Upon hearing this, Qing Mu pretended to ponder for a moment. Then his eyes suddenly flashed, as if he had thought of something interesting, and the smile on his face grew increasingly strange.
But the expression vanished in an instant. Qing Mu then said to the stall owner, "How about this? Your Whale Rubber is garbage, but since it's rare, I can offer one hundred Gold Soul Coins for it."
"Oh, this... could you add a little more? How about two hundred Gold Soul Coins? Whale Rubber this large is quite rare, after all."
The stall owner still wanted to bargain. That was the whole point of setting up a stall—ask for the sky and haggle down to the ground.
"One hundred and twenty Gold Soul Coins at most. Any higher, and I might as well buy Hundred Year Whale Jelly. I refuse to believe your weathered Thousand Year Whale Jelly is more effective than normal Hundred Year Whale Jelly!"
Qing Mu glanced at the stall owner and spoke calmly.
"This..."
The stall owner hesitated before sighing. "Fine, one hundred and twenty Gold Soul Coins it is. Better than nothing."
"Hmph, you made out like a bandit!"
Qing Mu snorted, then took out one hundred and twenty Gold Soul Coins from his Storage Soul Tool, handed them to the stall owner, and left with the Whale Rubber.
After Qing Mu left, the stall owner could no longer suppress the smile on his face. He had bought that Weathered Whale Jelly from a fisherman for a single Silver Soul Coin, yet he had now sold it for one hundred and twenty Gold Soul Coins—a full twelve-hundredfold profit.
"But judging by that kid's expression, he probably thought of something. The people around him are likely in for trouble."
Recalling Qing Mu's expression before buying the item, the stall owner could not help but sigh inwardly. When young noble masters had a sudden whim, who knew how many people would suffer for it?
Elsewhere, Qing Mu tossed the black crystal in his hand, the corners of his lips curling upward slightly.
The stall owner might have made a considerable profit, but Qing Mu would never lose out. The Whale Rubber in his hand truly was Ten Thousand Year Whale Jelly.
And with such a large piece, if he consumed it all, it would be enough to increase the age limit his body could withstand for Soul Rings by two or three thousand years.
Combined with the enhancement from the Wood Spirit Seed, absorbing a Fourth Soul Ring of seven or eight thousand years would not be difficult. He might even be able to attempt a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.
Of course, after absorbing his first three Soul Rings, Qing Mu had also discovered that the Pokémon move system seemed faintly superior to the Soul Ring system. The age of a Soul Ring did not particularly affect the power of moves.
Therefore, unless he was absolutely certain, Qing Mu would not take the risk of absorbing a Soul Ring beyond his level.
After all, there was little benefit to doing so. If he could become a god in the future, his Soul Rings would naturally be remolded. If he could not become a god, what meaning would a little extra age on his Soul Rings have for him?
Bulbasaur had far more moves than he had Soul Rings. His main combat strength still lay with Bulbasaur.
Qing Mu casually stored the Whale Rubber in his Storage Soul Tool, then continued wandering through the market with Bulbasaur, hoping to see whether he could find any other bargains.
However, what followed was destined to disappoint Qing Mu. He had nearly toured the entire market, yet did not see a second item worth buying.
Qing Mu found that somewhat regrettable, but he also knew that anything that reached this market had surely passed through many hands. If it were truly valuable, someone along the way would have already snapped it up.
The reason he had been able to pick up that Ten Thousand Year Whale Jelly was also due to an information gap.
At this time, Whale Rubber was merely considered an aphrodisiac. Though its aphrodisiac effects were valuable enough, that value was insignificant compared to its ability to strengthen the body and raise the age limit one could withstand for Soul Rings.
Moreover, aphrodisiacs did not require Whale Rubber of particularly high age, nor did they require much of it. A fingernail-sized amount each time was enough, so very little Whale Rubber was consumed. Thus, Whale Rubber was merely a niche commodity.
Under such circumstances, a piece of Thousand Year Whale Jelly believed to have weathered naturally had little value. That was why Qing Mu had gotten the bargain.
"Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce?"
At that moment, Qing Mu arrived at the entrance of a resplendent shop. He looked at its signboard and rubbed his chin.
Without question, this should be an enterprise of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. There ought to be some good things inside, right?
Thinking so, Qing Mu entered the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce with interest.
Yet only a short while later, Qing Mu walked back out without the slightest reluctance.
The Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce did have good merchandise, but the prices were simply too high. A thousand Gold Soul Coins was merely the starting price.
Qing Mu even saw a Hundred Year Right Arm Bone from a four-hundred-year Gale Wolf, priced at seventy-five thousand Gold Soul Coins.
How could Qing Mu possibly afford such a price now? Time to go, time to go.
"Bulbasaur, it seems this market has nothing else worth seeing. Let's head back."
After leaving the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce, Qing Mu spoke to Bulbasaur.
"Bulba, Bulba~"
Bulbasaur nodded. After obtaining the Wood Spirit Seed, he no longer thought much of these items.
He had been somewhat interested in the Soul Bone just now, but Qing Mu clearly could not afford it. Besides, a hundred-year Soul Bone was still rather low-grade.
Just as Qing Mu was preparing to leave Suo Tuo Great Market, two familiar figures quickly emerged from the side and blocked his path.
"Finally, we found you!"
Dugu Yan looked at Qing Mu before her, her tone somewhat excited.
But after making up their minds, they discovered that Qing Mu had already vanished. Left with no choice, they began searching throughout the vast Suo Tuo Great Market.
Fortunately, Bulbasaur, Qing Mu's Martial Soul, was simply too distinctive. Finding him was not difficult. After asking around, they finally caught up to Qing Mu.
Qing Mu looked at the suddenly appearing Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling and could not help but freeze slightly, not knowing what they wanted from him.
Suddenly, Qing Mu's heart jolted. Could the secret of my Martial Soul have been exposed? No, impossible. If it had truly been exposed, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling would not be the ones looking for me!
Almost instantly, Qing Mu rejected that guess. If his secret had been exposed, the ones coming would at least be experts of Soul Saint rank or above. It could not possibly be Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling.
And even if it truly were the two of them, Suo Tuo Great Market was not an appropriate place for it.
With that thought, Qing Mu finally relaxed. He addressed Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling, saying, "Miss Dugu, Miss Ye, is there something else you need?"
"Something major. Very major."
As she spoke, Dugu Yan brought her lips close to Qing Mu's ear and whispered, "When you saw Lingling, didn't you feel anything special?"
Before you continue