Su Ming observed Oscar's pale face, and it seemed as if he'd thought of something, deciding to deliver one final remark.
"One last thing, Xiao Ao. You said your Mushroom Sausage allows you to fly at the speed of the Phoenix-Tailed Cockscomb Serpent for one minute, covering roughly two thousand meters or so. Honestly, for a powerful soul master, that distance might not even require a full minute."
Su Ming's words were like the final straw breaking the camel's back. Oscar's earlier pride disappeared entirely, replaced by a dazed, despondent expression. It truly felt like a soul skill slot had been wasted.
Zhao Wuji frowned at Su Ming's comment and barked, "That's enough, Su Ming! Stop talking!"
Hearing Zhao Wuji's order, Su Ming decided not to press further. Besides, he had said enough already. He even felt slightly guilty—it seemed a bit too much, like driving a knife through someone's heart.
Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun also fell silent, their earlier playful demeanor gone. They looked at Oscar with sympathetic eyes. Zhu Zhuqing, as always, maintained her cold and indifferent expression, showing no reaction. Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu, on the other hand, struggled to keep their laughter in check, trying hard to appear expressionless.
Zhao Wuji, worried that further comments from Su Ming might push Oscar over the edge, quickly reassured him, "Oscar, don't dwell on it too much. At least this soul skill will support you until you reach the Soul Sage level. Just be more selective with your future soul beasts, and it will be enough to make up for it."
Tang San also chimed in to comfort him, "That's right, Xiao Ao. You know my teacher is the Grandmaster, the foremost theoretical soul master in the continent. He should be coming to the academy soon. When you reach rank forty, he can help you find a suitable soul beast to compensate for this."
Oscar felt a bit better after hearing Tang San's words. He had heard of the Grandmaster's reputation—a wealth of theoretical knowledge. After all, Tang San was already a walking encyclopedia; his teacher must know even more.
Still, Oscar couldn't help but wonder when he would reach rank forty. Food-type soul masters were notoriously difficult to cultivate.
Su Ming almost chuckled at Tang San's attempt to reassure Oscar. By the time Oscar reaches rank forty, the Soul Master Tournament will already be over—long gone.
In the original story, if it weren't for Tang San gifting him an immortal herb that boosted his soul power by six ranks, combined with Oscar's desire to earn Ning Rongrong's approval—or rather, the approval of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan—he wouldn't have reached rank forty in time for the tournament.
Even if he did reach rank forty, what would it matter? Oscar's fourth soul skill was chosen by Yu Xiaogang—a five-thousand-year-old Pink Scorpion, resulting in a mediocre ability.
Firstly, the Excitement Pink Sausage boosted a soul master's overall attributes but only by a mere ten percent. The effect was far too weak.
Oscar had even thought this skill was fantastic, mainly because it had no side effects. But come on! He was an innate full soul power soul master, touted as a monster. Isn't the absence of side effects the bare minimum?
Look at the auxiliary-type soul master from the Soto City Mad Battle Team. Their third soul skill, Berserk Enhancement, increased overall attributes by fifteen percent. Sure, it caused a complete loss of combat ability afterward, but that soul master's martial soul was of average quality. And this was just their third soul skill!
Meanwhile, Oscar's skill came from a five-thousand-year soul beast yet only provided a measly ten percent boost without any side effects. The gap was glaringly obvious.
But that wasn't even the most disappointing part of the skill. The most absurd aspect was that the sausage could only be preserved for one minute after being exposed to air.
For food-type soul masters, what is the most crucial factor in their creations?
The most important thing is definitely preservation time, followed by the effects of the skill.
A longer preservation time makes it convenient for soul masters to store food for later use. Ideally, such food should last at least a day. Even one day is too short; if it could last half a month or a month, that would be ideal.
However, Oscar's Excitement Pink Sausage, with a preservation time of only one minute, had to be made on the spot. Experienced soul masters wouldn't even give him the chance to prepare it, let alone eat it!
It's not like opponents will politely stand aside and watch you casually eat during a fight. Even chewing takes time. Directly swallowing it would be unrealistic. Smaller-sized items are more suitable for battle, which is why Shrek's Shao Xin's candy martial soul is better suited, though it's a shame it's not meat and tastes worse.
One of the most direct examples in the original work was on Sea God Island. Tang San, after acquiring a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, wanted to test his strength by challenging five people at once. Right at the start, he used teleportation to prevent Oscar from consuming a Mirror Sausage, immediately eliminating him.
For experienced soul masters, it's a bonus if a food-type soul master can successfully eat their creation during battle. Sometimes, even getting that chance is impossible.
Oscar's fourth soul skill, with its one-minute preservation limit, is fundamentally flawed for a food-type soul master. On top of that, its enhancement is only ten percent, which barely surpasses the practicality of his third skill. It's really only suitable for close teammates.
With such a short preservation time, Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda is far superior for support. The further into the late stages, the more powerful her auxiliary abilities become, completely overshadowing Oscar's enhancements.
It's just unfortunate that in the original work, Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda didn't include a full-attribute enhancement skill. Her sixth soul skill, Six Suns Amplification, was better suited for providing an overall attribute boost rather than enhancing just one dominant attribute.
Of course, Ning Rongrong in the original story didn't have that luck. But this time, things might change.
After all, boosting all attributes, including attack, defense, speed, self-healing, and more, isn't much different from strengthening life attributes through her fourth soul skill.
With Su Ming done speaking, and seeing Oscar's mood recover somewhat, Zhao Wuji announced, "Now that Oscar has obtained his third soul ring, it's time to find a suitable Man-Faced Demon Spider for Tang San's third soul ring!"
Compared to Oscar, Zhao Wuji was obviously more concerned about Tang San. If Tang San's background were as ordinary as Oscar's, Zhao Wuji might have been more casual about it. But Tang San wasn't just skilled in hidden weapons; more importantly, it was his powerful backer...
[T/N:
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