.

The two were moving at speeds far beyond what a normal freshman could comprehend, crossing the finish line almost one after the other, leaving Ning Tian alone behind, bewildered in the wind.

First place: Xie Huanyue. Second place: Huo Yuhao. Third place: Ning Tian.

"Young Master Huo, it's not fair of you to hide your strength." Xie Huanyue patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder. His previous state couldn't last. If Huo Yuhao had unleashed his full potential from the start, he would definitely have missed out on first place.

"Fatty, you're not bad either. This awakened divine-level martial soul is really something else." Huo Yuhao grinned, then thought for a moment and took out a round straw hat tied with red silk from his storage soul tool and put it on Xie Huanyue's head. "This is for you, it suits you well."

Xie Huanyue's lips twitched. He didn't understand why Huo Yuhao wanted him to wear such a straw hat. However, after Huo Yuhao handed him a mirror and he looked at himself wearing the straw hat, he thought he looked quite handsome.

While Huo Yuhao and Xie Huanyue were chatting, all the freshmen finally finished the race. The defensive-type battle spirit master who was at the back of the pack had a long face, he was going to have no food today...

"Everyone assemble." After resting for a few minutes, Mu Jin coughed lightly, and the swaying crowd finally got up from the ground.

"As you all saw just now, these twenty-odd non-combat students all achieved good rankings with the help of their soul tools."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. Even some freshmen who were extremely resistant to soul tools had to admit in their hearts that soul tools had brought about earth-shattering changes to the soul master world when they saw that their non-combat classmates had achieved better results than them.

"As everyone knows, soul tools have developed rapidly over the past few thousand years. What the Sun Moon Continent brought was more rare materials and basic methods for making soul tools. After these thousands of years of development, soul tool making has become increasingly sophisticated, and its power has also increased. This has resulted in a situation where even a food-type soul tool master wielding a sufficiently powerful soul tool can unleash attack power comparable to, or even surpassing, that of a power-attack type battle soul tool master. And if an agility-type battle soul tool wields a soul tool with strong defensive capabilities, then he can temporarily act as a defensive type soul tool master."

"It can be said that the emergence of soul tools has greatly changed the direction and status quo of soul master cultivation. In fact, it is the role of soul rings that has been weakened. As long as there is enough soul power, one can make up for the lack of power of soul rings with soul tools. This has caused many people to ignore the role of soul rings, thus forming the current situation where all soul masters in the four great empires pursue soul power as their cultivation method."

"Undoubtedly, this training method is effective in the short term, especially for Soul Masters below level 50, where the effects are very noticeable. However, I must tell you that Shrek Academy does not train such Soul Masters. Because once they reach level 50, they are all useless!"

The new students looked at each other, wondering what Teacher Mu was up to.

"You don't understand, right? Let me give you an example. If you're a Soul Master with a Weapon Soul and you've reached level 50, and I'm a Battle Soul Master with an Agility-based attack, also at level 50. You have a Soul Tool that can threaten my life, while I don't. In this battle, who wins?"

"The answer is simple: I will win. Why? Because with my speed, you won't even have a chance to hit me with your soul tool. Even if you have top-tier soul tools, I can use my speed advantage to wear you down until your soul power is exhausted. The more powerful the soul tool, the greater the soul power consumption. Therefore, while defense, support, and food-type soul masters can use soul tools to give themselves the attack power of a powerful offensive soul master, they will never have the combat power of a powerful offensive soul master. You must remember this clearly. Therefore, although soul tools greatly enhance defense, support, and food-type soul masters, if your bodies are not strong enough, you will always be the first to be killed on the battlefield. Your enemies will not let you go just because you are not a soul master. On the contrary, they will pick on the weak. If your attack power is strong because of your soul tool, but your other aspects are weak, how will your enemies choose?"

Listening to this teaching speech, which was almost identical to that in the original story, Huo Yuhao understood that Shrek Academy was now focusing on cultivating Soul Masters who also mastered Soul Tools, which was the so-called Shrek Soul Tool System.

"Similarly, if my physical attributes are extremely strong and I already possess considerable combat power, then having a powerful soul tool in my possession would be like adding wings to a tiger. That's what a true powerhouse is," Mu Jin instructed earnestly.

"The lines between offense and defense are blurred. Anyone in a Soul Master team can act as an attacker. However, improving your own qualities is the key to maximizing your survivability on the battlefield. Unless one day Soul Tools can develop to the point where they can completely replace your bodies, physical training and the selection of Soul Rings will be of paramount importance in your future training."

The Shrek Academy teachers, who shared a common understanding of soul tools, were unaware that ten thousand years later, soul tools had actually evolved to the point where they could replace the body, just as they had described. Yes, things like battle armor, mechs, and even spaceships.

"Over the next three months, I will provide you with key physical and theoretical guidance to help you truly become genius Soul Masters with immense potential."

"That concludes this morning's classes. We'll make an exception and allow everyone to have a proper lunch. get out of class dismissed. Huo Yuhao, come to my office with me."

"Long live Teacher Mu!" The students who were just feeling down about not being able to eat immediately cheered. It was clear that Teacher Mu was indeed skilled at manipulating people's hearts.

Inside the office, Huo Yuhao awkwardly touched the mark on his face where Mu Jin's red lips had touched him. "Teacher Mu, are you going to give me a medical check-up?"

Mu Jin was furious. "Get lost, Huo Yuhao! How could you be like this?!"

I'll update this at 3 AM tonight. After dinner, I'll check the voting results and then decide whether to update at 4 AM or 5 AM.

(End of this chapter)