Staring at the five Soul Rings rising behind Fang Xuan, Dugu Yan gaped in shock.
No wonder Tian Heng had reacted like that just now.
Only now did Dugu Yan realize why Yu Tianheng had acted so strangely earlier.
Normally, Yu Tianheng would have taken her side right away.
But this time, he hadn't. Instead, he'd stepped in to stop her.
She'd sensed something was off at the time, but now it all made sense.
"How old are you?"
Dugu Yan forced herself to calm down, then looked at Fang Xuan and asked the question she was most eager to know the answer to.
"Eighteen."
"How old?!"
Dugu Yan shot to her feet, but quickly realized she'd lost her composure again.
Her face flushed, and she gave a light cough, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Ahem, well... that's not bad. Your talent's good enough for Lingling, I suppose. So, how much of a betrothal gift are you prepared to give...?"
"Would five million Gold Soul Coins be enough?"
This time, it was Ye Lingling's turn to be astonished. She turned to look at Fang Xuan, especially at the plain clothes he was wearing. No matter how she looked at him, he didn't seem like someone who could come up with five million.
Don't tell her this shop made that kind of money.
Given the purchasing power of ordinary people on Douluo Continent, a single Gold Soul Coin could provide a family with several months of comfortable living.
Even her family couldn't easily produce five million Gold Soul Coins all at once.
Fang Xuan was offering five million as a betrothal gift to marry her. That was outrageously lavish.
"Uh... that's not enough? Then I'll add a bit more. How about six million?"
Seeing their expressions, Fang Xuan assumed he hadn't offered enough.
After all, they both seemed to have impressive backgrounds. They lived in Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.
One was the Ye Family's only young lady, while the other had a Titled Douluo for a grandfather. Maybe this amount of money was nothing to them.
"Wait! Forgive me for asking, but did you come by all this money honestly?"
Had he been up to something shady? Six million Gold Soul Coins?
Had he robbed the Great Soul Arena in Suotuo City?
"Hey, don't slander me! I'm an honest man. I never do anything illegal or disorderly. I earned every coin through my own hard work."
But as soon as Fang Xuan finished speaking, he met Dugu Yan's scornful gaze.
She looked at Ye Lingling beside her, then back at him.
She didn't say a word, yet somehow managed to say everything.
Fang Xuan's old face flushed at the sight, while Ye Lingling also lowered her red face, too embarrassed to look Dugu Yan in the eye.
"Ahem, that was an exception... an accident, an accident!"
"Tch. You get what you want and still act innocent."
"Men are all rotten."
Dugu Yan was utterly disdainful.
Ye Lingling was famous as a beauty in Heaven Dou City. Her admirers could circle the city once over.
She never expected Fang Xuan to be the one who got lucky—and in this fashion, no less. Even though his talent and attitude were both quite good.
Still, Dugu Yan couldn't help complaining. Ye Lingling was her very best friend, after all.
In just one day, someone had already taken advantage of her.
How was that any different from a pig rooting up the cabbage you'd grown at home?
"Yanyan."
Ye Lingling called softly, but Dugu Yan coldly brushed her off.
"What are you calling me for? You're not even married yet, and you're already taking his side!"
Dugu Yan went all out, scolding Ye Lingling for abandoning her friend the moment a man came along.
"Come on, tell me where you got your money. As Lingling's family, I have to make sure you check out."
"Don't think you can fool me. I'm not as easygoing as Lingling. If anyone bullies me, I know how to fight back."
Faced with Dugu Yan's interrogation, Fang Xuan could only sigh in exasperation.
Without saying a word, he turned and walked toward the counter behind him.
Then, with Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling watching, he began rummaging around inside it.
Before long, he pulled out a wooden box from behind the counter. It was covered in dust.
He wiped the dust away, then slowly walked over while the two women watched.
He set the box on the table and pushed it in front of Dugu Yan.
"This is the evidence you wanted. Open it yourself, so you can't say I tampered with anything in front of you."
"Keeping secrets, are you? Let's see what you've got in there that could've earned you six million Gold Soul Coins."
Dugu Yan muttered to herself, but she was genuinely curious about how he'd managed to make so much money.
When she opened the box, she found it packed with identical golden badges.
There were also several purple-gold badges among them.
If she wasn't mistaken, they were all Soul Fighting Arena badges from Suotuo City.
But why were there so many?
"Did you kill them all?"
That was the first thought that popped into Dugu Yan's mind.
Fang Xuan nearly spat up blood right in her face.
"I told you, I'm a law-abiding citizen! Can you stop making things up? I earned all of these by competing, one match at a time."
"You asked where my money came from. I've given you the evidence."
At Dugu Yan's words, she looked from the badges in the box to Fang Xuan standing in front of her, still unconvinced.
"You think I'm an idiot? How could one person get so many badges?"
"Yes, the Soul Fighting Arena allows one person to have multiple identities, but you've got at least dozens here. Isn't that a bit much?"
"And with this many badges, did you live in the Soul Fighting Arena? Even if you won every match, that'd take thousands of fights. Did you start competing in Soul Fighting while you were still in the womb?"
Dugu Yan laid out her reasoning, every point carefully argued. She obviously didn't believe Fang Xuan—or thought he was holding something back.
But just as she was about to say more, the Soul Rings behind Fang Xuan came into view.
"Hey, what are you doing? Did I expose your true colors, and now you're trying to silence me?"
"I'm warning you, my grandfather is..."
She hadn't finished speaking when one of the purple Soul Rings behind Fang Xuan lit up. The next moment, someone who looked exactly like him appeared in front of Dugu Yan.
"Stop shouting nonsense. I'm just showing you the evidence."
Fang Xuan gave Dugu Yan a helpless look, then pointed to his identical self standing beside him.
"This is my third Soul Skill, Perfect Doppelganger (Transformation Eggplant). It can create a perfect copy of me."
"The copy has no intelligence and is completely under my control. It can use Soul Skills just like I can."
Fang Xuan felt he was about to run out of strength. If he weren't afraid Dugu Bo would come after him, he'd really like to give Dugu Yan a good beating. She was such a pain in the neck, just like a nagging old woman.
"But..."
"Please, don't say 'but' again. I know what you want to ask."
"My Martial Soul is special. Every seven days, it..."
To stop Dugu Yan from interrupting again, Fang Xuan explained the special nature of his Martial Soul.
Both Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling were stunned.
After a long while, they finally recovered from their shock.
"So your Soul Skills can change whenever you want?"
"Not exactly. It mostly depends on luck. Sometimes, when the refresh gives me a plant with a poor effect, I don't change it. Like that Pink Mushroom from before."
"That thing's called a Hypno-shroom. Its effect is..."
Before Fang Xuan could finish, Ye Lingling immediately covered his mouth.
"Don't say it!"
Dugu Yan immediately realized what was going on. Her gaze shifted to Ye Lingling, turning strange.
"Could it be... ohhh~"
As if she'd figured out something she really shouldn't have, Dugu Yan's expression became exceptionally animated.
"So that's why you were so willing. Turns out you were the one who pushed him into it."
"Nice, Lingling! I didn't know you had it in you. How did I never notice this side of you before?"
Gossip was always fun, especially when it was about your best friend—and when it was a juicy scandal like this, it was all the more entertaining.
Ye Lingling's face turned bright red once more.
All she wanted was to find a crack in the ground and crawl inside. This was just too embarrassing.
"All right, I'll stop teasing you. You've already gone this far. What's the point of hiding now?"
Dugu Yan looked up at Fang Xuan, then pushed the wooden box toward him and spoke solemnly.
"You've passed my test, but there's no guarantee you'll pass Aunt Ye's. You'd better be ready."