Whale Rubber

At dawn, Lin Fan woke from his cultivation as usual.

A smile appeared on Lin Fan's face. Seven Star Seeds materialized above his left hand.

The seven purple-black Star Seeds, which had originally run amok unchecked, broke free of their formation at Lin Fan's command, one of them separating from the rest.

In the next instant, Lin Fan controlled the purple-black Star Seed with his thoughts. It was as obedient as a little child.

In just four or five days, Lin Fan had already mastered his first Lightning Element Star Seed.

And now that he had mastered the first, could the second be far behind?

"I still need to buy a Stardust Magic Tool as soon as possible, then a Control Magic Tool. Otherwise, by the time I reach Intermediate Level, I'll have a full forty-nine Star Seeds!"

With that thought, Lin Fan headed into the bathroom to wash up.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the dormitory door. A moment later, Bibi Dong's voice rang out. "Senior Brother, someone just delivered something!"

Lin Fan's eyes lit up at the words, and he immediately opened the door.

Bibi Dong stood there, eyeing him curiously, an ornate, finely crafted wooden box in her hands.

"Senior Brother, this is what you asked for."

Bibi Dong handed him the box and asked curiously, "What's inside? Why did they wrap it in such a fancy box?"

Lin Fan smiled mysteriously. "It's something good."

As he spoke, he took the box and opened it. Inside rested a translucent stone, like amber, faintly streaked with gold.

Whale Rubber! In this era, nobles treated it as an aphrodisiac, calling it a man's second life!

But ten thousand years later, people of that age discovered another use for it! Consuming Whale Rubber could strengthen the body and increase the age of the Soul Ring a Soul Master could absorb!

Lin Fan wasn't very familiar with the later Douluo installments, but he had come across this thing called Whale Rubber in other novels.

It could be eaten after being roasted at a high temperature!

But Whale Rubber was, after all, an aphrodisiac, and even after processing, it still had a faint fishy smell.

The scent made Lin Fan furrow his brows.

Bibi Dong glanced at the item inside and frowned. "Senior Brother, what is this? It smells awful."

"This is Whale Rubber," Lin Fan said with a faint smile.

"Whale Rubber!" Bibi Dong exclaimed, looking at Lin Fan in disbelief.

She had heard older students talking about Whale Rubber yesterday. It was something rich people used to spice things up.

But why had her senior brother bought this? Could it be that he...

Seeing Bibi Dong's expression, Lin Fan knew she had gotten the wrong idea. He explained, "I discovered another use for Whale Rubber."

"Whale Rubber is highly nourishing for Soul Masters. It strengthens the body and improves the endurance of your muscles, bones, and meridians."

"Junior Sister, you should know the first key point the teacher covered in theory class, right?"

Bibi Dong tilted her head, looking utterly lost. "Senior Brother, I... I don't know."

Lin Fan rubbed his forehead helplessly and explained, "The thing that determines what kind of Soul Ring we can absorb is our physical strength."

"The teacher said the age limit for a First Soul Ring is around four hundred years. Exceed that threshold, and the consequences range from becoming a cripple, unable to cultivate any further, to your body exploding and your soul scattering!"

Seeing how attentively Bibi Dong listened, Lin Fan continued, "There's another point: absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring is different from absorbing a hundred- or thousand-year one."

"When you absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, you'll suffer the Soul Shock of the Soul Beast. When a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast dies, its resentment..."

Bibi Dong listened carefully to the end, then nodded as if she understood.

Seeing her like that, Lin Fan still couldn't tell whether she had really remembered any of it.

Still, he said, "This is a thousand-year piece of Whale Rubber. I'm going to try absorbing it and see if it really works the way the records say."

"So I might not make it to class today. Tell the teacher for me."

"And don't tell anyone else what I'm doing."

Bibi Dong nodded. "All right, Senior Brother. I'll remember!"

Then, as if she had been entrusted with an important mission, Bibi Dong headed toward the dining hall.

After watching Bibi Dong leave, Lin Fan carried the box of Whale Rubber into the dormitory.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and swallowed the Whale Rubber whole.

As its fishy taste spread through his mouth, Lin Fan fought back the urge to gag and forced it down.

A scorching current flowed through his limbs and body. A fiery, burning sensation surged through his chest and abdomen, and Lin Fan's body gradually turned red and hot. Sweat poured from him, soaking him through in no time.

He could feel the Whale Rubber's pure energy flowing into every part of his body. It brought with it a stronger body, stronger meridians...

He didn't know how long it took, but at last Lin Fan's body returned to normal. He opened his eyes and assessed the changes. "Not bad. I'm stronger, and my Soul Power has increased too."

Lin Fan smiled calmly, then looked at the remaining Whale Rubber in the wooden box. He swallowed it all and began to refine it!

Class One, Year One

Bibi Dong sat in her seat, bored out of her mind. She swayed like a roly-poly toy, tipping over and straightening up again...

The teacher lecturing at the front saw what she was doing but couldn't say much. Whether the students learned or not was their own business.

Still, since she was the Saint Child's disciple, the teacher reminded her twice before giving up.

Theory classes were certainly important, since they concerned the future development of one's Martial Soul, Soul Ring absorption, and so on.

But once someone reached a certain position, there would be people assigned to handle all of that for them. There was no need to worry about it at all!

Lin Fan clenched his fist and could clearly feel his body had changed. He nodded in satisfaction.

"The results are even better than I expected. With this Whale Rubber laying the groundwork, I'll have a better chance of absorbing a Soul Ring beyond my limit."

"I wonder if my physical strength is enough to absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring right now."

Lin Fan quickly wiped away the sweat and changed into clean clothes. Just as he was about to head to the Mimicry Training Ground, he heard footsteps outside the door.

He opened it to find Bibi Dong returning from class.

"Senior Brother!" The girl hurried over, her eyes sparkling. "I covered for you in class. The teacher didn't ask many questions."

Lin Fan smiled and rubbed her head. "Thanks for your efforts, Junior Sister."

"By the way, Senior Brother..." Bibi Dong remembered something and lowered her voice. "This morning, Liu Er and a few others were secretly badmouthing you in class. I glared them into silence."

Lin Fan laughed lightly, unconcerned. "A pack of jumping clowns. Don't waste your time on them."

As soon as he finished speaking, the system chimed a few times. More negative emotion points from afar had been credited to him.

He inwardly rejoiced. This lot really were diligent emotion-point tools.

"Come on," Lin Fan said with a smile. "The Mimicry Training Ground is open this afternoon. Let's go cultivate together."

Bibi Dong's eyes lit up, and she hurried after him. "Okay! Senior Brother, wait for me!"