Once Again Setting Out, Seven Treasure City

The banquet was filled with toasts and clinking cups, and only gradually quieted down at dawn.

Over the next few days, Lin Li visited nearly every place worth seeing in Blazing City, except for establishments of the brothel variety.

When it was time to part, Huo Tianquan personally escorted Lin Li out of the city with his family and gifted him a ring-shaped Storage Soul Tool.

This solved one of Lin Li's major needs. Carrying everything on his back really was inconvenient.

The Storage Soul Ring was made entirely of Secret Silver, with a Red Agate-like ornament at its center. It contained roughly thirty cubic meters of space.

"No need to see me off any farther. This is fine."

Lin Li left the city in a caravan carriage and waved goodbye to Huo Tianquan and the others.

"Then I won't see you any farther. If you run into trouble, just say the name Huo Tianquan. I still have some reputation in the Spirit Master World!"

"There's a long road ahead!"

His waving continued until the figures became tiny dots in the distance, and only then did he slowly lower his hand.

Huo Tianquan looked at Huo Wushuang beside him and smacked him on the back of the head. "Look at other people's children. Why don't you know how to work hard at cultivation?"

"Grandfather, you said before that I had the potential to become a Titled Douluo!" Huo Wushuang was deeply aggrieved. "Why don't you hit Huo Wu?"

"That's how boys have to be raised. That's how I was raised."

"...All right."

"Why haven't you gone to cultivate yet? If you haven't reached level forty-five before the Spirit Master Tournament, don't go up there and embarrass me!"

Huo Wushuang turned around glumly and walked toward the city.

Meanwhile, Lin Li turned around and looked at the ingratiating Bearded Boss.

"Damn, that expression of yours is kind of terrifying!"

A middle-aged man whose hair and beard seemed to have grown in opposite directions made that expression, startling Lin Li badly.

The Bearded Boss ignored this completely and leaned over to ask Lin Li:

"Little brother, that person was the dean of Blazing Academy, right? The legendary Soul Douluo powerhouse?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You two seem to have a pretty good relationship?"

Lin Li roughly understood what the man was thinking, so, true to his usual habit of never taking the initiative, he waited for him to continue.

"Look, could you write a letter for me to that lord? After I finish this business, I want to settle down in a decent city. I don't want to keep running all over the place..."

The Bearded Boss rubbed his hands together, and his ingratiating expression softened.

"I've been doing business for more than thirty years. Now that my health has failed, I can't travel anymore. I just want to spend the rest of my days in peace. The last time I went home, my wife told me that our son had awakened two levels of Innate Soul Power, and his Martial Soul was Charcoal Fire. I just want to create better conditions for him..."

He rambled on and on. Lin Li knew that if he didn't interrupt, the man would still be talking by nightfall.

"No problem. After you take me to Heaven Dou City, I'll write a letter for you and put in a word."

"Excellent!"

The Bearded Boss grinned, the corners of his mouth stretching even wider than when he was making money. "Little brother, I'll double your payment this time. I'll give you a thousand Gold Soul Coins when we arrive!"

Lin Li smiled but said nothing.

Inside the Storage Soul Ring Huo Tianquan had given him was also a card containing fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins. Huo Tianquan had said it was for Lin Li's meals on the road.

Lin Li was no longer short of money.

"All right, go take care of your business."

Lin Li waved the Bearded Boss away, then lay beside the potato sacks at the rear of the convoy as he had at the beginning, staring blankly up at the sky.

The journey was uneventful, and they safely arrived at the last stop before Heaven Dou City: Seven Treasure City.

As a city established by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, its splendor was widely known. It was said to be even more prosperous than the capitals of the two great empires, with tens of thousands of shops beneath Seven Treasure Mountain.

Most of the inner disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect lived on Seven Treasure Mountain. Some inner disciples and outer disciples established shops or small entertainment businesses at the foot of the mountain, closest to the sect, and lived there in contentment.

After entering the city, Lin Li once again parted ways with the Bearded Boss and the others.

The latter had to purchase pearls and jade and sell some of the grain to the Seven Treasure City managers. Lin Li, meanwhile, wandered around the city out of curiosity.

Compared to boring himself with cultivation, Lin Li actually preferred wandering around and having fun.

He thought that once his strength was sufficient, he might travel through every city and town. That could count as Red Dust Training, too.

The shops in Seven Treasure City were not as Lin Li had imagined, with glazed windows, roads paved with pearls and jade, and Golden Phoebe Wood cabinet doors.

There were simply more shops and a greater variety.

Following his mood, Lin Li chose a tea house that was neither bustling nor deserted. He went up to the second floor, ordered a pot of tea, and sat by the Window Side.

As one of the Upper Three Sects, with the Clear Sky Sect living in seclusion, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could practically be called the greatest sect in the world.

It had one offensive and one defensive Titled Douluo, as well as the strongest support Soul Saint on the entire continent.

Lin Li recalled the story and turned his gaze outside.

A commotion had suddenly erupted. It sounded quite intense.

Not far from the tea house stood a shop called the "Treasure Pavilion." It was completely different from the surrounding wooden shops. Its walls were made of Dark Iron, while the interior was decorated with precious jade and high-grade silk.

Every three steps, there was a glazed, enclosed room containing all kinds of strange treasures. It was said that the person who opened the Treasure Pavilion was surnamed Ning, and that his Martial Soul was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. He did business using his Martial Soul's ability to appraise treasures.

Of course, Lin Li had heard all this from the tea drinkers who were watching the spectacle as well.

At the entrance of the Treasure Pavilion stood a man in hemp clothing, holding fragments wrapped in cloth.

"The Treasure Pavilion doesn't know how to recognize treasures, and it even damaged my things! The shop owner is bullying ordinary people!"

His shouting was loud, as if he deliberately wanted to draw people over.

Lin Li found it rather interesting. Then he saw an eighteen-year-old boy walk out of the shop, followed by a Soul Master who seemed to be acting as his guard.

Judging from the fluctuations of his Soul Power, he was not very strong. He should have been at the level of a Soul Elder.

"I am the Treasure Pavilion's owner, Ning Yang. You can tell me about any problem you have."

When the man on the ground saw the owner arrive, he immediately brushed the dust from his backside and stood up. He held out the thing in his hands to Ning Yang and said aggrievedly, "Look, someone in your shop smashed this. He said my things were worthless!"

Ning Yang glanced around. By now, a large crowd of onlookers had gathered. He considered how he should resolve the matter.

The Treasure Pavilion's reputation could not be damaged, but neither could they be branded as bullies. He had to handle things gently.

Ning Yang maintained his smile and raised a hand, summoning his Martial Soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

The Martial Soul shone with seven-colored light, and two yellow Soul Rings rose beneath his feet.

At eighteen, he was a two-ring Soul Grandmaster. From the looks of it, Ning Yang's talent was not very good. No wonder he had come out of the sect to do business.

Lin Li knew that because the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Martial Soul was fixed as a support-type Martial Soul, the sect valued social ability just as much as talent.

Therefore, it would send out disciples with poor talent to gain experience. Ideally, they could bring back some powerful combat Soul Masters, and doing business was the best way to train their ability to deal with people.

Ning Yang placed his Martial Soul beside the pile of porcelain fragments. After obtaining the result, he shook his head and said:

"Unfortunately, your things really cannot be considered treasures."

The man grew anxious upon hearing this, but before he could speak, Ning Yang interrupted him.

"However, you suffered an injustice at our establishment. I, Ning, will take responsibility for this matter. I'll ask a healing Soul Master to examine your injuries shortly, and if there's a problem, we will compensate you fully."

He did not mention how much compensation there would be, merely deflecting the matter and shifting the conflict toward a service issue.

Lin Li thought to himself, Could this Ning Yang have been trained by that old fox Ning Fengzhi?

Otherwise, he was simply a born businessman.

After all, this world was nothing like his previous one. Commerce was not well developed, and its various methods and sales techniques were far less advanced.

This person was rather interesting...

Lin Li suddenly rose to his feet, his gaze turning sharp.