I Advise You to Be a Good Person

Soto City, an important economic hub of the Balak Kingdom.

It is located in the heart of the Balak Kingdom, connecting the main trade routes of the southeast, northwest, and all directions. Its influence is second only to Barak City.

As an important economic city, the sounds of hawkers and vendors filled the air. The city's prosperity was slightly less than that of Martial Soul City.

Inside a shop marked with Soul Master insignia, a boy who looked to be about eight years old walked in.

The lighting inside the shop was dim.

A middle-aged man wearing glasses was lounging in a rocking chair.

He looked to be nearing fifty.

Despite his age, he was very muscular.

His face was quite distinctive, with a slightly protruding chin, wide cheekbones, a flat face, and a hooked nose—it could be described as resembling a shoe sole.

Even with his eyes closed, his face gave off a sense of slyness.

He wore a pair of black-framed crystal glasses with rigid, square frames, giving him a peculiar appearance.

Tuoba Yan scanned the shop.

There was a fluctuation of Soul Power within the shop.

Some Soul Tools, when not bonded to an owner, would automatically leak the Soul Power they contained.

The types of Soul Tools were not many, mainly storage-related.

In the corner of one wall, Tuoba Yan's eyes lit up as he saw a crystal with a grayish hue.

"Bancrystal!"

Tuoba Yan suppressed his excitement. On the surface, he continued to casually browse the items in the shop.

After a while, he picked up a bronze dagger from the counter and walked up to Flender, "You're Flender, the four-eyed cat hawk, right?"

"Buy something or get lost!"

It was not unexpected that Flender's tone was very cold.

Facing the cold words, Tuoba Yan smiled, "You're running a business, there's no rule against ripping people off. The carvings on this dagger are done quite nicely. Although it's a fake antique, the sharpness is barely to my liking."

Having said that, Tuoba Yan drew the dagger and slashed it, the sharp blade slicing off a corner of the table.

"How much for this dagger?"

"One hundred Gold Soul Coins."

"It would be worth far more if it were genuine. Alright, I'm in a good mood today, deal."

"But my dagger needs two hundred Gold Soul Coins."

"Are you sure you won't change your mind?"

"No, the price is fixed at five hundred Gold Soul Coins."

Five hundred?

In just a short while, a fake had skyrocketed to five hundred Gold Soul Coins.

The slight smile on Tuoba Yan's lips became more pronounced, and his eyes stared intently at Flender.

Flender closed his eyes, ignoring Tuoba Yan's expression. As a shop owner, he urged impatiently, "Pay up if you're buying, leave if you're not!"

Tuoba Yan scanned the surroundings and picked out two more items: a stone and a grayish crystal. Placing them together with the dagger, he said, "I won't haggle with you. These three items together are six hundred Gold Soul Coins."

Flender glanced at the two items Tuoba Yan had picked out.

The grayish crystal was not translucent and looked dirty. Nobles favored purple crystals.

As for the stone...

It looked like a mineral. Yet it was different from ordinary minerals, as it emitted a chill on hot summer days, causing droplets of water to condense on its surface.

"Eight hundred."

"Seven hundred."

"A thousand!"

Tuoba Yan stared at Flender with displeasure.

In the midst of haggling, Flender not only refused to lower the price but actually raised it.

Tuoba Yan angrily scolded, "Flender, everyone says you're a swindler. You can't really try to fleece me, can you?"

Flender seemed to enjoy the feeling of doing business, ignoring Tuoba Yan's scolding, and said, "If you don't have enough money, you can pay five hundred Gold Soul Coins first. Pay the rest later. Within three years, you will surely be able to pay off the remaining balance!"

Three years?

Tuoba Yan chuckled inwardly.

Since the Four Courts Trial ended, he had spent over a year training in the Advanced Soul Master Academy's Simulated Training Grounds.

Now, his Soul Power Level had risen from thirty-four to thirty-eight.

Recently, he had been diligently trying to conceal his Soul Power, preventing outsiders from anticipating his true Soul Master Level based on the aura he emitted.

Although he couldn't completely conceal his Soul Power yet, he had already achieved some initial success.

Even Flender, a Soul Sage renowned throughout the Soul Master world, habitually misjudged Tuoba Yan's Soul Master Level, believing him to be only a two-ring Soul Grand Master.

Advancing to the Soul Grand Master level allowed one to collect ten Gold Soul Coins in subsidies from the Martial Soul Hall each month.

That amounted to over three hundred Gold Soul Coins over three years.

Adding to that the Gold Soul Coins earned through other channels, Flender could confidently say that Tuoba Yan would surely repay the remaining debt within three years.

Tuoba Yan snapped his fingers, taking out a pouch of Gold Soul Coins from his Storage Soul Guide Device and placing it on the table. Then, he put the three items he had purchased into his own ring Storage Soul Guide Device.

As he stepped back two or three paces, Flender's voice rang out again.

"You don't have enough money!"

"Flender, don't be so greedy. There are a thousand Gold Soul Coins on the table, not one less!"

"For damaging my table, you have to pay."

Upon hearing this, Tuoba Yan glanced at the corner of the table that had been cut off by the dagger and asked, "How much?"

"A thousand Gold Soul Coins."

"A thousand Gold Soul Coins?" Tuoba Yan almost burst out laughing, scolding him without any politeness, "Heh, Flender, are you obsessed with money? This is just a simple pine table; it's worth at most three Silver Soul Coins, and you want me to pay you a thousand Gold Soul Coins?"

"My table is worth that price. If you don't have the money, you can leave the three items you bought behind."

At the door, Spirit Eagle Douluo couldn't help but frown.

Spirit Eagle Douluo had never encountered such a thing.

He stepped forward, his expression serious.

"I'm not talking about the price of the table."