Obtaining Whale Rubber

Cheng Yao directly informed Yuan Hao of Huangfu Ji's request for Thousand-Year Whale Rubber.

Huangfu Ji's request left Yuan Hao utterly dumbfounded.

Inside the study of Yuan Mansion.

Yuan Hao sat in the seat of honor, with several advisors summoned before him.

"Our Grand Duke rarely makes requests of his own, but what does he want Thousand-Year Whale Rubber for?"

That was what puzzled him the most. Though whale rubber was rare, it was ultimately an aphrodisiac.

The advisors were equally baffled.

A young man frowned and asked doubtfully, "The Grand Duke is only twelve. Why would he want whale rubber?"

Yuan Hao nodded.

A middle-aged man beside the young man joked, "Could it be that our Grand Duke has already ruined his body at such a young age?"

The others immediately burst into laughter, and even Yuan Hao laughed aloud.

But after laughing, they regained their serious expressions. Saying that Huangfu Ji had ruined his body was merely a joke. After all, he was a twelve-year-old boy and a Level 30 soul master. How could his body possibly be ruined?

Besides, he had spent the past six years cultivating. Other than Liu Erlong, there had not been another girl around him. It wasn't as if he could be into men.

"Do you think this whale rubber might have some other use?" Yuan Hao asked.

The advisors all shook their heads.

The young advisor said, "That's clearly impossible. If it truly had any other effect, it couldn't have remained undiscovered until now."

Whale rubber had been used as an aphrodisiac for ages. If it had any other effects, someone would have discovered them long ago instead of waiting until now.

"Then what does he want whale rubber for?" Yuan Hao rested his chin on his clasped hands.

It was not that he begrudged Huangfu Ji a piece of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber. The stuff was useless to him; he did not need an aphrodisiac, and a piece of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber was worth only a few thousand Gold Soul Coins.

But he wanted to know exactly what Huangfu Ji intended to do with the whale rubber. He had to get to the bottom of it.

There was simply no helping it. Huangfu Ji had grown far too quickly these past few years. In just six years, he had raised his soul power by twenty levels. Reaching Soul Elder at the age of twelve—his Innate Full Soul Power talent was truly terrifying.

And that was without receiving the cultivation resources that should have belonged to a Grand Duke. If Huangfu Ji had been trained according to the Huangfu Family's usual methods for nurturing geniuses, he would likely not have been far from becoming a Soul Ancestor by now.

Fortunately, the Huangfu Family was finished. Other than Huangfu Ji, every other talented person had been purged by him.

The ones left were all worthless trash, with the strongest among them only being Soul Ancestors.

Moreover, those people had been watched like pigs penned up for slaughter. They could not stir up any trouble—but that was only if Huangfu Ji was dealt with.

Even the young advisor and the others could not think of any other use for whale rubber.

The middle-aged advisor said, "The only possibility now is that Huangfu Ji wants the stuff as an aphrodisiac. That Liu Erlong by his side really is beautiful enough that even ordinary men might not be able to restrain themselves, much less him."

"After living together for six years, perhaps our Grand Duke can no longer restrain himself either."

The more he spoke, the more he wanted to laugh. After all, that reason was simply too far-fetched.

"Should we give him the whale rubber?" Yuan Hao asked.

The young advisor said, "Since the Grand Duke needs it, give it to him. Whale rubber has no use other than as an aphrodisiac anyway."

"If the Grand Duke truly becomes a lecher, that would be a good thing for us."

"Besides, taking too many aphrodisiacs damages the body."

Yuan Hao interlaced his fingers on the table, his expression blank as contemplation filled his eyes.

After a while, he made his decision.

"It's just a piece of whale rubber. Give it to him. I also want to see what tricks he can come up with."

Once the decision was made, the whale rubber was swiftly delivered to the Junior Soul Master Academy.

Inside the dormitory.

Huangfu Ji looked at the whale rubber stored in the wooden box, and a smug smile appeared on his lips.

"I never expected Yuan Hao to be so generous."

Zhao Yuan curiously leaned over. The moment he saw the whale rubber in the wooden box, his brows instantly furrowed.

"Whale rubber?"

He looked at Huangfu Ji with a strange expression.

"Grand Duke, what do you need this for?"

Huangfu Ji merely glanced at Zhao Yuan without explaining.

He picked up the golden-yellow, crystal-like whale rubber. Judging by his estimate, it should have come from a Thousand-Year Demon Whale. He did not consume it directly, because it needed to be softened with high heat.

However, his Sacred Martial War Dragon Martial Soul did not possess the ability to release flames.

"Whose Martial Soul has the highest flame temperature?" Huangfu Ji asked in a deep voice.

"A fire-element soul master?" Without even thinking, Zhao Yuan said, "You can just find Erlong. Her Martial Soul is the Fire Dragon, and she can produce fire."

But then he added, "Grand Duke, isn't this a little too hasty? You're both only twelve, and neither of you has confessed yet. Going straight to this step might not be appropriate."

Huangfu Ji rolled his eyes, then raised a hand and smacked the back of Zhao Yuan's head.

"Nothing but useless nonsense."

"I'm not taking Whale Rubber for the reason you think."

He stopped hiding it and told Zhao Yuan about Whale Rubber's effects.

After hearing this, Zhao Yuan was dumbfounded.

"Whale Rubber can do that?"

It was the first time he had heard that Whale Rubber could strengthen the body and increase the age limit of Soul Rings one could absorb.

"Really?" His face was full of disbelief.

Huangfu Ji said calmly, "Do I have any reason to lie to you?"

Zhao Yuan thought it over. It seemed Huangfu Ji had absolutely no reason to deceive him. If this was true, it would be a major discovery in the history of Soul Masters.

After all, no one had ever considered using external substances to increase the age limit of Soul Rings they could absorb.

If Whale Rubber could really achieve that, then wouldn't Huangfu Ji be able to directly absorb a two-thousand-year Soul Ring—or even one with a higher age limit—for his third Soul Ring?

Generally speaking, it was already impressive for a Soul Master's third Soul Ring to be over a thousand years old. He had never seen or even heard of anyone with a two-thousand-year third Soul Ring. If Huangfu Ji truly managed it, then not to mention the entire continent—he would become the number one Soul Master in the history of the Qingyang Duchy.

He would also be the Huangfu Family's first such genius in four hundred years.

After putting the Whale Rubber away, Huangfu Ji asked Zhao Yuan to invite Liu Erlong over.

Before long, Liu Erlong arrived at his dormitory.

When she saw the Whale Rubber, she too made a strange expression and even instinctively took two steps back, retreating to the dormitory door. If Huangfu Ji tried anything, she would immediately run.

After all, the Whale Rubber was already prepared. In her heart, she had long labeled Huangfu Ji a lecherous pervert.

Huangfu Ji's mouth twitched slightly at the sight.

"Erlong, you misunderstand. Let me explain."

Liu Erlong watched him warily, wrapping her arms around herself protectively.

"I'm listening."

Then she looked at Zhao Yuan, who was closest to her.

"Zhao Xiaopang, stay five meters away from me."

Zhao Yuan immediately retreated to the window and leaned against it.

Huangfu Ji explained the effects of Whale Rubber to Liu Erlong.

Though she was deeply shocked and found it hard to believe, Liu Erlong still chose to trust Huangfu Ji. After spending six years together, she understood him well enough.