Taking Whale Rubber

The first batch of whale oil was produced, and the buyers returned home laden with goods. Barrel after barrel of whale oil was shipped out from Whale Hunting City, but this was only the first batch. Two more batches were yet to come.

Cheng Yu led the first convoy as they prepared to set out, while Cheng Xiao remained behind to prevent anyone from snatching the second batch.

Though they had contracts, there was no guarantee that greed would not get the better of someone.

"Tell me, what exactly is that stuff?" Before leaving, Cheng Yu hooked an arm around his nephew's neck, pulled him aside, and asked in a low voice.

"It's called Whale Rubber. It's used for soul master cultivation." Cheng Xiao did not say much, merely giving a simple explanation.

"That's all?" Cheng Yu raised a brow.

Cheng Xiao sighed helplessly. "What else could it be?"

It was not that he did not want to tell his uncle. It was just that secrets always spread from the first person who knew them. Once a second person knew a secret, its eventual spread was only a matter of time.

And the secret of Whale Rubber was nothing short of revolutionary to soul masters. If word got out, Whale Rubber would inevitably become highly sought-after.

Spirit Hall, the Upper Three Sects, the Lower Four Sects, the Two Great Empires, and other powers would certainly monopolize the Whale Rubber supply. For now, their family did not have the ability to protect such a treasure trove.

If his uncle became blinded by greed, he might even bring about the destruction of their family.

After weighing the matter, Cheng Xiao decided to keep the secret of Whale Rubber hidden. He would talk about it again once he became a Titled Douluo and had the strength to resist them.

"All right..." Cheng Yu lost interest.

As Cheng Xiao watched his uncle's figure gradually disappear from view, he touched the two pieces of Whale Rubber in his hand. After that day, Lyu Han had asked around and procured another two pieces for him. One of them had been bought from a child in the village. It had already lost its golden sheen, its color darkening with signs of turning black. He did not know whether it was nearing the level of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber.

If he was lucky, he might obtain a few more pieces during the next two voyages. If he was unlucky... it did not matter. Three pieces were already enough.

By his original estimate, the limit of what his first soul ring could withstand exceeded a hundred years or so. Following that logic, his second soul ring should be just over nine hundred years. Considering that Tai Chi was still continually compensating for his body's innate deficiencies, he could take some risks, but a thousand years was already the limit.

He had still been hesitating over whether to absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as his second soul ring. After all, the age of soul beasts could not be calculated precisely. Absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring was simply too dangerous.

His limit had only just reached one thousand years. Soul beasts barely over a thousand years old were difficult to find, and even the slightest discrepancy could put his life in danger.

But these three pieces of Whale Rubber had come at just the right time.

Whale Rubber was a special substance produced in the brains of whale-type soul beasts. After consuming it, one could strengthen the endurance of the muscles, bones, and meridians, improving a soul master's physique. A whole piece of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber could raise the maximum soul ring age a soul master could endure by five hundred years.

"All three are Thousand-Year Whale Rubber. The effects cannot simply be stacked rigidly, and repeated consumption will definitely reduce the medicinal effect to some extent. But this piece has already begun turning black. Even with a heavy reduction, it should still raise my limit by around fifteen hundred years. That gives me a wide range of choices. Anything between two thousand and two thousand five hundred years will work, with no danger at all." Cheng Xiao recalled the information about Whale Rubber buried deep in his memories.

Cheng Xiao went to the blacksmith's shop and asked the blacksmith to make him a tempering furnace. It was sturdy enough for forging, so it should be enough to soften Whale Rubber.

A few days later, a furnace had been set up inside a crude stone hut beside Moon Bay.

Watching the flames burn within the furnace, Cheng Xiao's cheeks glowed red in the firelight, and a smile appeared on his face.

He placed the three pieces of Whale Rubber on a prepared steel fork and put them into the furnace to temper, closely monitoring their changes. Every so often, he poked the Whale Rubber with an iron rod to test whether it had softened.

Time quietly slipped away. As the fierce flames roasted it, a strange fragrance wafted from the furnace. The scent lingered without dispersing, making Cheng Xiao swallow involuntarily.

"It's ready!"

The furnace was extremely hot. Before long, the Whale Rubber softened under the blazing fire, and Cheng Xiao immediately took it out.

"Hiss!"

Eager to tear into the Whale Rubber, he carelessly burned himself and raised a blister. The pain made Cheng Xiao suck in sharp breaths.

"Damn it!"

Cheng Xiao cursed under his breath, blowing on it and fanning it repeatedly. Only after the Whale Rubber had cooled enough to touch did he tear off small pieces and put them into his mouth.

The fishy odor of the Whale Rubber was extremely strong. The instant it entered his mouth, Cheng Xiao nearly threw up.

But remembering how precious it was, Cheng Xiao endured the nausea and swallowed it. A warm current flowed into his stomach, and a scorching yet comforting sensation spread from his stomach to his chest, leaving behind a faint fragrance.

Worried that the Whale Rubber would harden again, Cheng Xiao tore through the rest like a gale scattering fallen leaves, ripping it into small pieces and rapidly stuffing them into his mouth. Before long, he had swallowed all three pieces.

As the three pieces of Whale Rubber began to digest, it felt as though a searing current flowed from his abdomen into every limb and bone.

Cheng Xiao gradually grew restless with heat. His blood surged, his face turning as red as a boiled lobster. Uneasily scratching his neck and body, he felt as if countless ants were crawling all over him.

"Is it really this potent?" Cheng Xiao's mouth twitched.

He knew Whale Rubber was an extremely nourishing substance of pure yang and fierce potency, but he had not expected it to be this potent.

Fortunately, he had only consumed three pieces of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber rather than the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber Huo Yuhao had consumed. He would not become as muddleheaded as Huo Yuhao, desperately needing to vent himself on a woman.

He could still keep a clear head, but this burning restlessness was truly difficult to suppress.

The rolling heat rampaged through his body. Cheng Xiao felt his temperature rising continuously, sweat soaking his entire body until he looked as though he had been hauled out of the water.

"This can't go on!"

Seeing no signs of relief, Cheng Xiao turned and rushed out of the hut, sprinted toward the nearby shore, and plunged headfirst into the sea.

The seawater temporarily eased the discomfort caused by the heat, but it did not solve the underlying problem. Cheng Xiao's body now felt like a kettle without a spout, with water constantly boiling inside and nowhere to vent.

"I have to guide the medicinal power inside me. I can't let it rampage like this."

Having calmed down a little, Cheng Xiao immediately thought of a solution. Standing in the shallows, he began practicing Tai Chi.

As he moved through the forms of Tai Chi, the uncontrollable current of heat began rushing along the Tai Chi circulation route Cheng Xiao had revised, surging toward the Ren Du Meridians.

Thump! Thump!

The hot current was like an unstoppable giant beast, brutally smashing open the obstructed Ren Du Meridians and flowing through them. At once, an indescribable feeling of pleasure spread throughout his body.

"Mm..."

Cheng Xiao moaned. After a series of crackling sounds rang from the joints throughout his body, he entered the state of Selfless and Formless once again after two years.

He forgot himself as he unleashed his fists. Every movement and stance seemed naturally blessed, and in this state, the circulation route that had once been imperfect gradually corrected itself under Cheng Xiao's unconscious guidance, continuously evolving toward the most perfect path, the one most suited to Tai Chi Fist.

Boom!

In an instant, a thunderous explosion sounded within his body. The obstructed Ren Du Meridians were opened, and Cheng Xiao's Soul Power broke through at that very moment...