Dugu Yan's Defense Shattered!

"How much?"

"You dare sell a copy of the Thousand Spider Poison Hand for five hundred thousand? And in Gold Soul Coin?"

Li Jingzhe was momentarily stunned; he knew a thing or two about the cost of living in the Douluo World.

Take Holy Soul Village, for instance—that tiny hamlet of three hundred households... Five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coin was a fortune that a whole village couldn't spend in several lifetimes. Even for a Soul Master, that was no small sum!

Tap... tap... tap...

Li Jingzhe tapped his fingers against the tabletop, lost in thought.

Beside him, Dugu Yan felt her heart hanging in the balance, synchronized with the rhythm of his tapping.

Just as she began to weigh what price she could afford to pay...

"One million!" Li Jingzhe suddenly declared.

"What?"

Dugu Yan suspected she had misheard.

"I said, one million Gold Soul Coin!" Li Jingzhe spoke calmly.

"How much?"

Ye Lingling's voice spiked, seizing the initiative: "One million? Why don't you just go rob someone? You dare ask for one million for this tattered book? And in Gold Soul Coin? Have you even seen a Gold Soul Coin? You dare ask for a million!"

She was a lover of books and held a certain humanistic respect for them, but what kind of book could possibly be worth a million?

"Rob?"

Li Jingzhe chuckled. "Isn't that exactly what I'm doing right now?"

Yes, one million Gold Soul Coin!

As for the system's reference price of five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coin?

Well, he decided to ignore the system's quote!

"You..."

Ye Lingling was furious; the ice-cold beauty was about to erupt.

But Li Jingzhe ignored her, turning his gaze toward Dugu Yan.

"What, do you think it's too expensive, too?"

"No, no, no..."

Dugu Yan quickly regained her composure. "I—I just didn't expect it to be so cheap... R-really, is there no other price I need to pay?"

Such a heaven-sent fortune, and only one million?

She didn't even feel at ease accepting it!

Ye Lingling looked at her as if she had seen a ghost... Cheap? No, Yanzi, what are you thinking? You actually want to pay something else?

"Oh? I didn't expect someone to be so eager to throw their money away."

Li Jingzhe gave Dugu Yan a mischievous look, scanning her up and down. "In that case, how about..."

Dugu Yan's eyes widened. She couldn't help but shiver, subconsciously taking a step back. As a certain image crossed her mind, her pretty face flushed bright red.

"You, you..."

Her eyelashes fluttered, her heart hammered against her ribs, and for a moment, she was completely flustered.

"What are you thinking about?"

Li Jingzhe was speechless. "I meant, do you have any more medicinal herbs at home? Things like Snow Silkworm or Red Ginseng... bring me ten of each. They must be of sufficient age; don't bother bringing me any trash under a hundred years old to embarrass yourself."

Of the three techniques he had unlocked from the starter pack, the Muscle and Tendon Classic was easy to practice, and the Lingbo Microsteps were not difficult either. Only the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique, as a pinnacle of external martial arts, had equally pinnacle requirements for cultivation resources.

The early stages were fine; one could make do with ordinary herbs. But by the middle and later stages, it demanded century-old precious herbs at every turn, especially those for nourishing the body and promoting blood circulation.

The Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique had thirteen levels. The entry level was easy; anyone could pick it up. Even the dullest person could make progress if they practiced persistently and put in the hard work, but further advancement was difficult.

To continue improving after the entry level, one either had to pile on resources or grind through time.

However, "grinding through time" here was measured in millennia. Theoretically, it would take a thousand years just to touch the threshold of the thirteenth level, and even the martial arts legend Zhang Sanfeng only lived for two cycles of sixty years.

As for piling on resources?

That was no small sum either!

Need one be reminded that the Golden Wheel Dharma King, a martial arts genius and a national preceptor, had the backing of an entire nation's resources, yet he only managed to reach the tenth level...

Fortunately, this was the Douluo Continent, a world of fantasy.

Precious herbs and spiritual plants that were hard to find in the martial arts world were not difficult to locate here.

Moreover, the natives of this world rarely realized the true value of these herbs and plants. They only recognized the plants and their basic properties, treating symptoms rather than the root cause.

Take the Snow Silkworm and Red Ginseng in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, for example.

The Snow Silkworm was sweet and warm, capable of detoxifying and nourishing the body, while the Red Ginseng was bitter and slightly cold, perfect for promoting blood circulation and regulating the body. If they were aged further by the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well... if Dugu Bo had even ten percent of Huang Yaoshi's pharmacological knowledge, the poison in his body would have been cured long ago.

However, it was thanks to Dugu Bo knowing the "what" but not the "why" that he surely had a stockpile of herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, aside from the immortal-grade ones!

"Ah? Oh... you mean this!"

Dugu Yan's face flushed even deeper, her eyes filled with shame and annoyance, but she quickly replied, "Yes, I have it..."

Slap—

Regaining her composure, Dugu Yan immediately pulled eight black cards from her Soul Tool and slapped them onto the table. These black cards were anonymous, each worth one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coin.

She then looked at Ye Lingling. Before she could even speak, Ye Lingling also produced two black cards... she could tell that the book was very important to Yanzi!

Dugu Yan cast a grateful look at Ye Lingling.

She turned back to Li Jingzhe, her tone sounding both consultative and slightly ingratiating: "Boss, the century-old Snow Silkworm and Red Ginseng will be delivered tomorrow... I'll leave one million Gold Soul Coin as a deposit first, can you sell the item to me now?"

She held up the Thousand Spider Poison Hand, her eyes full of urgency.

"Credit?"

"Heh, interesting..."

Li Jingzhe looked at Dugu Yan with keen interest and couldn't help but retort: "But what makes you think I would give you credit? The only bit of friendship between us is you barging in late at night to give me a good scolding, isn't it?"

Dugu Yan choked. Looking at that half-smiling face and the Thousand Spider Poison Hand that was within reach yet still unattainable, she felt as restless as if a cat were clawing at her heart.

Seeing this bad guy teasing her again, Ye Lingling was about to chime in.

Dugu Yan hurriedly pulled her back; at a time like this, letting Lingling speak would only make an already precarious situation completely hopeless.

She then said urgently: "I, Dugu Yan, keep my word! Ten Snow Silkworm, ten Red Ginseng, century-old ones, I've noted them all down. I have the items, I just don't have them on me!"

"How about this, I'll put this up as collateral for you..."

Dugu Yan took out the Poison Bead: "This contains the poison of a Title Douluo!"

"Alright, take the item and go!"

Seeing that Dugu Yan was so anxious she was nearly ready to leave Ye Lingling as collateral, Li Jingzhe couldn't be bothered to tease her anymore. He collected the ten black cards and gestured for her to take the item and leave.

He wasn't worried she wouldn't return. Before a transaction is officially concluded, items produced by the system aren't so easy to just walk away with. Besides, the sooner Dugu Yan practiced the Thousand Spider Poison Hand, the sooner he could enjoy the power critical strike return, right?

"Wait... what about the rest?"

Seeing Li Jingzhe take the money without any intention of handing over the rest of the Thousand Spider Poison Hand, Dugu Yan grew anxious.

"It's written right there, isn't it?"

Written there?

Dugu Yan was skeptical, but she flipped through the Thousand Spider Poison Hand again... Huh? Strange. The originally Wordless Heavenly Book was now filled with text. After a quick check, it was undoubtedly the real deal!

The protective mechanism for emergencies she had previously guessed at was written right on the last page!

Only now, with the complete Thousand Spider Poison Hand in her hands, did she dare to believe it. She had bought it—the Self-Created Soul Skill that could allow her family to escape their bloodline curse—really bought it for one million Gold Soul Coin!

As for the extra medicinal herbs, the Dugu Family collection had plenty.

As she thought about it, Dugu Yan's eyes welled up with tears, and two lines of them fell.

"Yanzi?" Ye Lingling, standing to the side, called out in a flustered tone.

"Wuu wuu..."

However, Ye Lingling's voice was like a blade breaking through Dugu Yan's final line of psychological defense.

She buried her face in Ye Lingling's chest and began to sob loudly.

"Yanzi, it's okay, you still have me..." Though Ye Lingling didn't understand, she still comforted her softly.

"Wuu wuu, if only this thing had appeared sooner... my father, my mother... they... wuu..."

Dugu Yan choked on her sobs.

Ye Lingling opened her mouth, but her words of comfort ultimately dissolved into a sigh.