Just as Luo Chen sat cross-legged beside the Nine Poison Scorpion's corpse, ready to begin absorbing its Soul Ring,
a sudden tremor came from his left hand.
Understanding instinctively, Luo Chen opened his left hand.
A crimson light appeared in his palm, then slowly condensed into a scarlet scorpion that settled in his hand.
It was the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"
The Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor raised its huge pincers high and let out a series of hisses.
Something miraculous happened: Luo Chen could actually understand its general meaning.
"You're saying... you want to come out and protect me?"
The Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor nodded, gently touching Luo Chen's finger with a pincer. "You'll become very vulnerable while absorbing the Soul Ring. I can protect you."
Luo Chen froze at those words.
He had always regarded the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor as a hidden trump card. He had never imagined that this trump card would leap out on its own to protect him.
Still, it felt quite nice. He liked it very much.
"Thanks." Luo Chen cradled the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor in his arms and gently patted its shell.
At the same time, its crimson shell suddenly grew hot. Clearly, it had become shy.
Seeing this, Luo Chen gave a snicker, then closed his eyes and settled his mind.
The Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor raised both pincers, lifted its stinger, and watched their surroundings warily.
As the Yellow Soul Ring slowly floated toward Luo Chen, a violent surge of power exploded inside him the next instant!
A seven-hundred-year Soul Ring was not so easy to absorb.
Generally speaking, a Soul Ring of this age was a Soul Master's choice for their second Soul Ring.
Yet Luo Chen was only a newly awakened Soul Scholar. Challenging seven hundred years for his first Soul Ring could certainly be called bold.
The violent Soul Power rampaged through his meridians like a beast that had lost control.
Everywhere it passed, his meridians felt as though they had been scorched, aching and swelling.
Luo Chen gritted his teeth, guiding his Soul Power along the circulation route of Twin Emperor Soul Guidance to tame that violent power bit by bit.
But a seven-hundred-year Soul Ring was not so easily subdued.
The Soul Power was like an untamed horse. Just when he finally managed to quiet it down, it would suddenly rear up again, destroying everything in sight.
Time ticked by, second after second.
One hour passed,
two hours passed,
Luo Chen's clothes were soaked with sweat. His face was as pale as paper, and he had bitten his lips bloody.
Soul Power scoured his meridians again and again, leaving tiny tears in some places.
The intense pain made him want to stop.
But stopping would mean all his previous efforts had been wasted. The Soul Ring's backlash would leave him severely injured at best, and sever every meridian at worst.
So he clenched his teeth and continued absorbing the Soul Ring with all his might.
Beside him, the Karmic Fire Scorpion Emperor silently stood guard, its crimson pincers raised high and its stinger trembling slightly, warning off the poisonous insects itching to make a move.
An unknown amount of time passed.
When Luo Chen tamed the final wisp of violent Soul Power, a vast force of vitality spread from his heart to his limbs, repairing his ravaged meridians.
A wave of comfort washed over Luo Chen's entire body. At the same time, his Soul Power skyrocketed.
Level 10... level 11... level 12... level 13... it only stopped at level 14.
Gaining four levels after absorbing one's first Soul Ring was something without precedent, never to be repeated.
Even Tang San had only gained one level after absorbing his first Soul Ring.
Of course, this did not mean Tang San's talent was too lousy. Rather, he had followed Yu Xiaogang's advice and absorbed a Mandala Snake for his first Soul Ring, squandering the Blue Silver Grass's talent for nothing.
Luo Chen, on the other hand, had decided from the start to follow the deadly poison + netherworld path. The Soul Beast he sought for his first Soul Ring possessed deadly poison and was also a scorpion-type Soul Beast, making as much use as possible of the Netherworld Scorpion Emperor's advantages.
With talent, Martial Soul, hard work, and a secret manual supporting him, gaining four levels of Soul Power was only natural.
After letting out a long breath of stale air, Luo Chen lay on the ground, exhaustion written all over his face.
"Seven-hundred-year Soul Ring successfully absorbed."
Just as he was about to sense what his first Soul Skill was, he suddenly felt something strange around his sacrum.
It felt as though something was writhing deep inside the bone, trying to break out of the earth.
Luo Chen's heart tightened, and he instinctively channeled Soul Power into his sacrum.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Nine sharp scorpion tails shot skyward from his sacrum.
Each was slender and sharp, its tip gleaming with a cold, dark green light. They stood tall against the night sky, facing Luo Chen's own scorpion tail from a distance.
Ten scorpion tails stood side by side beneath the moonlight, menacing and cold.
Luo Chen was completely stunned.
"I actually... got an External Soul Bone?"
Even his voice was trembling.
An External Soul Bone was the most special kind of Soul Bone.
It occupied none of the six usual Soul Bone positions, instead growing independently as a self-contained whole.
Not only that, an External Soul Bone could also evolve.
As Luo Chen's Soul Power increased, it would grow stronger and stronger.
But obtaining an External Soul Bone was by no means easy.
Only when a Soul Beast's internal Soul Power and origin power underwent a rare mutation and condensed at the instant it was killed was there an exceedingly small chance of one forming.
Across the entire Douluo Continent, the Soul Masters who possessed an External Soul Bone could be counted on one's fingers.
And the reason Luo Chen had obtained an External Soul Bone was also because
the instant the Nine Poison Scorpion was frightened to death, its internal Soul Power and origin underwent a mutation amid its extreme terror. Only then did they condense into an External Soul Bone, which was absorbed along with the Soul Ring as Luo Chen absorbed it.
Luo Chen forcibly suppressed his wild joy. "Let's see what the first Soul Skill is first."
As he activated his Soul Power, information about his first Soul Skill flooded Luo Chen's mind.
His first Soul Skill was called Scorpion Emperor Transformation.
As the name suggested, it borrowed the Netherworld Scorpion Emperor's power to transform him into a half-human, half-scorpion form.
After activating his scorpion form, Luo Chen's entire body would be covered in a dark green shell.
Huge pincers would manifest beneath his hands, a scorpion tail would extend from his sacrum, and his lower body would become a scorpion's body, entering a half-human, half-scorpion combat form.
In the Scorpion Transformation state, his strength, attack, speed, and defense would all increase by eighty percent.
His attacks carried the deadly poison of the Nine Poison Scorpion and a tiny amount of the Netherworld Scorpion Emperor's deadly poison, which could break down vitality and corrode souls.
The scorpion tail could attack at range or shoot poison from its stinger, while the huge pincers could defend and attack when enemies closed in. It truly combined offense and defense, suitable for both long and close range.
"This first Soul Skill," Luo Chen's lips curled upward despite himself, "is just too powerful."
Other people's first Soul Skills usually had only one function: attack, defense, or support.
His Scorpion Transformation, however, directly boosted every aspect by eighty percent, while combining deadly poison, ranged attacks, and close combat in one.
This was the power of a top-tier Martial Soul paired with a top-tier Soul Ring.
After steadying his emotions, Luo Chen turned his attention to the nine scorpion tails behind him.
To celebrate obtaining an External Soul Bone, Luo Chen gave it a resounding name:
"Nine Poison Scorpion Hook Sword."
The Nine Poison Scorpion Hook Sword inherited all the Nine Poison Scorpion's strengths,
combining deadly poison, piercing power, speed, toughness, and devouring in one.
The nine scorpion tails could attack independently without interfering with one another, and each carried a deadly poison with different properties.
Some could corrode skin, some could erode Soul Power, some could numb nerves, and some could break down life...
Moreover, it could also devour things to nourish itself.
"Let's test its power."
Luo Chen stood up and channeled Soul Power into the Nine Poison Scorpion Hook Sword.
"First move, forward thrust."
In an instant, all nine scorpion tails moved at once. Unfortunately, they thrust backward.
"..."
"To the left."
Unfortunately, the scorpion tails went right.
"Stop."
The scorpion tails flailed wildly.
Luo Chen: "..."
The nine scorpion tails were like nine venomous snakes, each with a temper of its own. None would yield to another, each doing as it pleased and throwing everything behind Luo Chen into a chickens-flying, dogs-leaping uproar.
One scorpion tail even hooked his own waistband and nearly pulled his pants off.
"..."
"All right."
"An External Soul Bone is a good thing, but I still need to know a little about using it."
At that thought, Luo Chen sighed and glanced around.
The poisonous swamp was empty now. All the poison-attribute Soul Beasts had fled while Luo Chen was absorbing his Soul Ring.
One could say the poisonous swamp was now an empty practice ground.
"I'll absolutely go back before I've mastered two scorpion tails!"
After giving himself this encouragement, Luo Chen began trying to control the Nine Poison Scorpion Hook Sword one tail at a time.