Douluo Continent: Starting with a Heavenly Fire Judgment

Chapter 33, Lesson 1

"That old woman is too ruthless," Wang Dong'er said as she and Wang Qiu'er hurriedly ran back to their dormitory.

"She's trying to intimidate us and establish her authority. You see, after this, who will dare to challenge her authority?"

Ji Lin also chimed in with an explanation.

Wang Dong'er snorted and said, "Who are you! What are you doing following us!?"

Ji Lin said irritably, "My dorm is over there too, it's not like I wanted to follow you guys."

Wang Dong'er pouted and said, "What's your name? My name is Wang Dong'er. In this class, only you and Qiu'er catch my eye."

Ji Lin glanced at Wang Dong'er. This girl was quite arrogant, but she certainly had the right to be.

"My name is Ji Lin. We'll be classmates from now on. I hope we can get along well."

After saying this, Ji Lin turned his gaze to Wang Qiu'er, who had been silent all along.

Noticing Ji Lin's gaze, Wang Qiu'er said calmly, "Wang Qiu'er."

After stating his own name, he ignored Ji Lin.

Ji Lin then said, word by word, "Oh! So your name is Wang Qiu'er."

He deliberately emphasized the words "Wang Qiu'er".

He reminded Wang Qiu'er that he already knew her identity.

Wang Qiu'er bit her lip and glared fiercely at Ji Lin. She had known all along that using the name Wang Qiu'er and her appearance wouldn't fool Ji Lin. She didn't intend to hide it from him anyway; she didn't believe he would directly report her.

Ji Lin hadn't actually intended to report Wang Qiu'er, but his mischievous nature led him to feign curiosity and ask, "Are you two sisters? Which one is the older sister?"

Hearing this, Wang Dong'er's face darkened. Being beaten by Wang Qiu'er and forced to call her "sister" was a lifelong humiliation for her.

Turning her head, she glared fiercely at Ji Lin and gritted her teeth, saying, "We're not sisters, we just happen to look alike and have similar names."

She then ignored Ji Lin and ran back to her dormitory. Wang Qiu'er also gave Ji Lin a complicated look before following Wang Dong'er back to the dormitory.

"Hehe," Ji Lin chuckled softly. Wang Dong'er's expression just now was really interesting. It seems that the academy life ahead shouldn't be so boring.

After returning to the dormitory and changing their clothes, the two of them hurriedly returned to the classroom after Huo Yuhao had also changed.

Zhou Yi gave them fifteen minutes to change, but in reality, even the slowest person didn't take ten minutes before all the trainees were sitting neatly in the classroom. Looking at the nine empty seats, the fear in their eyes hadn't yet faded.

Everyone had heard the saying that it was hard to get into Shrek Academy but easy to get out, but when it really happened to them, they felt a strong sense of crisis, and no one dared to have any opportunistic thoughts anymore.

Fifteen minutes later, Zhou Yi arrived at the classroom on time. Seeing that all ninety-one students were present, she nodded and said, "Let's begin class now. I'm generally satisfied with your performance in the test just now; the vast majority of you completed the simple running assessment."

"Huo Yuhao, stand up."

"Teacher Zhou." Huo Yuhao stood up quickly, his back ramrod straight.

Zhou Yi coldly said, "State your soul power level."

"Yes. My soul power is level eleven."

Huo Yuhao said respectfully.

He knew from the way Zhou Yi called them by name that although this Teacher Zhou seemed aloof, she actually knew them very well, and probably couldn't hide his cultivation level from anyone.

Upon hearing the words "Level 11," the students present all showed expressions of doubt, with Wang Dong'er looking particularly disdainful.

"That's right, Huo Yuhao's soul power is only level eleven. I know you're all curious about why he was able to pass the academy's assessment and become a freshman. I'll only say this once; no one is allowed to ask him about it again until he's eliminated. He's a specially invited student, meaning he didn't need to pass the assessment to enter the academy. However, this is the only exception for specially invited students. If he can't complete the learning tasks assigned by the academy, he'll still be eliminated. Alright, Huo Yuhao, sit down."

"Thank you, teacher." Huo Yuhao sat down again, but he couldn't help but be surprised. Teacher Zhou's words were clearly protecting him! By explaining why he was admitted despite not having enough soul power, no one would bring it up again.

Ji Lin glanced at Zhou Yi discreetly. Although this teacher Zhou had an eccentric personality and teaching philosophy that was hard to agree with, she did not discriminate against Huo Yuhao, who had a low cultivation level. On the contrary, she spoke up for him. In this respect, she could be considered a teacher.

Zhou Yi seemed completely unconcerned about the students' reactions, and turned around to write two large characters on the blackboard: Attack and Defense.

After finishing writing, she faced the students again, "I know that most of you are unhappy about what I just did—making you run laps and expelling nine people. You just didn't dare show it because of the pressure I put on you. I don't need to explain to you. Those who are perceptive will understand in time, and those who can't understand, let them not understand. Let's begin the lesson now."

"You should all recognize the two words I wrote on the blackboard: Attack and Defense. Today, for our first lesson, I will talk about the way of attack and defense for Soul Masters. Since ancient times, we Soul Masters have been divided into many types according to the different abilities of our Martial Souls, such as the Power Attack type, Agility Attack type, Support type, Food type, Control type, Defense type, and so on. Some Soul Masters develop to the extreme in one direction, while others develop in a balanced way. There are countless ways to cultivate."

"Ji Lin, you answer this: among the various elemental soul masters, who is more adept at offense, and who should lean more towards defense and support?"

Ji Lin was surprised that Zhou Yi would call on him to answer a question.

He pondered for a moment before speaking, "If we don't count soul tools, then of course the three types of offensive, agile, and control are more inclined towards offense, while the three types of support, food, and defense are more inclined towards defense. But if we include soul tools, then soul masters who are good at offense can also use soul tools to defend, and soul masters who are good at defense and support can also use soul tools to attack. Offense and defense have become blurred."

Zhou Yi's serious expression softened a bit; she hadn't expected Ji Lin to know so much about soul tools.

"Indeed, it is precisely because of the emergence of soul tools that offense and defense have become blurred, which is the topic I will be discussing today. Please sit down."

"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 means that even a food-type soul master wielding a sufficiently powerful soul tool can unleash attack power comparable to, or even surpassing, that of a power-attack type battle soul master. And if an agility-type battle soul master wields a soul tool with strong defensive capabilities, then he can temporarily act as a defensive type soul 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 soul ring power with soul tools. This has caused many people to overlook 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 effect is 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."

"You don't understand, right? Let me give you an example. If you're a support-type Soul Master and you've reached level 50, and I'm an agility-type Battle Soul Master, 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 defensive, 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, while soul tools greatly enhance the defensive, support, and food-related soul masters, if your bodies aren't strong enough, you'll always be the first to be killed on the battlefield. Your enemies won't spare you just because you're not a battle soul master; on the contrary, they'll pick on the weak. If your attack power is strong due to your soul tool, but your other aspects are weak, how will your enemies choose?

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

"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."

Zhou Yi had no idea that, ten thousand years later, soul tools would actually develop to the point where they could replace the body, as she had described.

(End of this chapter)