"Having True Body Armor at level thirty is a rule imprinted onto Martial Souls by the Douluo Continent, just like how, at level seventy, no matter what kind of Soul Beast's Soul Ring you absorb, the Soul Skill you gain is always the Martial Soul Avatar!"
Xu Bai pondered, making a bold guess.
As an outsider, the Beast Taming Space Martial Soul would certainly have to obey the local rules, but it definitely wouldn't obey all of them.
Take a Soul Elder's True Body Armor, for example. After reaching level thirty, perhaps he would gain a skill unique to Beast Tamers.
Perhaps intangibility, or merging with a Soul Beast. Or, given the special nature of his Beast Taming Space, he might even gain the ability to automatically absorb matter from the outside world once he reached level thirty.
As he let his thoughts run wild, the sky gradually grew bright.
After one last look around the little courtyard and making sure he hadn't left behind any Gold Soul Coins, Xu Bai resolutely pushed open the door.
Farewell, little courtyard. Today I'm setting sail. Don't worry about me; I have the oars of joy and wisdom...
Before leaving, though, Xu Bai went to Spirit Hall to collect this month's allowance: one Gold Soul Coin.
Although one Gold Soul Coin wasn't much to Xu Bai now, even the smallest Gold Soul Coin was still money.
And Xu Bai was very short on money.
As for why his allowance was still just one Gold Soul Coin even though he was already a Soul Grandmaster—
The reason was simple: he hadn't dared to report his advancement.
It had been less than a year since he went to Spirit Hall to register as a Soul Master.
Going from level twelve to level twenty-three in less than a year was simply too astonishing. He could only grit his teeth and let Spirit Hall keep owing him the nine Gold Soul Coins he hadn't collected.
Once he got his hands on his good Second Uncle, he'd settle the old and new scores together, with interest!
On the main road outside Huangshan City, a carriage rolled along at a leisurely pace.
Inside, Xu Bai leaned lazily to one side, idly playing with the Gold Soul Coin he had just collected from Spirit Hall.
After leaving Gold Mountain City, he found himself feeling uncharacteristically lost, unsure where to go next.
It had been nearly three years since he'd awakened his memories from his previous life.
For the first two years, he hadn't even had the ability to protect himself, so all he'd thought about was raising his cultivation as quickly as possible.
Now that his cultivation had improved and he had the most basic ability to protect himself, the pressure of imminent danger had eased, leaving him room to think about other things.
In this world, he had no family ties, nor any friends or lovers to miss.
To this world, he was like a duckweed without roots.
Perhaps he ought to do something meaningful, like make a few friends. He hadn't made a single friend these past few years. Aside from First and Little Blue, he was truly all alone.
Come to think of it, since he'd ended up inside a novel, why not go see the current protagonist group?
Go see what Tang San looked like as a little kid?
No, that wasn't realistic.
At this point, Tang San probably hadn't started school yet, and Xu Bai had no idea where Holy Soul Village was. Even if he did know, he couldn't go there.
After all, Tang Hao was still holed up there. He was a Titled Douluo. He might be down in the dumps these days, but he wasn't actually useless...
Ma Hongjun was still young; his Martial Soul might not even have awakened.
Oscar and Dai Mubai might already have gone to Shrek, but Shrek was in the Balak Kingdom, within the sphere of influence of his good Second Uncle. He couldn't go there for now.
Zhu Zhuqing should be in Star Luo City, in the Star Luo Empire. That was way too far, so he couldn't go there either.
And last was Ning Rongrong...
Come to think of it, was this world based on the comic version, or was it a fused version? If it was the fused version, she might still be wandering around with Sword Douluo right now.
As he thought about it, Xu Bai couldn't help chuckling.
"I must have eaten too much to be thinking about all this. I still have no idea how to get the premium evolution materials for First."
"Instead of spending time thinking about all this nonsense, I'd be better off figuring out how to make money."
"Only by making money can I strengthen my beasts. Stronger beasts can feed their power back to me and make me stronger. Only when I'm stronger will I have the ability to make all these things happen."
He lightly flicked the Gold Soul Coin into the air, then snatched it and clenched it tightly in his fist.
"So, the top priority for now is still making money?"
As for how to make money...
"I should keep increasing the orchard's output!"
Xu Bai sighed softly. In the end, his strength was simply too weak. If he were stronger, or had a powerful faction behind him, he could sell a batch of Hundred Herb Liquid.
Even diluted tenfold, this miracle medicine would sell like hotcakes, and the production cost was only ten Gold Soul Coins. It was practically naked profiteering.
Qinghe City.
After finding a decent inn, Xu Bai rested for a day. It wasn't until the next day that he went looking for a place to live, choosing a small courtyard much like the one he'd had in Huangshan City.
This time, though, he didn't buy one. He chose to rent.
He found a broker and told him what he needed. The broker soon found a suitable courtyard.
Xu Bai looked over the place and was fairly satisfied.
Just as he was about to pay, the broker seemed to think he looked young and tried to fleece him, quoting an exorbitant price.
That amount of money wasn't much to Xu Bai, but there was no way he'd tolerate someone trying to swindle him.
So he immediately released his Soul Rings and revealed his identity, enjoying some of the perks of this rotten, dark feudal society.
He was a Soul Master, after all!
When the broker saw the two gleaming Hundred-Year Soul Rings, he dropped straight to his knees.
He said, "This humble one had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai and offended the esteemed Soul Master."
He also said, "To show my apology, I'll waive the first month's rent."
He even found Xu Bai a different courtyard.
At first glance, the two courtyards didn't seem much different, but the broker explained sheepishly, "That other courtyard looks fine on the surface, but if you live there long enough, you'll find it leaks when it rains and lets in the wind. It's considered a low-grade rental around here."
Xu Bai was speechless. He thought that if he hadn't been a Soul Master, the broker really would have tried to fool him just because he was a kid.
After agreeing on the rental term with the broker, Xu Bai sent him away and moved in with his things.
He also let the two little ones out so they could get used to their new surroundings.
First didn't care. He made one circuit of the courtyard, gave it a cursory look, then found a sunny spot and sprawled down for a comfortable nap.
Little Blue, on the other hand, was clearly more curious. Its vines held up its root system as it wandered around the courtyard, now and then pushing its roots into the soil to feel around.
Only after a long while did it find a spot it liked and choose to put down roots.
Mm, it was still in the corner by the wall.
Xu Bai tidied up a little too, and bought a set of bedding. Then he put the drowsy First back into the Beast Taming Space.
He called to Little Blue to keep watch over the house, then hurried out of the city in a flurry.
He didn't return until nightfall, dusty and tired from the journey.
When he let First out, the little guy was also covered in dust, and his eyes were full of reproach as he looked at Xu Bai.
There was no helping it. If he wanted to increase the orchard's output right now, First would just have to suffer a little.
After dinner, Xu Bai went to the trouble of giving First a good wash. He washed up himself as well, then collapsed onto the bed, exhausted.
Just as he was about to sleep, he thought for a moment, silently opened the Manual, and pulled up the method for reviving the Nine Tribulations Blue Silver Grass.
When he saw that deducing the method for its third revival still required a massive amount of mental energy, he started the deduction anyway, then happily closed his eyes.