Two Paths?

Two Paths?

At this point, Chen Shijie subconsciously reached for the teacup beside him, only to grasp at empty air. To cover up the motion, he raised his hand to his mouth and coughed dryly twice, as though displaying his worries over the family's problems.

"By the way, Xiao Ming, summon your Martial Soul and let me see how far your Jade Scorpion has developed. Everyone thinks the Jade Scorpion Martial Souls in our family are all of the same quality, but there are differences. Generally speaking, the higher one's Innate Soul Power, the better the quality of the Martial Soul. Let me see just what yours is like."

"Alright, Grandpa."

Chen Ming nodded, suppressing the countless thoughts in his heart. He jumped down from the stool and stepped before Chen Shijie and Chen Tianyun. Holding his breath and focusing his mind, he sensed the power within his body. After a moment of silence, Soul Power surged from his Dantian, and his Martial Soul emerged.

His upright back broadened, a layer of carapace covered his skin, and a long scorpion tail extended from behind his spine. His arms swelled, revealing armor-like shells.

Chen Shijie sniffed the poisonous mist that unconsciously leaked out when Chen Ming summoned his Martial Soul, and his eyes immediately lit up. He then moved behind Chen Ming, reached out to grasp the tip of his tail, and tapped each extending tail segment one by one with his finger.

"Eleven segments? This is actually that outrageous?"

Chen Shijie could scarcely believe it. He reached out and counted several more times, yet the answer remained unchanged.

"There are many ways to identify a Jade Scorpion Martial Soul, but the most convenient and reliable method is to look at its tail."

"As a soul beast, this Martial Soul is born with five tail segments. The initial segments are all white, and every hundred years, one segment gains a touch of green. Every five hundred years is a full cycle; after a thousand years of cultivation, all five segments on its tail become dark green."

"After a thousand years of cultivation, an additional segment grows every two thousand years. Another thousand years must then pass before it turns dark green, after which more segments continue to grow. Only after becoming a ten-thousand-year soul beast can it grow a ninth segment. After that, its growth depends entirely on time, though the required time differs according to talent. Some can grow one segment in ten thousand years, while others need twenty thousand."

"Legend says that this type of soul beast can have at most eighteen tail segments. Fifteen segments are at the level of a Scorpion Emperor, while twelve segments make a Scorpion King."

"As Martial Souls, the tail segments of our family's Jade Scorpions increase along with the number of Soul Rings. The first three Soul Rings will definitely each add one segment. The middle three have a chance of adding one segment, while the final three will not add any... at least, ordinary-quality Soul Rings will not allow the Martial Soul to evolve."

"I'm a Soul King. I've absorbed five Soul Rings, and through some luck I don't even know the source of, my tail segments increased four times. Even now, I only have twelve, barely reaching the level of a Scorpion King. Yet even so, no one in all of Biluo City possesses a Martial Soul of higher quality than mine."

Looking at Chen Ming, Chen Shijie suddenly burst into tears.

"Once you absorb your first Soul Ring, there's a high chance your Martial Soul will directly evolve to the level of a Scorpion King. With fifth-level Innate Soul Power and a top-tier Martial Soul, you may even become a Soul Emperor or perhaps a Soul Saint in the future. If it can grow another segment during that time and bring your Martial Soul to the level of a Scorpion Emperor, that would be a transformation on an entirely different level. Our family might truly produce a high-ranking Soul Douluo, completely changing the problem of our bloodline inheritance..."

"That's wonderful..."

By this point, Chen Shijie was weeping openly, his voice choked with emotion.

"I originally thought we would have to gamble by letting you risk absorbing the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower, fearing for your life. But now it seems there's no need to take such a risk at all... If Tian Feng and Ruoyu are watching from heaven, they will surely be comforted as well."

"..."

Chen Ming looked at his sobbing grandfather and his second uncle secretly wiping away tears beside him. He had no idea what to say, only feeling somewhat... awkward.

A huge boulder had just blocked his chest, and he had already been considering how to blast it apart, only for the construction crew to take one look at it and tell him the rock would grow legs and run away on its own in a moment...

Still, although there was theoretically no need for him to absorb the Soul Ring of the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower to seek a change, Chen Ming's heart instead began to itch.

The Bilin Seven Absolute Flower was one of the greatest poisons in the world. Its only weaknesses were Extreme Ice and Extreme Fire, and even those stemmed from its nature as a plant. If one obtained only its toxicity, even its weaknesses to Extreme Ice and Extreme Fire would be diminished...

The Bilin Five Poisons was indeed of high quality, but it was more than a tier weaker than the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower. If he gave up the latter's Soul Ring, then trying to obtain another suitable, high-quality poison-attribute Soul Ring in the future would be practically as difficult as ascending to heaven.

There were plenty of low-, middle-, and high-quality poison-attribute soul beasts, but at the top end, their numbers dropped off a cliff. Super-quality poison soul beasts were even rarer than Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bears.

Not only were they hard to find, but even if he found one, it might not be suitable. And it might not so clearly improve the quality of his Martial Soul as the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower could.

Tch...

I'll wait and see. If I have the ability to absorb the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower's Soul Ring when the time comes, I definitely have to take the gamble.

Come to think of it... doesn't this thing essentially count as an Immortal Herb-level plant? It's just that ordinary people can't withstand it?

Chen Ming held his grandfather, who was crying snot and tears into his chest. As he pondered this, he comforted the old man with his hands.

After quite a while, the distraught old man finally came back to his senses. He rose from Chen Ming's embrace, wiped the snot and tears from his face, then revealed a relieved smile.

"Xiao Ming..."

"Grandpa, what is it?"

"What I'm about to say may be difficult for you to understand, but you must accept it. It's for your own good."

The old man's expression turned solemn. Though he did not want to be overly strict with his only grandson, the family's burden weighed so heavily upon him that he could barely breathe. All he could do was give everything he had.

"For the next few years, your second uncle and I will protect you. At least one of us will always be by your side. Over the coming years, the number of times you leave the house will be drastically reduced. Until you absorb your second Soul Ring, you will likely have no more time to rest. We will use all that time to teach you the various experiences and knowledge of a soul master, and to ensure that you cultivate diligently."

"For the next few years, you need not concern yourself with anything at home. You only need to focus on cultivation. The position of family head will surely be yours in the future. As long as you cultivate well, display your talent, and show the possibility of changing the family's declining future, that will be your greatest contribution to the family."

"Once you absorb your second Soul Ring, we will send you to Heaven Dou Royal Academy for further study. After you graduate from the Royal Academy, you will have both strength and status. By then, the sky will be the limit for birds and the sea will be vast for fish. Whatever you wish to do, we will no longer stop you."

"Cultivate well. The family is proud of you. Perhaps one day, your name may even have a page all to itself in the Clan Genealogy."