Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor

Chen Ming traveled at high speed for an entire day and night before finding a forest. There, he took the barely alive Blue Silver Emperor out of a special storage soul tool, fed it a bit of vitality and soul power, and then put it back. After repeating this process several times, Chen Ming finally arrived at Gengxin City, the blacksmithing capital of the Douluo Continent. At a shop owned by the Blacksmith Association, he presented the agreed token and secret code between himself and Lou Gao.

Once it was confirmed that Chen Ming was the person the president had been waiting for, the blacksmith in charge of the shop immediately went up to the top floor of the association building to inform the president.

Not long after, Lou Gao appeared, slowly descending the stairs with a few disciples.

It wasn't that Lou Gao wanted to move slowly—his body simply no longer allowed him to move quickly. Now, he even needed assistance from others just to walk.

Though only a year had passed since they last met, Lou Gao seemed to have aged several decades. His face was more wrinkled, his body frailer, and even the once faintly shrinking flame of his life force had dimmed considerably. He seemed to be on the verge of burning out entirely.

It was hard to believe that just a year ago, Lou Gao had been a robust elderly man, strong from years of forging.

As soon as Lou Gao appeared on this floor, Chen Ming's spiritual power detected his condition. Though unsure of what had happened, Chen Ming quickly approached Lou Gao and stopped him from bowing in greeting.

When Chen Ming got closer, he noticed that, while Lou Gao's body had aged drastically, his eyes were much brighter than the last time they met. The frail and broken body could no longer fully conceal the breakthrough in his spiritual power.

Even without careful probing, Chen Ming could roughly gauge the state of Lou Gao's spiritual power.

In comparison, if Lou Gao's spiritual power a year ago had been at the level of an ordinary Soul Douluo, then now it had undoubtedly reached the realm of a Titled Douluo. His spiritual power was comparable to that of a Level 91 Titled Douluo who wasn't particularly skilled in spiritual power.

Moreover, within the spiritual power radiating from Lou Gao, Chen Ming could sense a peculiar presence—an aura of insight that only a Suoer Douluo could comprehend.

Clearly, in the year they had been apart, Lou Gao had made tremendous progress in blacksmithing. While this progress had consumed a large amount of his life force, leaving his body aged and frail, his spiritual power had undergone a significant transformation and enhancement.

If not for Lou Gao's poor physical condition, average soul power talent, and other limiting factors, which prevented his soul power from growing despite his spiritual breakthrough, he could have become a Titled Douluo. Were Lou Gao in normal health as a Soul Sage, Chen Ming could have confidently declared the birth of a new Titled Douluo on the Douluo Continent.

Lou Gao's presence on this floor caused a stir. Many blacksmiths who had been selling goods gathered to bow to him, and some customers joined in, crowding around to catch a glimpse of the legendary Divine Craftsman.

Lou Gao signaled to one of his disciples, a sturdy middle-aged man, who stepped forward to divert the crowd, giving Lou Gao and Chen Ming a chance to leave.

To be honest, a year ago, this tactic might not have worked. But now, Lou Gao's frailty was evident to everyone. In the eyes of the crowd, this unnamed disciple was essentially the Blacksmith Association's next president.

As a result, most of the attention shifted to the disciple, with only a few blacksmiths who were close to Lou Gao asking about his condition.

About ten minutes later, Chen Ming and Lou Gao arrived at Lou Gao's exclusive forging room on the fifth floor. Lou Gao dismissed the disciples who had accompanied him, ordering them to stand guard outside. Inside the forging room, only Chen Ming and the frail Lou Gao remained. Facing Chen Ming, Lou Gao summoned his martial soul.

This wasn't because he intended to fight Chen Ming—it was simply that, in his current condition, relying solely on soul power to support his body was no longer enough.@@novelbin@@

Seven soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black—appeared around Lou Gao. With the manifestation of his martial soul, the Sacred Molding Pen, Lou Gao was finally able to move like a normal elderly person.

Looking at Chen Ming, Lou Gao bent down to bow, but Chen Ming quickly stepped forward to stop him.

"Elder Lou, there's no need for such formalities," Chen Ming said. "Given your current physical condition, these courtesies are unnecessary. You should focus on taking care of your health."

While Chen Ming could inject vitality into Lou Gao to partially restore his body, which had aged to the point of resembling rotten wood, he first infused Lou Gao with some of his high-quality soul power to temporarily ease his condition.

"Palace Master…" Lou Gao murmured, his voice carrying a mix of gratitude and emotion. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at Chen Ming, his gaze filled with fervent devotion.

Through the pseudo-divine core in his spiritual sea, Chen Ming could sense the faith emanating from Lou Gao—a deep, unwavering reverence. Lou Gao's devotion to Chen Ming was akin to that of a devout believer.

Because Chen Ming had so few followers—just one, actually—he couldn't assign ranks to his believers like in Western fantasy novels, where classifications ranged from general believers to devout followers. However, judging purely by the strength of the faith radiating from Lou Gao, he could at least be considered a pious believer.

Struggling to move his body, Lou Gao led Chen Ming to a stone wall. The wall had a metallic texture and seemed to faintly exhale soul power. However, when Chen Ming scanned it with his spiritual power, he didn't detect anything unusual.

Under Chen Ming's watchful gaze, Lou Gao reached out and knocked on the wall. The wall immediately began to change.

The uneven, slightly rocky surface started to contract, flowing like water to form a small sphere that fell into Lou Gao's hand. Its original yellow-brown camouflage faded, revealing a faint silver hue.

During this transformation, Chen Ming finally sensed soul power and spirituality within the peculiar metal. Unlike the small golden sphere he had previously crafted through forced crystallization, this mysterious metal contained not only soul power and spirituality but also elements that could be described as life itself.