Temptation

The Thunder Python's inner core was drawn in and flew straight into Tie Li's abdomen.

Tie Li suddenly opened his eyes. All the strange phenomena vanished, but he could clearly feel the Thunder Python's inner core within his body.

His physical strength had increased, and his soul power was filled with a dense lightning attribute.

More importantly, his soul power had actually jumped two levels, reaching level sixteen.

"What exactly happened?"

With his limited knowledge of Soul Masters, even Tie Li himself did not know what change had occurred in his body, or whether it was good or bad.

For now, it seemed to be a good thing.

Whether it was his strengthened physique, the lightning attribute contained in his soul power, or the increase in soul power, all of it was what he currently needed.

Even if things developed in a bad direction, what could he change now?

It was better to assume the best. At least it would put him in a better mood.

Over the following days, Tie Li focused entirely on cultivation. With the Thunder Python's flesh and blood and inner core assisting him, his cultivation speed was astonishingly fast, letting Tie Li experience what it felt like to cultivate like a genius.

However, Tie Li often stewed meat, and the fragrance of meat drifted out every few days. This distinctive scent of soul beast meat attracted a group from the commoners' district.

Tie Li had just finished stewing the meat when unfriendly knocking sounded on the wooden door.

"Who are you?"

When he opened the wooden door, Tie Li saw five or six burly men standing outside, all pretending to look vicious.

He immediately guessed who they were. His family had lived in Manno City's commoners' district before, so he naturally knew what sort they were.

After this period of cultivation and nourishing himself with meat, Tie Li, not yet eleven, had grown to one meter seventy. The muscles exposed beneath his clothes were packed with explosive strength, giving him a tough and powerfully built appearance.

"We live nearby. We came to ask you for some meat. You don't mind, do you?"

The leading man thought Tie Li would be easy to bully. After speaking, he tried to force his way into the wooden hut.

Crack.

Tie Li seized his wrist and gave it a savage tug.

"Hurts, hurts, hurts... You'd better know what's good for you. Do you know who I am?"

"What are you doing? Hurry up and come help me!" Seeing that Tie Li had no intention of releasing him, the leading man hurriedly called for his underlings.

The men who had looked so ferocious moments ago immediately went pale when they saw a ball of lightning gathering in Tie Li's hand.

"B-Boss, he's a Soul Master."

"It has nothing to do with me. I only came along to make up the numbers."

"Lord Soul Master, we meant no harm. Boss told us to come. We didn't know why he called us here."

Hearing his underlings beg for mercy, the burly man could not help cursing inwardly.

But now that he knew the other party was a Soul Master, how could he have any other ideas?

They might run wild in the commoners' district, but they were still merely ordinary people. Before the lofty Soul Masters, they could only tuck their tails between their legs.

But why was a noble Soul Master living in the commoners' district, and in such a rundown wooden hut at that?

"This is only a lesson for you. Stay far away from me from now on."

Tie Li did not want to waste time on them. Revealing his identity as a Soul Master could prevent many troubles, such as what had happened today.

If they had known a Soul Master lived in this wooden hut, even if they had three times the courage, they would not have dared to cause trouble here.

Upon hearing the Soul Master speak, the lackeys fled in a frantic scramble.

The burly man who remained wore a conflicted expression, as though weighing his options.

"You still don't want to leave? Do you need me to see you off?"

"Lord Soul Master, are you interested in a soul bone?"

A street thug actually knew about soul bones?

Seeing Tie Li's skeptical gaze, the burly man hurriedly explained.

"It's absolutely real. Boss Cheng's wife told me herself. She plans to sell it, and I heard it can fetch ten thousand gold soul coins."

Tie Li did not interrupt him and let him continue.

Boss Cheng was a Soul Master, but his talent was exceedingly poor. He would find it difficult to break through to the three-ring Soul Venerable level in his entire life, so he had simply given up on cultivation.

Relying on his identity as a Soul Master, he had established a crew in Dragon Prosperity City's underworld, most of its members being nearby street thugs.

These people from the commoners' district were among them. Whenever something happened, Boss Cheng would step in to settle it. With his status as a Soul Master, it was naturally never a problem.

However, he warned the gang members not to provoke Soul Masters.

Gradually, Boss Cheng became more established, and his number of subordinates grew.

Some time ago, no one knew where he had obtained a soul bone. He had originally planned to secretly sell it to a noble in the city in exchange for a lifetime of wealth.

Other than his wife, he had told no one about it.

But he did not know that Niu Dahuang had long been having an affair with his wife. After the two had a heated encounter one night, she accidentally told Niu Dahuang.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Lord Soul Master, I want to make a deal with you. To show my sincerity, I can steal the soul bone for you first."

"Then what do you want? Why do you think I would help you?" Tie Li suddenly found Niu Dahuang's naivety somewhat laughable.

"Help me kill Boss Cheng, then step forward and make me the boss." Niu Dahuang did not answer the latter half of Tie Li's question, because he did not know how to answer it.

He was merely gambling, gambling that Tie Li would keep his promise.

"Why not find someone else?" Tie Li asked.

"I can't get in touch with any other Soul Masters. The few Soul Masters I know are all Boss Cheng's people."

Soul Masters and ordinary people belonged to two different worlds. Especially for commoners at the bottom of society, they were destined to live their entire lives without ever crossing paths with a Soul Master.

Tie Li had been born a commoner, but he was a Soul Master, so he could not understand Niu Dahuang's situation.

"What is Boss Cheng's soul power level?"

Hearing this, Niu Dahuang was delighted.

If the other party only wanted the soul bone, he would definitely agree first and have him steal it, rather than ask questions.

It seemed he intended to make a move. I'll deliberately give Boss Cheng's soul power level wrong and make him fight Boss Cheng to the death. It would be best if they both ended up badly wounded. Then this soul bone will be mine too.

Niu Dahuang began making his calculations.

"A one-ring Soul Master. His soul power level seems to be seventeen."

Seeing Tie Li let out a sigh of relief, Niu Dahuang inwardly praised his own cleverness. Such a young Soul Master was obviously easy to fool. Just as I thought.

"Fine. I agree."

"Good. I'll go get the soul bone now."

Tie Li watched his departing back, and his gaze gradually turned cold.

If the soul bone you bring back is fake, you may yet live. But if it is a real soul bone, don't blame me.

The value of a soul bone was too great, great enough for Tie Li to cast aside his moral bottom line.

For Tie Li, whose talent was ordinary, a soul bone could change everything. It could give him the qualifications to catch up to geniuses and allow him to compete for opportunities.