Chapter 40: The Crown Prince's Gift and the Legend of the Azure Abyss Gorge

Chen Ming had no idea how far the rumors outside had spread, because a threat of a magnitude no less severe than Dugu Bo was currently standing right before him.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is inviting me to the Seven Treasures Grand Restaurant in three days? Did I hear that correctly?"

Looking at the servant of the Crown Prince's Estate standing in his courtyard, Chen Ming pointed at himself in disbelief, struggling to comprehend what virtues or abilities he possessed that could possibly attract the attention of the reigning Crown Prince.

"That is correct. This is an invitation from His Royal Highness, and we sincerely hope you will honor him with your presence. The meeting in three days will be strictly private, with only the Crown Prince and yourself in attendance. Please accept this invitation, as well as the gift bestowed by my master."

The servant, dressed in lavish attire, smiled with a poise that was neither servile nor overbearing. With a slight flick of his arm, he retrieved a three-foot-square wooden box from a decorative storage soul guide at his waist.

The box itself was crafted from the body of some arboreal soul beast. Though it was impossible to tell how long ago it had been fashioned into a box, it still emitted a faint, refreshing fragrance of wood and herbs. A single gentle inhalation was enough to make the soul power within one's body slightly accelerate, clearly indicating its extraordinary value.

The moment the box appeared, Chen Ming felt his internal martial soul stir in response. Yet, the source of this restlessness was not the box itself, but rather the object concealed within it.

Glancing at the servant sent by the Crown Prince's Estate, Chen Ming wore a complicated expression, but nonetheless reached out and took the wooden chest.

As the lid of the box was lifted slightly, the object stored inside began to emit waves of soul power, and the agitation of the martial soul within Chen Ming grew increasingly pronounced.

Relying on his own keen discernment, it took Chen Ming less than a second to identify what the object inside the box ought to be. He reached out to touch it, and upon confirming that the item truly matched his imagination, he inevitably fell silent.

It was a small piece of green stone that appeared somewhat weathered, covered in wondrous patterns. Although it looked as though it had lain dormant for ages, the moment it was exposed to the air, it still exerted a pull on the surrounding soul power, breathing it in and out just like a living creature.

As he circulated his soul power slightly, a powerful sense of oppression emanated from within the stone. Even with ample preparation, Chen Ming could not help being forced back a few steps before steadying himself.

"Is this... the remains of a Azure Heaven Jade Dragon?"

"Precisely." The servant of the Crown Prince's Estate smiled, evidently unsurprised that Chen Ming was able to recognize the item.

"Speaking of which, this object shares a profound historical connection with your esteemed family. Ever since it was brought into the imperial treasury several hundred years ago, no one has ever been able to utilize it, leaving this treasure to gather dust for centuries. I am certain that with your talents, you will be able to make proper use of it."

"Then I must offer my sincere thanks to the Crown Prince for this gift."

Closing the lid, Chen Ming's smile grew noticeably more genuine. In his heart, he could not help but sigh with emotion that Qian Renxue was indeed someone capable of accomplishing grand undertakings.

The Azure Heaven Jade Dragon was a super-tier soul beast, rumored to possess the bloodline inheritance of the divine beast, the Azure Dragon. However, opinions regarding its true origin and background were widely divided.

Some said that this soul beast was originally nothing more than a dragon-type variant like the Dragon-Blood Centipede, which had acquired the Azure Dragon's bloodline only by accidentally obtaining an Azure Dragon's dragon ball, thereby giving rise to the Azure Heaven Jade Dragon lineage.

Others claimed that this soul beast was originally of direct Azure Dragon descent, but due to various reasons, the attributes within its bloodline had undergone a reversal or been contaminated by external forces, causing its original life and lightning attributes to invert into death and highly toxic properties.

Regardless of the theories, this soul beast was universally acknowledged by soul masters across the Douluo Continent as a super-tier creature bearing the bloodline inheritance of the divine beast Azure Dragon.

Originally deep purple in color and resembling a centipede, this soul beast molted once every hundred years, with each molt presenting a trial of life and death. With every shedding of its skin, its body grew a fraction larger, its bloodline grew closer to that of the Azure Dragon, and its appearance gradually transitioned from deep purple to a cyan-green hue.

Every ten thousand years, a section of this soul beast's body would undergo dragonization. At ninety thousand years, its entire body would completely transform into the likeness of an Azure Dragon, with only the dragon horns atop its head retaining a purple color—a symbol of the extreme growth of the poison and death attributes within its body.

It was said that upon breaking through the one-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation, its two innate attributes would undergo an ultimate sublimation, once again reversing back to the lightning and life attributes originally commanded by the Azure Dragon, granting it the ability to summon wind and rain, and command thunder and lightning.

At that time, it would be a true Azure Dragon possessing all four attributes of life, death, lightning, and poison.

However, these were merely theoretical studies. In reality, it seemed no one had ever actually discovered such a soul beast truly transforming into a four-attributed Azure Dragon. Legends claimed that ten thousand years ago, such soul beasts were quite numerous on the Douluo Continent, yet for unknown reasons, not a single one was ever witnessed successfully breaking through the one-hundred-thousand-year tribulation to truly become an Azure Dragon.

As for why Chen Ming knew this legendary soul beast in such detail?

Naturally, it was because this item, just as the servant of the Crown Prince's Estate had said, shared a profound historical bond with the Chen family.

It was said that in the Biluo Gorge outside Biluo City, a super-tier poisonous soul beast that had fallen just before its one-hundred-thousand-year tribulation had perished. But in truth, this was far more than just a legend.

When Biluo City was first established, the Chen family simultaneously received an order from the Heaven Dou royalty to search for the remaining remains left behind by a ten thousand-year soul beast. While exploring the depths of Biluo Gorge, the Chen family discovered the site where the soul beast had fallen and retrieved the remains it left behind.

Yes, that legendary soul beast was none other than the Azure Heaven Jade Dragon—an unlucky creature said to have been half a step away from becoming an Azure Dragon, whose internal death attribute had reversed into life, only to stumble and fall at the threshold where lightning and poison attributes were meant to transform into one another.

Logically speaking, a soul beast struck down by the one-hundred-thousand-year tribulation should have been reduced to ashes, making it difficult to leave behind any remains. Yet perhaps because the Azure Heaven Jade Dragon possessed both formidable strength and a noble bloodline, even though most of its body turned to fine dust, this single remnant had miraculously survived.

The remains of the Azure Heaven Jade Dragon were undoubtedly alluring, but the Chen family never dared to keep it hidden for themselves. After trying every possible method without managing to scrape even a tiny fragment of residue from the relic, they obediently handed it over to the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and accepted the monetary reward issued by the crown.

After all, the Heaven Dou Empire of that era was not as decayed as it was today. Although the country was still filled with countless lesser and greater nobility, all of them had to bow their heads to the emperor of that generation, and imperial authority was highly centralized. It was one of the rare periods in the history of the Heaven Dou Empire when it could pit the might of the entire nation against the neighboring Star Luo Empire.

In the past, Chen Ming's grandfather, Chen Shijie, had often complained to him that if their ancestors had been a bit bolder and kept that Azure Heaven Jade Dragon remain, there would not have been so many subsequent troubles.

Even if the item could not be used directly, simply soaking it in water would turn that water into a treasured cultivation resource for poison-attribute soul masters. Holding it while sleeping would naturally drive a gradual enhancement of a poison-attribute soul master's soul power.

With such a treasure, no matter what, later generations would never have been pushed to the brink of having their lineage cut off by the Biluo Seven Absolute Flowers.

Who could have imagined that this treasure, which had slipped through the hands of their ancestors, would ultimately find its way back—after meandering through several centuries—straight into the hands of Chen Ming.

If the ancestors of the Chen family and that generation of emperors who had carefully locked the remnant away in the imperial treasury knew of this, they would likely be so enraged as to leap straight out of their graves.

"Such are the vicissitudes of the world," Chen Ming sighed with emotion, while a renewed surge of yearning for absolute strength blossomed deep within his heart.

On the Douluo Continent, political power did not necessarily equal true strength, but true strength undoubtedly equated to absolute power.

Right now, he still had to defer to the whims of others, but if he possessed ultimate power, wouldn't the treasuries of both the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires be his to pick from at will?