Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor

Dugu Bo felt slightly worried—would the fact that he appeared at Chrysanthemum Douluo's residence be leaked? However, Chrysanthemum Douluo patted his chest and assured him that no one would reveal this matter. After all, he was the Spirit Hall's Punishment Elder, a position second only to the current Pope. In Spirit Hall, there weren't many who would dare offend him.

Moreover, the people in his residence, including the healing-type Soul Sage who had just been there, were all trusted confidants he had cultivated over the years. To put it bluntly, in their hearts, his words might even carry more weight than the Pope's.

After being assured everything was secure, Dugu Bo finally let out a sigh of relief. At this moment, Chen Ming took the opportunity to step forward.

He held an old, yellowed soul beast compendium, opened it to a specific page, and placed it in front of Chrysanthemum Douluo, Ghost Douluo, and Dugu Bo.

"Master Chrysanthemum, Master Ghost, Grandpa, I want this for my fourth soul ring."

"Oh?" Chrysanthemum Douluo took the soul beast compendium, leaned in with Ghost Douluo to examine it, and found neither of them recognized this type of spirit beast.

"Red Eyed Ice Toad, a top-tier soul beast with ice, fire, and poison attributes, residing in the Extreme North?"

"Eh, Xiao Ming, why do you suddenly want the soul ring of the Red-Eyed Ice Toad?" Chrysanthemum Douluo looked at Chen Ming, somewhat puzzled.

If it were just poison, or even fire and poison or ice and poison, Chrysanthemum Douluo could understand why Chen Ming would want to hunt the Red-Eyed Ice Toad for his soul ring. But ice, fire, and poison together? He couldn't imagine how it would be used.

"Master, I have a secret, so I must obtain the soul ring of this particular soul beast. If I can get it, my soul power level and martial soul will likely improve significantly."

"A secret, huh?" Hearing Chen Ming's words, Chrysanthemum Douluo wasn't angry.

After all, Chen Ming had only just become his disciple a while ago—it was normal to have some secrets. Moreover, Dugu Bo had clarified before the apprenticeship that Chen Ming had secrets he didn't want others to pry into or spread around.

Chen Ming revealing that he had a secret to Chrysanthemum Douluo made the latter appreciate him even more. This showed that Chen Ming genuinely wanted him as a teacher but wasn't ready to fully trust him yet.

"Xiao Ming, what's your current soul power level?" Chrysanthemum Douluo asked casually, already pondering how to guide Chen Ming in the future. But Chen Ming's answer completely caught him off guard.

"I'm already at level 40, but I just haven't found a suitable soul ring yet. A while ago, Grandpa took Yan Yan to the Star Dou Forest to hunt for her third soul ring. I kept an eye out for a suitable fourth soul ring for myself too, but even when we reached the forest's core, I didn't find a soul beast I thought was suitable."

"Hmmm?!"

What could be said about being brothers for decades? After hearing Chen Ming's reply, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo exchanged shocked glances, almost choking on their spit.

The two set down the yellowed soul beast compendium on the table, then appeared on either side of Chen Ming. Injecting soul power and spiritual energy into his body, they probed his soul power level.

Chen Ming didn't hide anything. He released his martial soul—a Scorpion Emperor-class martial soul—with one yellow and two purple soul rings shimmering around him. His soul power was fully revealed to Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.

"This is real..."

"Level 40?"

"Xiao Ming, how old are you now?" x2

"I think I'm already 12," Chen Ming calculated, realizing that nearly a year had passed.

After just a few days at school, he had followed Dugu Bo to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for nearly half a year. Then he added his third ring and helped Dugu Yan add hers. They had spent some time traveling and even more time in the Star Dou Forest.

He hadn't thought much about it, but calculating now, he realized he had unknowingly turned 12.

"40 years old, level 12," Chrysanthemum Douluo muttered, only to be interrupted by the relatively calmer Ghost Douluo.

"It's 12 years old, level 40, not 40 years old, level 12."

 "Oh, oh, 12 years old, level 40. Could this be the effect of immortal herbs?"

Hearing Chrysanthemum Douluo's comment, Dugu Bo wasn't happy about it.

"Old Chrysanthemum, immortal herbs are great, but you can't deny the personal effort of the soul master! Come, let me tell you how my grandson-in-law grew up."

Dugu Bo pulled Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo aside and began recounting Chen Ming's story. After hearing how Chen Ming had grown from an innate level 5 soul power user with the Emerald Scorpion to his current level, the two couldn't help but feel amazed.

Back when they awakened their martial souls, they had also trained hard, but compared to Chen Ming, they were still lacking. The impulsiveness and instability typical of young soul masters were completely absent in Chen Ming.

Spending months in isolated training without contact with the outside world was something most soul masters couldn't endure. Choosing to live in a dark and toxic training ground accompanied by poisonous creatures was an even harsher test of one's willpower.

With such talent, effort, and luck, his future was certainly limitless!

 Although Dugu Bo mentioned the Chen family and didn't ignore the fact that Chen Ming came from a noble family, the support provided by the Chen family was negligible in comparison. In the eyes of Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, the Jade Phosphor Seven Absolute Flowers were the only thing of slight value.

After all, while both Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo came from humble beginnings, they had joined Spirit Hall within a few years of awakening their martial souls, where they were nurtured as future elites.

The current Golden Generation of Spirit Hall received the same treatment that Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo had once received. Considering that the Pope at the time was Qian Daoliu, their treatment might have been even better.

They had no worries about food or drink, were taught by Titled Douluo-level instructors, and enjoyed Spirit Hall's inheritance and resources. Comparatively, the Chen family, which didn't even have a Soul Emperor, was practically irrelevant.

Chrysanthemum Douluo, Ghost Douluo, and Dugu Bo discussed Chen Ming's potential for a long time. The more they talked, the more satisfied they became, and the more they believed his future achievements would be extraordinary.

After some deliberation, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo gritted their teeth and decided to take leave from the Pope's Hall to accompany Chen Ming to the Extreme North to obtain the Red-Eyed Ice Toad's soul ring.

As for Dugu Bo…

 With his poison attribute being weak against ice and fire, the Extreme North was practically a death trap for him. The extreme ice and fire attributes there were natural enemies to all poison spirit masters.

For normal soul masters, going to the Extreme North was a challenge. For poison and fire soul masters, it was pure suicide. Even without considering soul beasts, the harsh environment alone would render them half-crippled.

Poison masters couldn't release poison, fire masters couldn't ignite flames—it was as if their arms and legs were bound.

Of course, poison masters with ice attributes were an exception.

In the Extreme North, Dugu Bo could only utilize 70% of his toxic abilities, even though he was unmatched in poison mastery. If he ventured deeper, he might only function at 50% capacity, and that would be optimistic.

To put it bluntly, any random ten-thousand-year soul beast in the Extreme North could use its attributes and the terrain to fight Dugu Bo to a standstill. If he encountered a legendary ice attribute soul beast, being killed would be all too normal.

After some discussion, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo unanimously decided to leave Dugu Bo behind and take only Chen Ming for a quick trip.

As for Dugu Bo, he would return to Heaven Dou City with Dugu Yan for now.