Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor

Chen Ming opened his eyes and felt an unprecedented sense of vitality and strength.

He stretched out his arm, concentrating his soul power at his fingertips before flicking it forward. The soul power instantly solidified and shot out like a bullet, leaving a deep hole in the ground.

Chen Ming once again gathered his soul power across his body. The previously formless and intangible energy had now materialized into a suit of armor. Unlike his usual poison attribute, this armor had a faint golden glow.

"Have I reached the level of a Dou Grandmaster?" Chen Ming couldn't help but entertain this absurd thought as he observed the transformation.

"Soul power solidification, shifting from liquid to solid form, and now I even have a slightly irregular rhombus-shaped soul core within me. My soul power can condense into physical armor..."

"Damn, why does this feel more and more like I've become a Dou Grandmaster from Battle Through the Heavens?"

Shaking his head, Chen Ming dispelled the thought and refocused his attention on his body.

After consuming the miraculous herb, Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, his physical capabilities had almost doubled. All previously blocked meridians in his body were now fully cleared. Additionally, a trace of immortal golden energy had fused into his body, transforming his flesh and meridians.

The issue of his soul power exceeding his body's limits—caused by consuming the Star Luo Holy Pearl—had completely resolved. Now, even if his soul core operated at full capacity to absorb the surrounding spiritual energy, his meridians could handle it effortlessly.

Though he was merely a Quasi-Soul Ancestor without a fourth soul ring yet, his physical attributes had already surpassed most Soul Sages. His meridian strength and vitality had even reached the level of a Title Douluo.

As for his spiritual power…

Although he had only consumed a few drops of the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, which didn't seem to provide massive improvement, the process of comprehending laws had naturally boosted his spiritual power. Combined with the star energy he had been absorbing during this time, Chen Ming's spiritual power had been steadily advancing.

If he were to compare himself to Dugu Bo, his spiritual power was only about 10% lower than Dugu Bo's when they first met.

Although Dugu Bo's spiritual power was likely on the weaker side for a Title Douluo—possibly lowering the bar for the spiritual power requirements of a Title Douluo—he was still undeniably a Title Douluo.

By this comparison, Chen Ming's spiritual power had already reached the realm of a Title Douluo.

Now, the only thing separating him from a Title Douluo was time and accumulation. The only real obstacles he faced were the divine realm and the two soul cores he had yet to condense.

Still, the similarities to a Dou Grandmaster from Battle Through the Heavens left Chen Ming feeling a little amused and exasperated.

As Chen Ming stood up and demonstrated his ability to solidify soul power, Dugu Bo, who was watching from the side, had grown numb to it all.

If someone told Dugu Bo that Chen Ming was the reincarnation of the Angel God, he would probably nod in agreement and immediately drag Chen Ming to the Spirit Hall to demand benefits from Qian Daoliu.

After all, Chen Ming's abilities were far beyond those of an ordinary human. Dugu Bo had long since stopped comparing himself, an average talent, to Chen Ming.

While Dugu Bo was content to let things be, Chen Ming eagerly approached him and extended his soul armor-covered arm.

"Grandpa, try it out. See how strong the defense of this soul armor is."

"Alright." Dugu Bo nodded, reached out, and began increasing the soul power in his grip bit by bit.

Only when Dugu Bo's soul power reached the level of a Soul Sage did the armor show faint cracks. It wasn't until he used the power of a Soul Douluo that he finally managed to shatter the armor completely.

"The defense is approximately equivalent to the sixth soul skill of a top-tier defensive Soul Sage. Regular Soul Kings wouldn't even be able to leave a scratch on this armor," Dugu Bo evaluated calmly.

Using Soul Douluo-level soul power ≠ using the full strength of a Soul Douluo.

In Douluo Dalu, martial souls enhance a soul master's physical body, and soul skills come in myriad forms. High-level soul masters have countless powerful techniques and buffs at their disposal. For a real Soul Douluo to break Chen Ming's soul armor, it would only take a little effort.

Hearing Dugu Bo's assessment, Chen Ming felt quite satisfied.

After all, he was just a Soul Ancestor without a fourth soul ring. For his soul armor to have the defensive strength of a sixth soul skill from a defensive Soul Sage was already extraordinary.

This level of defense would even hold its own in battles between Soul Sages.

What's more, as his soul power grew, the defensive capability of his soul armor would continue to improve. The current version was merely the simplest and most basic form.

Noticing Chen Ming's satisfied expression, Dugu Bo couldn't hold back a question.

"Xiao Ming, does this soul armor consume a lot of soul power?"

"Consume? Now that I have a soul core, my soul power recovery rate is on a completely different level from before. As long as I don't use soul skills, I can maintain this soul armor indefinitely."

"…"

"?"

Dugu Bo tilted his head slowly, forming a question mark. It took him a long time to process Chen Ming's statement about maintaining the armor indefinitely.

When Chen Ming, worried, gently pushed him, Dugu Bo finally snapped out of it. He sighed, then reluctantly spat out his treasured poison core.

"Xiao Ming, take a look. Can this poison core of mine be turned into a soul core?"

Though his poison core was already extraordinary, enhancing both the quality and recovery speed of his soul power, Dugu Bo couldn't help but feel envious of Chen Ming's soul core.

"Hmm…" Chen Ming pondered for a moment, referencing the soul core in his body that was developing towards a golden core. He finally gave his answer.

"Grandpa, it's possible to convert the poison core into a soul core, but your spiritual power isn't strong enough…"

"Oh, not enough spiritual power, huh." Dugu Bo stiffly swallowed the poison core back down, looking utterly dejected.

Why was it that even after absorbing a 50,000-year Medusa head soul bone, his spiritual power was still deemed inadequate?

Could it be that he was just dumb, naive, and easily deceived, which made his spiritual power so low?

"Xiao Ming, you'd better hurry up and figure out a way for me to train my spiritual power," Dugu Bo sighed, hunched over as he slowly walked back to his residence in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well under the moonlight. His figure looked exceptionally desolate.