Unfortunately, no one knew what a treasure this was.
People simply treated it as an aphrodisiac.
After eating it, they just got diarrhea.
Su Wen chewed on a candy, his hands tucked into his pockets.
Spirit City was busier than usual today.
Quite a few six- and seven-year-old children were on the streets.
Su Wen asked around and learned that today was the day Spirit Hall offered free Martial Soul awakenings to commoners.
This happened for a month or two every year.
Anyone who missed that window had to wait until the following year.
"Ow!"
Su Wen weaved through the crowd, and when he turned, he knocked something soft and squishy to the ground.
He lowered his eyes.
The little girl on the ground looked about six years old.
She had short, orange-yellow hair and yellow eyes tinged slightly with gray.
She wore a gray dress with two small patches on it.
Su Wen could tell at a glance that she was from a nearby orphanage.
Only the children from there wore patched clothes in Spirit City.
"Are you all right?"
Su Wen crouched down and helped her up. She was tiny and rather cute.
The little girl gazed at him, looking a little nervous, her pink lips parting slightly.
"I-I'm fine!"
The little girl caught sight of the candy in Su Wen's hand.
Her throat bobbed faintly.
A hint of embarrassment appeared on her delicate little face.
"You're here to awaken your Martial Soul, right?"
"Mm!"
Su Wen reached out and tidied her messy short hair.
He looked at the porcelain-doll-like girl before him, quite pleased.
The little girl had lovely, well-proportioned features. She'd grow up to be something else.
He suddenly froze.
He thought of an important person.
He placed the candy in her palm and said gently, "Go on. I'm sure you'll awaken a great Martial Soul!"
The little girl stared at the candy in her hand, momentarily dazed.
Then her embarrassment deepened.
He'd noticed what she'd been doing.
When she looked up,
Su Wen had already disappeared into the crowd.
"Little sister, why are you here? I've been looking for you forever. So many people are here to awaken their Martial Souls today. Stay close to me. Let's get in line first. What are you looking at?"
Just then, a silver-haired boy came up beside the little girl and looked over, puzzled.
Following his sister's gaze downward, he saw the candy in her palm.
The exquisite wrapper made it obvious that some adult had given it to her.
He gave her a helpless look. "Once we've awakened our Martial Souls, we'll be Soul Masters too. Then we can get an allowance from Spirit Hall. I'll buy you the best candy as soon as I can."
The little girl shook her head and started toward Spirit Hall. The silver-haired boy followed, speaking excitedly. "Yan's Martial Soul is the Flame Lord. I wonder if ours will be stronger than his?"
"Ours will definitely be stronger than that show-off, Yan!"
Meanwhile, Su Wen found a shop.
He went up to the counter, raised one foot, braced both hands on the counter, and craned his neck to look at the shop assistant.
"Do you sell Whale Rubber here?"
"Hee-hee, what a cute little boy!"
The shop assistant noticed that Su Wen had heterochromatic eyes and chubby cheeks that looked like they'd be nice to pinch.
"Do you have any?"
"We do. A hundred-year-old piece costs one hundred Gold Soul Coins, and a five-hundred-year-old piece costs one hundred and fifty. Which one do the adults in your family usually eat, little boy?"
"Do you have any that are a thousand or ten thousand years old?"
"We have one piece that's two thousand years old. It costs two hundred Gold Soul Coins. We don't have any ten-thousand-year-old ones, though."
As she spoke, the shop assistant took a jade box off the shelf.
When she opened it, a fishy smell wafted out.
"This two-thousand-year-old piece costs two hundred Gold Soul Coins. If you're really going to buy it, I'll give you a ten-coin discount if you let me pinch your cheek!"
"Hmph, I don't want to!"
Su Wen took out a bag of coins. "I'll take all your Whale Rubber. With the leftover money, I'll pinch you!"
After leaving the shop, Su Wen visited several more stores.
He bought every hundred- and thousand-year-old piece of Whale Rubber he could find.
Aunt Ye had plenty of money!
When he ran out, he charged the rest to her.
Being a Platinum Bishop of Spirit Hall sure came in handy.
By the time he was done, he'd bought dozens of pieces, including even one ten-thousand-year-old piece of Whale Rubber.
"Did I forget something?"
As the sky gradually darkened, Su Wen couldn't shake the feeling that he'd forgotten something important today.
Lingyuan Douluo
Su Wen dismissed his pointless thoughts. Nothing could stop him from getting stronger.
As soon as he got home, he ran to the kitchen to soften the Whale Rubber over the fire.
He was going to give Aunt Ye a huge surprise.
Fifteen minutes later.
"Damn it! I used all my strength, and it's still this hard!"
"Ordinary flames can't soften Whale Rubber."
Su Wen let out a breath and reached a firm conclusion.
He remembered that Whale Rubber had to be softened over a flame, but he didn't know how hot the fire needed to be.
"Xiao Wen, what's that smell? It's kind of fishy."
Just then, Ye Yuan'er's sweet voice rang out in the courtyard.
Following the smell, she came into the kitchen.
She found Su Wen fiddling with a hard lump of something.
At first, Ye Yuan'er didn't pay it much attention. It looked a little like Whale Rubber.
Her expression changed slightly as she walked over to Su Wen. "Well, Xiao Wen, you've already learned to be naughty out there!"
"Aunt Ye, this is good stuff. You came back at just the right time. You can help me—"
Before Su Wen could finish, Ye Yuan'er cupped his face and rubbed it vigorously.
"When did you get so bold, Xiao Wen? You're naughty outside, and now you want to be naughty at home too? Trying to be a little rascal who goes after his aunt, are you?"
Su Wen escaped her clutches and gave her a speechless look. "Aunt Ye, you've got quite the imagination. This is a treasure!"
"Right, right. A treasure that'll help you grow up!" Ye Yuan'er rolled her beautiful eyes.
Su Wen's mouth twitched. He rolled his eyes at her too, then explained what Whale Rubber did.
Ye Yuan'er looked skeptical. "Isn't that just a flimsy excuse you came up with?"
"Aunt Ye, why don't you try it?"
"Fine, I'll try it!"
Ye Yuan'er took a piece of Jiaojiao and held it in her palm. A blazing flame flared to life from within her.
In just a moment, the Jiaojiao softened, and a pleasant fragrance rose from it.
Ye Yuan'er placed it between her rosy lips and swallowed. A wave of heat spread through her body.
A blush crept across her fair skin, but it faded again after only a short while.
Ye Yuan'er opened her eyes, surprise shining in them. "It really does improve your physique. The effect isn't that great, but for Soul Masters and Soul Grandmasters like you, it'll help a lot."
"Now do you believe me, Aunt Ye?" Su Wen said smugly. He even came up with an excuse. "I read about it in a book in Spirit Hall's library. People these days are just a little foolish. They only treat it as an aphrodisiac."
Ye Yuan'er burst into tinkling laughter. "I knew Xiao Wen wouldn't be naughty. After all, all you can do right now is drool all over me."
Before you continue