Chapter 58: The Fusion of Spirit and Soul Power

"It is roughly like this."

Chen Ming opened his eyes, a hint of weariness lingering in his gaze.

This was not an act; he was genuinely tired.

The fusion of soul power and spiritual power was a realm that should belong to Titled Douro, and even further up, the realm of willpower touched upon by Super Douro.

To master such a technique before reaching the Titled Douro rank relied almost entirely on hands-on guidance from elders. Mastering it at the Soul Douro level was a sign of exceptional talent, while learning it at the Soul Sage level was nothing short of monstrous.

Although Chen Ming entered this state primarily thanks to his spiritual-based cheat ability, he had still invested considerable effort to maintain this state stably.

In terms of soul power, Chen Ming was merely a Grand Soul Master. Even though his spiritual power was exceptionally high, it had not yet reached the level of a qualitative transformation. Maintaining the fusion of soul power and spiritual power already consumed a massive amount of energy, let alone projecting it outside the body?

If this handiwork were revealed ten thousand years later, even if he were studying at the Mind Core Academy in the capital of the Sun Moon Empire, Elder Mu of Shrek Academy would personally bring the Thigh Douro along to snatch him back and groom him as Shrek's next Sea God Pavilion Master.

And if they couldn't take him back, they would beat him flat into a little pancake on the spot.

To be able to touch upon this realm as a Grand Soul Master in the eras of Douluo III and Douluo IV—his future as a Peerless Douro or Demigod would be guaranteed, and with a bit of fortune, creating his own demigod seat would be no major issue.

It was simply that Dugu Bo lacked the discernment to recognize its true value and didn't understand the sheer weight of this trick, which was why he was only feeling shocked.

Had it been the three Ultimate Douro of the current era standing here, watching a mere twenty-fourth-rank soul master achieve this feat, they probably would have started doubting their own talent.

Dugu Bo reached out a finger, cautiously probing the palm of Chen Ming's hand. The instant his finger touched the layer of soul power on Chen Ming's palm, Dugu Bo felt as though his brain had been stabbed by an awl, sending a sharp, piercing pain through his mind.

The soul power originally resting on his fingers was involuntarily and reflexively repelled at that moment, retreating back into the meridians of his forearm.

Even though Dugu Bo felt that if he had braced himself, his soul power would certainly not have been shaken so easily, the mere fact that Chen Ming could suppress the soul skills of a Titled Douro like himself was enough to shatter Dugu Bo's worldview.

Looking at Chen Ming's palm, Dugu Bo truly could not suppress his emotions this time. He felt his eyes turn red, the corners of his eyelids welling up with tears.

He sensed it—he had actually felt a similar sensation once before.

That was shortly after he had become a Titled Douro, when he was being crowned at the Spirit Hall. It was his first, and only, encounter with Qian Daoliu, the Spirit Hall's Grand Elder who was hailed as invincible in the skies.

At that time, the soul power across Dugu Bo's entire body had been suppressed by seventy or eighty percent. His overall strength was reduced to less than ten percent, and even his martial soul felt as though a barrier had formed between it and himself. Had Qian Daoliu harbored even the slightest bit of malice, Dugu Bo would have been ground to dust right then and there by the soul power radiating around Qian Daoliu.

Throughout the entire coronation ceremony, Dugu Bo had never forgotten a single detail.

Back then, the soul power radiating from around Qian Daoliu felt very much like this. Although the intensity was worlds apart, Dugu Bo was certain it was the exact same thing.

That unique, extraordinary, specialized application that surpassed ordinary soul power.

Heaven be merciful! For all these years, Dugu Bo had always assumed that it was merely the characteristic trait of Qian Daoliu's Six-Winged Angel martial soul cultivated to the absolute extreme, overflowing with a powerful sacred attribute.

It wasn't until today, seeing Chen Ming, that he finally understood—it was actually a special realm. Moreover, judging by the implication, it seemed all other Titled Douros were aware of this special realm. It turned out that only he, in his self-righteous arrogance, was the true clown.

"So it turns out my talent is truly pathetic..."

Dugu Bo's eyes were dull and lifeless, feeling as though he had been slapped dozens of times back and forth across the face by an invisible giant hand. The sensation coming from both sides of his cheeks was no longer pain, but a hollow numbness.

A mere Grand Soul Master had already mastered this trick, and decades ago he had even personally experienced this feeling.

And the result? As a Titled Douro, he had remained completely oblivious, spending decades ignorant of this method, never even considering that soul power and spiritual power could be utilized in such a way.

He truly had lived his advanced age in vain, wasting his life entirely.

Seeing Dugu Bo suddenly acting as if his soul had left his body, Chen Ming instead grew puzzled.

He raised his own palm, feeling the soul power within it, without sensing anything out of the ordinary.

"No, wait, I didn't cultivate any special combat techniques like the Dragon Emperor Shaking Realm or the Dragon Emperor Breaking Evil Split either. How did my soul power end up coming with a stun effect?"

"Besides, he's a Titled Douro, no matter what! Even if I, a mere Grand Soul Master, actually mastered those two tricks, hitting him with it should still feel like an itch at best. His spiritual power and soul power shouldn't even tremble the slightest bit."

Watching Dugu Bo's desolate and soul-deprived appearance, Chen Ming didn't even dare to step forward and touch him, terrified that he might trigger some psychological trauma in the blind Douro and get slapped straight into a wall. He could only maintain an awkward yet polite expression as he stared at Dugu Bo.

After a long while, Dugu Bo finally snapped out of his dazed state. He wiped the slightly damp corners of his eyes and cast a complicated gaze at Chen Ming.

Had Chen Ming not known his own background and martial soul mismatch, looking at Dugu Bo's complicated expression alone, Chen Ming would have thought he was Dugu Bo's long-lost illegitimate child or grandson.

"Kid, your talent is not bad." Seeming to realize his own loss of composure, Dugu Bo awkwardly coughed twice and spoke by way of compensation.

He didn't quite dare to evaluate Chen Ming's trick, seeing as he truly didn't understand it.

If he said too much, he was afraid of losing face when the time came to beg Chen Ming to teach him this trick. If he said too little or got it wrong, he would lose face right then and there. It was better simply not to bring it up to avoid embarrassing himself later on.

What if this trick could genuinely cure his family's hereditary illness, yet he couldn't learn it? He might have to beg someone for help in the future.

Thinking of this, Dugu Bo suddenly remembered his old nemesis.

"That dead man Chrysanthemum Guan, hailing from the Spirit Hall, couldn't possibly not know about this trick. Logically speaking, he should know it too? Then why have I never seen him use it? Does he know it, but doesn't know how to use it..."

"Or does he simply look down on me, and every time he fought with me in the past, he only used a fraction of his power while keeping the real stuff hidden away?"

The moment that possibility crossed his mind, Dugu Bo suddenly felt even more pathetic. To steady his mindset, Dugu Bo decided to stop thinking about this possibility for now.

"Whatever, I'll find a chance to test that fellow out."

Dugu Bo didn't bother asking Chen Ming where he had learned this trick.

After all, as the saying went, the Douro Continent was never short of fortuitous encounters. How else did he, Dugu Bo, avoid being poisoned to death and instead become a Titled Douro at the pinnacle of soul masters, if not primarily by relying on fortuitous encounters?

It couldn't possibly be that only he was allowed to have fortuitous encounters while others weren't, right?

Over tens of thousands of years on the continent, who knew how many Titled Douros had existed, or what kind of legacies these Titled Douros had left behind in every corner of the land. For a later generation to occasionally stumble upon one of them and comprehend something from it was a very common occurrence on the Douro Continent. It basically just meant having a bit of good luck and digging up the real goods from some ancient book.

Dugu Bo gathered his thoughts, recovering the poise he usually projected to the outside world, and looked Chen Ming up and down.

Although at the very beginning, no matter how Dugu Bo looked at Chen Ming, he felt Chen Ming was unsuited for his granddaughter—even though Chen Ming had a decent appearance and felt somewhat akin to a wild boar in his eyes—

Upon seeing the martial soul and talent Chen Ming displayed, along with this most crucial trick that even he, a Titled Douro, didn't know, the more Dugu Bo looked at Chen Ming, the more pleasing he found him, feeling he looked more and more like his own grandson-in-law.