Douluo: What the hell is the academic master development system?

Chapter 557 The True Strongest Soul King in History (8K)

Hold on!

With this simple yet firm thought, he cleared his mind of all distractions, as if the intense pain he was enduring, as if it were not happening to him.

Under these peculiar emotions, wave after wave of impact gradually pushed Chen Ping's body to the brink of collapse, yet it could not shake his unwavering belief in the slightest.

No one can take away everything he cherishes; he must persevere.

Soon, the streaks of blood escaping from his skin turned into blood beads, which then coalesced into lines of blood resembling small snakes. These lines slid down with the force of gravity, staining his clothes, the Sea God Pavilion beneath him, and even his seven orifices. Blood was flowing from all of them.

Chen Ping's body shook violently as if it might topple over at any moment, but his resolve remained unwavering.

Moon's expression seemed calm, but he had focused almost all his attention on Chen Ping. Even so, he still noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

The blood dripping from Chen Ping's body, after staining the floor of the Sea God Pavilion red, seemed to be quickly absorbed by the golden ancient tree.

Moon knew perfectly well that the golden ancient tree absorbed valuable nutrients; he knew which trees could grow stronger without fertilizer.

Moon was just a little confused. When did the branches of the golden tree start absorbing nutrients?

The ability of roots to absorb valuable nutrients is a common ability of plant-type soul beasts. Chen Ping himself is a highly nourishing natural treasure, perhaps even more nourishing than a typical 100,000-year-old soul beast. Naturally, the blood in his body is also very nutritious.

Only a very few plant-type soul beasts have the ability to absorb nutrients, whether it's their branches and trunk or their entire body.

Strange, did the Golden Tree possess this ability from the beginning?
Moon frowned. He didn't know how much longer he could hold on, but even if he stopped taking action, he probably could only last a few months, at most ten months.

As he neared his return to the tree, he noticed this small problem, but he simply kept it in mind, thinking that perhaps he would find out the answer after he returned.
Xuanzi's observation was not as detailed as Mu En's; he focused all his attention on Chen Ping.

His brows were now furrowed, and he felt a growing admiration for Chen Ping's actions.

From a penniless willow stick soul master to where he is today, Chen Ping's strength does not come from luck, but from his perseverance and unremitting efforts.

Behind his formidable strength lies countless painful experiences and arduous training that has cost him countless lives.

Could Chen Ping be the one to create a miracle?

Xuanzi didn't know, but he was clear about Chen Ping's physical condition at the moment, and he could deeply feel that Chen Ping's body was constantly teetering on the edge of collapse.

Every time he felt that Chen Ping's body could no longer hold on and wanted to stop him, he found that Chen Ping's unparalleled unwavering belief seemed to emanate a special power, forcefully helping his body to persevere.

After that, there was another time when he faced collapse and another time when he persevered. Even Xuanzi couldn't understand what kind of power was supporting Chen Ping in front of him.

Theoretically speaking, Chen Ping's body was simply not strong enough to absorb a 100,000-year soul ring at this moment. His body was being torn apart every second as he absorbed these powers.

The reason he didn't die was simply because his soul rings, domain, and bones helped him absorb enough power, and the Life Gold repaired him quickly enough.

The next moment, the nine golden halos that had been constantly impacting Chen Ping's body turned completely red, and they merged into one, transforming into a huge blood-red halo that enveloped Chen Ping.

At the same moment, Chen Ping's blood erupted in a spray, bursting out in large swaths of blood mist. This blood mist was so dense that it completely engulfed the entire secret chamber of the Sea God Pavilion!

Finished!

This was Xuanzi's subconscious thought: Chen Ping exploded! Just like those corpses that were detonated by the Corpse Explosion Technique!
But soon, Xuanzi realized that this was definitely not the case; otherwise, Elder Mu would have reacted completely. Chen Ping felt as if he had exploded, his body shattered, turning into dust that floated in the air.

But this feeling of shattering brought him unprecedented pleasure. The next moment, all he could feel was red, as if he was completely immersed in a blood-red world.

But in reality, it was just Chen Ping's illusion. It was the effect caused by the sudden surge of his soul power after another of his eight extraordinary meridians was opened, which turned his blood into a blood mist.

"Next time, Xuanzi, you should protect Chen boy yourself. I'm too old for that kind of stimulation."

Moon waved his hand, dispelling the blood mist, and let out a long sigh of relief.

This was far too thrilling for someone nearly three hundred years old like him. If Chen Ping had actually exploded just now, Mu En worried he might have suffered a heart attack.
"Old Mu, this won't do. I'm getting old, and that young Chen is going too far. I really can't keep up."

Xuanzi smiled wryly; he had genuinely believed that Chen Ping had exploded.

"Level 53, a three-level jump at once, absorbing a 100,000-year soul ring, truly a high-risk, high-reward thing."

Looking at the five spirit rings at Chen Ping's feet—each a different color—yellow, purple, black, gold, and red, Mu En sighed inwardly. With Chen Ping's spirit ring configuration, who would dare to even dream of it!
"This must be the strongest Soul King in the history of the academy, right?"

Xuanzi spoke up subconsciously.

"It's just the academy, right? I don't think there's ever been a Soul King stronger than Chen Ping in the entire Douluo Continent, throughout history?"

Mu En glanced at Xuan Zi, wondering why the other party was being so conservative.

Xuanzi scratched his head awkwardly: "Yes, Elder Mu is right. Chen Ping should be the strongest Soul King in the entire Douluo Continent. It was my fault."

"Being able to absorb a 100,000-year-old soul ring means that Chen Ping's martial soul can also begin to devour 100,000-year-old soul bones."

"I wonder if Chen Ping will get a brand new insect club or beast club after he devours that Hellfire skull."

Mu En stroked his chin, looking at Chen Ping who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground, rapidly merging and sensing the power of his fifth spirit ring, and said with some curiosity.

"I think it's a beast-shaped weapon, but no, dragons all have scales, which are somewhat similar to insects, so an insect-shaped weapon isn't impossible."

At this point, Xuanzi couldn't help but speculate curiously. Devouring soul bones to evolve a martial soul—Chen Ping's martial soul, which had never appeared before, was truly intriguing.

"Hehe, whether it's the new Insect Glaive or the new Beast Glaive, as long as it's a new martial soul, combined with Chen's Rainbow Scale Mystic Light Mirage shell, it's enough to transform him into a completely different person from the inside out."

"That way, I can rest assured that he's going on this trip."

Mu En chuckled, clearly not caring much about which new stick Chen Ping would unlock; his gaze was instead fixed on the walls surrounding the Sea God Pavilion's secret chamber.

Chen Ping just absorbed the blood mist from the explosion of the 100,000-year soul ring, and it's only been a few breaths since it was completely absorbed?
It seems that even among plant-type soul beasts that can absorb nutrients from their entire bodies, the Golden Ancient Tree's absorption ability ranks among the top.

This ability is even harder to describe as absorption; it's more like...devouring?

Moon remained silent, his expression unchanged, as if he were dozing off.

(End of this chapter)