“So that’s the case.” Huo Yuhao felt ashamed. He was truly clueless in certain areas. As the saying went, reading ten thousand books is not as useful as travelling ten thousand miles. Naturally, he wouldn’t change. After all, the most important thing he had to do was increase his cultivation.

The companions, seniors, opponents, and even the teachers who taught him, every single one of these people gave him the pressure and drive that made him continue an unending journey. During this journey, the only way he could have peace of mind was by exhausting all of his strength.

This was also an advantage of Shrek Academy. In an environment like this, Huo Yuhao and the other students would absolutely be stimulated into an all-out struggle as long as they were motivated. This was all done so they could release the potential hidden within their bodies.

This was also the reason why Shrek Academy not only had talents, but also a group of talents who came forth in large numbers.

Just what is Teacher Wang bringing us to an auction for? A few traces of doubt rose in Huo Yuhao’s heart.

At the same time, Wang Yan gave them an explanation as he turned towards the others, “Although you haven’t seen the other academies compete, I have to tell you all that this time’s tournament is very different than the previous ones. The difference lies in the fact that there are now very few pure soul master academies left. All of the other academies have been growing in the direction of a fusion between soul engineers and soul masters.”

“A fusion?” Bei Bei furrowed his brows slightly, “Teacher Wang, what do you mean by ‘a fusion’?”

Wang Yan said, “There are many types of fusion for some ordinary academies. The simplest way they can do this is by diligently training the soul masters they have, then equipping them with soul tools. As long as their students learn how to use these soul tools, they’re fine. Even if their ways of using soul tools aren’t as refined as a soul engineer’s methods, a soul tool can still increase their fighting power. Pure soul masters are becoming rarer and rarer.”

“It’s just like what we saw during the first round of the elimination round, when Yuhao and Wang Dong activated their Golden Road. Our opponents had a few defensive-type soul tools. Were it not for them, they could’ve been seriously injured. However, situations like this are commonplace during this year’s tournament. Practically every student from a soul academy has a soul tool, and some of the stronger academies have even set up their own independent Soul Tool Departments. Not only does this train their own soul engineers, but it also allows them to custom-make soul tools for their other soul masters to give them a dramatic increase in overall strength. You’ll understand once I give you an example. Let’s say we give a speed-increasing soul tool to an agility-type soul master like Nannan. If she can use it freely, what do you think will happen? At the same time, say we give her a few lifesaving defensive-type soul tool to guard against her weakness in defense. Wouldn’t that be enough to let her use all of her strength without any worry at all?”

“I never thought that this tournament would change this much after five years. Actually, it’s more accurate to say that this started several decades ago. Only, an overwhelmingly large number of academies were proud of the fact that they were soul academies at that time. Just like us, they felt that using soul tools would lower their reputations. However, the times change whether we like it or not. During the last few tournaments, academies who used soul tools have been obtaining better and better results. This unending change has changed the other soul academies’ way of thinking . Only, I didn’t think that they’d fully explode during this year’s tournament. From what I’ve seen during the first round of the elimination round, over 80% of the participating academies have prepared soul tools. Furthermore, with this experience, I’m afraid that every single academy will have equipped their students with soul tools by the next tournament.”

Xu Sanshi furrowed his brows. “They’ve forgotten the honor of being a soul master. Aren’t battles between soul masters meant to be pure? The most reliable tool we have at our disposal is the strength we’ve cultivated, and it’s our most trustworthy tool. After all, a soul tool is a foreign object.”

“You’re not wrong,” Wang Yan said in a low voice, “Also, I can guarantee you guys that Sanshi’s way of thinking is practically identical to that of the upper echelon of a large majority of academies. It’s this precise reason that has constrained the development of the Soul Tool Department. After my observations during this year’s tournament, however, I have to say that we’ve reached an irreversible point in time. Furthermore, this has to be acted upon immediately. Once we return to the academy after the tournament, I will immediately point this out to the academy.”

“Soul tools will become the weapons of us soul masters. This is a byproduct of the times. If we don’t keep up with the passage of time, there will be a time when we ourselves are washed away. It’s true that our Shrek Academy has a deep background, but how long will this deep background let us be extravagant? You guys are the next generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters, and I hope that we can cause a change with you taking the lead. I’ve brought you here for that reason. It just so happens that there’s a soul tool auction in this auction house today, and I hope that you guys will be able to lead the academy with your example. Naturally, I won’t force you, nor do I have the capability to do so. If anyone here isn’t willing to enter, you can return now.” With that, Wang Yan’s gaze turned somewhat apprehensive. He naturally understood that the deep-rooted Soul Tool Department of Shrek Academy had already been established for many years, but had always been completely suppressed by the Martial Soul department. As a result, it had simply been unable to truly grow.

The inner courtyard disciples of the Martial Soul Department were elites among elites, but what about the Soul Tool Department? The Soul Tool Department also had inner courtyard disciples, but those exact disciples were only mediocre after graduating, and even now weren’t able to create any sort of reputation for Shrek Academy’s Soul Tool Department. This was because of the pressure of tradition! The pressure of tradition had become the currently restrained Shrek Academy’s greatest barrier.

The seven of them all fell silent, and each and every one of them was pondering inwardly.

The only thing that Wang Yan could guarantee was that there would be two people who would agree with him–that was, the two people who belonged to the Soul Tool Department, He Caitou and Huo Yuhao.

But what about the other five? They were all core disciples of the Martial Soul Department; their elites. If they chose to use soul tools during the tournament, this would be equivalent to them making their decisions. Although these kids weren’t too old, they were able to stand steadily within Shrek Academy. Were any of them not outstanding geniuses? Wang Yan absolutely couldn’t predict their way of thinking by comparing them to their peers.

However, Wang Yan didn’t regret bringing them to this auction house at all. This was his first time trying to convince them to use soul tools, but it would definitely not be his last. The more profound his research in the field of martial souls became, the more keenly he sensed the problems that would stunt the future growth of soul masters.

“Let’s just stand the side first.” Wang Yan brought them to a corner of the auction house so as to not block the other guests who were attending the auction.

Wang Yan took a deep breath as he looked at the people around him. “I know. All of you are thinking different things, but a large number of you are against this. Let me say this again. Why did we fall into our current predicament during this year’s tournament? It was due to a mistake we made during our mission. The death and injuries of the official team resulted in the preparatory team being forced to take part in the tournament. But, haven’t you thought about this before? What if the official team had soul tools with them? What would’ve happened then?”

“The seven members of the official team were all Soul Kings, or stronger. In other words, they could’ve equipped Class 5, or even Class 6 soul tools. Let me bring up an extreme example. What if all of them had defensive soul tools on them? After all, every single one of them was already sufficiently strong in terms of combat strength. The thing they needed most was a way to protect themselves. Caitou, you’re a student of great ability from the Soul Tool Department, and also Fan Yu’s disciple. Tell everyone this: during that corpse explosion, what if they had had defensive soul tools? Would the situation have changed?”

He Caitou seemed to reply without any hesitation at all, “It would’ve definitely gone differently. I can guarantee that that corpse explosion wouldn’t have broken through a Class 6 defensive soul tool. Moreover, a Class 5 soul tool would have ensured that they wouldn’t have been rendered unfit for combat at the very least. Their injuries would’ve been reduced by more than 60% as well.”

Once he spoke, everyone else was stirred emotionally. Right! If they had had defensive soul tools, that tragedy might not have occurred. If that had been the case, would they have been in such a predicament during the tournament?

Wang Yan took a deep breath and said, “Children. With my age, I think I can use this to refer to you all. I have to say that each and every one of you are the academy’s most precious treasures. At the same time, you are your respective families’ most precious geniuses. However, the fall of a genius is much, much easier than nurturing one. Weren’t Yao Haoxuan and the rest geniuses as well? They all were. Yao Haoxuan even had a swallowing skill that could allow him to instantly swallow an opponent one rank above him, rendering them powerless for a certain amount of time. He could even be said to be a genius within the Control System. At the same time, they were the current iteration of Shrek’s Seven Monsters! However, what happened in the end? No matter how talented they were, they couldn’t prevent an accident from occurring. However, the existence of a soul tool can dramatically reduce the possibility of an accident.”

“You’ve already seen the uses of a soul tool. What about those flying-type soul tools? Without them, would you have been able to come here after completing your Guardian mission within such a short period of time? For the sake of achieving his maximum speed, even our academy’s Elder Xuan, who is a person who resides at the top of the pyramid, borrowed the use of a flying-type soul tool. I can tell you that the flying-type soul tool that Elder Xuan used was only a Class 8 one. That is also the strongest soul tool within our academy’s reserves right now. Then, what about Class 9 and 10 soul tools?”