Still, all the effort had been worth it. Decades of meticulous cultivation and hundreds of thousands of Gold Soul Coins had finally produced a mutant Emerald Scorpion, whose soul ring had just crossed the thousand-year threshold—yet it already possessed nine tail segments. The richness of its essence far surpassed that of any ordinary Emerald Scorpion, making it a rare and extraordinary creature.
If this creature were ever to be auctioned on the open market, its price would easily rival that of a mid-grade thousand-year soul bone.
Back when Chen Shijie reached the Soul Elder rank, he couldn't bring himself to use this Emerald Scorpion. Neither could Chen Tianyun, when he broke through. But now that Chen Ming was about to advance to Soul Master, this gold-devouring beast—nurtured over decades—would finally serve its purpose.
As Chen Ming activated his Martial Soul, a scorpion tail materialized behind him. With a slight flick, the tail instantly pierced through the head of the Emerald Scorpion. Without even using any poison, the sharp appendage cleanly skewered the beast. As the scorpion trembled slightly, a purple soul ring emerged from its body.
"What incredible piercing power," Chen Tianyun applauded, visibly impressed. "No toxins at all, and it still punched right through that mutant Emerald Scorpion's skull. If that had been aimed at a person... unless they're a defense-type Soul Master above level 30 and possess a top-tier beast Martial Soul like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon or Diamond Mammoth, there's no way they'd survive a hit like that—even with two soul skills activated!"
"Maybe it's due to my naturally strong physique and high-quality Martial Soul," Chen Ming replied casually, eyes fixed on the purple soul ring.
This Emerald Scorpion had been artificially modified into a mutant, making it incredibly valuable. Even in death, its body parts could be used for a variety of alchemical or forging purposes—enough to recoup at least a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Although Chen Ming wasn't short on money in this life, he wasn't about to waste something so precious.
That's why he refrained from poisoning or damaging the corpse—he kept his Martial Soul's toxins suppressed to preserve the scorpion's valuable materials.
The moment he laid eyes on the soul ring, Chen Ming could feel a sense of hunger from his Martial Soul—as if absorbing this ring would perfectly complete it.
Without further hesitation, Chen Ming adjusted his breathing and sat down in front of the scorpion. Channeling his soul power, he began the process of absorption.
The purple soul ring shimmered briefly before turning into a beam of flowing light and entering Chen Ming's body. As fusion began, a wave of intense, alien soul power surged through his meridians. The energy was both powerful and volatile—something that would usually require great effort for a level-30 soul master to tame.
But for Chen Ming, it was different. His own soul power quality far surpassed the scorpion's. With his superior soul foundation and mental strength, he easily suppressed the energy. His widened meridians guided the turbulent soul power in an orderly flow.
After a few circulation cycles, the resistance from the scorpion's soul ring weakened significantly. Its energy broke into smaller strands and was gradually disassembled and absorbed by Chen Ming's own soul force.
After a dozen full circulations, the Emerald Scorpion's essence was fully digested and integrated. At that moment, Chen Ming felt his consciousness elevate into a higher state.
Because this soul beast was of the same species as his Martial Soul—even though its quality was lower than the Biphosphorous Seven-Petal Flower—the soul ring gave him a far wider range of soul skill options to choose from.
There were enhancement skills, offensive techniques, control abilities—everything. However, the quality varied. Most options were average, barely worth considering.
But Chen Ming wasn't looking for brute force; he wanted something functional.
And when he dove deeper into the available skills, he was shocked by what he discovered.
Among the inheritance laws of the Emerald Scorpion bloodline, there was actually one exceptionally powerful, arguably even overpowered, skill.
This skill had once belonged to a figure in the distant future—someone who, as a mere Soul King, had grievously injured and killed several high-ranking Soul Emperors from Shrek Academy and toyed with a level-98 Super Douluo. If he hadn't crossed paths with the protagonist of the world—someone blessed with the luck of a god and backed by a divine remnant from another realm—he might've escaped unscathed.
That's right. The original wielder of this skill was none other than the Grim Reaper Envoy, the most powerful (without exception) Soul King in the history of the Douluo Continent.
However, due to differences in Martial Souls, the version Chen Ming inherited wasn't Corpse Explosion Technique, but a similar variant called Toxic Explosion Technique—same principle, different effect.
Its power was identical, but its usability and scope were even broader, and its execution far more convenient.
As the name suggests, Toxic Explosion Technique allows the user to detonate toxic soul power. The brilliance of the skill lies in its efficiency: one unit of soul power could unleash the effect of ten—or even twenty—at the moment of detonation. And there's no upper limit. The more poison involved, the more devastating the explosion in terms of both force and range.
Whereas Corpse Explosion required two conditions—a corpse and potent toxins—Toxic Explosion required only one: contamination by the user's toxic soul power. Whether it was a corpse, a living being, or even a stone, Chen Ming could now turn anything poisoned into a bomb.
To put it in perspective: this soul ring might only be a thousand-year soul ring, and the soul skill a thousand-year skill—but if Dugu Bo (the famed Poison Douluo) had known about it, he'd probably have ripped out his ninth soul ring just to replace it with this one.
Not poisoned yet? Doesn't matter. You've already been marked by my toxic soul power—I can detonate you remotely. Can't poison you to death? I'll blow you up instead!
If Dugu Bo had this skill, he wouldn't be known as the "Disgrace of the Title Douluo," but the most explosively powerful one in existence.
Of course, the skill had a limitation—similar to the Ice Explosion Technique of the Ice Jade Scorpion tribe—it could only detonate using your own toxic soul power. To harm enemies, you had to either poison them or attach a medium infused with your toxin.
In most cases, this was a bit awkward. After all, if you could poison someone in the first place, going further to explode them seemed excessive. And if the poison didn't penetrate the target, the plan could be detected and partially evaded.
But for Chen Ming, this flaw was minimal at best.
Why? Because his first soul skill was literally called Toxic Cloud Technique—a skill that generated a vast toxic mist.
Even while his spirit was immersed in an elevated state, Chen Ming couldn't hide his excitement. He combed through every inheritable law in the Emerald Scorpion's bloodline, and nothing else came close to the Toxic Explosion Technique in terms of power and potential.
Without hesitation, he imprinted the law of Toxic Explosion into his second soul ring, making it his new soul skill.
At that moment, his Martial Soul began to tremble, as if stimulated by something. With the Emerald Scorpion's essence fully absorbed, Chen Ming could feel his Martial Soul evolving again.
It didn't grow stronger per se, but it became more complete.
If his Martial Soul had been a leaky barrel upon first awakening, then the Biphosphorous Seven-Petal Flower soul ring had sealed those leaks—yet the barrel remained only half full.
But now, with the Emerald Scorpion's soul ring, the barrel may not have grown, but it was filled to the brim.
Where he once had only five innate soul power levels, he now possessed what should be recognized as true innate full soul power.
Qian Daoliu's prescription had indeed cured a problem that had plagued the Chen family for centuries.
(End of Chapter)