Seeing Old Jack shaking himself, Jiang Chen was initially confused, but he quickly remembered that he had been absorbing a soul ring earlier.
"Ew, Grandpa, did you just fart? It smells so bad!" Jiang Chen pinched his nose, looking disgusted.
Old Jack blew his beard angrily and snapped, "You're the one who farted! Tell me, did you fall into the latrine last night? How could you come back to sleep without cleaning yourself? And you expect Grandpa to wash your quilt too?"
Faced with Old Jack's scolding, Jiang Chen could only give an awkward laugh. "Grandpa, please go now. I'll take a bath and wash the quilt myself later, so you don't have to worry."
Old Jack shook his head, leaning on his cane, about to leave, but suddenly turned back and said, "I'm going to the neighboring village now to get you a spot as a work-study student. Make sure the meal's ready when I get back."
"Got it, please hurry," Jiang Chen urged.
Looking at Jiang Chen's filthy state, Old Jack shook his head again and walked out.
As soon as Old Jack left, Jiang Chen excitedly jumped off the bed, but when he looked at the layers of black grime covering him, his brow furrowed tightly.
The smell was indescribable—far worse than any latrine odor. If Jiang Chen's stomach hadn't been empty, he probably would have vomited by now.
That thick, muddy layer stuck to his skin, stinking, uncomfortable, and itchy.
Though he wanted to immediately check out his soul technique, he had to put that thought aside.
Hugging his quilt, he grabbed his soap nuts for bathing and laundry, stepped out of the courtyard, and headed to the river to wash.
Living in the center of Spirit Soul Village, as soon as he stepped outside, the entire village was filled with the awful stench carried by the wind.
"Damn, whose latrine exploded? Why does it smell so bad?"
"Which bastard is poisoning our village? I'll deal with him."
"Dad, get up, it's time for porridge. Wait—what's that smell? It stinks!"
Jiang Chen hugged his quilt, his face flushed, hearing all the curses around him and feeling deeply embarrassed.
He kept his head down, almost completely covered by the quilt, and quickly dashed out of the village.
"That's Jiang Chen! Oh my god, did he really fall into the latrine?"
"Ugh... looks like it. See those clumps of black stuff all over him? Gross... I can't stand it."
He'd been discovered!
Jiang Chen's face reddened even more, and he started running wildly. Damn it, this was so embarrassing—he might never clear his name, even if he fell into the Yellow River!
He thought to himself: once he became famous, this latrine incident would definitely be a dark mark in his life.
He couldn't have felt more frustrated.
"What happened?" Tang San looked dumbfounded as he watched Jiang Chen running off with his quilt, hearing the villagers' comments. He wore a strange expression.
…
An hour later, Jiang Chen finally washed himself clean and scrubbed the quilt, but on the broad river floated countless fish belly-up.
What a waste.
Though he felt a pang of regret, he didn't mind too much—if not here in the river, there were still fish in the mountains.
Thinking of his soul technique, excitement surged in him. He hung the quilt on a nearby tree branch. Still without clothes, wearing only his underwear, he began to test his soul technique.
Since waking up, he had known the details of his first soul technique.
With practiced ease, he summoned his zombie martial soul. A completely purple soul ring rose from beneath his feet, gently swirling on his body.
"So it really is a purple soul ring, a thousand-year soul ring!" Jiang Chen's heart leapt with joy.
According to Yu Xiaogang's theory, a soul master's first soul ring can only reach up to 423 years. Jiang Chen had hoped to break this limit, but he never expected to shatter it by two or three times over!
And this was something he had achieved purely through his own strength—no external help—just his zombie body and the martial soul's amplification, successfully absorbing a thousand-year soul ring.
If not for the looming threat of the heavenly tribulation, he probably wouldn't have lasted until the soul ring reached a thousand years.
After all, the heavenly tribulation was deadly—he had to fight with everything he had to absorb the soul ring.
A satisfied smile spread across his face as he released his first soul technique.
A layer of pitch-black substance appeared on his body surface, flowing like liquid as it covered him from head to toe. Then it solidified, forming a majestic and imposing armor.
The armor was deep black and glossy. Each elbow, knee, and shoulder had a thick, sharp, rhombus-shaped black spike, making him look fierce and intimidating.
He tapped the armor—it felt like bone but sounded like metal.
With his will, the faceplate of the armor could retract to expose only his eyes, nose, and mouth, or disappear entirely.
After admiring his reflection in the river for a few minutes, he nodded in satisfaction, grinning widely.
If he had to sum up this armor in one phrase, it would be: damn cool!
Besides the appearance, the armor's effect surprised him even more.
This skill was called Zombie God Armor, and its primary effect was defense. When the divine armor manifested, his body's defense increased by 150%—that is, one and a half times stronger.
Not only that, the divine armor also boosted other attributes, though to a lesser extent than the defense increase.
Both strength and speed were doubled. Although this enhancement was somewhat less impressive than the defense boost, it was still a very respectable improvement.
Generally, for Soul Lords at level thirty or so who absorb a thousand-year soul ring, the best they get is about a one-time doubling of their abilities.
Compared to other soul masters' third-level skills, Jiang Chen's enhancements to these three attributes—strength, speed, and defense—already placed his skill among the very top-tier techniques.
Moreover, his base strength, speed, and defense were already ridiculously high, so once the divine armor manifested, the overall effect would be terrifying.
It was estimated that after activating this skill, standing firm in place, few soul masters of the same rank would be able to break through his defense.
"This really is a defensive skill," Jiang Chen thought to himself. He had already predicted this before absorbing the soul ring. After all, a divine soul ring tended to grant the user the skill they most needed.
However, the skill did have its drawbacks—it wasn't durable, and it consumed a considerable amount of soul power.
The skill's duration was only half an hour. Just now, when Jiang Chen activated it, a full third of his soul power was immediately drained.
After half an hour, the skill would automatically deactivate, though it could be cast again—at the cost of another hefty soul power consumption.
Unless Jiang Chen could fight without using much soul power, it was basically impossible for him to activate this skill a second time in quick succession.
But compared to the advantages the skill offered, Jiang Chen easily overlooked these flaws.
Half an hour was generally enough to finish most battles—unless he faced someone like Tang San, who had plenty of tricks up his sleeve.
He tapped the armor a few more times, producing a crisp, metallic sound.
"This armor really does sound like metal. I wonder if it can resist lightning?" Jiang Chen wondered aloud.
"But it probably can. Otherwise, why would this skill be given to me?" he reassured himself silently.
Regardless of whether it could or not, he would have to face the tribulation. He only had three days to prepare. He couldn't avoid it—if he didn't overcome it in time, the lightning would surely strike down upon him.
Midnight… how tough. The saved chapters are gone. After this recommendation, I'll try to restore two updates for a while and save some for the next recommendation. Thanks so much to everyone for your recommendation votes and tips. Really appreciate it!