Dragon City and Currency!

Zhu Ziyang's worries had clearly been unnecessary. The day after he returned, Zhu Changhe and his group also made it back to Anyang City.

At the academy, he saw Zhu Changhe beaming with pride. After reaching the rank of Soul Elder, Zhu Changhe had been hired by Hong Zhen as the vice principal of Anyang Academy.

To celebrate Zhu Changhe becoming a Soul Elder, Liang Ying specially prepared a table full of delicious dishes at home. Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan were both brought home by Liang Ying.

At the dinner table, Zhu Changhe proudly showed off. His third soul ring came from a Thousand-Year Blazing Bright Armored Beast, and its soul skill was a strengthening-type skill, perfectly making up for the limitation of his First Soul Skill and Second Soul Skill both being attack-type skills. Perhaps because of his long accumulation, Zhu Changhe's Soul Power had also leaped to Rank 32.

Zhu Changhe was truly excited. He even specially showed Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan his Thousand-Year Soul Ring. His smug expression could not have looked happier.

But when Zhu Ziyang revealed his second soul ring, Zhu Changhe was dumbfounded and nearly began questioning his entire life.

Although Liang Ying was also excited, she was more upset by Zhu Ziyang's reckless actions. Only after Zhu Ziyang promised he would not do it again did she spare his ears.

That night, Zhu Ziyang ate the Bright Yellow Fruit, and its medicinal effects were excellent.

His Soul Power reached Rank 23.

The next day.

Zhu Ziyang followed Zhu Changhe to Dragon City.

Dragon City, the capital of Zhenbei Province in the Heaven Dou Empire, was the largest Soul Tool material trading market in the northern part of the continent. Anyang City was an affiliated city under Dragon City's jurisdiction, and its city lord, Hong Zhen, had to come here every year to report on his duties to Dragon City's lord, Duke Blue Lightning.

However, the reason Zhu Changhe and his son had come to Dragon City was because of the Blazing Light Mantis forelimbs Zhu Ziyang had collected.

Zhu Changhe made his way through Dragon City's Soul Tool material market with practiced ease. Without browsing much, he headed straight for a large stall. Clearly, he had visited this stall before. Zhu Ziyang took notice and saw a black Tyrant Dragon head painted on the stall's sign.

Earth Dragon Sect!

Zhu Ziyang immediately understood where this stall came from. So it was Earth Dragon Sect's business.

Earth Dragon Sect was one of Dragon City's two major powers. All the Soul Masters within the sect possessed Earth Dragon martial souls, hence the name Earth Dragon Sect. Since the martial souls of its members and disciples were all dragon-descendant martial souls, Earth Dragon Sect was considered a notable force throughout the Heaven Dou Empire. With Zhu Ziyang's Frost Tyrant Dragon martial soul, if he joined Earth Dragon Sect, he would certainly receive focused training. Unfortunately, Zhu Ziyang had no such ambition.

Opposite Earth Dragon Sect was Dragon City's other great power, Heavenly Dragon Sect. The martial souls of Heavenly Dragon Sect's members were all Heavenly Dragon-type martial souls. Heavenly Dragon Sect was undoubtedly stronger than Earth Dragon Sect, because Earth Dragons were generally dragon descendants, while Heavenly Dragons included True Dragons! Setting aside martial soul strength, True Dragon martial souls were absolutely stronger than dragon-descendant martial souls, because the bloodline suppression between martial souls was no weaker than that between Soul Beasts.

It was said that Heavenly Dragon Sect's predecessor was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, one of the former Upper Three Sects from ten thousand years ago. Its Core Disciples were all Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Masters. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon was a classic True Dragon Martial Soul. Dragon God Douluo Mu En, who had dominated the continent a century ago, was said to have possessed a mutated Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul.

Dragon City's lord was the sect master of Heavenly Dragon Sect. When the Heaven Dou Empire split apart, the ancestors of Heavenly Dragon Sect had rendered great military service and were granted the title of Duke Blue Lightning by the Heaven Dou Empire's Imperial Family, guarding the empire's northern frontier for generations.

Heavenly Dragon Sect and Earth Dragon Sect had a deep connection. It was said that Earth Dragon Sect had initially been an affiliated sect of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Later, it came to Dragon City alongside the ancestors of Heavenly Dragon Sect. Still later, for various reasons, it broke away from Heavenly Dragon Sect and established itself as Earth Dragon Sect. Given that Heavenly Dragon Sect had allowed Earth Dragon Sect to establish itself in Dragon City, Heavenly Dragon Sect had probably been at fault when Earth Dragon Sect became independent.

"Yo! Changhe, haven't seen you in a while. What have you been busy with?" The stall owner looked delighted upon seeing Zhu Changhe.

"It's been peaceful lately, so I haven't come by much," Zhu Changhe replied with a smile, his expression carrying a hint of relief.

"That's great!" The stall owner smiled happily as well, then turned his gaze toward Zhu Ziyang. "This is Ziyang, right? He's grown so much!"

"That's right! Ziyang, this is your Uncle Liang Yu." Seeing the stall owner look toward Zhu Ziyang, Zhu Changhe could not help speaking with a touch of pride.

"Uncle Liang Yu!" Zhu Ziyang was somewhat surprised, but he did not show it. This stall owner was surnamed Liang, so he was clearly a relative from his mother's side. Yet he had never heard his mother mention that she had connections to Earth Dragon Sect.

"Ah! Good! You look just like your mother." Liang Yu looked delighted and sighed before turning back to Zhu Changhe. "So, what good stuff did you bring this time?"

"Blazing Light Mantis forelimbs!" Zhu Changhe said with a smile. He then took ten enormous mantis forelimbs out of his storage Soul Tool. As so many mantis forelimbs appeared before the stall, they immediately drew the attention of those nearby, and everyone wore expressions of shock.

Liang Yu was no exception. His eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Good heavens, Changhe, did you raid a mantis nest? So many mantis legs! And if I'm not mistaken, these are all Thousand-Year Blazing Light Mantises, right?"

"Never mind whether I raided a mantis nest. Take a look and see how much these mantis forelimbs are worth," Zhu Changhe said with a smile.

"A Thousand-Year Blazing Light Mantis forelimb usually sells for between five hundred and five hundred fifty Gold Soul Coins. Your scythe blades are in perfect condition and rich in elemental energy. Since we know each other, I'll give you five hundred fifty each." Liang Yu inspected the mantis forelimbs, then took out a special instrument and tested them again. Once he was done, he spoke to Zhu Changhe.

"No problem." Zhu Changhe readily agreed.

Zhu Ziyang was also very satisfied with Liang Yu's price. Five hundred fifty Gold Soul Coins apiece was already an above-market offer.

Just like that, the ten Thousand-Year Blazing Light Mantis forelimbs brought the Zhu Family an income of five thousand five hundred Gold Soul Coins.

At present, all the countries on the continent used a unified currency: the lowest-value Copper Soul Coin, the mid-value Silver Soul Coin, and the highest-value Gold Soul Coin. Among them, Copper Soul Coins and Silver Soul Coins were the currencies most commonly used by ordinary people, while Gold Soul Coins were the main hard currency circulating among Soul Masters.

The exchange rate among the three currencies was one to ten to one thousand. In other words, one Gold Soul Coin equaled ten Silver Soul Coins, which equaled one thousand Copper Soul Coins.

Take rice as an example. One kilogram of ordinary rice cost between fifty and one hundred Copper Soul Coins. An ordinary family of three ate around twenty-five kilograms of rice per month. At most, twenty-five kilograms of rice would cost twenty-five Silver Soul Coins, or 2.5 Gold Soul Coins. Therefore, five thousand five hundred Gold Soul Coins was absolutely a massive fortune for ordinary people.

But for a family with Soul Masters, five thousand five hundred Gold Soul Coins was not much at all.

After delivering the goods and receiving payment, Zhu Changhe and Zhu Ziyang bought some supplies before returning to Anyang City.

On the way home, Zhu Ziyang received two hundred Gold Soul Coins as hush money, because Zhu Changhe had kept three hundred Gold Soul Coins as private savings, while the other five thousand Gold Soul Coins had to be handed over to Liang Ying.

Seeing his father's somewhat awkward behavior, Zhu Ziyang laughed without any filial restraint.

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