Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor

Chen Ming, standing in front of the first room on the left, the very room he once lived in, felt the lingering aura of Dugu Yan's cultivation. Meanwhile, in the first room on the right, he sensed a rich life force, clearly left behind by a Soul Master with life-attribute abilities.

As Chen Ming thought about it, he recalled something Dugu Bo had casually mentioned to him a long time ago during their cultivation at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

["Xiao Ming, I owe the Nine Heart Begonia Ye family a huge favor. Ever since Yan Yan started being with you, the rest of the academy began to make things difficult for that little girl from the Ye family."]

["Ye Renxin came to me, hoping his granddaughter could move into the courtyard you used to live in, so my reputation could intimidate those troublemakers. Xiao Ming, what do you think?"]

["This isn't a big deal. Grandpa, just agree to it. After all, I didn't stay in that courtyard for more than a few days anyway," replied Chen Ming offhandedly, focused on his training, before returning to his exercises.]

"Oh, so it's Ye Lingling," Chen Ming nodded after recalling the memory, realizing the identity of the current resident.

Although he wanted to enter Dugu Yan's room and wait for her to come back to surprise her, considering that someone else was now living in the courtyard, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to give Dugu Yan such an abrupt surprise.

After all, he had to consider others; he didn't want to scare Ye Lingling.

Chen Ming left the courtyard and headed toward the office where the three academy elders usually worked, intending to greet them.

Upon arrival, however, he discovered that the office was now being used by a few trusted teachers to handle administrative tasks.

After asking around, he learned that a city in the Heaven Dou Empire had encountered some trouble recently. The Emperor had already sent several groups of Soul Masters to resolve it, but none of them succeeded. Thus, the three elders of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy had personally gone to handle the matter.

Since the issue was highly confidential, even the teachers holding down the fort didn't know where the elders had gone or when they would return.

Seeing this, Chen Ming didn't press further about matters unrelated to him. Instead, he inquired about Dugu Yan's whereabouts.

Hearing his question, the substitute teacher slowly explained the situation to Chen Ming.

Some time ago, after Dugu Yan returned to the academy, she knocked out half of Yu Tianheng's teeth. Then, Dugu Bo knocked out the other half. As a result, Yu Tianheng dropped out of school and joined the Blue Tyrant Academy, a place with ties to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Due to the upcoming All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament in a few years, the academy had begun selecting members for the second team. After a discussion between the three elders, Dugu Bo, and Dugu Yan, Dugu Yan was appointed as the second team's captain.

As captain, Dugu Yan had the authority to choose her teammates. Thus, she had spent most of her time recently in the battle arena, both honing her combat experience and selecting potential team members from among the applicants.

Given the well-known relationship between Dugu Yan and Chen Ming, the substitute teacher handed Chen Ming a roster.

"This is the list of teammates and backups Dugu Yan has selected recently. Student Chen Ming, feel free to discuss it with her. Once the three elders return, the list can be finalized."

After handing him the thick roster, the bald teacher casually asked, almost as an afterthought:

"Chen Ming, after a year away from the academy under Poison Douluo's guidance, your soul power must have improved significantly, right? What level are you now? Would you consider joining one of our teams?"

"I'm at level 35," Chen Ming deliberately hid his true soul power, downplaying it by 15 levels. Even so, the level he revealed stunned everyone in the room. Some teachers, unable to keep their composure, accidentally tore the documents they had been working on for hours.

"What?!" The seemingly dignified bald teacher raised his voice in disbelief.

"Level 35," Chen Ming repeated, releasing one yellow and two purple soul rings and suppressing his soul power to match that of a Level 35 Soul Master.

"Eleven levels in just over a year?" The teacher clutched his chest and plopped into his chair, unable to react for a long while.

An increase of eleven levels in just over a year? The teacher had never even dreamed of anyone cultivating at such a speed!

Could this be the result of Poison Douluo's teaching?

No, no, no—such rapid improvement couldn't simply be due to guidance from a Title Douluo.

This must be because Chen Ming was extraordinarily talented, which is why Poison Douluo chose him to become his granddaughter's husband. Only then, under Poison Douluo's tutelage, could he achieve such a leap in a year, right?

If not for Chen Ming's immunity to both ice and fire, he might have started feeling the heat from all the cold breaths being sucked in around him.

Why?

Ever since Chen Ming revealed his Level 35 soul power, the people around him had been audibly gasping in shock without stopping.

Seeing this, Chen Ming shrugged helplessly, greeted them briefly, and left the room, glancing at the roster in his hand as he walked.

"Yu Feng, male, martial soul: Windbell Bird, Level 31 agility-type Soul Elder. Spirit skills: Acceleration, Wind Blade, Gale Wave. Combat style…"

"Osler, male, martial soul: Ghost Leopard, Level 31 agility-type Soul Elder."

"Ye Lingling, female, martial soul: Nine Heart Begonia, Level 28 healing-type Soul Grandmaster."

Chen Ming noticed that these teammates chosen by Dugu Yan were indeed the official members of the Heaven Dou Royal Team in the original story. However, not only was Yu Tianheng, the team's historical captain, missing but so were the crucial Shi Mo and Shi Mo brothers.

Although the Shi Mo brothers had little screen time in the original story, they were far from weak.

When Yu Tianheng first appeared, his level was 39, and Dugu Yan's was 38. Meanwhile, the seemingly inconspicuous Shi Mo and Shi Mo brothers had soul power levels of 38 and 37, respectively. Their talent was comparable to that of Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan in the original story.

The Xuanwu Turtle, though not well-known, was a top-tier martial soul comparable to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Possessing the bloodline of the mythical beast Xuanwu, its defensive capabilities were unparalleled. It could even be the ancestor of the Xuanming Turtle lineage mentioned in the second part of Douluo Dalu.

Chen Ming's return to the academy wasn't just to spend time with Dugu Yan. He also planned to study martial souls he found interesting. Besides the Nine Heart Begonia, the Xuanwu Turtle was another martial soul he wanted to research, hoping to uncover the mysteries of the mythical beast Xuanwu.

The legendary Xuanwu, both offensive and defensive, also represented the Yin-Yang duality—the manifestation of the rules of heaven and earth. Surely, there were many secrets worth exploring within.

Among the Four Great Divine Beasts, Xuanwu was undoubtedly a powerful existence among the gods. Figuring out its mysteries would greatly aid in the pursuit of godhood.

The Xuanwu Turtle was one of the few martial souls on the continent that closely approached or even exceeded the four divine beasts. Its ancestors were said to have had Soul Masters whose martial souls evolved into the mythical Xuanwu. There had to be many secrets hidden within.

But where had they disappeared to?

PS: Imagine naming twin brothers with the same name. lmao