Seeing Old Jack shaking him, Jiang Chen was a bit dazed at first, but he quickly remembered that he had been absorbing a soul ring earlier.
"Huh? Grandpa, did you fart? It stinks so much!" Jiang Chen covered his nose with a face full of disgust.
Old Jack blew his beard and glared, "You're the one farting! Tell me, did you fall into the outhouse pit last night? How come you came back to sleep without even washing, and now you want Grandpa to wash your quilt for you?"
Facing Old Jack's scolding, Jiang Chen could only give an embarrassed, silly smile, "Grandpa, you should go now. I'll wash myself and the quilt later, so you don't have to worry."
Old Jack shook his head, and just as he was about to leave with his cane, he turned back and said:
"I'm going to the neighboring village now to get you a work-study student spot. Remember to have dinner ready when I come back."
"Got it, you go ahead already." Jiang Chen urged him.
Looking at Jiang Chen covered in filth, Old Jack shook his head and walked out.
As soon as Old Jack left, Jiang Chen excitedly jumped off the bed, but when he saw the layers of pitch-black gunk on his body, his small brows immediately furrowed.
That smell was truly indescribable, a hundred times worse than the smell of an outhouse pit. If Jiang Chen's stomach wasn't empty, he probably would have already vomited.
The layers of stuff stuck to his body like sludge, stinking, uncomfortable, and even a little itchy.
Although he desperately wanted to check his soul skill right away, he had to put that thought aside for now.
He gathered his quilt and walked out, taking along the soapberries for bathing and washing clothes, then headed out of the courtyard toward the river.
He lived in the center of Holy Soul Village. The moment he stepped out, a foul stench spread everywhere. A gust of wind blew, and the entire Holy Soul Village was enveloped in that terrible odor.
"Damn, whose latrine exploded? Why does it smell so bad?"
"Which bastard is poisoning our village? I'm gonna beat him up!"
"Daddy, come eat porridge, ugh, what's that smell? It stinks!"
Jiang Chen hugged his quilt tightly, his face turning red as he listened to all the cursing around him. He felt extremely embarrassed.
He lowered his head, almost completely covering himself with the quilt, and hurriedly ran toward the outside of the village.
"So it was that kid Jiang Chen… Heavens! Did he really fall into the outhouse pit?"
"Uh… looks like it. Look at all those black lumps stuck all over him… ugh… I can't take it anymore."
He was discovered!
Jiang Chen's little face turned even redder, and he ran even faster. This was way too embarrassing. Now, even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he wouldn't be able to wash this stain away.
He couldn't help but think that when he achieved great success in the future, this "outhouse incident" might become the biggest dark spot in his life!
He felt extremely depressed.
What happened? Tang San looked in bewilderment at Jiang Chen running away while hugging his quilt, listening to the villagers' discussion, his face also filled with a strange expression.
…
One hour later, Jiang Chen had finally washed his body clean and scrubbed the quilt thoroughly. However, in the wide river, countless fish were now floating belly-up.
What a waste.
Though it was a pity, he didn't really care much. If there were no more fish in the river, there were still plenty in the mountains.
Thinking of his soul skill, he became excited again. He hung the quilt on a nearby tree branch, didn't even bother putting on clothes, and started testing his first soul skill completely naked.
From the moment he woke up, he already knew the information about his first soul skill.
He skillfully summoned his zombie martial soul. A completely purple soul ring rose from beneath his feet and gently circled his body.
"It really is a purple soul ring… a thousand-year soul ring!" Jiang Chen was overjoyed in his heart.
According to Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang's theory, the limit for a soul master's first soul ring was 423 years. Before absorbing it, Jiang Chen had still been hoping to break through that limit, but he never imagined he would not only break through it, but also exceed it by two or three times!
And he had endured it completely on his own, without any external help, relying solely on his zombie physique and the amplification of his martial soul to successfully absorb a thousand-year soul ring.
If not for the threat of heavenly tribulation looming over him, he probably wouldn't have lasted until the soul ring turned into a thousand-year one.
After all, heavenly tribulation was lethal. How could he not go all out while absorbing the soul ring?
He revealed a satisfied smile and released his first soul skill.
A layer of pitch-black substance appeared on the surface of his body, like liquid covering his entire form, then quickly solidified, forming an imposing and domineering suit of armor around him.
The armor was jet-black and glossy. At his elbows, knees, and shoulders protruded thick, pitch-black diamond-shaped spikes, giving him an especially ferocious appearance.
He knocked on it; the black armor felt like bone, yet the sound it made was metallic.
With a thought, the face armor could cover everything except his eyes, nose, and mouth, or retract completely.
He walked to the riverbank, admired his reflection in the water for several minutes, then nodded in satisfaction, grinning from ear to ear.
If he had to describe this armor in a few words, it would be: Damn handsome!
Besides the appearance that delighted him, the effects of the armor surprised him even more.
This skill was called Zombie God Armor. Its main effect was defense. After the divine armor attached itself, his body's defensive power directly increased by 150%, in other words, 1.5 times stronger.
Not only that, but the divine armor also provided amplification in other aspects, though less than the defense boost.
Both strength and speed were increased by one time (doubled).
Although the increase was smaller compared to the defense boost, it was still an extremely impressive figure.
Generally speaking, even excellent thirty-something level Soul Elders who absorbed thousand-year soul rings would only get about a one-time amplification effect.
Jiang Chen's skill, in terms of enhancement to these three attributes, could be considered a top-tier skill even when compared to most soul masters' third soul skills.
Moreover, his strength, speed, and defense were already freakishly high to begin with. Once the divine armor was attached, the overall effect would reach a truly terrifying level.
It was estimated that after releasing this skill, even among soul masters of the same level, very few would be able to break through his defense.
"As expected, it's a defense-type skill." Jiang Chen thought to himself. He had already anticipated this before absorbing the soul ring, since a god-bestowed soul ring would form the skill that the absorber needed most at the moment.
However, this skill also had some flaws, it couldn't be maintained for long, and it consumed quite a lot of soul power.
The skill could only be maintained for half an hour. Just after releasing it earlier, one-third of Jiang Chen's soul power had been directly consumed.
After half an hour, the skill would automatically deactivate, though he could release it again, but it would consume soul power once more.
Unless Jiang Chen barely used any soul power during battle, it would be basically impossible to use this skill a second time.
However, compared to the advantages of the skill, Jiang Chen had already chosen to ignore these shortcomings.
Half an hour… that should usually be enough to decide a battle, unless he encountered a monster like Tang San who had countless hidden cards.
He knocked on the armor a few more times, producing a crisp metallic clanging sound.
"This armor sounds like metal… I wonder if it can block lightning?" Jiang Chen thought with some doubt.
"But it should be able to, right? Otherwise, why would it give me this kind of skill?" He comforted himself inwardly.
But regardless of whether it could or not, he had to face that tribulation. He only had at most three days to prepare. Whether he wanted to or not, he had to cross it. If he exceeded the time limit, lightning would probably strike him directly.