The lack of enthusiasm among Douluo Continent's inhabitants for developing self-created soul skills can be attributed to several reasons. Even considering the protagonist's advantage of having the seamlessly integrable Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record from the original work, it makes sense.
Take the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track as an example—when cultivated to perfection, it parallels a ten-thousand-year soul skill in potency. Yet, the time and effort required for an average person to achieve such mastery could be immense.
For soul masters, a single soul ring can accomplish what might take years with self-created skills.
These self-created skills aren't primarily for use by the soul masters of their respective types but rather to fill gaps for soul masters of other types. For instance, a strong attack or support type soul master learning a flexible movement technique can enhance both their offensive potential and survivability.
However, the soul masters most suited to and skilled in developing such soul skills are agility attack types. But why would an agility attack soul master need to develop such skills on their own? There's no necessity. Isn't it more beneficial to spend that time increasing soul power?
This leads to a culture where the pursuit of self-created soul skills is minimal.
Even when soul skills are created, they generally lack versatility and are usually tailored to specific family martial spirits, not suitable for widespread use.
The techniques and skills You Chen acquired were of the versatile type, requiring no specific martial spirit or additional talents. Thanks to the system's knowledge infusion, he bypassed the initial hurdles, achieving entry-level mastery and saving a significant amount of cultivation time.
However, aside from the mental "Soul Intimidation Technique" and the functional "Breath Concealment Technique," You Chen didn't plan to invest much effort into the others.
In addition to the two mentioned, You Chen obtained three more techniques:
1. **Fist Technique: Cloud Movement Fist** - This water-attributed technique uses soul power to manipulate cloud energy, making the punches unpredictable. It's a slow-paced technique, somewhat conflicting with You Chen's agility-focused combat style, yet it could add an element of surprise to his offensive capabilities.
2. **Lightfoot Technique: Walking on Grass** - The name is simple, but the effects are impressive.
3. **Burst Technique: Five Qi Fiend Art** - This technique involves nurturing fiendish energy within the five organs, which can be unleashed at critical moments to enhance all attributes temporarily. Though it strains the organs, its effects are undeniable.
In reality, You Chen could utilize all three techniques. However, even for him, reaching major or perfect mastery requires significant time.
This explains why You Chen had no intention of passing these techniques to Yan. At first glance, exposing Yan to these versatile self-created soul skills might seem beneficial for cross-learning.
Yet, in practice, Yan developed self-created skills specific to his martial spirit, and these techniques would only add to his burden.
With Yan's "slow" understanding, You Chen figured that just grasping the content of these techniques would take considerable time, let alone achieving entry-level mastery.
With the system-provided entry-level mastery, these three skills equated to the power of century-level soul skills. While fist techniques and lightfoot skills might not seem crucial, they carry a common misunderstanding: choosing augmentation-type soul skills at lower levels to avoid obsolescence later.
This is a grave mistake.
Augmentation effects like those of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda don't correlate with soul ring age but with the inherent abilities of the martial spirit. Regular support-type soul masters' augmentation effects vary based on the target.
For self-augmentation, the differences between century-level and ten-thousand-year soul skills are evident. The latter retains effectiveness at the Titled Douluo stage, while the former might not even match a mosquito leg.
The Five Qi Fiend Art follows this principle.
Though its effects seem appealing and useful for You Chen now, as he approaches absorbing his fifth ring and reaches the Soul King level, if this technique remains at entry-level, it's just a mosquito leg.
To remain useful at the Soul Saint stage, it must reach major mastery. For it to be effective at the Titled Douluo level, perfect mastery is likely required.
Attaining such mastery involves talent and opportunity, not easily achieved.
Even if You Chen practiced Walking on Grass, he wouldn't bother with the seemingly appealing Five Qi Fiend Art.
However, he felt a subtle inclination towards the Cloud Movement Fist, considering it worth practicing during his free time, possibly becoming a potent offensive soul skill.
Contrary to these three techniques, You Chen was particularly invested in the Soul Intimidation Technique.
Even without considering his natural mental talent, the technique's stealthy activation and difficult-to-defend nature make it worthy of study, as it seldom misses once a target is locked.
Its effect resembles a "soul shock," emphasizing the "intimidation" aspect. It uses mental power to evoke fear in the target, causing a brief distraction. If the mental power gap is significant, it can severely damage the target's mental will, inducing lasting fear upon encountering You Chen again.
Inborn traits like "dragon's might" or "imperial majesty" could further enhance this skill's intimidation effect.
Whether there are hidden functions awaits You Chen's exploration.
When first obtained, the Soul Intimidation Technique, despite its superior power, was limited to the century-level skill range.
However, after some cultivation, though not reaching minor achievement, its power rivaled millennium-level skills, showcasing You Chen's talent in this area.
If he focused entirely on the Soul Intimidation Technique, You Chen was confident he could reach major mastery in a few months. According to the technique's description, its power could reach the level of a ten-thousand-year soul skill, remaining relevant even at the Titled Douluo level.
It's worth mentioning some concepts related to soul skill ages.
Firstly, the same century-level soul skill wielded by a Titled Douluo and a one-ring soul master will naturally differ in power.
This difference arises from variations in soul power intensity.
The soul skill's form and the infused soul power remain unchanged due to the soul ring's inherent limitations.
Soul ring skills are akin to preset programs—soul masters can only activate them and choose targets.
Many believe self-created soul skills scale with soul master levels and never become outdated because, at higher levels, with greater soul power control, even if the skill's mastery doesn't change, they can amplify the effect by infusing more soul power.
This method of forcefully elevating a skill from century-level to millennium or ten-thousand-year-level naturally results in soul power and energy waste.
However, in the absence of corresponding soul ring skills, this approach is acceptable.
Self-created soul skills are inherently more "free" than soul ring skills.
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