Douluo: I Can Choose My Own Soul Skills

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Ye Lan recalled Zhu Zhuqing's original soul ring configuration from the novel. Starting from the first ring, the soul ring abilities were: a

Ye Lan recalled Zhu Zhuqing's original soul ring configuration from the novel. Starting from the first ring, the soul ring abilities were: a

Ye Lan recalled Zhu Zhuqing's original soul ring configuration from the novel. Starting from the first ring, the soul ring abilities were: a

Ye Lan recalled Zhu Zhuqing's original soul ring configuration from the novel. Starting from the first ring, the soul ring abilities were: acceleration with single-target attack, sustained single-target attack, single-target attack, duplication, illusion (with attack multiplier), enhanced evasion resistance penetration, speed-attack amplification, and the eighth and ninth soul rings remained unknown.

All these soul skills—aside from the martial soul avatar and the first soul skill which provided a speed boost—were either offensive soul skills or those that amplified attack capabilities.

This trend was evident even in her choice for the fourth soul ring's soul beast: the Ghost Tiger. Compared to speed, the Ghost Tiger was more renowned for its strength and shadow abilities.

Based on Zhu Zhuqing's original soul ring configuration, it would not be inaccurate to say it resembled that of a Power Attack-Type Soul Master. All of her rings seemed focused on enhancing the attack power of the Netherworld White Tiger.

However, since Zhu Zhuqing's soul rings had not yet fully deviated from their potential path, Ye Lan could still help guide her future development in the right direction.

"Agility Attack-Type Soul Masters, as the name implies, should prioritize 'agility' first and then 'attack'. Many people misunderstand this, thinking offensive soul skills are the most valuable, while ignoring other crucial aspects."

"In my view," Ye Lan said firmly, "the most important trait for an Agility Attack-Type Soul Master is speed."

"Speed? Is an Agility Attack-Type Soul Master really strong with only speed and no offensive power?" Zhu Zhuqing asked curiously.

Seeing the interest in her eyes, Ye Lan replied, "Don't underestimate speed. One could say that with speed, you gain power."

"Xiong Er! Stop sleeping—get over here!" Ye Lan shouted.

Hearing Ye Lan's voice, Xiong Er quickly trotted over and lay down in front of him.

"Zhu Zhuqing, hit Xiong Er with all your strength."

Xiong Er looked at Zhu Zhuqing with a strange expression, wanting to run but not daring to. He stood still and allowed her to strike.

Zhu Zhuqing gave Xiong Er an apologetic glance and channeled all her strength into her right fist.

As she punched, Xiong Er's belly jiggled slightly.

Feeling the impact, Xiong Er relaxed inwardly. Thankfully, Boss wasn't trying to murder him. At that level of force, he could probably take a hundred punches and be fine.

Seeing Xiong Er barely react, Zhu Zhuqing looked down at her fist in disappointment.

As expected, the offensive power of an Agility-Type Soul Master was too low.

"Zhu Zhuqing, again! Hit him once more—but this time, focus solely on speed. The faster, the better!"

Hearing Ye Lan's instruction, Zhu Zhuqing steadied her stance and threw another punch with her right fist.

Unlike a strength-focused punch, this one came more naturally to her as she instinctively tapped into her speed.

A blur sliced through the air.

Thump!

Xiong Er's belly jiggled far more violently than before. Zhu Zhuqing could feel that this strike carried much more force than the last, and her face lit up with joy.

"It's true! The faster the speed, the stronger the attack!" Zhu Zhuqing exclaimed excitedly, as if she'd uncovered some great secret.

In the past, Zhu Zhuqing had always relied on her speed to close the distance to her enemies, then used the claws granted by her soul skills to inflict bleeding damage.

But this was the first time she had truly understood the power of raw speed.

"Not bad. Now use your first soul skill—but don't use it for offense. Use only the speed it grants, and rely on that speed alone to attack Xiong Er."

"Got it!"

Zhu Zhuqing stepped back to a distance of twenty meters from Xiong Er, then charged at him. As her speed reached its peak, her first yellow soul ring lit up, instantly doubling her speed.

She became a black blur and, in the blink of an eye, appeared in front of Xiong Er.

With the speed boost, her punch knocked Xiong Er back several meters.

Xiong Er winced at the pain in his abdomen. Though this punch wasn't as strong as his master's, it definitely hurt.

Looking at the girl in front of him, Xiong Er nodded in recognition.

Zhu Zhuqing, meanwhile, stood rooted in place, reliving the sensation of her own strike. She hadn't expected her attack—driven purely by speed—to rival that of a Power Attack-Type Soul Master.

And all of that without even using the claws granted by her century-old soul skill.

"Impressive, Zhu Zhuqing. You've grasped the concept of speed quite quickly."

"Now you understand what it means to be an Agility Attack-Type Soul Master, don't you?"

"Mm!" Zhu Zhuqing nodded vigorously.

Ye Lan continued boosting her confidence. "I prefer to call Agility Attack-Type Soul Masters 'Speed-Type Soul Masters.' In many ways, Speed-Type Soul Masters counter nearly all other types. Against Power Attack-Types, a Speed-Type can use their agility to keep their distance, making it difficult for the opponent to even land a hit. Once the Power-Type has exhausted most of their soul power, that's when the Speed-Type strikes back."

"When it comes to Defense-Type Soul Masters, they're the slowest of all. In a head-on clash, the Speed-Type is naturally in an invincible position. While they may not be able to break through defenses easily, Defense-Types have weaker defense at their rear. Speed-Types can continuously target these weaker spots. Though Defense-Types can be tough opponents, the one who controls the fight is almost always the Speed-Type."

"As for Control-Type Soul Masters, as long as you can dodge their control skills in time, they can't do much to you." Ye Lan added this with a knowing smile, subtly excluding himself from the rule. If he unleashed his Blue Silver Grass completely, he was confident that no same-level Agility-Type could escape his control.

"Of course, this is just a general outline of how Speed-Types counter other types. The specifics always depend on the situation. Don't treat my words as absolute truth."

"For instance, while I said you could dodge Control-Types, some martial souls or soul skills have special properties. Spiritual-type control, for example, cannot be dodged by speed alone."

"Yes!" Zhu Zhuqing nodded seriously, mentally reflecting on Ye Lan's explanation. Ye Lan said nothing more and let her process everything.

After a long while, Zhu Zhuqing raised her first question.

"I've heard that the Heaven Dou Empire has four great attribute clans. One of them is the Agility Clan. Why is it that these speed-specialized Soul Masters only hold the status of a subsidiary sect under the Clear Sky Sect? And now, they've even been expelled by them."

"Excellent question! Now that I've taught you how speed equates to power, and shown you the strengths of Speed-Type Soul Masters, you've begun to grasp why the Agility Clan declined," Ye Lan said approvingly, gazing at Zhu Zhuqing.

"In Douluo Dalu, there are two main development paths: the Balanced Path and the Extreme Path. The Agility Clan is a prime example of the Extreme Path. They focused solely on speed, choosing only one type of speed-based soul beast for their soul rings. Swallow-type soul beasts were considered ideal."

"This strategy did grant the Agility Clan incredible speed—but they lacked the ability to control that speed," Ye Lan explained patiently.

"Lacked control?" Zhu Zhuqing asked, puzzled.

(End of Chapter)