Special Technique: Heavenly Thunder Strangling

"The higher the year, the better. At least five thousand years, and ten thousand years or more would be ideal."

Lin Chen said calmly.

The shopkeeper chuckled. "Kid, Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue isn't something an ordinary person can handle. Normally, a few dozen or a hundred years is enough. A few hundred years is the absolute limit."

Lin Chen asked, "You don't have any?"

The shopkeeper shook his head. "No. The oldest I have is only a little over a thousand years."

"Forget my shop— you won't find Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue anywhere in Nuoding City."

"That stuff has no market. No one would stock something they can't sell."

Lin Chen thought, Just as I expected.

Good thing he had come early. Otherwise, he might have been stuck at level ten for quite a while.

"I'll pay. Can you get some for me?"

The shopkeeper thought it over. "There's no steady supply. Only when Sea Soul Masters need Spirit Rings might they go hunt whales. Whether I can get any depends on luck."

Lin Chen said generously, "At least five thousand years old. Name your price."

He wasn't short on Gold Soul Coins. He had just collected over a thousand on the street, and he had earned plenty from Tang San before that.

Now he had well over fifteen thousand Gold Soul Coins.

If a problem could be solved with money, it wasn't really a problem.

At that, the shopkeeper's eyes immediately lit up.

"Whale Glue over five thousand years old doesn't fetch a set price, so there's no regular supply. If you want some, you might have to hire someone to hunt it specifically. That level won't come cheap."

Lin Chen said irritably, "I need it, but it's not as if I absolutely have to have it. Besides, you're not the only one in town with that kind of connection."

"Give me a fair price, and we'll both be happy."

"If you're trying to use this chance to charge me an arm and a leg, I'd advise you to give up on that idea. I'm no easy mark."

Having money didn't mean he wanted to be treated like a pig ready for slaughter.

The shopkeeper gave an awkward laugh. "I won't ask for much. Fifty Gold Soul Coins for five thousand years, then ten more for every additional thousand years. That's fair, right?"

"Deal. When can you get it?"

Lin Chen knew Whale Glue probably wasn't expensive in Douluo I, but he hadn't expected it to be this cheap. Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue only cost a hundred Gold Soul Coins.

And that was with the markup.

But when he thought about it, it made sense.

How much did an ordinary person make in a year? Who would spend that kind of money on an aphrodisiac?

"Damn, I should've asked for more."

Seeing Lin Chen accept without even bargaining, the shopkeeper realized he'd quoted too low.

And he'd even had the nerve to say Lin Chen wasn't an easy mark.

"A deposit of ten Gold Soul Coins, and I guarantee it'll arrive within a month."

The shopkeeper couldn't very well change the price now.

"All right!"

Lin Chen didn't waste words. He took out ten Gold Soul Coins and set them on the counter.

The shopkeeper wrote Lin Chen a receipt, spelling out the details of the deal, along with a one-sided clause stating that the deposit was nonrefundable.

Lin Chen didn't mind. He put away the receipt and left the shop.

"I'll grab something to eat, then buy a couple of outfits."

Lin Chen looked down at his clothes, which were covered in patches.

He felt it was time to do some shopping.

He ate two bowls of noodles at a roadside stall, then asked around and found his way to the clothing district.

"As expected of the Romance Continent. There are so many beautiful women."

Watching the beautiful women pass by on the street, Lin Chen couldn't help sighing inwardly.

Too bad it did him no good.

By the time Lin Chen came out after buying clothes, dusk had fallen.

He found a hotel and checked in.

For the next while, Lin Chen wandered around the city every day.

Whenever someone struck him as a bad sort, he called them over.

Since he often acted like a fortune-teller and somehow kept making predictions that came true, his reputation gradually spread through Nuoding City.

But people didn't treat him like a bringer of misfortune. Instead, they believed his Martial Soul could see through other people's luck. Some even sought him out, asking him to tell their fortunes.

Lin Chen turned no one away. If they met the criteria, he told them their foreheads were dark and misfortune was on its way. If they didn't, he just rattled off some pleasant nonsense to fob them off.

"Half a month already. Why have I only gotten Gold Soul Coins?"

"I've got over fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins now. What the hell am I supposed to do with all that money?"

"Can't I get some special reward for once?"

Lin Chen walked down the main street of Nuoding City, feeling more than a little frustrated.

"Three of you, please wait!"

As he rounded a street corner, he spotted three young men in Nuoding Academy uniforms and called out to them without hesitation.

Spirit Masters grew much faster than ordinary people. By the age of eleven or twelve, most were about the same size as ordinary people of fifteen or sixteen.

At the sound of the call, Xiao Chenyu's raised right foot froze in midair.

He had already heard about the Divine Calculator. They had come out looking for him this time, but being called over by him first couldn't be a good sign.

Ling Feng and Liu Long both twitched at the corners of their mouths, their hearts sinking.

The three turned around.

"Grandmaster, why did you have to call us over? Couldn't you have waited for us to call you?"

Liu Long wore a miserable expression.

Ling Feng and Xiao Chenyu nodded, clearly agreeing with Liu Long.

[Disaster Passerby success. Received special technique Heavenly Thunder Strangling.]

"Now that's what I'm talking about! I finally got a special reward. It sounds pretty powerful, too."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow.

He composed himself, then addressed the three of them with a solemn expression. "I see darkness gathering between your brows. I fear you'll suffer a bloody calamity in the coming days."

After unexpectedly getting a special technique, Lin Chen made his warning sound more serious.

"A bloody calamity?"

Xiao Chenyu and the other two exchanged glances, each seeing shock in the other's eyes.

They'd been told misfortune was on the way. How had it turned into a bloody calamity?

Xiao Chenyu hurriedly asked, "Grandmaster, how can this calamity be resolved?"

Lin Chen shook his head. "It can't be resolved, only diminished."

Xiao Chenyu hurriedly pulled a money pouch from his robe and forced it into Lin Chen's hand. "Please, Grandmaster, give us your guidance. I'll offer you a generous reward afterward as well."

Lin Chen pushed the pouch back. "Our meeting was fate. Talking about money would be too vulgar."

The misfortune was something he had brought upon them in the first place. How could he have the nerve to take their money?

Xiao Chenyu was at a loss. After the man had put it that way, what else could he say?

"Thank you, Grandmaster!"

After putting away the money pouch, Xiao Chenyu and the other two bowed slightly to Lin Chen.

Lin Chen said, "The misfortune could strike at any time, and its severity is unpredictable. There's no way to avoid it. As long as you don't go somewhere dangerous like the Soul Hunting Forest, your lives won't be in danger."

Xiao Chenyu's eyes flew wide open.

He had just broken through to level ten and was preparing to hunt for a Spirit Ring.

Ling Feng and Liu Long were just as astonished.

"Thank you for the warning, Grandmaster!"

Xiao Chenyu bowed deeply, his expression full of sincerity.

Thank goodness they'd run into the Grandmaster today. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

"Think nothing of it. My business here is done. Farewell!"

Lin Chen cupped his hands slightly and turned to leave, but a call rang out behind him.

"Grandmaster, my name is Xiao Chenyu. I'm the son of Nuoding City's City Lord. If there's ever anything I can do for you, please come to the City Lord Mansion and ask for me."

Lin Chen paused, surprised to learn who he was.

"All right!"

Lin Chen agreed casually, rounded the street corner, then eagerly called out in his mind,

"System, claim the special technique!"