The Temptation of Money

"How should I address you, honored guest?" Unsure of the situation, Ma Xiunuo decided to proceed cautiously and ask first.

"Just call me Jack."

Jack?

After giving it some thought, Ma Xiunuo realized it was a false name, and his brow furrowed slightly.

He was, after all, a Hall Master of Martial Soul Hall. Though it was merely a branch hall, being given only a fake name rather than a real one...

Made him somewhat displeased.

His voice thus sank slightly. "Then, Mr. Jack, I heard you wished to see me about something?"

At the same time, he made up his mind that if the other party had merely come to toy with him, he would certainly show this man what the Majesty of Martial Soul Hall meant.

"Yes." Tang Hao glanced at Ma Xiunuo.

"I heard that Spirit Hall is the Continent's Number One Soul Master Power and oversees the Martial Soul information of nearly all soul masters."

"So I would like to ask the Hall Master for a favor and let me look through your internal Martial Soul Registration Information."

"Impossible!"

Before Tang Hao could finish, Ma Xiunuo replied with a dark expression.

Let someone else look through soul masters' Martial Soul Registration Information?

Why not simply hand over his entire Household Registration information as well?

Within Spirit Hall, a soul master's Martial Soul Registration Information was equivalent to an ordinary person's Household Registration.

It would absolutely never be leaked for others to see.

"I can pay." Tang Hao's expression did not change as he placed the Purple Gold Card on the table again.

But Ma Xiunuo merely sneered. "You should leave, sir. This is Spirit Hall, not the Noble Hall of the Heaven Dou Empire."

Money?

He was the Hall Master of Martial Soul Hall's Nuoding City branch. The monthly subsidy he was responsible for issuing to a single Soul Elder alone amounted to one hundred Gold Soul Coins.

Not to mention that he was now a Soul Ancestor. Over the course of a year, his salary alone could reach ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.

He did not lack money at all.

"One hundred thousand." Tang Hao's voice was calm as his fingers lightly tapped the tabletop.

Although a Hall Master of Martial Soul Hall earned a high salary and could make at least ten thousand Gold Soul Coins a year.

He could not make much more than that.

Because that was limited by the productive capacity of this era.

A family of three only needed one Gold Soul Coin for three months of living expenses, amounting to merely four Gold Soul Coins a year.

And production levels were tied to Consumption Level. Even if the Production Value of an ordinary family of three was exaggerated, it would at most double.

Eight Gold Soul Coins a year.

In other words, his one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins required the annual output of 1,250 families.

And Nuoding City had only a little over a hundred thousand people. Even if all its annual Tax Revenue were used to make money, it would not exceed one million Gold Soul Coins.

Even that was an exaggeration. In reality, the Tax Revenue collected would only be lower.

Getting even a quarter of that would be considered quite good.

Under such circumstances, one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins was an amount that an ordinary Martial Soul Hall Branch master would have to work hard for ten years to earn.

The pay from ten years of hard work could now be obtained with a single nod.

Even Ma Xiunuo could not help holding his breath upon hearing that price.

The anger on his face also turned slightly hesitant.

Tang Hao was not surprised by this reaction at all.

After all, who could refuse money?

Especially since the title of Nuoding City Spirit Hall master sounded impressive, but at the end of the day, he was merely an employee.

Would an employee refuse the temptation of money?

"...Mr. Jack, you should seek someone else."

Tang Hao was somewhat surprised. He could see the wavering in Ma Xiunuo's eyes.

But after quite some time, Ma Xiunuo still closed his eyes and sternly rejected the temptation.

His self-control was far stronger than Tang Hao's.

Tang Hao sighed. He had not expected his Financial Offensive, which had always worked without fail, to fail before someone else.

"However, Mr. Jack, if you merely wish to investigate a particular person, Ma may be able to help a little."

Tang Hao's tapping finger paused, and a strange expression appeared on his face.

In the end, the Financial Offensive was still powerful.

"Fine. Then I'll trouble you, Hall Master. I would like you to help me find a Martial Soul that resembles both a snake and a flood dragon."

"And if nothing unexpected has happened, he should be a genius by now, with a cultivation level around rank thirty."

"Like a snake and a flood dragon?" Ma Xiunuo's expression shifted, then he seemed to let out a great sigh of relief inwardly.

"Fine, I'll help Mr. Jack look it up right away."

"If Mr. Jack has no other requests, I estimate I can give you the information very soon."

By this point, Ma Xiunuo had completely relaxed.

Thinking that he could receive one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins merely for helping investigate one person's information, the corners of Ma Xiunuo's aged mouth even lifted with excitement.

"Then also help me get the latest Martial Soul Report, Star Luo Report, and Heaven Dou Report."

Tang Hao was not polite about it. Since the other man had already offered, he might as well make another request.

It just so happened that he also needed to understand what the real Douluo Continent was like now.

After all, he would have to integrate into this world in the future. Learning more about its real situation could never be a bad thing.

"Fine."

They were only three newspapers. Such a trivial matter was effortless for Ma Xiunuo.

The Star Luo Empire's Star Luo Report would be slightly more troublesome. This was the Heaven Dou Empire, so theoretically there would be no Star Luo Report here.

But as the master of a city's Spirit Hall, he happened to subscribe to every kind of newspaper.

He had just finished reading them recently as well.

After thinking for a moment, he stood and went to find Sisi, asking her to deliver the three newspapers he had read yesterday to that honored guest in gray robes.

He himself headed toward the archives, intending to retrieve that special Martial Soul information file.

"Esteemed sir, these are the newspapers you requested."

The newspapers arrived quickly. Tang Hao checked the dates on all three and found that they were the latest editions.

Tang Hao nodded.

With a creak, Sisi respectfully departed and closed the door behind her.

Only Tang Hao remained in the Hall Master of Martial Soul Hall's office.

The faint glow of the Soul Guiding Lamp illuminated the emptiness of the office. Tang Hao stacked the three newspapers together and picked up the Martial Soul Report first.

As the number one soul master power on Douluo Continent, he was also curious whether Spirit Hall had experienced any major events recently.

[The New Type of Weapon has been fully verified. In the near future, the world will belong to gunpowder!]

Tang Hao's expression froze. Gunpowder?

Had gunpowder already been developed in this era of Douluo Continent?

Would that not mean they were on the eve of an Industrial Revolution?

He hurriedly read the article carefully, but unfortunately, perhaps due to secrecy requirements, the front-page headline merely grandly introduced gunpowder's bright future.

It did not mention what the New Type of Weapon was, nor who had invented it.

It did not even provide information on where the verification had been completed.

It was simply infuriating, as though it had been specifically written to disgust the other empires.