Douluo: Divine Dragon Pattern Staff

In the following months, Li Luochen's days became fulfilling as he pored over books like 'The Compendium of Soul Beasts' and 'The Compendium of Martial Souls'. Though these books didn't document top-tier martial souls, Li Luochen already knew about them from his own knowledge.

After several months of reading, his understanding of the soul master profession and martial souls became much more comprehensive. Previously, he had only known what was written in books, but the real world contained many aspects that weren't mentioned.

For example, martial souls could be categorized into different tiers: useless martial souls, ordinary martial souls, high-grade martial souls, top-tier martial souls, super martial souls, and god-given martial souls.

Useless martial souls were straightforward—things like Blue Silver Grass or farming tools, which lacked any innate spirit power, fell into this category.

Ordinary martial souls typically had innate spirit power ranging from level two to four. Examples included mundane animal-type martial souls or common weapons.

High-grade martial souls generally had innate spirit power between levels five and seven. Most of these were beast-type martial souls or weapons with elemental attributes. Li Yusong's Dragon Pattern Staff martial soul was considered quite good among high-grade martial souls. Meanwhile, the Spirit Cat martial soul of the Zhu family from Star Luo Empire was regarded as an exceptional example within this tier.

Top-tier martial souls usually started at level seven or higher. Famous examples on the continent included the Hao Tian Hammer, Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. The martial souls of great families and powerful factions were almost always top-tier. Of course, not everyone with a top-tier martial soul could reach level seven spirit power—otherwise, the three great sects would have risen to dominance long ago.

Super martial souls were often the result of mutations. Examples included the Holy Light Dragon, Holy Phoenix, Fire Phoenix, and Taotie Divine Ox. These martial souls each had unique characteristics and possessed innate spirit power no lower than level nine, allowing them to stand toe-to-toe with god-given martial souls.

As a transmigrant, Li Luochen knew about god-given martial souls like the Six-Winged Angel and the Sea God martial soul, which came with full innate spirit power of level twenty. Qian Renxue of the Spirit Hall was a representative genius of this kind.

There were also variant martial souls, such as Qin Ming's Blazing Flame Wolf, which was comparable to top-tier martial souls, and special martial souls like body-type martial souls.

The quality of a martial soul was one of the key factors in becoming a soul master. The other crucial factor was the amount of innate spirit power, which depended on one's talent. Without sufficient innate spirit power, cultivation would be nearly impossible, no matter how hard one tried—just like a certain Master (referring to Yu Xiaogang).

Innate spirit power represented a soul master's natural talent. However, there were ways to compensate for low innate spirit power, such as using immortal-grade medicinal herbs, rare treasures, or even pills like the Xuanshui Pill from Douluo II, which could increase innate spirit power by one level.

But in this era, such resources were either nonexistent or extremely rare. Immortal-grade herbs were known, but without talent, even entering places like the Ice and Fire Twin Extreme Eyes would be impossible.

Sigh… Could you imagine treating Dugu Bo's poison and exchanging it for medicinal herbs like Tang San did? You'd have to be dreaming! If you told Dugu Bo he was poisoned and you could cure him, would he believe a weakling like you? He'd probably just slap you to death!

Thus, innate spirit power was a decisive moment in determining one's fate. If you had decent talent and caught Dugu Bo's attention, you might have a chance—but only if you could treat him. Were you planning to use the Ice and Fire Refining technique to bleed him out and save him?

Could you even pass Dugu Bo's test first? If you couldn't even handle the trial, how could you dream of entering the Ice and Fire Twin Extreme Eyes? Keep dreaming.

Fortunately, Li Luochen had some foresight and decided to teach himself medicine. While it might seem far-fetched, knowing medical skills wouldn't hurt. Whether or not he had soul master talent, having medical knowledge would always be beneficial.

If he lacked soul master talent, he could just give up and take his grandfather far away to live a simple life. But if he did have talent, medical skills could help him diagnose and treat injuries caused by cultivation.

Healing-type soul masters might not be able to treat hidden injuries, so medical knowledge was genuinely important. A skilled doctor would have broader horizons and, with the right resources, might even stand a chance at obtaining treasures from the Ice and Fire Twin Extreme Eyes.

At the end of the day, wasn't this all about learning? At least it wasn't rote memorization—he was studying what he wanted to learn. Moreover, Li Luochen's mental strength far surpassed that of ordinary children, so his learning speed was incredibly fast. For the first time, he finally understood what it felt like to be a genius.

---

"Xiao Chen, Xiao Chen! How about Grandpa takes you to the academy to play? The guys at my academy still don't believe you've recovered. Come on, let's go see them."

Li Yusong rushed back, clearly excited. Normally, he would be at the academy at this time, returning home in the afternoon to spend time with Li Luochen during the evenings.

"Huh? Shrek Academy?"

"Yes, Shrek Academy. Old Zhao (Zhao Wuji) and Old Lu (Lu Qibin) have both seen you before."

"Oh~ You mean short but muscular Uncle Zhao and Grandpa Lu with the goat beard?"

Li Luochen suddenly remembered. Indeed, those two had visited him when he was still in a daze, and now the memories were clearer.

"That's right, those two. Let's go to the academy—they're all very concerned about you."

With that, Li Yusong hoisted Li Luochen onto his back and ran toward Shrek Academy. Even at 48 years old, Li Yusong's stamina as a Soul King remained impressive. His cultivation made him as energetic as a middle-aged man—eating well and staying fit.

Before long, Li Yusong arrived at the gates of Shrek Academy with Li Luochen on his back.

At this time, Shrek Academy was located in a small village outside Suotuo City. Its wooden buildings were simple and unassuming, giving no hint that this was once the site of the continent's number-one academy.

Soon, Li Yusong carried Li Luochen to the academy's central square, where a sparring match was underway—a clash of fire and lightning.

On the square, Qin Ming and Mo Yu were engaged in a friendly duel. Qin Ming's martial soul was the Blazing Flame Wolf, while Mo Yu's was the Wind and Thunder Wings. Their martial soul qualities were similar, but Qin Ming's higher cultivation allowed him to suppress Mo Yu even without using his fourth soul skill.

The two exchanged blows left and right, fully immersed in their battle. This year, two new students had joined Shrek Academy, both Great Soul Masters at level 25, watching their senior's fight.

"Qin Ming, take this! Third soul skill: Wind and Thunder Dual Slash!"

Mo Yu shouted as the wind and thunder wings on his back solidified, amplifying the power of lightning. He unleashed an "X"-shaped attack aimed at Qin Ming.

"Nice! Third soul skill: Flame Wolf Soul!"

Qin Ming's third purple soul ring lit up, releasing a flaming phantom wolf that clashed with the Wind and Thunder Dual Slash.

The collision of their attacks kicked up dust, creating a smoky haze of flames and lightning. Taking advantage of the chaos, Qin Ming sidestepped, quickly closing in behind Mo Yu. With a powerful leap, he delivered a punch to Mo Yu's back before the latter could react, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Damn you, Qin Ming! You always hit so hard! That hurts like hell!"

Mo Yu climbed out of the dirt pit, grumbling under his breath.

"Little Yu, you're still no match for me. So, did this fight make you feel better?"

"Hmph, I just broke through to the next level today and thought I'd challenge you, but I lost again. We both have level nine innate spirit power—why is there such a big gap between us? You're already a Spirit Ancestor, and I'm still a Spirit Elder."

Mo Yu complained bitterly. Despite working just as hard as Qin Ming and having the same innate spirit power and optimal soul ring configuration, he always seemed to fall short. Still, the two had a great relationship and were a famous duo in Suotuo's Great Battle Arena, known as the Thunder-Fire Combo.

"I don't know why either. Although I'm a year older than you, I can see how hard you work. Why has your spirit power growth slowed down recently? Could it be because of too much pressure?"

While Qin Ming and Mo Yu chatted, Li Luochen, perched on Li Yusong's back, stared wide-eyed at the scene. Was this what soul masters were like?

Wasn't this place supposed to be a "sewer"? Yet their battles were spectacular! This was just a clash between a Spirit Elder and a Spirit Ancestor. What would it look like if it were a Title Douluo? It seemed the real Douluo Continent wasn't as simple as people made it out to be.

{T/N: The Douluo series is often referred to as a 'Fantasy/cultivation sewer' when compared to other cultivation systems. Partly because of the soul ring system which severely limits soul masters and partly because the traditional cultivation systems can destroy world etc.}

------------------------------------------------------

Support my writing journey: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow