"A young master of the Xu Family, Xu Yucheng. The poor kid had terrible luck. Something went wrong during his Martial Soul Awakening, and his own Martial Soul nearly turned on him and killed him."
"The Xu Family originally didn't plan to have him focus on the path of a Soul Master. They wanted to train him to become an excellent mecha pilot instead. This mecha was meant to be his coming-of-age gift."
"But someone must have egged the young master on. He insisted on pursuing the path of a Soul Master, even going so far as to absorb his second Soul Spirit early and end up with three Ten-Year Soul Rings. He still wouldn't give up."
"And the young master considered this mecha an insult. He told us to do whatever we wanted with it, preferably scrap it."
Yun Ze tapped the mecha's metal shell and gave a soft snort.
"How ironic. Someone like me would love to get my hands on a mecha, but this guy's in such a sorry state and still has the nerve to complain that one's holding him back?"
"Sir, please watch what you say."
The saleswoman's expression grew more serious, and she gently pressed a hand against Yun Ze's shoulder.
Yun Ze replied scornfully,
"If the Xu Family has a problem with what I said, they can come find me at the War God Temple."
The saleswoman's serious expression shifted to one of surprise.
"So you're with the War God Temple. But please spare a thought for ordinary people like us, too."
Yun Ze didn't say anything else too harsh. After all, he still had to buy something from her, and making trouble for her wasn't a good idea.
The saleswoman was relieved when Yun Ze stopped, and she let out a breath. Yun Ze waved a hand.
"Enough, enough. Let's skip the useless talk. How much for this mecha?"
During the test, Yun Ze had already confirmed that beneath the purple sheen on its surface, the mecha had a black tint. It was indeed a Black-Grade Mecha; the materials had given it a hint of purple that covered the black underneath.
That actually worked in Yun Ze's favor. Most people wouldn't be able to tell whether it was Purple-Grade or Black-Grade unless they got up close and inspected it.
Anyone who tried to scheme against him without being skilled enough would most likely target him as if he had a Purple-Grade Mecha.
Then his Black-Grade Mecha would run them over like a speed bump.
The saleswoman watched Yun Ze and was relieved that he wasn't making any more comments about the Xu Family. Then she held up seven fingers.
Yun Ze understood. The price was just a number to him anyway. Before he'd left, Yun Ming had given him a card from Shrek Academy.
With that card in hand, money was no concern. Yun Ze casually handed it to the saleswoman beside him and said,
"I'll take it. Charge the card."
The saleswoman had been ready to haggle with Yun Ze, but when he handed her the card, every word she'd prepared got stuck in her throat.
"Y-yes, sir. Please wait a moment. I'll take care of the paperwork right away."
The saleswoman beamed, already thinking about how she'd spend her commission.
With money in hand, things were easy. Yun Ze simply told the saleswoman he wanted to get the mecha and leave as soon as possible, and they streamlined the whole process.
In less than three hours, Yun Ze had completed all the paperwork and officially taken ownership of the mecha.
The saleswoman respectfully handed him the crystal key that activated it.
Once he climbed inside the mecha, Yun Ze finally understood just how much care and affection the Xu Family had put into making it for Xu Yucheng.
The mecha had an exceptionally powerful shock-absorption system. Even when driven recklessly, it didn't vibrate at all.
It also contained numerous core defensive arrays and emergency teleportation arrays.
Its materials and design were top of the line. With its performance, it could eventually aspire to Red-Grade status if it was nourished with Soul Power and upgraded with additional rare metals.
A Red-Grade Mecha was a god-grade mecha.
It was proof that even a starving camel was bigger than a horse. The Xu Family had been off the throne for over five thousand years, and yet they could still lavish this much on a mecha for one of their descendants.
Purple Star Cloud Crystal Gold was the real treasure. It had quite a history: people from the Star Luo Empire had brought it into the Sun Moon Federation after fleeing to the Star Luo Continent and establishing diplomatic relations with the federation.
Even so, the Sun Moon Federation had to provide considerable Soul Master teaching resources and Soul Tool technology every year to obtain a small amount of the metal from the Star Luo Federation.
Making a mecha like this one, which could last for ten thousand years, would use up almost half the amount of this metal the Sun Moon Federation imported in a year.
For such a precious thing to be treated as an insult by that spoiled brat... Well, teenage boys could be so dramatic.
If Yun Ze were in his place, he'd wish Yun Ming would "insult" him like that every day.
Yun Ze wanted to use this material for his Battle Armor, too. But after learning where it came from, he figured using it might bring trouble to Shrek ahead of schedule, so he hadn't mentioned it to Yun Ming.
Still, it had given Yun Ze an idea. Once things in Heaven Dou City were settled, he could visit the Star Luo Continent.
Maybe he'd find some high-quality Purple Star Cloud Crystal Gold there.
After getting into the Soul Guidance Mecha, Yun Ze headed straight for Heaven Dou City.
With his travel permit, Yun Ze made no effort to keep a low profile. He flew at high speed through the sky in the mecha's flight mode.
Of course, he didn't break the speed limit. He kept just within it as he raced along.
Unlike the bustling Ming Capital, Heaven Dou City was a traditional city steeped in history. Its no-fly altitude was much higher than that of most cities, supposedly to protect its ancient architecture.
In truth, they were worried that Soul Guidance Mechas flying around would spoil the mood of people who wanted to admire the old buildings, and send the city's tourism revenue plummeting.
After entering Heaven Dou City, Yun Ze booked a hotel room and spread out the intelligence Guan Yue had given him to review.
The main issue was a group of tomb robbers of unknown origin at Heaven Dou Cemetery. They had been digging up graves there day after day.
Most suspicious of all, they didn't even spare the corpses. That was strange, since the nobles of this world had no habit of collecting corpses.
Usually, the only people who would buy or steal corpses were Evil Soul Masters conducting sinister experiments.
For example, one branch mentioned explicitly in the intelligence on the Evil Soul Masters they'd investigated was trying to recreate the Corpse Explosion Technique of the greatest Soul King of the past—the Death God.
They were particularly fond of corpses, and some Evil Soul Masters were naturally able to control them.
That was why the War God Temple had listed this as a case worth watching, despite having found no results in its investigation so far...
Before you continue