Insect Staff: Touch Dragon

Insect Staff: Touch Dragon

"Hm?"

The Touch Dragon King Right Arm Bone snapped onto the Willow Staff as though it had a magnet inside.

Not only had Chen Ping never seen anything like this, but neither had Bei Bei.

The two stared wide-eyed at each other for several seconds, unable to say a word.

Fortunately, Bei Bei was the one who finally broke the silence. He pointed at Chen Ping's Willow Staff, his face full of shock.

"Hey, hey. Chen Ping, your soul bone melted!"

"Melted?"

Chen Ping felt like his heart had skipped a fucking beat. What did it mean for a soul bone to melt?

He abruptly turned to look at his Martial Soul and the soul bone attached to it.

The once-intact right arm bone, which had emitted a faint golden glow while containing powerful energy fluctuations enough to alarm any Lesser Soul Master, now had its light drawn inward.

At that moment, it had actually collapsed limply over the Willow Staff like a melted clay sculpture.

This utterly unbelievable development left Chen Ping at a loss. He had never heard of soul bones melting before. It wasn't mentioned in the Five Three he had studied, nor was it in the Original Work.

Wait, the Original Work really did seem to mention something similar. It had happened when Xiao Xiao absorbed the Dark Gold Terror Claw Right Palm Bone.

That right palm bone had not only nearly melted Xiao Xiao's palm, but was later taken over by Huo Yuhao.

It had turned into a mass of golden liquid soul bone, which Huo Yuhao successfully absorbed and made into an External Soul Bone on his body.

But what the hell was with this soul bone melting onto his Martial Soul?

After only a second or two of hesitation, the Touch Dragon King Right Arm Bone had completely melted. Unless he scooped it up with a shovel, there was no way he could gather it again.

Chen Ping and Bei Bei exchanged a glance. Both found this sudden change somewhat laughable and exasperating, but as time passed, Chen Ping's Martial Soul began to undergo subtle changes as well.

It seemed to be devouring the puddle of soul bone liquid. In just a few breaths, the liquid attached to the Willow Staff visibly decreased by around ten percent.

Correspondingly, the Willow Staff, which had once been so cracked and unevenly grained that it looked like it was covered in scales, began to develop smoother, more orderly patterns.

The staff's originally rough and uneven surface, which felt terrible to hold and was layered like fish scales, now felt several degrees more refined.

If Chen Ping's Martial Soul had previously been as low-quality as a stick casually broken off a willow tree for spanking children—something that would be snapped afterward and burned as firewood—

Then his current Willow Staff had at least become the kind of willow branch that children from an entire village would carefully select: the straightest, smoothest, and most comfortable Willow Staff.

It was still a Willow Staff, but if Chen Ping's Martial Soul had originally been bottom-tier even among low-grade Martial Souls, then at least in terms of appearance, it had now reached the average standard for a low-grade Martial Soul.

Simply put, it was an utterly ordinary Martial Soul with a tiny amount of weak Soul Power. It was not ugly, but it could hardly be called attractive either.

Chen Ping tightened his grip on the Willow Staff slightly. The change in how it felt immediately confirmed something for him.

His Willow Staff had improved considerably, whether in toughness or its other basic attributes.

If he used his current Willow Staff to pry up that Big Touch Dragon King again, Chen Ping was confident he could flip it straight onto its back.

Rather than merely making it roll sideways and still needing Tang Ya's help to finally drag it over.

And this was only the beginning.

Looking at the Willow Staff, which had devoured all the soul bone liquid and now emitted a faint pale golden glow, Chen Ping suddenly understood something.

No wonder a complete appraisal of his Martial Soul required more than ten thousand Scholar Points.

His Martial Soul really was the same type as Yu Xiaogang's: an incompletely evolved type that looked especially useless, but would be extremely powerful if it fully evolved.

It was just that, perhaps due to innate deficiencies or various other reasons, it had ultimately only developed into a stunted version, like Luo San Pao and his inferior Willow Staff.

But the question was, why did his Martial Soul have to devour soul bones before it could become less useless?

Couldn't you just hang in there until I get to the Mandarin Duck Pot and find you some Immortal Herbs?

Chen Ping clutched his chest in distress. That was One Hundred Thousand Gold Soul Coins, and it had only raised his Martial Soul Quality by this tiny bit?

Although he had no idea which Immortal Herb at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well could upgrade the Willow Staff, they could try first.

Even if they eventually discovered that this Martial Soul simply could not evolve like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, it would not be too late to eat soul bones then, right?

Just as Chen Ping was composing an elegy in his heart for the One Hundred Thousand Gold Soul Coins that had vanished into thin air—

Titles such as "A Memorial for Windfall Wealth" and "An Ode Mourning One Hundred Thousand Gold Coins"—

The Willow Staff in his hand underwent another change.

Segments resembling the pale golden chitinous shell of a Touch Dragon were not illusory; they physically "grew" out from the wooden staff.

They were arranged in orderly layers, ring locked to ring and tightly connected. Every segment gleamed with a metallic luster, both hard and nimble.

These segments gradually wrapped around the entire Willow Staff, transforming it from a simple wooden weapon into a new weapon brimming with vitality.

Even Bei Bei was startled by this sudden transformation. He hurried over and touched Chen Ping's staff.

The moment he reached out, he felt an icy chill. It was somewhat like the sensation of using the Thunder Dragon Claw to beat up the Touch Dragon King earlier.

Seventy-two pale golden armor segments, made up of alternating long and short sections, completely encased the Willow Staff.

The pale golden Touch Dragon Carapace gleamed brilliantly in the light, resembling a lifelike Alt Account Touch Dragon.

Judging by its appearance alone, it had risen more than one level above the Willow Staff from before.

And that was far from the end. Soon, the Willow Staff, now covered in a thick layer of armor, began to tremble slightly.

Clang! Clang!

The two sounds rang out almost simultaneously, nearly merging into one.

From both ends of the Willow Staff, the pair of Great Mandibles that had originally grown beside the Touch Dragon King's mouthful of teeth forcibly burst out.

Pale-white Great Mandibles grew from each end of the Willow Staff, one facing forward and one backward, adding a touch of ferocity to the staff.

It was clearly just a long staff, yet it carried some of the vicious aura of an insect king.

Right—this thing wasn't called that anymore!

Chen Ping carefully sensed the information conveyed by his Martial Soul and quickly learned its new name.

Insect Staff: Touch Dragon!

With a casual Staff Flourish, howling sounds of air being torn apart rang out beside Chen Ping and Bei Bei's ears.

Along with them came two faint ripping sounds—the sound of the razor-sharp Great Mandibles at either end of the Long Staff tearing through the air.

Just hearing that solid, weighty sound made it clear how much it would hurt if the Touch Dragon Staff completed a swing and smashed into someone!

Compared to the weak, feeble whistle the Willow Staff had made when Chen Ping swung it before, the Touch Dragon Staff's sound of cutting through the air was far more forceful.

If Chen Ping's Martial Soul had been on the same level as Tang Ya's Blue Silver Grass a few minutes ago, then with the striking power and other excellent base attributes now displayed by the Touch Dragon Staff, it could at least sit at the same table as an Intermediate Martial Soul like Ghost Vine.