Su Chen returned to his room and spent the whole night thinking it over.
He seemed to understand what this Soul Skill did.
Only after experiencing it firsthand did he realize: how could it be a dream? It was clearly the world after waking that was the dream.
After all, he'd only lived for a little over ten years in reality, but he might have lived for more than fifty years in the dream.
That was why the terror of this Soul Skill would slowly become apparent after he woke.
The next day.
Su Chen wrote the several-hundred-word reflection Bibi Dong had assigned him, describing how he felt about absorbing a Soul Ring and how he'd faced the Soul Beast. Then he headed to Bibi Dong's room.
He truly hadn't expected that even after crossing over, he'd still have to write essays.
It seemed he was doomed to a life of studying.
"Teacher, are you up? I'm coming in."
"Mm, come in."
Bibi Dong's voice suddenly came from inside.
Su Chen pushed open the door. Bibi Dong sat at her vanity in a light-colored nightgown, her beautiful wine-red hair spilling down her back.
The Bibi Dong of today had none of the mature charm of the purple-haired noblewoman she'd become.
Her youthful, orange-red hair reflected her still-green years, and her eyes held a hint of innocent romance.
She combed through her hair, her gaze flickering with complicated emotions when she saw Su Chen before quickly returning to normal.
"This is what you asked me to write yesterday." Su Chen handed over the essay he'd prepared. "I've finished it. Take a look, Teacher."
Bibi Dong took it and skimmed the page with her lovely eyes. "These are all genuine feelings. Good. Your handwriting is just too ugly—you need to practice more."
"Hm?"
Bibi Dong suddenly noticed that he'd praised her appearance after her Martial Soul Possession, even saying she looked like the great Spider Queen.
A faint blush rose on Bibi Dong's cheeks.
Who could resist a compliment?
The little fellow's writing was a bit childish, but it suited his age. Besides, his words had touched her heart.
Seeing the smile at the corner of Bibi Dong's mouth, Su Chen spoke up at just the right moment. "Teacher, could you... give me some money?"
"Money?"
Bibi Dong froze.
Come to think of it, her disciple was an orphan. He probably didn't even know what a Gold Soul Coin looked like.
After a moment's thought, Bibi Dong took out a card and handed it to him. "There are a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins here. Spend them wisely."
Gasp~
Su Chen was stunned by Bibi Dong's extravagant generosity.
A hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!
A single Gold Soul Coin could cover the basic living expenses of an ordinary family of three for several months.
With a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, he'd be a local tycoon if he went back to the countryside.
"Teacher, you're so rich!"
Su Chen took the card, beaming.
"Look at you, acting like you've never seen the world."
Bibi Dong rolled her eyes prettily, then instinctively reached out and pinched and tugged at Su Chen's cheeks.
Su Chen didn't mind anymore. As long as she gave him money, she could bully him all she wanted.
Bibi Dong's hand suddenly paused, then she drew it back and patted his head. "Go downstairs and train properly."
"Okay, Teacher. I'd like to go out today and visit the Orphanage. I want to buy something for the Vice Dean!"
"Mm, come back early!"
Bibi Dong nodded gently as she watched Su Chen turn and leave.
Her expression grew hazy.
That scene just now... It seemed to have happened in her dream...
What am I thinking? A dream is just a dream. How could I confuse it with reality? Little Chen wouldn't look at me strangely, either...
Su Chen strode along with a fortune in his pocket, both hands tucked into it.
He left Spirit Hall and headed straight for a general store in Spirit City.
There was a treasure on Douluo Continent that no one had discovered yet—Whale Rubber!
It was a peerless treasure for tempering a Soul Master's body.
It could forcibly expand the limits of what the body could withstand.
With it, his Second Soul Ring would be at least a thousand-year purple ring.
A thousand-year Soul Ring not only granted a powerful Soul Skill, but could also improve one's overall aptitude.
A solid foundation would be a great help on the road to becoming a Titled Douluo.
Su Chen had wanted to get his hands on this stuff for a long time.
But he was an orphan, with not a single coin in his pocket.
Spirit City was bustling with people as usual. Su Chen found a shop and walked up to the counter, tilting his head back to look at the clerk.
"Do you sell Whale Rubber?"
"What a cute little white-haired boy!"
Su Chen rolled his eyes and repeated, "Do you have Whale Rubber?"
"Hehehe!"
The female clerk saw him rolling his eyes, a trace of disdain in his expression, and found the little fellow even cuter.
She stepped out from behind the counter and bent down, a teasing look in her eyes. "Little guy, Whale Rubber is a kind of medicine. You're too young to take it—it might make you burst!"
Su Chen glanced at Gou Gu and waved the card in his hand from side to side.
The female clerk's eyes lit up. "Looks like the little guy's a little tycoon. How much do you want?"
"I have two portions of century-old Whale Rubber worth three hundred Gold Soul Coins."
"And two thousand-year portions worth four hundred Gold Soul Coins."
"I'll take them all!"
Su Chen raised his foot, trying to slap the card down on the counter, but he wasn't tall enough. His hand veered off course and landed right in her cleavage.
"Little guy, just wait a moment."
The clerk clasped her hands together, smiling like a flower. She didn't seem to mind his behavior at all. Turning around and showing off her shapely rear, she began searching the shelves.
A moment later.
She took down a jade box. When she opened it, a faint fishy smell drifted out.
"Little guy, if you insist on eating it, you can eat it here."
"I can roast it for you first."
"If you really do burst, big sis might even be able to treat you."
Su Chen took the box, put away his card, and walked out of the shop.
"Hmph, I don't need that. If I explode, it'll be art."
"With no attachments and no distracting thoughts, I'll be invincible on the road of cultivation!"
In Pope Palace, Bibi Dong's expression was extremely grim.
Qian Xunji sat firmly in the chair that symbolized the position of Pope. As he listened to his subordinates report on Su Chen, he furrowed his brow as well.
As another one of Spirit Hall's Innate Full Soul Power prodigies, Su Chen's every move was under their watch.
Naturally, the Soul Master secretly following him had also seen him buy Whale Rubber.
Everyone knew—
It was a little too early for a boy his age to be buying something like that.
"Teacher, could Little Chen have been affected by his Martial Soul?"
Having experienced what happened in the dream, Bibi Dong trusted Su Chen to some extent.
And at his age, even if he really were fooling around, he shouldn't need something like this.
"That's possible. His Martial Soul is yin in nature, and it's one we've never seen before."
"Dong'er, find out what that boy is really planning before you decide what to do..."
"Thank you, Teacher!"
Bibi Dong breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Qian Xunji wasn't too disappointed in Su Chen.
She left Pope Palace at a brisk pace.
She suppressed her anger.
Yet in her heart, she kept telling herself that Su Chen wouldn't do anything improper.
As soon as Bibi Dong entered the Saintess's courtyard, she heard a series of strange sounds from inside the room. She knew that voice far too well—it belonged to her personal maid and her disciple.
"How are you supposed to eat this?"
"Just swallow it. You can try the Whale Rubber first, though it'll taste a little fishy."
"It is a little fishy, but I... I can handle it."