How should one put it? The atmosphere of Biluo City is... unique. There aren't many poison-type Soul Masters across Douluo Continent, but in Biluo City, it's rare to not be one.
Here, when you sit down for a meal, there's a good chance something poisonous is mixed in your food. Either someone added it deliberately, or it crawled in on its own. In this massive city, you'd hardly find a single rat—because there are just too many snakes.
The main source of protein for commoners? It's the spicy snakes that slither right into their houses. Around here, if you can't grab a snake bare-handed without getting hurt, don't even think about finding a spouse. Kids as young as four or five pit venomous creatures like scorpions and centipedes against each other in insect fights.
Even the local water supply is laced with toxins. There's even been a case where a water-type Soul Master tried cultivating near Biluo City's waters and ended up nearly poisoning himself to death.
The reason Biluo City, despite being close to a major gathering of poisonous soul beasts, remains barely alive is precisely this brutal environment. Here, 9 out of 10 Soul Masters specialize in poisons. The remaining one? Odds are they have poison resistance by default. Any Soul Master families who migrate here either die out after a few generations or evolve toxin-based powers or resistance just to survive.
Treating poisons around here follows one rule: fight poison with poison. If you live, great. If you die, well, too bad. Natural selection at its finest. Even bandits steer clear of the outskirts—there's no room for survival when even the plants can turn into venomous spirit beasts and attack you.
In this place, getting counter-attacked by wheat might sound absurd, but it's definitely not impossible.
Forget the Heaven Dou Empire—even across the entire Douluo Continent, Biluo City is infamous for its fierce, battle-hardened people. Even during times of chaos, no one in their right mind would dare mess with this cursed place.
After the fragrant antidote wafted through the air for a bit, the kids gradually calmed down. Their faces looked a bit tired, and their bodies felt weak. The scent might have been strong enough to knock out a regular adult male, but this was Biluo City—the kids here had solid poison resistance. Plus, they were from Soul Master families. Whether their martial spirits specialized in poisons or resisting poisons, these children weren't the fragile type.
Or rather, in a place where you run into poison every three steps and venomous creatures every ten, any child too weak wouldn't live past six.
Once their kids were back on their feet, most of the onlookers lost interest and turned their attention to Chen Ming.
The Chen family had been rooted in Biluo City for over 500 years, and their family martial spirit—the Emerald Scorpion—was legendary in town.
This martial spirit and its corresponding soul beast had many names. Besides "Emerald Scorpion," the best-known name was the "Bilin Scorpion."
The Bilin Scorpion, along with the Bilin Snake, Bilin Centipede, Bilin Gecko, and Bilin Toad, were collectively called the Five Venoms of Bilin, universally recognized as highly toxic beings. Their venom could kill on contact, and their close-range combat abilities were top-tier. Even by Douluo Continent standards, this martial spirit was considered elite.
Perhaps due to living in such a poison-infested place, the Chen family's version of the Emerald Scorpion was even more venomous than others found across the continent. Its poison was more bizarre, unpredictable, and almost impossible to counter. The quality of their martial spirit was unmatched in Biluo City.
In Biluo City, there were three major powers: the City Lord's Mansion, representing the official face of the Heaven Dou Empire; the Spirit Hall, with its long-standing prestige; and the Chen family—because, frankly, they were just that formidable.
Yet, after living alongside each other for centuries, everyone knew the Chen family's martial spirit had a fatal flaw for a Soul Master clan. Right now, what everyone wanted to know was whether Chen Ming had inherited that flaw.
"Let's test your soul power," Yan Jun said, handing over the crystal ball. "Be careful—don't shatter it. Your strength isn't the same as before."
Yan Jun's gaze sharpened as he watched the ball. Having lived in Biluo City for decades, he knew the ins and outs of every family's martial spirit. Naturally, he was well aware of the Chen family's flaw.
Chen Ming was definitely not lacking in soul power—but the question was: how much?
Biting his lip, Chen Ming took the crystal ball. As he channeled his soul power into it, the ball slowly began to glow. The light wasn't dazzling, but it held everyone's rapt attention.
"Innate soul power... level 5?"
Yan Jun's eyes widened in surprise, the narrow slits of his gaze popping open.
Level 5 was pretty high for an average Soul Master—not crazy high, but definitely above average. Yan Jun himself had been level 5 back in the day, and there had been a few level 5s or higher over the years. But Chen Ming's situation was different.
Typically, the higher the martial spirit's quality, the higher the innate soul power should be. High-quality martial spirits rarely showed up with low soul power. But the Chen family's Emerald Scorpion was one of those rare exceptions.
The Emerald Scorpion was an exceptionally high-quality martial spirit—one of the best in terms of attributes. But frustratingly, it had major issues with innate soul power. Most Chen family members awakened with just level 2 or 3, and level 4s were exceedingly rare. Over the past century, more and more of them had no soul power at all, meaning they couldn't become Soul Masters.
A family that had ruled Biluo City for 500 years now had fewer than ten Soul Masters left—and nearly half had married in from outside the family. Only a handful still had the Emerald Scorpion martial spirit.
The martial spirit was so potent that it passed down easily, but because of the flaw, the descendants usually didn't inherit any soul power, turning their "poisonous scorpions" into little more than regular scorpions. For a Soul Master clan, this was a dead-end cycle. Other families in town didn't even dare to marry into the Chen family for fear of diluting their bloodlines and cursing their own children with the same flaw.
More than 500 years ago, when Biluo City was first built in the treacherous Biluo Gorge, the founding City Lord had been a Chen family member. The whole city was practically the Chen family's private domain. But over time, as their innate soul power dropped too low, they stepped down from ruling and slowly declined.
In recent decades, other families had been whispering: within a hundred years, the Chen family might disappear from the Soul Master ranks altogether. Eventually, they might not even be able to hold on to their noble title.
But Chen Ming was clearly different. His martial spirit and innate soul power were nothing like the usual Emerald Scorpion cases. Onlookers couldn't help but wonder: Had the Chen family hit the jackpot? Was this a lucky mutation, right when their bloodline was on the verge of dying out? Not only had the quality improved, but maybe the curse of low soul power had finally been broken.
Regardless, in a small place like Biluo City, level 5 innate soul power was the mark of a genius. With someone like him, the Chen family could hang on for a few more decades at least. And if they managed to tough it out and the martial spirit flaw really was fixed... well, then Biluo City's power dynamics might be in for a serious shake-up.