Killing and Crushing the Heart (Please Vote, Recommend, and Follow)

Zhao Yuanbu stared at the desk in silence. As a principal with some backing, his desk was made of expensive Crystal Jade Stone. That thing was essentially a kind of rock. He truly could not figure out how it could be eaten.

Fortunately, Bai Qingshan did not pay much attention to it. After glancing at Xiao Qiang's Soul Communication Device number, Bai Qingshan dialed him. Before long, Xiao Qiang's voice came through the Soul Communication Device.

"Have you been well lately, Uncle Bai?"

Bai Qingshan glanced at Zhao Yuanbu, then at the things Xiao Qiang had sent. "Not bad."

"Uncle Bai, you caused yourself quite a bit of trouble for my sake back then. I said before that I would help you find medicine to improve your strength. Among the medicines I sent this time is a Marrow Cleansing Pill. Take that one first. It can clear away most of the medicinal residue in your body. Then there are the Soul Ascension Pills, as well as some other pills that will not greatly affect your future potential. Take one of those pills at intervals. Within a year, it should be enough to help you reach the Five-ring Soul King rank."

"I've heard of Soul Ascension Pills, but Marrow Cleansing Pills..." Bai Qingshan looked at the quality label on the Marrow Cleansing Pill and asked, "Is this a Mingde Hall exclusive?"

"More or less. It's an exclusive from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Auction House, but it seems you need to be a noble of at least count rank to enter. Fortunately, the Mingde Hall Master treated me well and gave me his disciple's identity token, so I was able to get in easily."

"You bought them? They must have cost a lot."

"It was all right. On one hand, my teacher gave me quite a bit of money. On the other, my teacher's grandson, Xiao Hongchen, is a really great person. He thoughtfully helped me cover part of the cost."

"It's good that you've become close with Hall Master Hongchen's grandson. But how much did these pills cost?" Bai Qingshan spoke with relief, yet he was also curious about their price. He was somewhat worried that if Xiao Qiang spent so much on pills for him, would Xiao Qiang still have enough cultivation resources left?

"The Marrow Cleansing Pill cost three million, the Breakthrough Pill cost five hundred seventy thousand, and the Soul Ascension Pill cost three hundred sixty thousand. The rest were relatively minor pills. Altogether, it came to a little over six million."

"Isn't that a bit too much? Do you still have enough over there?"

"Ugh..."

Zhao Yuanbu clutched his chest. He felt as though his heart were spasming with pain.

Others might not know Bai Qingshan's circumstances, but he did.

With Bai Qingshan's abilities as a Rank 4 Soul Engineer, if he wanted to earn money, the safest option was to make Rank 3 Soul Tools.

In the Sun Moon Empire, a place full of Soul Engineers, the profits on Soul Tools—especially low-level Soul Tools—were pitifully thin.

Even if Bai Qingshan sold off the Soul Tools he made each day, it was questionable whether his pure profit would reach two hundred Gold Soul Coins. After all, even in the three countries of the original Douluo Continent, Rank 3 Soul Tools did not sell for much.

If even two hundred Gold Soul Coins a day was uncertain, then six thousand Gold Soul Coins a month was equally uncertain. Including Bai Qingshan's existing savings, even if everything went perfectly, an average of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins a year was probably his limit.

Eight years meant eight hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. Yet these pills alone were worth over six million. Add in a Black Card starting at one million Gold Soul Coins, and over these seven years, that was nearly ten times the return.

Nearly ten times the return!

More importantly, those pills were clearly not something ordinary people could buy. The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Auction House—apparently even Eastsea City's city lord, that Seven-Ring Soul Sage with a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring, could not get in there.

There were pills to cleanse the meridians and marrow, and pills with minimal side effects. Why had he been such an idiot back then and refused Xiao Qiang's request?

Xiao Qiang had clearly come to him first. If he had agreed, would all these things not have been his? And with pills that had virtually no side effects, Zhao Yuanbu felt that he might even have been able to make a run at becoming a Seven-Ring Soul Sage.

What had he been thinking back then? Why had he not agreed to Xiao Qiang's request? If he had, then with these pills, he should have broken through to the Five-ring Soul King rank this year.

Why had he, back then, for the sake of cultivation...

Hm? For the sake of cultivation?

Zhao Yuanbu, who had been blaming himself, paused. He remembered why he had rejected Xiao Qiang in the first place.

For one thing, Xiao Qiang's demands had indeed been excessive. For another, he was different from Bai Qingshan. Bai Qingshan's talent had already been exhausted, and ordinary resources could no longer raise his strength by even a single rank of Soul Power.

But Zhao Yuanbu was different. Compared to Bai Qingshan, he was much younger. Especially when Xiao Qiang had asked him for resources, he had been in his twenties, practically at the second peak of his cultivation.

Zhao Yuanbu knew that strength was the foundation of everything, so he had decisively rejected Xiao Qiang's request for more resources. After all, the resources provided by the family were limited. The family head clearly would not agree to give Xiao Qiang so much. If Xiao Qiang's resources had to be guaranteed, then they could only be cut from Zhao Yuanbu's share.

But at that time, he had been full of ambition and needed good resources to improve his strength. Unless his past self had been absolutely certain that Xiao Qiang would bring him even better things—good enough to make up for the seven-year gap in his cultivation—then even if he knew Xiao Qiang was someone who repaid kindness, he could never have chosen to give Xiao Qiang those resources.

Thinking of it that way, Zhao Yuanbu felt much better.

My ass!

Watching benefits that should have fallen into his own hands sprout wings and fly into someone else's hands—yes, he had made the wrong choice, but seeing someone close to him make the right one hurt even more.

It was like two childhood neighbors. One chose to sell his land and go elsewhere to work. After struggling for more than a decade, he returned home hoping to bask in glory, only to find that the area had been demolished and redeveloped. His childhood friend, who had simply coasted along, had suddenly become a billionaire, living in a villa and driving luxury cars, while all the money he had earned could barely buy a toilet.

Zhao Yuanbu was furious, but he could not show it now. He could only rub his chest and comfort himself with a blank expression.

It's fine, it's fine. It's only nearly ten times, right? They're ultimately not people of the same class. Once this favor is repaid, they'll go their separate ways. By then, everyone will be Five-ring Soul Kings. At most, they'll all be qualified to challenge the Six-ring Soul Emperor rank. It's fine, it's fine.

As Zhao Yuanbu consoled himself internally, Xiao Qiang's voice continued from the Soul Communication Device.

"Uncle Bai, you don't need to worry about me. Thanks to getting along so well with Xiao Hongchen, he helped me pay part of the cost, so I still have plenty of money. There are three million Gold Soul Coins on that Black Card. You can use it to repay your previous debts, as well as cover some living expenses afterward."

"Oh, right. When you reach the five-ring rank, remember to come find me. I'll help you get a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring. Don't be polite with me. Consider it a little interest. Back then, when you helped me, you practically helped me until you went broke."

Zhao Yuanbu: "..." For some reason, a dish came to mind.