Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor

After realizing that Chen Ming seemed to be quite skilled, Xiong Xin felt a bit of an itch in his heart. Quietly, he suggested to Chen Ming that they meet in the small forest behind the mountain for a physical confrontation.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Ming agreed.

However, in a certain sense, Chen Ming was currently equivalent to a Titled Douluo without a fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth spirit ring. With the strength of a level 50 quasi-soul king, crushing a level 44 soul ancestor was no problem.

Still, Chen Ming couldn't just refuse to spar with others because of this.

Xiong Xin was quite an interesting person, very different from the nobles Chen Ming had known in the past. Chen Ming was happy to make a friend like him.

As a joke, Chen Ming thought, If one day I suddenly had a wild idea to take over the Heaven Dou Empire, having a friend from a military family might provide significant help.

The two chatted for a bit, and Xiong Xin started sharing some recent events. Being a child of a military family, Xiong Xin knew certain secrets he technically shouldn't have access to. For instance, he mentioned where the three academy elders had gone recently.

According to Xiong Xin, a Soul Douluo-level evil soul master had appeared on the continent for some unknown reason.

Rumors suggested that this evil master was once a highly respected Soul Sage, stuck at level 79 for many years. Despite their noble status, something seemed to have pushed them over the edge. They wiped out their entire family and used dark, forbidden methods to break through to level 80, becoming a Soul Douluo. No one knew the exact reason behind it.

Typically, matters involving evil soul masters were handled by the Spirit Hall. However, this particular evil soul master was said to have some sensitive ties to the royal family, making the Heaven Dou Empire reluctant to involve the Spirit Hall.

Several groups were sent to capture the evil soul master, but instead, most of them were killed. In desperation, the royal family turned to the three elders of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy for help. Unfortunately, the evil master had gone into hiding, making it impossible for the elders to apprehend them immediately.

Hearing about the evil master, Chen Ming was reminded of Qian Renxue, the Spirit Hall's princess disguised as the crown prince. Casually, he asked Xiong Xin what the crown prince intended to do about the situation.

Xiong Xin thought for a moment before replying that, strangely, the crown prince had decided to visit the border regions a few days before the three elders left. It was said that the purpose of the trip was to audit the accounts there.

According to Heaven Dou Empire tradition, audits at the border often led to unpleasant situations. In the past, there had been instances of officials being assassinated during such audits. No one could understand why the crown prince suddenly decided to take on such a troublesome task.

Some ministers who opposed the crown prince were quietly spreading rumors that the evil master might somehow be connected to the prince. After all, it seemed a bit too coincidental that the prince left just before the evil master appeared.

To be honest, Chen Ming also thought it was suspiciously coincidental. However, knowing that Qian Renxue was the heir of the Angel God—a lineage that was sworn enemies with evil soul masters—Chen Ming found it hard to believe that this incident had anything to do with her.

Perhaps it was simply a case of someone on the continent losing their mind and deciding to annihilate their entire family just to break through from level 79 to 80.

On the Douluo Continent, such bizarre occurrences were not entirely impossible. After all, in this world, people often come up with genius ideas for creating catastrophic events. You could never predict what might happen.

Chen Ming mentally noted the location and route of Qian Renxue's trip as revealed by Xiong Xin. He couldn't help but marvel at the Heaven Dou Empire's intelligence system.

Such critical information was so easily accessible—what could one even say about that? The Emperor wasn't worried about someone assassinating the crown prince.

Out of four sons, only two were left (actually, just one). With such a precarious situation, wasn't the emperor afraid of an accident? If the crown prince had an accident during the audit, would the Emperor seriously allow Xue Beng, the notorious playboy, to inherit the throne?

Was the emperor truly indifferent to whether the Heaven Dou Empire would just split apart like that?

Chen Ming grumbled a little to himself before turning his attention to the ongoing matches in the arena with Xiong Xin.

At that moment, several academy students were putting their skills on display, competing for spots on the Heaven Dou Royal Academy battle team. While the team wasn't exclusively for the strongest individuals—some soul masters with unique abilities could qualify even if they weren't particularly powerful—it was obvious that those with superior strength had a significant advantage. After all, in the Douluo world, raw power was the ultimate truth. Fancy techniques were just extra points. Unless someone's fancy skills reached an extreme level, strength was still the foundation.

One contestant who caught Chen Ming's attention was a soul master with a Jewel Beast martial soul. She had already won three consecutive matches.

Oddly enough, despite sharing the same surname as Ning Rongrong, this Ning Zhongze was a muscular warrior with bulging veins and brown skin. Her arms, thick with muscle, were larger than most people's thighs, exuding a sense of pure physical power.

Her delicate face contrasted sharply with her overly muscular body. Her size wasn't too exaggerated—standing just over two meters tall after activating her soul power—but even among power-type soul masters, it was rare to see someone surpass two meters at the second soul ring stage.

For most female soul masters, who often leaned toward agility or control specialties, such a towering figure was extremely uncommon, even across the Douluo Continent.

Based on the traits of the Jewel Beast martial soul, which allowed its development to be influenced by the first soul ring absorbed, it seemed that Ning Zhongze had a natural inclination toward the power-attack path.

After observing for a while, Chen Ming deduced that Ning Zhongze's first soul ring likely came from the Mighty Vajra Bear, a top-tier soul beast known for its strength and defense. Her second soul ring seemed to come from another high-quality bear-type beast.

Her first spirit ability, like Zhao Wuji's, was called Mighty Vajra Palm. It had two forms: one allowed her to project a massive palm strike over a medium range, while the other enhanced her physical palm strikes for close combat.

Her second spirit ability, simply named Bear's Strength, provided impressive boosts to both power and defense, though the exact amplification wasn't immediately clear.

Through observation, Chen Ming also noted that the Jewel Beast martial soul possessed traits of both beast and tool spirits.

Ning Zhongze's martial soul showed the defensive traits of the Mighty Vajra Bear while also exhibiting the resistance properties typical of jewel-based martial souls. The synergy between the two traits made her offensive and defensive capabilities even more outstanding than those of a standard Mighty Vajra Bear spi; master.

Using his Spiritual Eye, Chen Ming examined the essence of the Jewel Beast's martial soul. It was a unique type, possessing both tool and beast properties, something Chen Ming had never encountered before.

Unfortunately, such transformations were irreversible. Every new soul ring altered the martial soul, and for Jewel Beast martial souls, the influence of soul rings was especially significant. Ning Zhongze's martial soul had already been heavily shaped by her choices, making it impossible to discern its original mysteries.

Chen Ming realized that to uncover the secrets of the Jewel Beast martial soul, he would need to study it in its jewel stage before it transformed into a beast.

With that in mind, Chen Ming decided to add a visit to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan to his itinerary.

Not only did he want to delve into the mysteries of the Jewel Beast martial soul, but he also wanted to witness the legendary power of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul. Its unparalleled percentage-based boosts had remained unparalleled even during the power inflation of the Douluo Continent 4 era.

Moreover, Chen Ming still had a special herb in his possession: the Beautiful Silk Tulip. If used wisely, this treasure could bring him significant benefits from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.

Ps: I guess the next rich woman is Ning Rongrong. Chen Ming was not interested in women except rich women.