Chapter Eight: Two Paths?

At this point, Chen Shijie instinctively reached out to touch the teacup beside him, only to find it empty. To conceal his action, he smoothly brought his hand up to his mouth and coughed twice, as if to express his worries about the family matters.

“By the way, Xiao Ming, summon your Martial Soul. Let me see how far your Jade Scorpion has come. People generally think that all the Jade Scorpions in our family are of the same quality, but in fact, there are differences. Usually, the higher the innate soul power, the better the Martial Soul’s quality. Let me see exactly what your Martial Soul is like.”

“All right, Grandfather.”

Chen Ming nodded, pushing aside the swirling thoughts in his mind. He jumped down from the stool and stood before Chen Shijie and Chen Tianyun. Holding his breath, he focused on the power within his body. After a moment of silence, the soul power surged from his dantian, and his Martial Soul was summoned.

His straight back broadened, covered with a layer of chitinous shell. A slender scorpion tail extended from his spine, while his arms swelled, showcasing armor-like shells resembling gauntlets.

Chen Shijie inhaled the subtle poison gas unconsciously emitted during the summoning of Chen Ming’s Martial Soul. His eyes lit up, then shifted behind Chen Ming. He reached out and grasped the tip of Chen Ming’s tail, tapping its segments one by one with his fingers.

“Eleven segments? This is surprisingly impressive.”

Chen Shijie was almost incredulous, tapping again several times, but the count remained unchanged.

“There are many ways to identify a Jade Scorpion Martial Soul, but the simplest and most reliable method is by examining the tail.”

“As a soul beast, it is born with five tail segments, all white initially. Every hundred years, one segment turns green. This cycle resets every five hundred years. After a thousand years of cultivation, all five tail segments darken to deep green.”

“After a thousand years of cultivation, every two thousand years, an additional tail segment grows, which takes a thousand years to turn dark green. This cycle continues. Only after becoming a ten-thousand-year soul beast can it grow the ninth segment. Thereafter, growth depends entirely on time. But because of different talents, the growth rate varies; some grow a segment every ten thousand years, others every twenty thousand.”

“Legend says the maximum number of tail segments for such a soul beast is eighteen, with fifteen segments marking the Scorpion Emperor level, and twelve segments the Scorpion King.”

“As a Martial Soul, our family’s Jade Scorpion gains tail segments as soul rings increase. The first three soul rings always add one segment each, the middle three have a chance to add one segment, and the last three do not add any — at least, ordinary quality soul rings don’t cause evolution.”

“I am a Soul King with five absorbed soul rings. By some stroke of luck, my tail grew segments four times, reaching twelve segments, barely attaining the Scorpion King level. Even so, no one in the entire Biluocheng city has a Martial Soul quality higher than mine.”

Looking at Chen Ming, Chen Shijie’s tears welled uncontrollably.

“As soon as you absorb your first soul ring, there’s a high chance your Martial Soul will evolve directly to the Scorpion King level. With a fifth-level innate soul power and a top-tier Martial Soul, you could someday become a Soul Emperor or even a Soul Saint. If you manage to grow another tail segment and reach the Scorpion Emperor level, that would be a transformation beyond recognition. Our family might even produce a high-ranking Soul Douluo, fully reversing the decline of our bloodline…”

“That’s wonderful…”

Chen Shijie’s voice choked with emotion, tears streaming freely.

“I originally thought you’d have to risk absorbing the soul ring from the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower, fearing for your life. But now, it seems there’s no need for such a gamble… If Tian Feng and Ruoyu were still alive, they would surely be comforted.”

“…”

Chen Ming looked at his weeping grandfather and his uncle quietly wiping away tears nearby, feeling somewhat awkward.

The heavy stone just lodged in his chest had barely started to consider how to blast it apart, but then the crew told him the stone would soon sprout legs and run away on its own…

Although theoretically, he didn’t have to absorb the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower’s soul ring to change his fate, now Chen Ming’s heart itched with desire.

The Bilin Seven Absolute Flower is a world-renowned deadly poison, vulnerable only to extreme ice and fire, thanks to its botanical nature. If one gains only its poison, even the weaknesses to extreme ice and fire diminish…

The Bilin Five Poisons are indeed high quality, but they pale in comparison to the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower. If he gave up on the Seven Absolute Flower’s soul ring, acquiring a suitable high-quality poison attribute soul ring later would be nearly impossible.

There are many low- to mid-level poison attribute soul beasts, but at the top tier, the quality drops sharply. Super-quality poison soul beasts are rarer than the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bears.

Not only are they hard to find, but even if found, they might not be suitable, nor guarantee the obvious Martial Soul quality improvement that the Seven Absolute Flower offers.

Tsk...

I’ll see. If I have the chance to absorb the Seven Absolute Flower’s soul ring, I must try to take the risk.

Come to think of it... Isn’t this essentially a kind of celestial herb, just usually unbearable to most?

Chen Ming held his sobbing grandfather in his arms, comforting the elderly man silently.

After a while, the distressed elder regained composure. Rising from Chen Ming’s embrace, he wiped the tears and mucus from his face and smiled with relief.

“Xiao Ming…”

“Grandfather, what is it?”

“What I’m about to say may be hard for you to understand, but you must accept it. It’s for your own good.”

The old man’s expression grew stern. Though he didn’t want to be overly harsh on his only grandson, the weight of the family burden pressed down on him. All he could do was to give his utmost.

“For the next few years, your uncle and I will protect you. At least one of us will always be by your side. In these coming years, your outings will be greatly reduced. Before you absorb your second soul ring, you will have almost no rest. All this time will be dedicated to imparting the experiences and knowledge of soul masters to you, and to your diligent cultivation.”

“For the next few years, you need not concern yourself with family affairs. Just focus on your cultivation. The position of family head will surely be yours in the future. As long as you cultivate well, showcase your talent, and demonstrate the possibility of reversing the family’s decline, that will be your greatest contribution.”

“Once you absorb your second soul ring, we will send you to the Tian Dou Royal Academy for advanced studies. Upon graduation, you will have both strength and status. Then, the sky will be your limit, the seas wide for your leap. Whatever you wish to do, we won’t hold you back.”

“Cultivate well. The family will be proud of you. Perhaps one day, your name will even have a page of its own in the clan records.”