This was the immortal herb Chen Zhuo had specially prepared for Snake Granny.
The Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid had the gentlest medicinal properties. It could strengthen one's foundation, nourish one's vitality, expel impurities, and cleanse the meridians and marrow.
It was especially suitable for an older Soul Master with fairly ordinary talent like Snake Granny.
The primary purpose of an immortal herb was to improve one's aptitude. The increase in soul power was merely a visible side benefit.
Every immortal herb contained tremendous energy.
A four-level increase in soul power was not necessarily this herb's limit.
However, Snake Granny had reached the bottleneck to becoming a Soul Saint, so her cultivation could only stop there.
But in Dragon Duke's eyes, a single herb had actually matched years of bitter cultivation.
That alone was a miracle of nature's exquisite craftsmanship.
Chen Zhuo had also prepared suitable immortal herbs for Dragon Duke and Meng Yiran.
The one he gave Dragon Duke Meng Shu was Dragon Immortal Ganoderma.
It was the foremost ganoderma in the world.
Its cap resembled dragon scales, and its stalk resembled a dragon's body.
His martial soul, the Dragon Staff, was the product of a beneficial mutation of the Serpent Cane martial soul.
Although it was clearly a tool martial soul, it possessed a trace of silver dragon bloodline.
This Dragon Immortal Ganoderma would help him fully unleash that bloodline's potential.
The immortal herb for Meng Yiran was called Ink Jade Divine Bamboo.
It was the immortal herb best suited to Soul Masters with tool martial souls.
It could greatly enhance a martial soul's toughness, sharpness, and destructive power.
Of course, if those properties were bestowed upon a plant-type Soul Master...
For example, one with the trash martial soul, Blue Silver Grass.
It could also transform Blue Silver Grass, allowing it to evolve the ability to wield the Blue Silver Overlord Spear.
After taking the Dragon Immortal Ganoderma...
Dragon Duke's soul power rose by three levels, taking him from a level 86 Soul Douluo to level 89.
With just one more breakthrough, he could become a nine-ring Titled Douluo.
The most precious benefit was that the Dragon Immortal Ganoderma had improved the quality of Dragon Duke's martial soul.
With his original aptitude, barring another fortuitous encounter, he would almost certainly have been stuck at level 89 for the rest of his life, with no hope of becoming a Titled Douluo.
Now, however, with the improvement in his martial soul's quality, becoming a Titled Douluo was no longer an impassable chasm for Dragon Duke.
Instead, a few more years of patient, steady effort would naturally bring him to a breakthrough.
As for Meng Yiran's changes, they surprised Chen Zhuo the most.
After taking the Ink Jade Divine Bamboo, her martial soul underwent a mutation outright.
Her original snake-headed cane martial soul now had two heads, one on either side, becoming the Dragon-Snake Scepter.
She alone had inherited the strengths of both her grandparents' martial souls.
Her soul power level had also risen by a staggering six levels in one go.
At this rate, in another year or two, by thirteen at the latest, Meng Yiran could also become a three-ring Soul Elder.
She had fully met this era's standard for a genius.
Meng Yiran's martial soul mutation gave Chen Zhuo an idea about her.
He decided to train Dugu Yan and Meng Yiran into his two red-flower enforcers.
"Benefactor, I will take my wife to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain her seventh soul ring."
"We will be gone for several months at the very least."
Dragon Duke's way of addressing Chen Zhuo had already changed from "young friend" to "benefactor."
From the couple's intentions, they were leaving Meng Yiran directly in Chen Zhuo's care.
That was because Chen Zhuo had previously asked Meng Yiran whether she was willing to train under him.
Her tactful answer had been that she would leave everything to her grandparents.
After Dragon Duke and Snake Granny left, Chen Zhuo and the others returned to Heaven Dou City with Meng Yiran.
After resting for a while, Chen Zhuo took Meng Yiran to the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena to register.
For Soul Masters, cultivating behind closed doors and merely increasing their cultivation and soul power was not enough.
They also needed plenty of actual combat.
Only through that, and even bloody battles of life and death, could they ultimately grow into sufficiently outstanding high-ranking Soul Masters.
The Soul Fighting Arena could accomplish that through arena matches.
Chen Zhuo's codename was "Demon Eye."
Dugu Yan's codename was "Poisonous Flood Dragon."
Meng Yiran's codename was "Dragon Snake."
The Soul Fighting Arena did not require Soul Masters to register under their real names. Paying ten Gold Soul Coins was enough to register a competitor profile.
Naturally, Chen Zhuo lied about his age and soul ring configuration.
Otherwise, revealing three Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings could scare someone to death.
The Ice Silkworm bloodline gene potion sourced from the Far North Ice Plains gave him the ability to disguise his martial soul's age for short periods.
Thus, he changed his soul ring configuration to three purple Thousand-Year Soul Rings.
He also added two years to his age.
After successfully registering, they each received an iron badge.
The Soul Fighting Arena's badges followed a uniform standard throughout the empire, symbolizing a Soul Master's strength and status.
In ascending order, there were eight ranks: iron, bronze, silver, gold, purple gold, sapphire, ruby, and diamond.
They also corresponded to the ranks of a Soul Master's soul power.
As for why there were only eight badges rather than nine...
Would you really ask a Titled Douluo to enter an arena and clash martial souls?
That would take some nerve.
Winning or losing matches could add or deduct badge points.
Lose once, and your points went straight to zero.
Lose again, and naturally, your points went negative.
By participating in soul fighting and accumulating enough points to meet the Great Soul Arena's standards, competitors could advance their badge rank and exchange it for a higher-ranked badge.
Chen Zhuo's requirement for Dugu Yan was to earn a silver badge within one year.
Within two years, she had to earn a gold badge.
His requirement for Meng Yiran was to earn a bronze badge within one year.
Within two years, she had to earn a silver badge.
Dugu Yan's face fell on the spot.
This was not her first time competing in the Great Soul Arena.
Basically, every advanced Soul Master Academy sent its students to compete and hone their practical combat experience.
The students were willing to come, too.
Winning meant earning money.
However, the Great Soul Arena's standards for badge advancement were extremely harsh.
Advancing from the lowest rank, Iron Soul Fighter, to Bronze Soul Fighter required eleven consecutive wins.
Going from Bronze Soul Fighter to Silver Soul Fighter also required eleven consecutive wins.
Going from Silver Soul Fighter to Gold Soul Fighter required ten consecutive wins.
Going from Gold Soul Fighter to Purple Gold Soul Fighter required six consecutive wins.
Beyond that, advancing through each rank required five consecutive wins.
In other words, to meet Chen Zhuo's requirements, she needed to achieve at least thirty-eight consecutive wins within two years.
Meng Yiran needed twenty-two consecutive wins.
It did not seem like that many.
But the twisted thing about the Great Soul Arena was that if you were a level 30 Soul Elder, it would initially match you with opponents whose soul power levels were similar to yours.
Once you won a few more matches, however, your opponents might all become high-level Soul Elders at levels 38 or 39.
Even if you defeated all of them...
As long as your points fell short of the advancement requirement, the opponents awaiting you would be level 40 or higher.
You just had to keep fighting.
Lose even once, and all your accumulated points and wins would be wiped out.
You would have to start all over again.
Dugu Yan inwardly despaired.
If she were capable of that, she might as well go straight for the national championship in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.
Why bother competing in this Great Soul Arena?
Even her teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Qin Ming, only required her to obtain a silver badge before graduation.
"I'll work hard and give it everything I've got!"
Unlike Dugu Yan, Meng Yiran was under the control of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
She obeyed Chen Zhuo in everything.
To the point that she would do anything he asked.
"Then let's begin."
Under the Great Soul Arena's rules, Soul Masters who had just received their first iron badge had to achieve five consecutive wins in a Sub Soul Fighting Arena before officially competing in the Central Main Soul Fighting Arena.
This also served as a qualification screening for competitors.
Otherwise, if every crooked melon and cracked date were allowed into soul fighting matches, the spectacle would be too poor for audiences to pay for.
Ticket sales and legal wagers on teams were the Great Soul Arena's primary sources of income.
Since all three of them could fight independently, they did not choose to form a team.
They all registered for solo matches.
Even in Heaven Dou Imperial City, the overall caliber of Soul Masters their age fell far short of those in Spirit City.
Thus, Chen Zhuo's five solo soul fighting matches were an utterly crushing winning streak, without any suspense.
The overwhelming power of Dugu Yan's martial soul also revealed itself over her five consecutive wins.
The world-renowned Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison, paired with a flood dragon's extraordinarily formidable beast martial soul physique, left her virtually unmatched within her own rank.
Her victories came fairly easily as well.
Of the three, only Meng Yiran stumbled her way through the consecutive-win assessment.
The main reason was that she had yet to adapt to the fighting style of her mutated martial soul, the Dragon-Snake Scepter.
Meng Yiran's performance could only be called barely satisfactory.
But that posed no difficulty for Chen Zhuo.
There were never useless martial souls, only useless people.
Potions, I'll drink, drink, drink.
Gene locks, I'll unlock, unlock, unlock.
These two beautiful fighters were vital to his future plans.
He was determined to train them!
Before you continue