What happened today was far too fantastical, so both Chen Shijie and Chen Tianyun agreed it must not be revealed to anyone. Although Chen Ming repeatedly insisted it wouldn't be a problem, the two still swore a solemn oath—invoking the God of Angels as witness and pledging their martial spirits as collateral.
In this world, such oaths are extremely serious. If Chen Shijie or Chen Tianyun were to speak carelessly, even if the God of Angels didn't actually punish them, their martial spirits would still suffer. At best, their soul power would regress; at worst, their martial spirits could be completely destroyed.
But a cave wasn't exactly the right place to talk. After confirming there were no other issues, Chen Shijie led Chen Ming and Chen Tianyun through a secret underground passage back to the Chen family's hidden chamber below their estate.
The cave where the Bi Lin Sevenfold Flower was cultivated was located deep within the Bi Luo Gorge. The Chen family had occupied an ecological niche there by integrating themselves into the soul beast ecosystem, pretending for centuries to be a group of soul beasts in order to protect and maintain the area. Because the location was buried deep underground and at the heart of Bi Luo Gorge—surrounded by numerous ten-thousand-year soul beasts—outsiders had never discovered it.
The secret tunnel was long and winding, and even for soul masters, it took half a day to traverse. Once lost within it, it was almost impossible to find your way out. Today, only a few members of the Chen family still knew the full layout of the passage.
Once they returned home, Chen Shijie granted Chen Ming one month of free time to relax and explore the city, so long as Chen Tianyun accompanied him. If Chen Ming wished to leave Bi Luo City to visit other cities, both he and Tianyun would need to go together.
Chen Ming agreed to the arrangement, but after only a few days of roaming Bi Luo City, he quickly grew bored. After enduring so much restraint for so long, just half a month later, he quietly returned to the Chen residence and resumed his cultivation.
The reason was simple—there really wasn't much fun to be had.
The Douluo Continent lagged significantly behind in terms of entertainment options. And due to the values Chen Ming carried over from his previous life, he had no interest in visiting any of the "special" establishments either.
Bi Luo City itself was a barren backwater. The largest market in town belonged to the Chen family, and Chen Ming had already visited it countless times. The city's best trading area was operated by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but even that held nothing of particular interest. After a single trip, Chen Ming felt it had been a complete waste of time—he might as well go home, eat some whale glue, and continue cultivating.
Thanks to the evolution of his martial spirit and the acquisition of the soul ring from the top-tier soul beast Bi Lin Sevenfold Flower, Chen Ming's talent had significantly increased, partially making up for his earlier deficiencies. Normally, a soul master progresses most quickly before reaching level 10, after which progress slows considerably. Yet with all the boosts he had received, Chen Ming's cultivation speed had more than doubled.
In just two years, he had advanced from level 12 soul power—right after absorbing his first soul ring—to level 20, gaining eight levels and becoming a quasi-grandmaster.
During this time, not only had he trained diligently and effectively used whale glue to strengthen his body (enabling him to handle higher-age soul rings), but he had also refined his martial spirit. Before even obtaining his second soul ring, his spirit had developed thirteen segments, improving its quality even further.
According to the standards of Douluo Continent, being an eleven-year-old quasi-grandmaster was already quite impressive. But Chen Ming himself wasn't particularly satisfied. Compared to the original protagonists of the series—among the Shrek Seven Devils—he was about on par with Ning Rongrong or Zhu Zhuqing, still far inferior to Tang San and his innate Xuan Tian Gong.
In Chen Ming's view, the most valuable gain over the past two years wasn't his soul power advancement—it was what he had discovered about his "golden finger" (his cheat-like ability).
Through repeated meditation and soul ring research, Chen Ming discovered that his golden finger was likely a unique spiritual trait, something that didn't belong to the laws of the Douluo Continent. Though it couldn't be used in combat yet, it manifested in other useful ways.
For example, during the process of absorbing a soul ring, Chen Ming could actively choose the soul skill and its form, even drawing on the deeper, more fundamental forces within the ring. After a ring had stabilized, he could slowly increase its age by expending mental and soul power. He could also make limited adjustments to the soul skill itself.
However, similar to Huo Yuhao many millennia later, this upgrading process didn't enhance his base attributes. If he had absorbed a hundred-year soul ring, his physical body would only receive the boosts typical of a hundred-year ring—even if he upgraded it to a hundred thousand years later, it wouldn't retroactively enhance his physical stats.
After two years, this was the extent to which Chen Ming had uncovered his golden finger's potential. He suspected that more advanced uses would only become apparent once his level rose significantly.
In truth, had he not spent time exploring his golden finger or attempting to enhance his soul ring's age, he might have reached level 20 six months earlier. But the development of his unique ability was clearly more valuable than raw soul power.
As for the origin of his second soul ring... that decision had been made back when he first awakened his martial spirit.
"A thousand-year Emerald Scorpion with nine tail segments... What an extraordinary talent. If it survives, becoming a Scorpion King is a given—and perhaps even a Scorpion Emperor," Chen Ming mused, looking at the creature prepared before him.
There was a hint of emotion in his voice, but no trace of mercy in his eyes, nor any killing intent emanating from his body.
Killing a random insect that wandered into one's home might require some effort, but slaying a chicken or duck ready for slaughter didn't even merit a flicker of hesitation. Before awakening his martial spirit, Chen Ming had trained via mimicry in the Scorpion Den and had already killed more scorpions than he could count. Killing another now made no difference to him.
This exceptional Emerald Scorpion had been pierced all over its body by wooden stakes, its tail segments tightly bound. Facing Chen Ming and his companions, it displayed none of the fierceness or reaction one would expect from a soul beast.
Decades ago, the Chen family's ancestors discovered this talented creature and brought it back home. At that time, it was only a hundred-year-old soul beast, but it had already grown seven tail segments by birth.
Once captured, the Chen family used specially crafted wooden spikes to pierce its body and submerged it in a deep underground pool. The scorpion was soaked in a mixture of rare herbs and toxins, designed to stimulate its growth in various ways.
Every year, just maintaining the medicinal solution cost over a thousand gold soul coins. Additionally, many of the necessary soul beasts used as ingredients had to be captured from within Bi Luo Gorge by family members themselves. All told, the Chen family had spent hundreds of thousands of gold soul coins on this one soul beast. The cost had been nothing short of enormous.
A new month begins—dear readers, your continued support means everything!
(End of Chapter)