Reunion After Three Years

A fierce tiger's roar echoed through the forest for a kilometer, a terrifying aura of a king permeating the woods, causing weaker soul beasts to flee in a desperate panic.

The roaring continued for a long time before suddenly coming to an abrupt halt.

Soon, a rustling sound emerged from the woods as a disheveled Ye Tian stepped out from the bushes, dragging a long rope made of animal hide in his hand.

With a forceful tug from Ye Tian, the carcass of a Dark Giant Tiger over ten meters tall was pulled from the forest; even with his greatly increased strength, he felt exhausted looking at the beast behind him.

He had been taking on various missions lately just to sweep up goods in Tiandou City. It had been a month since he first consumed the whale rubber, and Ye Tian had already saved up ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Once he delivered this Dark Giant Tiger, he planned to sleep for several days.

One truly doesn't know the price of firewood until they manage a household.

Those nobles treated whale rubber as an aphrodisiac, driving the price up as if money were no object. Ye Tian had inquired previously and learned that pharmacies nowadays hadn't seen ten-thousand-year-old whale rubber in a decade; the highest grade available was only five thousand years old.

After spending over an hour dragging the thousand-jin Dark Giant Tiger to the mission point, Ye Tian collected his reward and immediately found a hotel to wash up and sleep soundly.

When he finally woke up, he asked the waiter and learned that he had slept for three days and three nights straight. Ye Tian suddenly realized that his soul power had grown significantly, reaching level forty-six.

One level every month and a half—if the world knew this news, countless Soul Ancestor level masters would have their jaws drop.

At this terrifying rate of cultivation, Ye Tian would become a Soul King in at most half a year.

Ye Tian knew he had pushed himself too hard this time, and further results wouldn't be as obvious. He spent the next ten days traveling until he reached the center of the Heaven Dou Empire—Tiandou City.

It was truly one of the two great royal cities of the Douluo Continent; soul masters accounted for nearly one-fifth of the people coming and going.

Ye Tian continued to sweep up whale rubber at pharmacies. Perhaps because of his lavish spending, one shopkeeper proactively shared some inside information with him.

"Young Master, in half a month, the Tiandou City Auction House will hold its annual auction. I hear that a piece of ten-thousand-year-old whale rubber from the sea will be up for bid."

"Really?"

"Of course. This news is no secret among the herbalists in Tiandou City."

"What are the requirements to attend this auction?"

"My shop happens to have an extra invitation. I can see that you possess extraordinary strength, Young Master. My shop is planning to send a team to the Sunset Forest to collect some rare medicinal herbs; I wonder if you would be willing to provide protection?"

"What herbs are you looking for?" Ye Tian did not immediately reject the shopkeeper's condition.

Ten-thousand-year-old whale rubber was at least ten times more effective after refinement than the thousand-year variety. Furthermore, no one had discovered the true utility of whale rubber yet, so he had a high chance of picking up a bargain.

With such a treasure practically delivered to his doorstep, he couldn't just watch it slip away.

The soul beasts in the Sunset Forest were at most level sixty. With his current strength, escaping wouldn't be difficult, which was the source of his confidence in listening to the shopkeeper's proposal.

"In the lair of a thirty-thousand-year-old Frost Tiger Beast, there are three stalks of Frost Blood Grass. We only want the herbs; we won't take anything else."

"If you agree, Young Master, our shop will provide a reward of three thousand Gold Soul Coins, plus an invitation to the auction. How about it?"

"Fine. Notify me when you are ready to depart." After a moment of deliberation, Ye Tian accepted the invitation.

"Please come to my shop at noon in five days, Young Master."

Ye Tian put away the temporary identification tag offered by the shopkeeper and turned to leave.

He had five days, just enough time to refine the whale rubber he already had and further increase his strength.

After Ye Tian walked away, a young man who had been silently listening nearby looked up at the shopkeeper, his eyes filled with defiance.

"Dad, why were you so polite to that guy?"

"And that invitation was our only one! You just gave it away like that?"

"What do you know!" The shopkeeper glared fiercely at his incompetent son, his tone filled with frustration at the boy's lack of potential.

"Do you know who that young master was?"

"I don't!"

"He certainly isn't some noble or scion of a great family. That face—it looks completely unfamiliar!"

The boy answered with utter self-righteousness.

Watching the boy's naive expression, the shopkeeper's anger flared up. Finally, unable to hold back, he slapped the boy across the head.

Smack! The boy winced in pain, clutching the back of his head with a clear, bewildered look in his eyes.

"Dad, why did you hit me?"

The silly boy didn't even know why he was being hit.

If the shopkeeper hadn't been childhood sweethearts with his wife, and if the brat's face didn't look eighty percent like his mother's, he would have suspected the midwife had swapped the baby at birth.

How could a man as shrewd as him produce such a dim-witted son!

Sighing, the shopkeeper had to break down the logic and force it into his son's brain.

"Haven't you noticed that our shop has been getting more soul beast materials lately?"

"Dad, didn't you say the price of soul beast materials has plummeted recently? What does that have to do with him?"

The shopkeeper felt that every extra second he looked at his wayward son shortened his life, so he stopped looking at the idiot and explained it himself.

"If you paid even the slightest bit of attention to what's happening outside, you'd know that a 'mission maniac' has appeared recently who has hunted several ten-thousand-year soul beasts. That man was the young master from just now."

"Although we've hired other soul masters, having that young master there will certainly make things more secure. Besides, that invitation isn't of much use to us; using it to buy a favor is clearly a better deal."

"That young master has been purchasing whale rubber lately. It just so happens that we possess information he is unaware of; over time, this will become our network of connections."

The youth nodded as if he understood, yet didn't quite grasp it. He seemed to comprehend his father's meaning, but it would likely take many days before he fully understood.

The shopkeeper sighed, patted the back of the youth's head, and looked at him with a hint of affection in his eyes.

"I have protected you too well."

"Next time you go to gather herbs, I will have your second uncle take you along."

"That's great!" The youth cheered. He had long since grown tired of being confined to the herb shop. "Thank you, Father!"

Ye Tian returned to his residence, refined and consumed all the thousand-year whale rubber in his hands, and felt his physique strengthen by another three points. He grew increasingly expectant of that legendary Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber.

Just then, the system's notification appeared.

"Please prepare yourself, Host. The dream entry will be initiated again tonight."

Only then did Ye Tian realize with a start that he had not entered a dream for three months. He wondered how much time had passed for Dong'er.