"Level eleven!"
After Meng Qianqiu woke up, the most obvious change she noticed was that the Soul Power in her body had leaped from level ten to level eleven!
"A four-hundred-year first Soul Ring!"
"This result actually isn't good or bad for me. Without taking whale rubber, this age really isn't low."
Meng Qianqiu released the Martial Soul in her left hand. A vermilion toad less than two inches long, crimson as blood all over, slowly appeared.
The miniature Manggu Vermilion Toad stood atop a yellow Soul Ring, licking its little claws from time to time and looking exceptionally adorably clueless.
"Little fellow!"
"Why do I feel like you've become much more lively after absorbing this Soul Ring? Am I imagining things?"
Meng Qianqiu played with the Manggu Vermilion Toad in her left hand. After absorbing the Soul Ring, her Martial Soul seemed to have gradually developed sentience.
"Jiang-ang~ Jiang-ang~"
With a soft cry, the Manggu Vermilion Toad looked up at Meng Qianqiu, seemingly responding in words that she was not imagining things.
"This... this..."
"Qiu'er, your Martial Soul..."
Meng Zhongqi, standing nearby, had never seen anything like this. He had never encountered a Martial Soul with independent thought.
"Martial Souls are manifestations of the Great Dao of this world to begin with!"
"In other words, the Martial Souls people awaken are both products of the laws of bloodlines and another manifestation of the soul."
"Could it be that my soul is different from ordinary people's because I'm a transmigrator, and that's why I awakened an external Martial Soul?"
Indeed, only after acquiring her first Soul Ring had Meng Qianqiu discovered, to her astonishment, that her Manggu Vermilion Toad was actually an external Martial Soul.
An external beast Martial Soul was a special mutated type of beast Martial Soul.
This kind of Martial Soul could not strengthen its owner through possession, but it could exist independently, possess autonomous thought, and fight alongside its Soul Master.
The effects of Meng Qianqiu's first Soul Ring could enhance either herself or her external Martial Soul, the Manggu Vermilion Toad.
"Grandpa!"
"The Manggu Vermilion Toad I awakened is an external Martial Soul!"
"It can exist independently and fight alongside me. I only discovered this after absorbing my Soul Ring."
Meng Qianqiu played with the Manggu Vermilion Toad in her palm. External Martial Souls were extremely rare, with roughly a one-in-ten-million chance of awakening.
"An external Martial Soul?"
"Your situation really is exceptionally rare!"
"But without the possession and strengthening of a beast Martial Soul, the road ahead will be difficult for you. Alas, fortune and misfortune truly are unpredictable!"
For Soul Masters with beast Martial Souls, the possession and strengthening their Martial Souls provided were what allowed them to contend with other Soul Masters.
Without that, Meng Qianqiu's combat strength would be greatly reduced. Whether this situation was good or bad for her remained unknown.
"Grandpa, don't forget!"
"I still have the Seven Kill Sword Martial Soul!"
Meng Qianqiu revealed the Seven Kill Sword Martial Soul in her right hand. The Seven Kill Sword's blade was approximately four feet three inches long and three inches wide, with a hilt one foot two inches long.
It was a peerless divine sword, incomparably sharp, with a deep-blue blade and blood-red edges, its surface engraved with divine patterns.
"Don't let outsiders know you have twin Martial Souls, and don't let outsiders see your Seven Kill Sword Martial Soul!"
"From now on, stay with me and learn how to use poison!"
Meng Zhongqi sighed, unaware that the Manggu Vermilion Toad beside him had rolled its eyes helplessly upon hearing this.
Using poison? Who could compare to the king of all poisons?
The red mist the Manggu Vermilion Toad spat from its mouth could melt gold and iron, dissolve bones and corrode jade. It was among the deadliest poisons under heaven.
After all, the Martial Soul Meng Qianqiu had awakened was the Manggu Vermilion Toad, a wondrous beast of heaven and earth reputed to be the Plague Bodhisattva's mount.
"Jiang-ang~ Jiang-ang~"
The Manggu Vermilion Toad hopped over to Meng Zhongqi, opened its mouth, and spat out a stream of eerie red mist.
Wherever the red mist passed, all life vanished!
An unusual fragrance filled the air. Meng Zhongqi sniffed lightly, then became utterly horrified.
"What a formidable, extraordinary poison!"
"Your father also awakened the Manggu Vermilion Toad Martial Soul, but he chose to specialize in the fire attribute and abandon the poison attribute!"
"It seems he took the wrong path too!"
"This little fellow is a born king of all poisons. Compared to it, the poisons I make aren't even fit to be shown."
The Manggu Vermilion Toad was born with ultimate fire poison, whose effects defied the heavens, equivalent to possessing both ultimate fire and ultimate poison from birth!
"Jiang-ang~ Jiang-ang~"
After putting on its performance, the Manggu Vermilion Toad hopped smugly into Meng Qianqiu's palm and gently nudged her thumb.
"All right, I know you're impressive!"
Meng Qianqiu stroked the Manggu Vermilion Toad's little head and praised it. This little fellow was far more sentient than Luo Sanpao.
"Our Meng Family's Vermilion-Eyed Ice Toad Martial Soul has fire within its ice and ice within its fire, making it extremely difficult to balance the yin and yang within the body."
"The Manggu Vermilion Toad specializes solely in fire poison, and its Soul Ring enhances it directly, so it's understandable that its innate toxicity is stronger."
At this point, Meng Zhongqi's words were filled with wistfulness.
There were few external Martial Souls on the Douluo Continent. Aside from the Manggu Vermilion Toad in her hand, there was only the heaven-shaking, earth-splitting Luo Sanpao.
But Luo Sanpao was unfortunate enough to have ended up with the wrong master.
A perfectly good little dragon hatchling had been raised into a pig-a big purple pig that could do nothing but let out foul farts!
All one could say was, same soul, different fates!
"Qiu'er, how does your body feel now that you've absorbed your first Soul Ring? What level has your Soul Power reached?"
Meng Zhongqi questioned Meng Qianqiu. This was a four-hundred-year Soul Ring, a choice of the highest quality, equivalent to many Soul Masters' second Soul Ring.
"After absorbing the Soul Ring, my Soul Power reached level eleven. I believe I'll break through to level twelve before long."
"A four-hundred-year Soul Ring is still too young."
Meng Qianqiu sighed. If circumstances had permitted, her first Soul Ring could have reached a thousand years after she consumed ten-thousand-year whale glue.
Of course, that was only a fantasy.
The medicinal potency of ten-thousand-year whale glue was not something a child could withstand. One careless mistake could make her body burst and kill her.
Meng Qianqiu had only just turned six, and her body had yet to develop properly. Rashly consuming whale rubber would do her harm rather than good.
Only when she was in her teens and her body had gradually developed would it be the best time for her to consume whale rubber.
"Four hundred years, and you actually think that's too low!"
"A gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. You're still young. You should know that many Soul Masters' second rings are only five hundred years old."
"You're really far too greedy."
"You should know that my first Soul Ring was only three hundred years old. Your first Soul Ring far surpasses mine in age!"
Meng Zhongqi sighed and lectured her helplessly.
At present, the optimal Soul Ring configuration on the Douluo Continent was two yellow, two purple, and five black. A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring was also known as a Blood River Treasure.
Even among powers as strong as Spirit Hall and the Upper Three Sects, only three people had obtained Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings, showing just how precious a Blood River Treasure was!
Once something like this appeared in the world, it would stir up bloody rain and foul winds.
(The Manggu Vermilion Toad was originally the exotic beast Manggu Vermilion Toad from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. To avoid copyright disputes, the author has used a homophonic substitute character here. Please forgive this!)