Ultimate Flame

The middle-aged man in a dark blue uniform cupped his fists in greeting to Jing Hongchen, who had come to meet them. "Hall Master, now that I've brought him here, I'll be going."

"Thank you for your hard work." Jing Hongchen waved a hand.

The man turned, climbed into the Soul Tool vehicle, and drove off in a cloud of dust.

Before Bao Liang could react, a pair of little hands had seized his.

"Come on, come on, Little Baozi!" Meng Hongchen grabbed his hand and ran inside. "I'll show you around our home! Let me tell you, it's really big and beautiful!"

"Hey, hey! Slow down!"

Bao Liang stumbled as she pulled him along, practically dragging him through the gates of the Hongchen residence.

Xiao Hongchen followed with his arms folded, giving a "hmph," though his feet didn't slow in the slightest.

The Hongchen residence was far grander than Bao Liang had imagined.

Bluestone paths wound among the flowers and trees, while separate pavilions stood in the corners of the courtyard. A different-colored nameplate hung at the entrance to each pavilion-Grandpa Jing's, Sister Meng's, Xiao Hongchen's. Each had one of their own, and none disturbed the others.

Bao Liang noticed faint metallic reflections in the windows of several pavilions, and he could hear the faint hum of Soul Tools charging.

"Those are Soul Tool laboratories." Seeing his curiosity, Meng Hongchen introduced them proudly. "My grandpa has one, my brother has one, and I have one too.

After a while, I'll have Grandpa build one for you too!"

"...I can have my own laboratory?"

"Of course! You're an honored guest of the Hongchen Clan!"

Bao Liang clicked his tongue inwardly. This treatment-forget the orphanage, even the young masters of ordinary Soul Master families probably can't compare, right?

"Grandpa Jing," Bao Liang said, looking up at Jing Hongchen, "you still haven't told me why you sent someone especially to pick me up."

Jing Hongchen kept walking and asked with a smile, "What do you think?"

"How would I know... Anyway, it definitely wasn't because of my innate full Soul Power."

"Clever." Jing Hongchen gave him an approving look. "Actually, I've been keeping an eye on you for the past three years."

Bao Liang was startled.

"Three years ago, Xiao took Meng and sneaked out of the residence. They met you on the food street-I found out about it that same day," Jing Hongchen said leisurely. "From then on, whenever those two children sneaked out, I knew.

Where they went, who they saw, what they did-I knew every last detail."

Bao Liang: "..."

So the grandfather and his two grandchildren had been in the shadows while he, Bao Liang, had been out in the open, watched by them for three whole years.

"What I didn't expect," Jing Hongchen said, stopping and turning to look at him, "was that the Little Baozi from back then would have innate full Soul Power, just like Xiao and Meng.

When the news reached me this morning, I thought my people had made a mistake in their report."

Bao Liang grinned but said nothing.

After passing through corridor after corridor, the three finally stopped before an alloy door far grander than any of the others.

The Soul Tool runes on the door lit up automatically, and it slid open to either side-they had arrived at Jing Hongchen's private study in the residence.

The study was large, but it contained few luxurious furnishings.

There was a broad desk, several rows of bookshelves, a map of the Sun Moon Empire on the wall, and a model of Soul Tool armor standing in the corner, half the height of a person.

Clearly, this Hall Master was a practical man.

Jing Hongchen sat down behind the desk, rested his chin on his interlaced hands, and looked at Bao Liang with great interest.

"All right, Little Baozi, how about letting Grandpa Jing have a good look at your Martial Soul?" he said with a chuckle. "Just hearing my subordinates' reports can't satisfy Grandpa's curiosity."

Meng Hongchen immediately came up to Bao Liang and examined him curiously. She might as well have had "hurry up and show me" written across her face.

Xiao Hongchen stood to one side with his chin raised high, looking as if to say, "This young master isn't curious at all"-except his mismatched blue and green eyes kept darting toward Bao Liang.

Bao Liang didn't stand on ceremony. He nodded. "Sure, Grandpa Jing, just watch.

But let me say this first: my Martial Soul will definitely give you a big surprise."

With that, Bao Liang held out his right hand.

An orange-red sphere of elemental power appeared out of thin air, pulsing in his palm.

The next second, the sphere abruptly swelled larger-a hot, dangerous presence instantly filled the entire study, and even the air seemed to catch fire.

This time, Bao Liang had no intention of suppressing his Martial Soul, allowing its power to pour out without restraint.

Fortunately, his Martial Soul didn't explode this time.

But the moment Bao Liang's Martial Soul appeared, the faces of the grandfather and his two grandchildren all changed.

Xiao Hongchen's pupils contracted sharply, and Meng Hongchen let out a soft "ah." Even Jing Hongchen, who had remained as steady as a mountain, grew solemn-all three of them felt suppression at the level of their Martial Souls!

And it was suppression in terms of attributes at that!

The feeling was impossible to put into words, yet it weighed heavily on their hearts, like a predator staring down at them from above.

Jing Hongchen couldn't help taking a couple of heavy breaths. His gaze as he looked at Bao Liang was filled with shock.

He had lived for over a hundred years. What Martial Souls hadn't he seen? Yet the suppression before him made even a Titled Douluo like him tremble.

He slowly clenched his fist, feeling the waves of trembling coming from the Venomous Toad Martial Soul within him-

The toad Martial Soul, the Hongchen Clan's ancestral Martial Soul, a Martial Soul with divine beast blood.

Across the entire Sun Moon Empire, the Martial Souls that could firmly suppress it could be counted on one hand.

Yet now, even it was being suppressed so badly it couldn't raise its head...

Could it be...

"Little Bao Liang, could your, your Martial Soul be..." Jing Hongchen's voice changed pitch.

"That's right, Grandpa Jing." Bao Liang nodded firmly. "My Martial Soul, Explosion, is an Ultimate Martial Soul-its attribute is Ultimate Flame."

The study fell silent for a moment.

Then Jing Hongchen burst into a deafening peal of laughter.

"Hahahaha! Good, good, good! Heaven blesses our Sun Moon! Our Sun Moon Empire finally has an Ultimate Martial Soul of our own! Hahahaha!"

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were still standing there with their mouths open, disbelief written on their faces.

Meng Hongchen was the first to recover. She sprang forward, wrapped Bao Liang in a tight embrace, and bounced up and down with excitement:

"Little Baozi, you're amazing! An Ultimate Martial Soul! This is an Ultimate Martial Soul!"

"Sister Meng, y-you, let go..." Bao Liang's eyes rolled back as she squeezed him. "I can't breathe..."

Xiao Hongchen turned his head away in frustration, looking as though he didn't want to see Bao Liang.

Bao Liang finally managed to escape Meng Hongchen's "clutches." He straightened his crumpled clothes and said to Jing Hongchen, "Grandpa Jing, don't get too carried away laughing just yet. I'm not finished."

"There's more?!" Jing Hongchen's eyes lit up.

"That's right." Bao Liang nodded. "My Martial Soul isn't just an Ultimate Martial Soul. It also has two ultimate talents.

The first is called Deflagration-I can channel Soul Power into other objects, turning them into bombs under my control;

It also has an amplification effect. When I use it on myself, I can enter an overclocked state, burning Soul Power and stamina at high speed in exchange for a substantial increase to all my output, while adding an Explosion effect to all my attacks."

"The second is called Hot Core." Bao Liang paused. "This talent is even more straightforward and brutal. It's a passive talent, but I can also use it actively-it accelerates the burning of Soul Power, impurities, and toxins in my body, turning them all into purer Soul Power, automatically compressing it and strengthening my entire body;

At the same time as it accelerates the burning, it also accelerates the absorption of external Soul Power.

The stronger my physique, the faster the burning; the faster the burning, the stronger my physique-it's just like stepping on my right foot with my left and taking off from a standstill."

"And I feel like," Bao Liang said, scratching his head, "these two talents of mine might not be limited to working on myself. It seems I can use them on other people too."

Jing Hongchen's mouth had been hanging open ever since he heard "Deflagration."

The same went for Xiao Hongchen.

Only Meng Hongchen still looked lost in the clouds. She glanced at her grandpa, then at her brother-both looked as though they'd been struck by lightning.

But from the looks on their faces, Meng Hongchen knew that her Little Baozi really was amazing.

As expected of the future husband she had found for herself, he really was amazing.

Xiao Hongchen had already quietly slipped off to a corner to shut himself away.

Jing Hongchen stood there in a daze for a long, long time before walking to his desk with his arms and legs moving in unison, picking up a cup, and taking a drink.

But the hand holding the cup kept trembling-he clearly hadn't recovered from his shock.

Were these two ultimate talents useful? Yes, they were incredibly useful.

The Hot Core talent in particular was useful to Soul Engineers like them-a hundred times more useful than the vast majority of heavenly treasures.

There were only two things for which their Sun Moon Empire had been criticized and mocked by the neighboring Douluo Continent all these years.

First, because they studied Soul Tools, Soul Engineers' Soul Power levels were generally lower than those of Soul Masters of the same age on the neighboring Douluo Continent;

Second, because of the first reason, to offset the severe drag that studying Soul Tools placed on their Soul Power levels, virtually all Soul Engineers in the Sun Moon Empire were "medicine jars" who took drugs to level up, and their bodies often developed all sorts of problems as a result.

Even he and his revered teacher, Kong Deming, were no exception.

But what had he just heard?

It accelerated the burning of Soul Power, impurities, and toxins in the body, turning them all into purer Soul Power? It could also automatically compress it and strengthen the whole body? And while accelerating the burning, it could also speed up the absorption of external Soul Power?

How was this merely an ultimate talent? This was a blessing for Soul Masters, a blessing for Soul Engineers!

Heaven blessed their Sun Moon! Heaven truly blessed their Sun Moon!

Jing Hongchen's aged face flushed red with excitement, and he was just about to say something-

"Um, Grandpa Jing, I'm not finished yet." Bao Liang raised a hand and spoke casually. "I think I have another Martial Soul too."

"Another surprise?!!"

Hearing this, Xiao Hongchen sat bolt upright on his deathbed and whipped his head around like a mighty man, staring fixedly at Bao Liang, his mismatched eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

The stare made Bao Liang's scalp tingle. He hurriedly turned to Meng Hongchen. "Sister Meng, move away from me first. There might be quite a commotion in a moment."

Hearing that, Meng Hongchen promptly zipped behind her grandpa. She peeked out with half her head and watched curiously with her big ice-blue eyes.

As for her brother... what brother? Miss Meng didn't know him~

"Wait, Little Bao Liang, wait a moment!"

Jing Hongchen hurriedly stopped him, then raised a hand. A Soul Power barrier silently spread open, sealing off the entire study completely-not the slightest sound or glimpse could get through.

Only after doing all this did he nod to Bao Liang. "All right, you can do it now."

Bao Liang nodded, took a deep breath, and with difficulty recalled the Explosion Martial Soul in his palm. Then he closed his eyes and began taking deep breaths over and over.

Jing Hongchen and his two grandchildren looked at one another. Was releasing a Second Martial Soul that difficult?

But they soon found out.

Bao Liang's eyes snapped open, and he let out a roar!

A gigantic beast roughly four meters long appeared in the middle of the study, its body well-proportioned and its muscles knotted. Its entire body was covered in brilliant golden fur, its face was as black as a ghost's mask, and it brought with it a domain as wild and violent as the ancient wilderness!

Black-and-gold light blazed, and an invisible pressure swept outward like a tide.

Jing Hongchen and the other two felt their breathing hitch, as though a mountain were pressing down over their heads.

"Th-this, this..." Jing Hongchen stammered.

"Grandpa Jing." Bao Liang's voice came from behind the giant beast. "This is... my Second Martial Soul, an Ultimate Martial Soul-the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff. It comes with an innate domain, the Domination Domain, and possesses the power of an ultimate attribute, as well as the ultimate talents Indomitable and Upward Assault."