100 Gold Soul Coins

The middle-aged woman leading the Skywater Academy group smiled as she spoke, while the corner of her eye kept curiously sweeping over Ning Yao.

It wasn't just her, either. The people behind her, along with some of the guests in the inn, had also noticed Ning Yao.

An ordinary person?

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

Everyone who came here had practically the same purpose: the Star Dou Great Forest.

They were all here to rest and prepare. What was this ordinary person doing here?

Had he gotten lost?

Ning Yao glanced at the Skywater group, hesitating.

"I'd like to make a deal."

As he spoke, Ning Yao raised his hand.

He opened his palm, revealing a green seed resting there.

"What's this?"

The instant the seed appeared, the middle-aged woman leading the group—a Soul Emperor—wasn't the only one who looked surprised. Even the Skywater members behind her, whose cultivation was inferior to hers, stared at it in astonishment.

"Teacher, this thing might be useful to us on this trip."

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

Even they, as students from an academy, could sense the immense life force contained in the seed. She didn't believe her teacher could remain unmoved.

Sure enough, the middle-aged woman nodded deeply.

"Little brother, name your price."

Everyone's eyes gathered on Ning Yao once more.

Ning Yao's brows lifted slightly. He'd guessed right.

These Soul Masters, who were about to enter the Star Dou Great Forest, really were interested in something like this.

He had just casually shaped the seed using a trace of his divine power. It could heal injuries of any severity. Anyone who ate it would be brought back, even if they had only one breath left.

"I need a map of the Heaven Dou Empire and some Gold Soul Coins."

"Anyone here can make an offer."

As soon as he finished speaking, a hubbub of discussion rose throughout the inn.

Some people began making offers, while others searched themselves from head to toe but couldn't find a map.

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

Just as the middle-aged woman was struggling over the map, Shui Bing'er suddenly stepped forward from behind her and came to stand before Ning Yao.

The girl raised her hand. A flash of white light shimmered from the storage necklace at her throat, and a scroll-map of the Heaven Dou Empire appeared in her hand.

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

"How about this map, plus 100 Gold Soul Coins, little brother?"

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

The entire room fell silent.

The inn's guests, who had been scrambling to bid, all shut their mouths.

They were ordinary Soul Masters, generally only at level twenty or thirty. They couldn't compare with the Skywater group, especially not the Soul Emperor woman.

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

Even the Skywater students behind the woman were stunned by the offer.

They could all tell the seed was extraordinary, but they truly hadn't expected their teacher to offer 100 Gold Soul Coins for a seed whose exact effects were unknown.

Nearby, seeing that no one else was bidding, Ning Yao nodded lightly.

"That'll do."

The Skywater group before him knew their stuff.

Especially the Soul Emperor woman. Ning Yao knew she must have noticed something and realized the seed wasn't ordinary.

They exchanged the goods and payment.

Ning Yao handed the seed to the woman, then took what he'd earned from her and Shui Bing'er.

"I'm sure I don't need to explain its effects. You're all people who know quality when you see it."

"But I'll still give you a word of warning: it's best to eat this when you need it most. It might save your life."

After the deal was done, Ning Yao left. Before he went, he gave the woman a word of warning.

Once Ning Yao had left, Shui Bing'er and the others quickly gathered around the woman to examine the seed.

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

"We only brought a little over a hundred Gold Soul Coins with us for this Soul Hunting trip, didn't we?"

They all chattered at once.

But the woman only shook her head gently.

She stared intently at the inn's door, which had closed again.

"That little brother is probably no ordinary person, either. This seed is worth at least 100 Gold Soul Coins."

"I once saw a pill similar to it. It didn't even look as full of life, and at that auction, it sold for the sky-high price of 300."

The woman spoke slowly, confident that her judgment was sound.

The seed's value might well exceed her expectations. She would have to take it back for the dean to examine.

Meanwhile, Ning Yao had already walked a fair distance away.

He didn't want to stay at that inn any longer. He hated trouble.

Not everyone there was a good person like the Skywater group. Just now, Ning Yao had noticed several hostile gazes.

After all, he knew that in the eyes of people in this world, he really was just an ordinary "person." He couldn't be bothered to stay and invite more trouble.

Besides, he had both the money and the map now. He'd accomplished what he'd set out to do.

According to the map, the Star Dou Great Forest was still some distance from Suotuo City.

The road ahead was long, and he didn't want to waste any more time—or life—here.

By the time Ning Yao reached the next place where he could stop to rest, dusk had fallen.

There, he finally got to enjoy a delicious meal. While eating, he also overheard the topic being discussed at the next table.

The Soto City Great Spirit Arena, the Shrek Seven Monsters.

Those two terms piqued Ning Yao's interest.

The protagonist's group?

Before, when he'd seen Qian Renxue and Shui Bing'er, he'd only been able to make a rough guess.

Now, after hearing these new names, he was certain of the timeline.

The original story's main plot had begun, though not long ago.

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

Back in the day, he'd despised the protagonist's group in Douluo Continent.

He thought some members of the Shrek Seven Monsters were hypocrites.

And Shrek Academy itself was absurd.

They only accepted monsters? Geniuses were geniuses wherever they went, so why go to some impoverished backwater with nothing at all to receive an education that was completely useless?

Of course, the one he detested most was Tang San's teacher, Yu Xiaogang—Master Yu.

When he'd first read the original story, Ning Yao really hadn't understood how Yu Xiaogang had the nerve to act as he did.

The things he'd done were practically inhuman.

Ning Yao knew that he was nothing but a piece of wood now, but he'd still done more human things than Yu Xiaogang.

After thinking it over for a while, Ning Yao shook his head lightly.

It had been so many years since his time on Blue Star, but he'd at least crossed into another world. If he really ran into them, he might as well go see what sort of people this protagonist's group were.

Were they really as terrible in person as they were in the novel?