100 Gold Soul Coins

The middle-aged woman leading Tianshui Academy smiled as she spoke, while her gaze kept curiously sweeping over Ning Yao.

It was not just her. The people behind her, along with some of the guests in the inn, had noticed Ning Yao as well.

An ordinary person?

What was an ordinary person doing at an inn beside the Star Dou Great Forest?

After all, nearly everyone who came here had only one destination: the Star Dou Great Forest.

They were merely stopping to rest and prepare. What had this ordinary person come here for?

Had he gotten lost?

Ning Yao glanced at the Tianshui group, somewhat hesitant.

"I want to make a deal."

As he spoke, Ning Yao raised his hand.

When he opened his palm, a green seed appeared in it.

"What is that?"

The instant the seed appeared, not only did the middle-aged woman, a Spirit Emperor, reveal a surprised expression, but so did the Tianshui group behind her, whose cultivation was lower than hers.

"Teacher, perhaps this thing will be useful for our trip."

Shui Bing'er leaned close to the woman's ear and spoke softly.

Even students like them could sense the immense life force contained within the seed. She did not believe her teacher would feel nothing.

Sure enough, the middle-aged woman nodded deeply.

"Little brother, name your price."

Everyone's gazes gathered on Ning Yao once more.

Ning Yao raised his brows slightly. He had won his bet.

As expected, these Spirit Masters who were about to enter the Star Dou Great Forest were interested in something like this.

He had casually fashioned this seed with a mere trace of his divine power. It could heal injuries; regardless of one's level, as long as they consumed it, even someone with only their last breath left could be saved.

"I need a map of the Heaven Dou Empire, along with some Gold Soul Coins."

"Anyone present may make an offer."

As soon as he finished speaking, discussions erupted throughout the inn.

Some people had already begun shouting offers, while others searched through everything they had and still failed to find a map.

"Teacher, I happen to have a map of the Heaven Dou Empire."

Just as the middle-aged woman was troubled over the map, Shui Bing'er suddenly stepped forward from behind her and walked up to Ning Yao.

The girl raised her hand. A flash of white light passed over the storage necklace around her neck, and a scroll map of the Heaven Dou Empire appeared in her hand.

She looked at Ning Yao, then at the woman beside her.

"This map, along with 100 Gold Soul Coins. What do you think, little brother?"

As she spoke, the woman took a heavy money pouch from her storage ring.

In an instant, the entire inn fell silent.

The people in the inn, who had been scrambling to bid, all shut their mouths.

They were merely commoner Spirit Masters, generally only around level twenty or thirty. They could not compare with the Tianshui group at all, especially not the Spirit Emperor woman.

One hundred Gold Soul Coins was a fortune they might not be able to save up even after years of hard work.

Even several Tianshui students behind the woman were stunned by the offer.

They could all tell that the seed was extraordinary, but they had never expected their teacher to offer 100 Gold Soul Coins for a seed whose exact effects were still unknown.

Meanwhile, after seeing that no one else was raising the price, Ning Yao nodded lightly.

"Deal."

The Tianshui group before him did have an eye for value.

Especially that Spirit Emperor woman. Ning Yao knew she must have seen something and understood that this seed was no ordinary item.

Money and goods changed hands at the same time.

Ning Yao handed the seed to the woman, while accepting the items he had gained from the deal from the woman and Shui Bing'er.

"I trust I need not explain its effects in detail. You are all people who recognize quality."

"But let me offer a reminder: it is best to consume it when it is most needed. It might save your life."

After the trade was complete, Ning Yao left. Before departing, he gave the woman one last reminder.

After watching Ning Yao leave, Shui Bing'er and the others quickly gathered around the woman to inspect the seed.

"Teacher, is this little thing really worth us spending so much money on it?"

"We only brought a little over a hundred Gold Soul Coins for this spirit hunt, didn't we?"

Several people chattered at once.

Yet the woman merely shook her head lightly.

She gave the inn door, which had already closed again, a deep look.

"That little brother is likely no simple person either. The value of this seed is no less than 100 Gold Soul Coins."

"I once saw a pill similar to it. Its life force seemed even weaker than this one's, yet at that auction, it sold for the astronomical price of 300."

The woman spoke slowly, confident that her judgment was not mistaken.

The seed's value might far exceed even her expectations. She needed to bring it back for the dean to examine.

Meanwhile, Ning Yao had already traveled some distance away.

He did not want to remain at that inn any longer. He disliked trouble.

Not everyone in the inn was as decent as the Tianshui group. Just now, Ning Yao had sensed several malicious gazes.

After all, he knew that in the eyes of others in this world, he truly was just an ordinary "person," so he could not be bothered to linger and invite more trouble.

In any case, he now had both money and a map. His goals had been accomplished.

According to the markings on the map, there was still quite a distance between the Star Dou Great Forest and Soto City.

The journey ahead was long, and he did not want to waste any more time—or life—here.

By the time Ning Yao reached the next place where he could rest, it was already evening.

There, he finally enjoyed a delicious meal. While eating, he also happened to overhear the topic being discussed at the neighboring table.

Soto City Great Spirit Arena, the Shrek Seven Monsters.

Those two terms piqued Ning Yao's interest.

The protagonist group?

When he had previously encountered Qian Renxue and Shui Bing'er, he could only make a rough estimate.

Now, after hearing these new terms, he completely confirmed the current point in the timeline.

The original story's main plot had already begun, though it had only just started.

Lying on the hard bed in his room on the second floor of the inn, Ning Yao fell into thought.

Back then, Ning Yao had truly despised the protagonist group of Douluo Continent.

He felt that some members of the Shrek Seven Monsters were hypocritical.

And Shrek Academy itself was utterly absurd.

What did they mean, only accepting monsters?

A genius would be a genius anywhere. Why would they need to go to some remote backwater with nothing there to receive completely useless instruction?

Of course, the person Ning Yao loathed most of all in this was Tang San's teacher, Yu Xiaogang, the so-called Grandmaster.

When he had first read the original novel, Ning Yao truly could not understand where this man got the nerve.

The things he had done were simply inhuman.

Ning Yao considered that although he himself was now a piece of wood, the things he had done were still far more human than Yu Xiaogang's.

After thinking for a long time, Ning Yao shook his head lightly.

Although so many years had already passed since Blue Star, he had transmigrated here after all. If he truly ran into them, he would definitely take a look at what kind of people this protagonist group really were.

Whether they were truly as awful in reality as they were in the novel.