Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor

Chen Ming was still unaware of how far the rumors outside had spread, as he was now facing a matter no less significant than dealing with Dugu Bo.

"The Crown Prince is inviting me to the Seven Treasures Grand Restaurant three days from now. Are you sure there's no mistake?"

Staring at the attendant from the Crown Prince's residence standing in front of his courtyard, Chen Ming pointed at himself in disbelief, wondering what he had done to attract the attention of the Crown Prince.

"There is no mistake. This is an invitation from His Highness the Crown Prince, and he sincerely requests your presence. The meeting three days from now will be private, with only His Highness and yourself present. Please accept this invitation and the gift from my master."

The attendant, dressed in luxurious attire, spoke with a calm and respectful demeanor. With a subtle motion, he retrieved a wooden box, three feet square, from a storage soul tool on his belt that resembled an ornament.

The box was crafted from the body of a plant-type soul beast. Despite its age, it emitted a faint herbal fragrance, and merely sniffing it made Chen Ming feel his soul power circulating slightly faster. It was of great value.

As soon as the box appeared, Chen Ming felt his martial soul stir within him—not from the box itself, but from the item hidden inside.

Glancing at the attendant, Chen Ming's expression grew complicated, but he reached out and took the box.

Lifting the lid slightly, a wave of soul power fluctuation began to emanate from the contents, making his martial soul's agitation more pronounced. With his keen eyesight, it took Chen Ming less than a second to identify the object inside. Reaching in to confirm, his fingers touched the item he suspected, leaving him momentarily speechless.

It was a small, weathered piece of green stone etched with mysterious patterns. Though it seemed dormant, once exposed to air, it began to draw in surrounding soul power, pulsating like a living being.

Activating his soul power slightly, Chen Ming was met with a surge of oppressive force from the stone, forcing him to step back a few paces to steady himself.

"This is… the remains of a Celestial Emerald Dragon?"

"Exactly so," the attendant replied with a calm smile, clearly unsurprised that Chen Ming recognized the item.

"This object also has a deep connection to your family. It was stored in the royal treasury centuries ago, but no one has been able to use it since, leaving it to gather dust. With your talents, I'm certain you can make good use of it."

"Well then, I must thank the Crown Prince for his generosity."

Closing the lid, Chen Ming's smile grew a touch more genuine. Internally, he marveled at Qian Renxue's strategic brilliance—she was truly someone with grand ambitions.

The Celestial Emerald Dragon was a type of legendary soul beast said to possess the bloodline of the mythical Azure Dragon. Its origins, however, were shrouded in mystery and debate.

Some claimed the beast was originally a sub-dragon species, such as a Dragonblood Centipede, that accidentally absorbed an Azure Dragon's dragon pearl, gaining its bloodline and transforming into the Celestial Emerald Dragon species.

Others believed the soul beast was a direct descendant of the Azure Dragon, but due to unknown reasons, its bloodline attributes reversed or became corrupted by external forces, transforming its original life and thunder attributes into death and venom.

Regardless of its origin, the Celestial Emerald Dragon was widely acknowledged by soul masters on the Douluo Continent as a legendary soul beast carrying the Azure Dragon's divine bloodline.

The creature's natural form resembled a deep purple centipede. It molted every hundred years, each molt a life-or-death ordeal. With each molt, its body grew larger, its bloodline closer to that of the Azure Dragon, and its coloration gradually shifted from deep purple to verdant green.

Every ten thousand years, a segment of this soul beast's body undergoes dragonification. By the time it reaches 90,000 years of cultivation, its entire body transforms into the form of an Azure Dragon, except for its horns, which remain purple. The purple hue symbolizes the peak growth of its poison and death attributes.

It is said that upon facing the heavenly tribulation at 100,000 years, these two attributes undergo a supreme transformation, reverting to the original lightning and life attributes that an Azure Dragon should possess. At that point, it gains the ability to summon wind and rain, control thunder, and harness lightning.

At this stage, it is a true Azure Dragon with mastery over four attributes: life, death, lightning, and poison.

However, this is purely theoretical research. In reality, no one has ever witnessed such a soul beast truly evolve into a four-attribute Azure Dragon. A millennium ago, such creatures were said to be numerous on the Douluo Continent, but none were ever observed successfully passing the 100,000-year heavenly tribulation and transforming into a dragon.

Why did Chen Ming know so much about this legendary soul beast?

Of course, it was because, as the Crown Prince's attendant had mentioned, it was deeply connected to the Chen family.

Outside Biluochen City, in the Biluoxia Canyon, it was rumored that a super soul beast with poison attributes had fallen just before its 100,000-year heavenly tribulation. But this wasn't just a rumor.

When Biluochen City was first established, the Chen family was tasked by the Heaven Dou royal court with locating remnants of a 100,000-year soul beast. While exploring the depths of Biluoxia, the Chen family discovered the site where such a soul beast had perished and found its remains.

Yes, that legendary soul beast was none other than the Celestial Emerald Dragon. It was said to have one foot already in the realm of becoming an Azure Dragon, with its death attribute reversing to life. Unfortunately, it fell at the threshold of reconciling its lightning and poison attributes.

Normally, soul beasts struck down by the heavenly tribulation are reduced to ashes, leaving no remains behind. However, perhaps due to the Celestial Emerald Dragon's immense power and noble bloodline, most of its body was indeed destroyed, but this fragment managed to survive.

The remains of the Celestial Emerald Dragon were undoubtedly a priceless treasure, but the Chen family dared not keep it for themselves. After failing to scrape even a sliver from the remains, they dutifully handed it over to the Heaven Dou royal court and accepted their royal reward.

At that time, the Heaven Dou Empire was not as corrupt as it is now. Although the nation was still rife with nobility, even the most powerful families had to bow to the emperor, whose authority was highly centralized. It was an era where the Heaven Dou Empire could rival the Star Luo Empire with its full national strength.

Chen Ming's grandfather, Chen Shijie, had once lamented to him: if their ancestors had been bold enough to keep that fragment of the Celestial Emerald Dragon, perhaps the family wouldn't have faced so many struggles later on.

Even if the remains couldn't be directly used, soaking them in water would have turned that water into a priceless resource for poison attribute soul masters. Sleeping beside it would have subtly enhanced the soul power of any poison attribute soul master.

With such a treasure, their descendants wouldn't have been so heavily affected by the Jade Phosphorous Flower of the Seven Absolutes, to the point of nearly losing their lineage.

Who would have thought that this treasure, which had slipped through their ancestors' hands, would circle back centuries later to end up with Chen Ming?

If the cautious emperor who once locked this fragment in his treasury knew this, he might very well rise from his grave in fury.

"Life is full of surprises," Chen Ming mused, though he felt a growing thirst for power in his heart.

For now, he had to endure and depend on others. But if he had true strength, wouldn't the treasuries of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires be his to choose from?