After absorbing the soul ring, Chen Ming slowly stood up. Before he could even speak, he instinctively sensed that something on the now-dead scorpion in front of him seemed to be connected to him.
He walked around to the back of the scorpion, reached out, and placed his hand on its now-stiff tail. Without thinking, he instinctively injected soul power into it.
As Chen Ming's soul power flowed in, the tail, though attached to a dead body, suddenly came alive. It began greedily absorbing his soul power and, bizarrely, started extracting flesh and blood from the scorpion's corpse.
In just a few breaths, the once hard shell of the Emerald Scorpion shriveled. Its inner flesh was drained dry, and the previously massive tail, now seemingly satisfied, gradually shrank, finally detaching itself from the scorpion's body. It transformed into a sleek, elongated tail that looked like it had been intricately carved from green jade.
"An External Soul Bone!"
Chen Shijie exclaimed. Recognizing what it was finally eased his mind a bit. Although External Soul Bones were extremely rare—and he himself had only ever read about them in books—the events that had recently unfolded with his grandson had already shattered conventional soul master knowledge. Compared to that, an External Soul Bone was surprisingly... ordinary.
In the world of soul masters, soul bones were considered priceless treasures. Their appearance often incited bloodshed and chaos. If word got out, it would definitely bring trouble. Fortunately, everyone present was family, so there was no fear of exposure.
Just as he was about to tell Chen Ming to absorb the External Soul Bone, Chen Tianyun stepped forward and quickly nudged Chen Ming's arm.
"Xiaoming, let's skip the chatter for now. Absorb the External Soul Bone first."
Without waiting for a response, Chen Tianyun tugged on Chen Shijie's sleeve, and the two of them walked a bit further away.
"Dad, let's give him some space so he can absorb the soul bone."
"Tch, you little brat! You don't even trust your own father?" Chen Shijie glared, beard puffing in anger, and smacked his son's head. But he still obediently stepped back and called out to Chen Ming from a distance.
"Xiaoming, your second uncle did the right thing. You must remember this: when you're out in the world, always keep your guard up—no, not just one, a hundred eyes open. Never act recklessly."
"Absorbing a soul ring is when a soul master is at their most vulnerable. Don't ever let outsiders witness it. If you come across a treasure, be ready to act first—either seize it or hide it well. Never let others know what you've got."
"An External Soul Bone is a legendary item, second only to a 100,000-year soul bone. It can evolve with the soul master's cultivation and could eventually reach 100,000 years. Though it can't be inherited, its value is still beyond imagination."
"Remember—caution is everything out there."
There were no level restrictions for absorbing soul bones. Even a 100,000-year bone could theoretically be absorbed by a first-level soul master. Since Chen Ming had already surpassed his limits by absorbing a thousand-year soul ring, there was no doubt he could handle an External Soul Bone. Chen Shijie wasn't worried about the absorption; he just used the opportunity to drill caution into Chen Ming again and again.
Chen Ming looked at the External Soul Bone in his hands and thought for a moment. Eventually, after a brief silence, he made up his mind to absorb it.
First, External Soul Bones were simply too rare and mysterious. Among hundreds of ordinary soul bones, there might not be a single External one. According to the Douluo series, the odds of one appearing were less than one in a thousand. If he didn't absorb this now, who knew when he might get another chance?
Second, this particular soul bone was a perfect match for him. It shared the same origin as his martial soul. That meant easier future evolution, and any abilities it provided would naturally suit him. It might even further enhance his martial soul. Even if he somehow managed to seize Tang San's Eight Spider Lances in the future, it might not provide a better boost than this soul bone.
Third, the value of an ability or stat boost is much higher in the early stages than in the later ones. This soul bone was at the thousand-year level and could give him significant physical enhancements at his current stage. It would accelerate his progress—boosting survivability and tolerance for future soul ring absorption. Plus, it could evolve further. There was no way this would be a bad deal.
The only downside was that the Emerald Scorpion couldn't fly, meaning this tail's mobility was somewhat limited...
But as a transmigrator, Chen Ming already had a few ideas about how to fix that later on.
"Grandpa, Second Uncle, I understand. I'll be extremely cautious from now on."
With a firm nod, Chen Ming responded, then sat back down cross-legged and began to absorb the thousand-year External Soul Bone.
Thanks to the shared origin of his martial soul and the soul ring, Chen Ming experienced no resistance during the absorption. In just a few moments, the process was complete.
However, perhaps due to how closely it matched his existing form, there was little visible change to his tail—it still looked the same as before, just slightly more realistic in texture and a bit more detailed in pattern. If you didn't look carefully, even Chen Ming himself might have trouble telling the difference.
But the power boost didn't care about aesthetics. In fact, the benefits of the External Soul Bone were very noticeable.
In reality, a scorpion's tail houses its excretion system. In nature, losing it would cause the scorpion to die of constipation. But this was Douluo Dalu, not biology class. Chen Ming's tail extended from his tailbone—an external projection of his spine. He could control it with precision comparable to his ten fingers, and its sensory feedback was highly refined.
After absorbing the soul bone, he could feel that his entire skeletal structure, centered on his spine, had been significantly reinforced. Bones, muscles, and even his meridians were all greatly improved. Although his martial soul didn't gain a new evolution outright, its essence had been enhanced. Perhaps in the future, by stimulating this External Soul Bone's growth, he could indirectly evolve his martial soul further.
This soul bone had strengthened his tail's physical power and toxicity. More importantly, it came with an attached soul skill called Poison Emperor Possession. Once activated, it boosted all of his attributes by 50% and doubled the strength of his poison.
As for its passive ability—it hadn't fully formed yet. He'd likely have to grow further before it emerged.
As a buff-type soul skill, this was already excellent. Not only did it make up for the fact that both of his current soul skills were offensive in nature with no buffs, but it also had the potential to grow stronger along with him.
If there was a downside, it was the soul power consumption. Poison Emperor Possession was extremely draining. With Chen Ming's current soul power—level 22, nearly 23—it could only be maintained for half an hour at most.
And his other two soul skills were also heavy on soul power. In a real battle, even if he went all out, he could only maintain his full-power state for a few minutes.
After Chen Ming finished absorbing the External Soul Bone, Chen Shijie and Chen Tianyun finally came over. The three began talking, with Chen Ming briefly explaining the effects of his second soul skill and the attached soul bone skill.
When they heard that Chen Ming's martial soul had been fully completed and had even undergone a transformative enhancement, Chen Tianyun and Chen Shijie embraced each other tightly. Father and son couldn't help but weep with joy.
But the celebration didn't last long before Chen Tianyun brought up an important point.
"The External Soul Bone has clearly given you a big boost, and yet there's almost no visible change. If we didn't know you'd absorbed it, even we experts wouldn't have been able to tell. As long as you don't expose it yourself, you should be fine. But your second soul ring… it's just too eye-catching."
"There have been rare cases of people absorbing a thousand-year soul ring as their second, but those are once in centuries, even rarer than innate full soul power. In the last hundred years, no such cases have even been heard of. If this gets out, you'll either be pursued by people wanting to recruit you—or killed by those who envy you."
"This continent's atmosphere… it's just hard to put into words." Chen Ming sighed.
"That's just how it is. If you don't kill another family's genius, they'll kill yours. If your family has no talent, and theirs does, they'll grow and eventually swallow you whole. Everyone's watching for a chance to strike."
"Your grandpa and I might count for something here in Biluo City, but once we leave… let's be real, people stronger than us are a dime a dozen. I'm just an old man—if I ran into a soul saint with a decent martial soul and soul ring setup, I'd probably get slapped to death."
"But remember, we play with poison. Ambush is our specialty. Right now, your poison's potency is about 70% of mine—stronger than your second uncle's. In a sneak attack, you might not be able to kill a soul saint, but a soul emperor? No problem."
"Instead of hiding for decades and wasting your talent, we'll pull some strings and get you into the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. With three soul douluo-level instructors and the backing of the royal family, it's way safer than staying home."
"That way, when you walk across the continent, you'll have a proper background."
(End of Chapter)