Three years later!
Notting City, Li's Pharmacy!
"Oh, if it isn't little Qi! Here to buy Whale Rubber again?" The shopkeeper, a man in his forties, smiled at the boy before him, who was no longer so small.
His familiar tone made it clear this was hardly the boy's first visit.
Qi Dao smiled. "That's right. A friend of mine needs it."
The shopkeeper teased, "Sure it isn't your father who needs it and sent you to buy it?"
Everyone knew what Whale Rubber was for.
Qi Dao was still a child. He probably hadn't even held a girl's hand, so he certainly wasn't taking it himself. That left his father.
"Shopkeeper, stop making wild guesses. I never said that."
"Just show me the Whale Rubber from your new shipment."
"Coming right up!" The shopkeeper took three wooden boxes from a shelf.
He opened them one by one, revealing three pieces of pale-yellow, amber-like Whale Rubber.
The uses of Whale Rubber had yet to be fully explored in the era of Douluo I, but ordinary people still couldn't afford it.
A single piece of ordinary hundred-year Whale Rubber was worth dozens of Gold Soul Coins.
A better-quality piece could fetch hundreds.
The shopkeeper explained, "These two lighter pieces are around three hundred years old. They're a hundred Gold Soul Coins each."
"This darker piece is six hundred years old. If you want it, I'll let you have it for three hundred."
Qi Dao's gaze swept over all three pieces. "I'll take all three!"
The shopkeeper's eyes lit up.
Three pieces of Whale Rubber sold in one day—that was a big sale!
After leaving the shop, Qi Dao headed straight home.
His family owned a villa with a courtyard in Notting City.
When he returned, Qi Father and Qi Mother saw the three wooden boxes in his arms. "You bought Whale Rubber again?"
"Yes. It cost nearly five hundred Gold Soul Coins."
Neither of them winced at the price.
The Qi family was fairly well-off now.
Three years earlier, Qi Dao had gotten five thousand Gold Soul Coins from Xiao Haijie, then used the money to start a small business with Xiao Chenyu.
Everyone knew that connections might not make you rich in business, but they could certainly help you earn a little.
And Xiao Chenyu happened to have a father who was the city lord!
Their business hadn't become a runaway success, but it had grown steadily.
That steady income let Qi Dao soak in medicinal baths now and then, or buy a piece or two of Whale Rubber to eat.
Qi Father had also advanced to Soul Elder two years ago.
As a Soul Elder, he could collect a monthly stipend of one hundred Gold Soul Coins from Spirit Hall.
That came to over a thousand Gold Soul Coins a year—no small sum.
"Five hundred is fine. Money's a small matter, as long as it helps you." Qi Father smiled unconcernedly, then turned to Qi Mother.
"Dear, heat the Whale Rubber for A Dao. I'll get some practice in with this boy."
"All right," Qi Mother said gently. "Go practice, but don't trample my flowers and plants like last time, or you two can expect a scolding."
Qi Father gave an awkward smile. "That was ages ago. Why hold on to it?"
"Hmm?" Qi Mother raised her voice.
Qi Father immediately waved his hands.
"All right, all right. We'll be careful."
He led Qi Dao into the open courtyard outside the villa. With a flick of his hand, an old-fashioned iron sword appeared in his grasp.
"Come on. Let me see whether your swordsmanship has improved."
Qi Dao slowly drew Peerless and smiled. "Gladly. I've been itching for a match."
In truth, both his understanding of Swordsmanship and his skill with a sword had long surpassed his father's.
But Qi Father was a Soul Elder. Even without Soul Power or Soul Skills, his superior physical strength was enough to keep Qi Dao on the defensive.
Qi Dao enjoyed testing his swordsmanship against that pressure.
And when his swordsmanship alone managed to catch his father off guard, it put him in a good mood for the rest of the day.
"Good lad. Take this!"
Qi Father shifted his footing, then struck without warning, thrusting his sword forward.
Fast, precise, ruthless!
The iron sword tore through the air, and the attack bore down on Qi Dao with tremendous pressure.
It wasn't pressure born of swordsmanship, but of the gap between their strength and speed.
Hearing the sharp whistle of the blade, Qi Dao raised his sword to block. He turned sideways and pressed down to bleed off the force, then used his father's momentum to spring back and open some distance.
Qi Father smiled faintly and pressed forward, step by step.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The ring of clashing blades echoed through the courtyard. The two figures traded blows, their swords colliding in bursts of sparks.
Qi Dao mostly relied on agile footwork to evade, or used a few ounces of force to deflect a thousand pounds, turning his father's strength against him.
He had never systematically studied any particularly refined techniques for applying force, but real combat was the best teacher.
After dozens of exchanges, a sharp glint flashed in Qi Dao's eyes. His wrist flicked.
His blade never touched Qi Father, yet a streak of invisible Sword Qi shot from its edge and sliced across Qi Father's arm faster than he could react.
Clang!
Their blades collided again. Qi Dao retreated several steps, then stopped with a faint curve at the corner of his mouth.
Qi Father stared at his arm in shock.
A slit had appeared in his right sleeve.
"You just..."
Qi Dao grinned. "Sword Qi!"
"I'm a sword-type Soul Master. It's only natural that I can send out Sword Qi, right?"
Qi Father's mouth twitched.
If sword-type Soul Masters could send out Sword Qi, could they still be called close-combat Soul Masters?
And since when was sending out Sword Qi something every sword-type Soul Master could do?
Why couldn't he do it, then?
"How did you learn to produce Sword Qi?" Qi Father asked.
Qi Dao shook his head. "I just kept practicing until I could."
Qi Father was speechless.
Of course. He'd known asking would be pointless!
By now, though, he was used to Qi Dao making him feel inadequate.
Just then, Qi Mother called from inside the villa.
"A Dao, the Whale Rubber is ready to eat."
"Coming!"
Qi Dao turned to his father.
"I'll eat the Whale Rubber first. We can keep going afterward!"
With that, he went inside.
Qi Father followed him.
Whale Rubber had a certain aphrodisiac effect, but the effect of hundred-year Whale Rubber wasn't too severe. As long as Qi Dao visualized Peerless, the stabbing pain in his soul was enough to suppress the heat rising within him.
While Qi Dao consumed the Whale Rubber and absorbed its medicinal power,
Qi Father and Qi Mother talked it over.
"A Dao broke through to level ten a few days ago. Let's take him to the Soul Hunting Forest tomorrow to hunt a Soul Ring."
"All right. Does A Dao have anything particular in mind for his First Soul Ring?"
"I'm not sure about that, but he wants it to be at least five hundred years old."
Qi Mother's expression changed at once.
"Five hundred years!"
"Isn't that too old?"
After all, even their own Second Soul Rings had been less than five hundred years old.
Qi Father glanced at Qi Dao, who was absorbing the medicinal power, and shook his head. "A Dao isn't like us. We can't force our experience on him."
"He's had a mind of his own since he was little. Trust him!"
"It wouldn't be the first miracle he's pulled off!"
After all, Qi Father had never heard of a Soul Master with only half a level of innate Soul Power reaching level ten in just three years.
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