Martial Soul Defect

"Sister Meng, you're pretty observant." Bao Liang gave an awkward chuckle and paused in his tracks before finally speaking.

"There's nothing wrong with my Martial Soul." He waved a hand, though his expression grew more serious. "It's just that when I blew up that Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, the feedback from the explosion that came through my Martial Soul made me wonder if my Martial Soul had some kind of... upper limit."

Jing Hongchen, who was walking ahead, also stopped and turned around. His gaze settled on Bao Liang, and he listened quietly without interrupting.

"Think about it." Bao Liang held out his right hand, and a wisp of orange-red Ultimate Flame flickered in his palm. "My First Soul Skill, Destruction Bomb, blows up whatever it touches, and I can even choose to blast the target into flying ash.

"But against that Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, it only blew apart half its body."

"Back at the Hongchen residence, I only practiced First Bomb on inanimate objects. The only living thing I'd blown up was that wolf king just now.

"So it wasn't until now, with the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, that I noticed something was off."

"But," Bao Liang said, changing tack as a gleam flashed in his eyes, "I already have a few guesses, and I'm going to test them right now."

He acted as soon as he said it, turning to Jing Hongchen. "Grandpa Jing, take us to find all kinds of Soul Beasts-different ages, different bloodlines, the more the better.

"I want to try my Martial Soul on each of them."

Jing Hongchen raised an eyebrow, then understood. "You want to get to the bottom of what your bomb can do?"

"Right." Bao Liang nodded. "I can't get feedback from living things by testing it on dead objects. I need living things."

"All right." Jing Hongchen readily agreed. "We're in the Star Dou Great Forest anyway. Are we going to run short of Soul Beasts for you to test on? Grandpa will find them for you."

They spent about two hours testing.

Jing Hongchen led the three of them from the outskirts farther inward, picking out lone Soul Beasts of varying ages. Of course, he only let Bao Liang "touch" them with his Soul Skill. If one was really about to get hurt, Jing Hongchen would swat it away with a slap. He would never actually let Bao Liang blow innocent Soul Beasts to death.

After testing it on more than a dozen Soul Beasts of different ages and bloodlines, Bao Liang finally discovered the "defect" in his Martial Soul.

More precisely, it wasn't a defect, but the current limit of its ability, constrained by his own strength.

"I've figured it out." Bao Liang sat cross-legged on a tree trunk, counting on his fingers as he explained to the three of them. "The bomb's strength is related to my own Soul Power, Martial Soul strength, physical stats, and spiritual strength.

"When only one of those four stats is close to the explosion target's, the bomb can explode, but it can't blast the entire target into flying ash. The bomb's placement can also be detected, and it can be forcibly removed."

"When two stats are close to the explosion target's, it can forcibly blast part of the target, or even half its body, into flying ash. The bomb's placement is hard to detect, and it's also hard to forcibly remove."

"And when three are close to the target's-" Bao Liang clapped his hands. "The target is guaranteed to be blasted into flying ash, the bomb's placement can't be detected, and the bomb can never be removed.

"Let alone when all four are close. I don't even dare imagine it."

Bao Liang paused, then added, "I worked all that out by testing it on more than a dozen Soul Beasts of different ages.

"Of course, I also 'tested' it on the three of you, Grandpa Jing-"

He glanced at Jing Hongchen and his two grandchildren and grinned. "Of course, I didn't actually blow you up. After all, who'd be muddleheaded enough to blow up their own family, right?"

Meng Hongchen burst out laughing, and even Jing Hongchen couldn't help shaking his head with a laugh.

"So the bad news is that my First Martial Soul really does have a slight flaw." Bao Liang spread his hands. "But the good news is, it doesn't make much difference-and the stats only have to be close.

"Like Level 90 and Level 99. Those count as close, and I can still blow them up."

He grew more animated as he spoke. "Besides, nobody said I could only blow something up once.

"At worst, I'll get a Soul Skill for chain explosions later. Won't that settle it? No big deal."

After hearing Bao Liang's account of how he had tested his Martial Soul, Jing Hongchen and his two grandchildren all breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, the "defect" in this Martial Soul, to put it plainly, really wasn't a big deal. It could even be considered normal-what One-Ring Soul Master could blow a Titled Douluo to death? If there really were one, that would be when trouble started.

"If that happened," Jing Hongchen remarked, half in jest and half in earnest, "never mind the Hongchen Family-even the Sun Moon Empire might not be able to protect you."

Bao Liang stared. "Huh?"

"Being outrageous is fine, but not if you're so outrageous you're a monster." Jing Hongchen reached out and tapped his forehead. "The upper limit on your Martial Soul right now is just right.

"If you could really blow up a Titled Douluo with every blast, believe it or not, His Highness the Crown Prince would have you invited into the palace tomorrow and enshrined there-the kind of enshrining that leaves him on tenterhooks?"

Bao Liang drew back his neck. "...Forget it, then.

"I'm scared of imperial palaces."

Before long, Jing Hongchen brought Bao Liang and the other two to a small-to-medium-sized mountain range that radiated waves of heat.

Heat constantly erupted from red fissures in the mountain range's ground. The entire vein pulsed with a lava-like heat, and from a distance it looked like a fire serpent lying dormant underground, ready to awaken at any moment.

Bao Liang and the other two looked down at the scene from the sky, their mouths hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.

Bao Liang and Xiao Hongchen were especially affected-both of them sensed that something good lay beneath the vein.

It was an indescribable "call," as though something deep underground were gently scratching at their senses through the layers of rock.

Jing Hongchen saw their reactions and knew they had noticed it too.

"You two are right," he said, landing on a ridge and standing with his hands behind his back. "There really is something down there.

"But we can't take it."

"Why not, Grandpa Jing?" Bao Liang came to his senses, his face full of confusion.

"Because underneath us is the Scarlet Flame Dragon Crystal Vein, and it's full of Scarlet Flame Dragon Crystal Ore and Scarlet Flame Dragon Crystal Vein Marrow." Jing Hongchen spread his hands helplessly. "And every piece of ore in there is a Fire Sylph's nest."

"Then can't we just take the vein marrow and leave the Fire Sylphs alone?" Xiao Hongchen interjected from the side.

"Scarlet Flame Dragon Crystal Ore and Scarlet Flame Dragon Crystal Vein Marrow look exactly alike," Jing Hongchen explained. "No one but the Fire Sylphs themselves can tell them apart.

"Besides, they hide the marrow inside the ore, wrapped in identical shells. You can't tell which pieces are empty and which have marrow in them."

Bao Liang frowned. "Wait, if the Fire Sylphs are inside the ore, how are we supposed to get Soul Rings?"

"Try them one at a time." Jing Hongchen looked helpless. "There's nothing Grandpa can do about that either.

"We can only pick a piece of ore, break it open, grab the beast and the ore, and run.

"If it's the wrong age, we just keep doing it again."

"Holy chovy." Bao Liang clutched his head. "That's hell difficulty!"

Jing Hongchen patted his shoulder, his tone meaningful. "It's not that simple, or that easy."

Just then, Meng Hongchen suddenly asked:

"Um... doesn't Little Baozi have Ultimate Flame? Why not let him try?"

The three of them froze on the spot.

Jing Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and Bao Liang turned their heads in unison and exchanged glances-

"Right! We can do that too!"