After watching Ling Feng and Liu Erlong leave, Flender was consumed with regret.
He was used to taking advantage of others. In the past, he had relied on his high Soul Power and never run into any trouble.
But if you walk by the river often enough, sooner or later your shoes will get wet. He had never expected to fall into the hands of two young people today.
"My Gold Soul Coins!" Flender cried, heartbroken.
That was the money he had saved for years—the money he needed to realize his dream. Now it was all gone.
And he had no one to complain to. Given those two people's mysterious backgrounds, going to the Spirit Hall or the Empire would probably do him no good.
"Ugh, this place is so close to Heaven Dou City. One wrong step and I'll kick an iron plate. I'd better move somewhere else to swindle... do business!"
"Once I become a Soul Emperor, or even a Soul Saint, I'll definitely come back!" Flender thought.
Just then, Flender noticed that the skin pierced by the needle had begun to rot, giving off a stench of death.
"His Soul Skill is poisonous!" Flender realized, hurriedly circulating his Soul Power to suppress the poison.
Fortunately, Ling Feng was only a Soul Elder. If he were a Soul Ancestor like Flender, Flender feared he might not be able to suppress the poison at all.
With the Soul Fighting over, Ling Feng had a rough idea of his own strength.
He had a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring skill. As long as he avoided a war of attrition, ordinary Soul Ancestors would have a hard time defeating him.
Even against a Soul King, he could use the mental attack of his eye technique to interrupt the enemy's assault, then escape with his ability to fly.
If he faced a fragile Soul King, he might even have a chance to kill them in a surprise attack.
"At last, I have a little power to protect myself!" Ling Feng thought.
But escaping from a Soul King was nothing special. There would always be powerful people in the world, so Ling Feng didn't dare slack off.
Ling Feng took out Flender's Gold Soul Coin card and handed it to Liu Erlong.
"Why are you giving this to me?" Liu Erlong asked.
"Think of it as compensation from that unscrupulous merchant. You can keep it!"
"Once you've saved enough, you can buy some thousand-year or Ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber to take. It'll help your cultivation!"
The Spirit Hall had never made the use of Whale Rubber public, though it had been secretly buying it all along.
"Whale Rubber?" Liu Erlong frowned. "You want me to eat Whale Rubber?"
She thought Ling Feng was being frivolous. They had known each other for only a day, and he was already telling her to eat Whale Rubber?
Her mother had once lived in a house of ill repute and knew a little about such medicinal materials.
Her mother had told her that some nobles used Whale Rubber to boost their virility and show off in front of their friends.
So Liu Erlong thought Ling Feng wanted her to take Whale Rubber because he wanted to sleep with her.
Ling Feng nodded.
"That's right. This is a secret of the Spirit Hall, so don't go spreading it around, or I'll be done for."
"Taking Whale Rubber can strengthen your body. A stronger body can absorb a Soul Ring with a higher age."
"You saw my third Soul Ring just now, didn't you?" Ling Feng asked.
"Huh?" Liu Erlong felt her face grow warm. "So Whale Rubber has that effect. I actually thought he wanted to..."
Liu Erlong turned her head, embarrassed to look at Ling Feng again.
Still, she asked, "Are you saying you absorbed a Ten Thousand Year third Soul Ring because you took Whale Rubber?"
"Then if I take Whale Rubber, could I absorb a Ten Thousand Year fourth Soul Ring too?" Liu Erlong asked hopefully.
The power of a hundred-year Soul Skill compared to a thousand-year one, and a thousand-year Soul Skill compared to a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring skill, was like the distance between heaven and earth. Everyone wanted to absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring early.
Ling Feng shook his head. "No. When you absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, you'll suffer the Soul Shock of the Soul Beast's remnant soul."
"To absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, your spiritual power has to be strong enough to withstand that mental shock!"
"But after taking Whale Rubber, you can try absorbing a fourth Soul Ring older than five thousand years."
Liu Erlong's Fire Dragon Spirit had a powerful effect on strengthening the body.
If she took thousand-year Whale Rubber as well, absorbing a six-thousand-year Soul Ring wouldn't be a problem.
If she could find Ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber, she might even be able to absorb a Soul Ring that was seven or eight thousand years old.
Liu Erlong felt a little disappointed, but absorbing a Soul Ring six or seven thousand years old would still be a significant improvement.
"Why five thousand years?" Liu Erlong asked.
Ling Feng handed Yu Xiaogang's theory to Liu Erlong. "You can read this book for the basics."
"Although a lot of it is wrong, it's still somewhat useful for ordinary Soul Masters."
"But the Meditation Method in it might conflict with your Martial Soul, so don't practice it."
Ling Feng handed Yu Xiaogang's notes to Liu Erlong and told her how to take Whale Rubber, as well as the precautions.
Liu Erlong felt a little embarrassed. She realized she had asked a rather basic question.
"Okay, I understand. I'll find some time to read it."
Liu Erlong had originally planned to prepare another gift for Ling Feng, so she accepted the book on Martial Soul Theory.
As they walked, Liu Erlong slowly came back to herself.
She thought over her conversation with Ling Feng and gradually began to realize what made him so special.
"So he's from the Spirit Hall?"
Ever since she became a One-Ring Soul Master, she had been collecting the Spirit Hall's Soul Master subsidies.
Now that she had another good friend who came from the Spirit Hall, her opinion of the organization improved considerably.
"He said absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring requires powerful spiritual strength. Does that mean his spiritual power is already on par with a Soul King?"
Liu Erlong's eyes glimmered with wonder, and she became even more curious about Ling Feng.
The two found a hotel, ate a little, then returned to their lodgings.
For some reason, Ling Feng noticed that the straightforward Liu Erlong had become rather coy during the meal.
The way she acted now was a stark contrast to the tyrannical dragon who crushed her enemies' heads with her claws.
A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
Liu Erlong didn't take any more mercenary commissions. She left Ling Feng an address, then departed the town.
Without a companion, Ling Feng spent the next few days cultivating at the inn.
He had almost plucked the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Ginseng's rootlets bald.
But his Soul Power had broken through its bottleneck as well, reaching level thirty-eight.
Ling Feng ended his cultivation and felt the changes in his body.
"The effects of the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Ginseng are diminishing. It looks like my hope of rapidly increasing my strength with these ginseng roots won't come true."
Still, the effects hadn't declined too much. Ling Feng estimated he could absorb the medicinal power of two or three more roots.
Two or three Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Ginseng roots would be enough to support his cultivation until he became a Soul King.
Just then, Ling Feng suddenly heard a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Ling Feng asked warily.
With his level of spiritual power, he hadn't even sensed anyone approaching the door.
That meant whoever had come was stronger than he could handle, so Ling Feng had to be cautious.