I'm sorry, but there can be no debate of a subject such as this in the
vacuum of one short section of the overall code.

I suppose I could post all of article 406 but that is the only relevant part.
Certainly a local AHJ can spin this any way he likes but if you are in a state
like Florida that has eliminated all local rules as part of a unified state
building code and that code accepts the NEC, unaltered that is all there is to
say about the subject. You CAN replace an ungrounded receptacle with a GFCI
receptacle (or use a GFCI breaker) and all down stream receptacles can be of
the grounding type ... as long as your AHJ follows the NEC. Your mileage may
vary if you are in a locality that does not accept the NEC and there is a very
good chance this doesn't apply outside of the US. People in Europe don't use
GFCIs, they have an RCD.