"Alright! I'll be watching you."
Ying Yanyang was smiling happily now, a stark contrast to his usual calm and serious demeanor, but he was genuinely pleased.
Although it was just a few words, not proving anything, Wang Zhong's decisiveness and lack of hesitation at least showed that he held goodwill towards everything here.
This was the best possible start.
"Do you know anything about the Thick-Skinned Turtle martial soul?" Ying Yanyang asked Wang Zhong with a smile.
Wang Zhong collapsed onto the sofa behind him, lying on his back and sighing, "Yes, it's precisely because I've researched this martial soul that I felt so powerless against Senior Lu Xiaoshuang's mutated double-layered Thick-Skinned Turtle."
"As a turtle-type beast martial soul stemming from the same lineage as the Xuanwu Turtle, the Thick-Skinned Turtle already possesses astonishing defensive capabilities."
"If it weren't for the exaggerated weight of the martial soul itself, making it very difficult for soul masters to move, the title of the world's number one defense-type martial soul should have belonged to them."
"Moreover, Senior Lu Xiaoshuang's martial soul has undergone a mutation, changing from one layer of shell to two! Its defense power has directly doubled! Ordinary artifact martial souls couldn't even touch him. Even the most top-tier artifact martial souls wouldn't be able to break through those two layers of thick hide."
Ying Yanyang nodded appreciatively. From Wang Zhong's words, he could tell that the latter had done some research and hadn't lost his fighting spirit due to the absolute disparity in soul power and soul skills, which was what he admired most.
"You know quite a bit, but you've gotten a few things wrong."
"Lu Xiaoshuang's defense power didn't increase by double, but by four times!"
Ying Yanyang's gradually calming tone made the bitterness on Wang Zhong's face deepen.
"His mutation wasn't just the outer shell; the inner shell also became two layers."
"So, can it be understood that Senior Lu Xiaoshuang's martial soul mutation is equivalent to wrapping another Thick-Skinned Turtle around the outer layer of the original Thick-Skinned Turtle?"
Wang Zhong's eyes widened. He had always thought Lu Xiaoshuang's martial soul mutation was just an extra layer of thick shell, but who could have imagined that his entire martial soul had been doubled.
If this were truly the case, there would be no point in this challenge match; he wouldn't even have the qualification to injure the opponent.
"That's right, that understanding is very vivid. It's very fitting."
Ying Yanyang paused for a moment and nodded affirmatively.
"But teacher, if that's really the case, even if I get another soul ring and my soul power increases by a few more levels, it's completely useless!"
"I can't even touch him."
Wang Zhong exclaimed in surprise.
"Don't rush, remember the first point I told you earlier? Lu Xiaoshuang's martial soul has a fatal flaw."
Ying Yanyang calmly reassured Wang Zhong, addressing his surprise.
"A flaw?" Wang Zhong frowned, lost in thought.
"The already extremely thick Thick-Skinned Turtle, plus the double-layered mutation, that already astonishingly heavy shell will become even heavier!"
"It's possible that he can't even lift such a heavy defensive shell and can only hold his ground!"
Wang Zhong's expression suddenly turned delighted, but it quickly faded.
"Even if someone stands still, if I can't break his defense, it's meaningless."
"If I accidentally take one hit from his thick shell, I might be severely injured on the spot."
"But the teacher said he has a flaw, and it's a fatal one, so I must be overlooking something..."
Wang Zhong pondered bitterly, and Ying Yanyang did not interrupt, listening quietly.
The battles between soul masters were not just about soul power and soul skills; wisdom was also an important component.
Finding and exploiting an opponent's weakness to achieve victory was the essence of a soul master's combat.
It was only when Wang Zhong stopped thinking and looked at him with a doubtful gaze that Ying Yanyang spoke unhurriedly.
"There are Thick-Skinned Turtles among soul beasts. Think carefully about what I taught you in class, and compare it with Lu Xiaoshuang. You should get some inspiration."
Wang Zhong crossed his arms, his face solemn.
He had barely paid attention in Ying Yanyang's classes, but he remembered Hu Lienna's notes very clearly.
"Thick-Skinned Turtle: a terrestrial turtle-type soul beast, massive in size, slow in movement, gentle in temperament, preferring stillness over activity. A ten-year Thick-Skinned Turtle's defense is comparable to other hundred-year defense-type soul beasts, a hundred-year to a thousand-year, and a thousand-year to a ten-thousand-year."
"Its fearsome defensive power makes it a famous hard stone among soul beasts. Few soul beasts would target it and include it in their diet."
"Logically, such Thick-Skinned Turtles should be numerous among soul beasts, yet the reality is not so. Among soul beasts, there is one soul beast that preys on Thick-Skinned Turtles, and that is the Cave Spider."
"Cave Spiders live underground and are known for their ambushes, assassinations, and insidious tactics. After hunting a Thick-Skinned Turtle, they begin to dig a hole at the kill site, burying the entire Thick-Skinned Turtle underground. After consuming the meat, the Thick-Skinned Turtle's shell becomes their perfect dwelling."
"Furthermore, any defensive soul master will have the Thick-Skinned Turtle on their list of soul beasts to hunt. And, once found, it is guaranteed to be obtainable."
"This is because the head and tail parts of the Thick-Skinned Turtle are areas not covered by its thick armor. The head is somewhat protected by its large and heavy forelimbs, but the tail, except for a single tail, has no means of defense. This is its weakest point!"
Wang Zhong's expression suddenly became very excited.
"The head and feet are the areas that Senior Lu Xiaoshuang's defense cannot cover!"
The disadvantage of being unable to move, coupled with the flaws in the head and tail areas, his win rate was more than fifty percent!
If he also considered explosive techniques like Eight Extremes Heaven and Eight Inner Gates to increase his movement and attack speed, Lu Xiaoshuang could only passively endure.
Wang Zhong had at least an eighty percent chance of winning.
"It seems you've figured it out. Yes, the most fatal flaw of Lu Xiaoshuang's Thick-Skinned Turtle is this."
Ying Yanyang was very satisfied with Wang Zhong's current performance. He remembered his cultural knowledge well and had a flexible mind. Although he had received his reminder, being able to quickly find the key to victory was still excellent.
Wang Zhong was overcome with excitement. If he could truly defeat Lu Xiaoshuang based on this point, he would become the most prodigious student in the history of the Martial Soul Hall Academy.
And the Golden Soul Coins he could access would increase tenfold due to another victory against a higher-level opponent.
Ten million!!!!!
Such a sum was comparable to the annual revenue of some small countries on the continent.
The intensity of his physical training could also be upgraded again, and perhaps he would soon find a way to master Eight Extremes Heaven.
After his excitement subsided, Wang Zhong looked at Ying Yanyang with a slightly strange gaze and asked curiously.
"Teacher, are you being a bit too cruel by telling me Senior Lu Xiaoshuang's weakness like this?"
"He was, after all, your student before."
If a forty-level Soul Ancestor were to lose to a tenth or twentieth-level junior, he would surely be mocked by everyone.
Didn't Zhang Shuai look as if he was dying after losing to him? Lu Xiaoshuang would probably be even worse off and more miserable.
"He is my student, but so are you."
"A teacher's role is to nurture students to overcome one opponent after another, gain glory, achieve victory, and go further. Not to discard these things as waste paper just because he was once my student."
"If, in the future, I lead the students in my class to challenge you, I will do the same thing I'm doing today."
Ying Yanyang's expression was impassive, as if such matters held no cruelty or ruthlessness for him.
This demeanor reminded Wang Zhong of a story he once heard from the old dean.
In an eagle's nest, after the eaglets' wings were fully developed, the mother eagle would push them off the high cliff. If they could spread their wings, they would soar.
If they couldn't, they would fall to the bottom of the cliff and be shattered.
The teacher had given them everything. If they couldn't fly high and soar in the sky afterward, they would fall into the abyss and sink into oblivion.
"Perhaps this is how the teacher thinks. His martial soul is an eagle, his personality is like an eagle, and even his teaching methods are just like those of an eagle."
"No wonder teacher Shuang Yue Lian said he was like an eagle that flew too high."
Wang Zhong thought to himself and then sighed aloud.
"Teacher, you are truly cruel."
Ying Yanyang raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "It's not the teacher who is cruel, but the path of a soul master is inherently cruel!"
"The victor lives, the loser dies! This is an eternal truth!"
"Your failure to die simply means others did not wish to kill you!"
Calm, indifferent, cruel, and even carrying a strong scent of blood.