Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor

This external soul bone granted Chen Ming a unique spirit ability called the Scorpion Emperor's Pincer. Its effect is similar to Huo Yuhao's Ice Emperor's Pincer, making the affected areas extremely hard and significantly increasing strength. However, since this soul bone originates from a palm bone, its effects are limited—it can only transform Chen Ming's left hand and arm.

Due to the soul bone integrating with Chen Ming's essence, the Scorpion Emperor's Pincer also carries a potent poison attribute. The combination of Ultimate Ice and poison has given birth to an even more intense Cold Poison.

This ability can freeze an enemy's soul power, mental power, and vitality entirely, and this freezing effect is almost irreversible. Unless Chen Ming personally removes it, the only other options would be seeking help from ice-attribute beings like the Ice Empress, Snow Emperor, or a divine-level priest.

Under normal circumstances, even a Title Douluo without specific countermeasures cannot dispel this Cold Poison. Once afflicted, the victim is essentially permanently weakened, losing part of their potential.

Soul power is the foundation of a Soul Master. No matter how powerful they are, losing their soul power means losing their core strength. Chen Ming's ability is enough to strike fear into the hearts of all Soul Masters who understand its effects.

After experiencing this new ability, Chen Ming was slightly awestruck. He couldn't help but marvel—this truly was a soul bone belonging to him. Its intimidating force even surpassed that of the Ice Emperor's Pincer.

At the same time, Chen Ming began pondering how he might combine fire and poison to create a lethal Fire Poison.

Logically speaking, his poison attribute had already surpassed Dugu Bo's. If the concept of Ultimate Poison exists, he should theoretically be at that level—or at least infinitely close to it, capable of sensing the essence of Ultimate Poison.

Yet, despite reaching this stage, Chen Ming still couldn't grasp what Ultimate Poison truly was.

Ultimate Ice represents extreme cold, and Ultimate Fire represents extreme heat. But what would Ultimate Poison be?

 Corrosiveness? Spreadability? Complexity? Strangeness?

 Or perhaps the concept of Ultimate Poison doesn't exist at all? Maybe poison, as an attribute, is inherently unrestricted and without an ultimate form?

After fully absorbing the soul bone, Chen Ming also resolved a long-standing question he'd had since first encountering the Ice Jade Scorpions in the Extreme North.

It turned out that the Ice Jade Scorpions and Emerald Scorpions—or rather, the Jade Phosphorous Scorpions—shared the same ancestral origins. However, their evolutionary paths diverged drastically over time.

A long time ago, there was a split among the Jade Phosphorous Scorpions. Some migrated to colder regions, and after several generations, the first batch of ice-attributed Jade Phosphorous Scorpions emerged.

These ice-attributed scorpions continued migrating to colder climates, adapting to the extreme conditions over many generations, eventually evolving into the Ice Jade Scorpions we know today.

At some point in history, the Ice Jade Scorpions touched the realm of Ultimate Ice, but their inherent poison became an obstacle to fully mastering this ultimate attribute.

In pursuit of Ultimate Ice, the Ice Jade Scorpions abandoned their poisonous nature, gaining the ultimate ice attribute and becoming true super spirit beasts, reigning as the dominant species in the Extreme North.

Today, the two species of scorpions differ greatly in quality. Although they share the same ancestors, their strengths are now worlds apart. Only the traces of their origins deep within their essence can attest to the connection between them.

After absorbing the soul bone, Chen Ming stayed with Dugu Bo for a while longer. When Chen Ming began to worry that Dugu Bo might have suffered a mental breakdown from the shock, Dugu Bo finally stood up, patted the dust off himself, and sighed.

"Xiao Ming, you must treat Yan Yan well in the future."

"Grandpa, I will." Although Chen Ming had no idea what Dugu Bo had been thinking about all this time, he nodded and agreed.

Dugu Bo dusted himself off and pointed into the distance.

 "Xiao Ming, how about we go outside and spar for a bit? I want to see just how much you've changed."

"Alright!" Chen Ming's eyes lit up as he nodded.

Though he was still a Quasi-Soul King, with his current state, Chen Ming felt his strength might already rival that of a Title Douluo.

Even if Dugu Bo hadn't suggested it, Chen Ming had been eager to test his abilities.

Dugu Bo nodded and, with a light tap of his foot, moved like a phantom toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well's exterior. Chen Ming took a deep breath, feeling the vibrant soul cores in his middle and lower dantian, and followed swiftly.

At first, Dugu Bo controlled his speed, worried he might leave Chen Ming behind. But when he saw Chen Ming catching up, Dugu Bo immediately increased his pace.

After several consecutive accelerations, Dugu Bo reached his maximum speed in his normal state. Chen Ming, though slightly slower, managed to keep up thanks to his abundant soul power. Eventually, Dugu Bo stopped in the poison marsh and waved for Chen Ming to halt.

"Xiao Ming, you're impressive. Now, let me test your limits." Without waiting for Chen Ming's response, Dugu Bo activated his spirit skill.

His fifth soul ring lit up, amplifying his attributes. Then, his first, second, third, and fourth spirit rings flickered simultaneously, releasing four different types of poison. Under Dugu Bo's control, these toxins merged into a stronger, more bizarre pink poison.

The pink poison, born from the fusion of four toxins, slithered toward Chen Ming like a giant serpent. Its potency was enough to kill almost any Soul Douluo instantly, and even most Title Douluo would choose to avoid it.

Chen Ming, however, simply smirked.

Chen Ming's left arm gathered the power of Ultimate Ice, while his right arm harnessed the power of Ultimate Fire. Bringing his hands together in front of him, he combined the two forces, creating an indescribable, massive shockwave.

Using his poison attribute and his fourth soul ring as a foundation, Chen Ming harmonized the opposing Ultimate Ice and Ultimate Fire forces. These clashing attributes easily vaporized the deadly poison serpent.

"Hollow Technique: Purple!"

Chen Ming shouted, spreading his hands and pushing forward. Purple energy, phantom-like struck toward Dugu Bo. At this moment, the full power of the Ultimate Ice and Ultimate Fire combination was unleashed.

Although Dugu Bo evaded the formidable energy strikes with his fastest reflexes, the explosion of energy was so destructive that it nearly sent him flying.

After retreating several steps, Dugu Bo felt his soul power and blood churning within him, a trace of shock flashing in his eyes.

Had he not dodged in time, he would have been seriously injured by that overwhelming force.

Realizing that Chen Ming's strength had reached a level he could no longer underestimate, Dugu Bo became completely focused. He treated Chen Ming with the same seriousness he would reserve for an opponent like Chrysanthemum Douluo, paying full attention to Chen Ming's every move.

From that point on, Chen Ming's performance did not disappoint Dugu Bo—in fact, it left him deeply shaken.

Chen Ming's years of studying the laws of soul power had not been in vain. Throughout the sparring session, he demonstrated an extraordinary understanding of soul rings and spirit skills.

Now that his soul power and mental strength had reached a suitable standard, Chen Ming could create custom spirit skills as if they cost him nothing. He almost never repeated the same move.

Even if some skills were slightly weaker, consumed more soul power, or caused damage to his meridians, these issues were trivial to Chen Ming.

With his dual soul cores, none of these problems mattered.

Weaker skills? Pour in more soul power to boost their strength. High consumption? His soul cores could replenish his energy. Side effects? He used his vitality to heal instantly.

While Chen Ming wasn't truly infinite firepower, his current soul power output far exceeded the recovery rate of his soul cores.

For now, he was essentially walking infinite artillery, only limited by the cooldown times of his spirit skills.

As Chen Ming unleashed his custom spirit skills, he continuously refined their imperfections. His strength visibly grew stronger with each passing moment.

PS: Chen Ming "Throughout Heaven and Earth, I Alone Am The Honored One."