Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor

Of course, while Chen Ming was shocked, he also quickly understood that the items stored deep within this treasure vault were theoretically extremely valuable but completely unusable by the methods available to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan.

Leaving aside the three items imbued with divine power—which were essentially unusable by any normal soul master—the living metal was also completely impractical in the current era. With the forging techniques of the continent, these rare materials would simply be wasted.

As for those petrified Jade Birds?

They looked enticing as if they were treasure chests that would yield 100,000-year soul rings and 100,000-year soul bones when opened. But in reality, they were far from that. The petrified Jade Birds were, in essence, already dead. Their internal soul power, soul bones, soul cores, and life force had merged into a single mass, which could not be separated through conventional means.

And if someone tried to forcibly shatter the petrified bodies?

 Well, all the treasures inside would be destroyed.

Just looking at the remains of a petrified Jade Bird, Chen Ming could vividly imagine the frustration and pain the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan must have felt when faced with these soul beasts, unable to use them.

"May I ask whether the treasures within the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan's vault hold anything useful for Senior Dugu and our young friend Chen Ming?" Ning Fengzhi smiled confidently and asked, addressing both Dugu Bo and Chen Ming.

"I'm willing to offer, in the name of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan, any one treasure from the vault as a gift to Senior Dugu, in celebration of his breakthrough to Rank 94," Ning Fengzhi said.

"In addition, I wish to gift our young friend Chen Ming one treasure from the vault," Ning Fengzhi paused here, no longer concealing his intentions. "Consider this my investment in your future, Chen Ming. I hope that when you grow stronger, you will lend your support to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan if we face trouble."

Two favors, two treasures. Faced with Ning Fengzhi's generous offer, both Chen Ming and Dugu Bo fell silent.

Dugu Bo was a bit confused. While he was highly skilled in the field of poison, his knowledge in other areas was quite limited. Many of the items in the vault fell into the category of "he could see them, but he had no idea what they were or how to use them."

Under the watchful gaze of Ning Fengzhi and the two Douluos of Sword and Bone, Dugu Bo patted Chen Ming on the shoulder.

"Xiao Ming, you decide. Should we accept this gift?"

"Of course, we should accept it," Chen Ming replied. "I thank Uncle Ning for his gift to Grandpa, as well as for personally investing in me. If the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan faces hardship in the future, I will undoubtedly lend my aid."

"That promise is enough."

Ning Fengzhi understood Dugu Bo well. Although the man was eccentric, he was also someone who valued his promises. While he rarely made commitments, he always kept his word. Over decades of traveling the continent, Dugu Bo had never once broken a promise.

For Ning Fengzhi, winning over Dugu Bo, who had recently reached Rank 94, was worth far more than the two treasures that the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan couldn't even use properly. Building a connection with Chen Ming was simply a bonus.

With Ning Fengzhi's approval, Chen Ming stepped forward to examine the treasures closely.

What caught Chen Ming's attention first were the massive dragon bones and dragon eggs. After all, the Douluo Continent was a land of dragons, and anything related to dragons was bound to be of the highest caliber. More importantly, the dragon bones seemed to belong to a god-level dragon.

As he reached out with his senses, Chen Ming discovered that the blood energy and soul power left behind by the dragon were still present within the bones, though their vitality had diminished to an almost negligible level. The blood energy and soul power had less than 10% remaining, and at the current rate of dissipation, they would completely disappear within a thousand years.

Based on the trace amounts of energy and bloodline he could sense, Chen Ming deduced that the owner of this skeleton was likely a god-level pureblood fire dragon in life.

If a soul master or soul beast with a dragon-related martial soul were to use special methods to extract and absorb the remaining energy, it could significantly improve their martial soul and innate potential. If the martial soul happened to match the attributes and bloodline of the dragon, there was even a minuscule chance that the martial soul could evolve to match that of the god-level dragon itself—achieving the so-called god-level martial soul.

However, for Chen Ming, the dragon bones were too heavily imprinted with the essence of dragons, and his martial soul wasn't dragon-related. If he allowed the remaining energy in the dragon bones to alter him, it could potentially interfere with his plans of ascending to godhood.

Chen Ming then turned his attention to the large purple crystal. The moment he placed his hand on it before he even actively probed it, he felt a surge of immense lightning power. It was as if he had been plunged into a sea of thunder. A giant purple figure seemed to emerge before him, as though it was trying to reflect something.

However, because Chen Ming's martial soul had no connection to lightning whatsoever, the purple figure was extremely blurry and only lingered for a moment before disappearing.

When Chen Ming tried to sense the crystal again, all he could feel was the overwhelming power of lightning contained within it. The sharp tip of what appeared to be a fragment of a divine weapon actively resisted Chen Ming's attempts to probe further. If Chen Ming wanted to forcibly investigate, it would likely come at a great cost.

...

At that very moment, in the Divine Realm, the God of Destruction, who was busy handling divine affairs, abruptly lifted his head.

"The remnants of the Thunder God's godhood seem to have stirred. But why hasn't it chosen a new successor? Could it be due to incompatible attributes, or perhaps some other reason?"

As the previous Thunder God's equal in the Divine Realm, the God of Destruction closed his eyes and quickly pinpointed the origin of the disturbance.

"The source of the disturbance… is in the Douluo Plane?"

His expression became complex. If he recalled correctly, not too long ago, Asura, one of the other God Kings, had also been paying close attention to the Douluo Plane, intent on finding a successor.

It seemed that the gods of the Douluo Plane—such as the Angel, Rakshasa, and Sea God—were also searching for successors through the legacies they had left behind on the Douluo Continent. In the current state of the Divine Realm, the Douluo Plane could potentially produce a large number of new gods at any time.

And now, at this critical moment, the Thunder God's dormant godhood had begun to stir in the Douluo Plane. Even the God of Destruction, one of the oldest God Kings in the Divine Realm, couldn't tell whether this development was good or bad.

Logically, this was something he should report to Asura, the God of Judgment and Law Enforcement. However, considering the current state of the Divine Realm, the God of Destruction hesitated.

Asura was preoccupied with finding a successor and likely wouldn't have the time to enforce the law. The Gods of Kindness and Evil were on the verge of abandoning their godhoods entirely—they would never agree to take on more work. Asking them to help would only add to his workload.

Among the five God Kings, three refused to work, leaving only himself and his wife, the Goddess of Life, to handle everything. Between managing affairs in other worlds, guiding divine spirits and attendants, and guarding against interdimensional threats, the workload was overwhelming.

Despite his reluctance, the God of Destruction decided to ask his wife to monitor the Douluo Plane. He sighed and sent a divine message to the Goddess of Life, who immediately appeared before him.

Seeing her husband's exhaustion, the Goddess of Life felt a pang of heartache. She gently patted his head, then sent a portion of her divine consciousness into the Divine Realm's core to monitor the Douluo Plane.

The God of Destruction's actions were entirely well-intentioned, and aimed at assisting Asura. However, if Asura knew about this, he would vehemently reject the God of Destruction's help.

After all, just ten days ago, Asura had secretly placed a carefully selected special piece into the Douluo Continent.

His plan, which he had been preparing for a long time, was now in motion. To execute it, he had even sacrificed a candidate who originally had the qualifications to inherit his godhood. Any unexpected variables at this stage could throw his entire scheme into chaos.

Moreover, Asura's methods and objectives were highly taboo—he was essentially undermining the very foundations of the Divine Realm. If the other God Kings discovered his actions, they would undoubtedly turn against him, despite their millennia of camaraderie.