Picking Up a Bargain

Shui Qinghan flew with Jiang Lan to Hunter Soul Town, a hundred kilometers from the Frozen Forest, and descended directly.

Hunter Soul Town was not large, consisting of only a single street lined with inns, taverns, weapon shops, and the like.

Though small, the town was quite lively. The taverns were brightly lit, and the noise within could be heard from outside. There were also plenty of mercenaries setting up stalls and shopping along the street.

Seeing the two descend from the sky, the mercenaries on the street hurriedly looked away.

Although Shui Qinghan was stunningly beautiful, no one dared to stare at her so brazenly.

Across the entire Douluo Continent, Soul Masters capable of flight either possessed flying martial souls or were Soul Douluo-level experts and above.

To be a mercenary, one had to know how to read the situation. Daring to stare straight at a Soul Douluo?

Did they have a death wish? Did they not want their eyeballs anymore?

"Lan'er, take these thousand Gold Soul Coins. Buy whatever you like." Shui Qinghan took out a pouch of Gold Soul Coins from the storage bracelet on her wrist and tossed it to Jiang Lan.

With the spiritual power of an eight-ringed Soul Douluo, she could completely cover the entire Hunter Soul Town. No matter where Jiang Lan encountered danger, she could reach him at once.

"Thank you, Teacher." Jiang Lan did not stand on ceremony and immediately accepted it. Then, brimming with excitement, he ran over to the street stalls to see if he could pick up a bargain.

After seeing Shui Qinghan enter the inn, the mercenaries running stalls along the street all breathed sighs of relief. Then they turned to Jiang Lan with beaming smiles, eagerly introducing the goods on display.

After looking around for a while, Jiang Lan gradually lost interest.

The stalls were full of low-grade soul beast materials or broken-down soul tools scavenged from ancient ruins.

In short, nearly everything they sold was junk, and they relied entirely on fooling inexperienced people for profit.

Just as Jiang Lan was about to leave in disappointment, he suddenly spotted an irregular black lump about the size of an adult's fist on one of the stalls.

In front of the irregular black lump was a sign with the words "whale glue" written on it.

Damn, whale glue?! Did I really find a bargain?!

Jiang Lan halted and walked over to the stall, asking casually, "Boss, business looks good. How much are you selling this whale glue for?"

"This is thousand-year whale glue. Don't be fooled by how black it looks. Only the outer layer has weathered a bit. It may not look like much, but it definitely won't affect the whale glue's effects," the stall owner hurriedly said.

"How much?"

"Three hundred Gold Soul Coins!" The stall owner named an outrageous price.

"Fuck! Old Wang, you've really got some nerve! Is your lousy whale glue made of Gold Soul Coins? You dare sell it for three hundred?" another stall owner called out, exposing him.

"Exactly! If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!"

"Do you even know how the word 'death' is written? Aren't you afraid his elders will come looking for trouble?"

"Dagger."

"Scram, all of you! It's not like you're buying it! Other than me, where else can you find whale glue for sale around here? You think it's expensive? I think it's expensive too!" Old Wang snapped irritably, embarrassed after being called out.

"Young master, don't listen to their nonsense. A piece of whale glue this big is enough for you to have fun all night without overtaxing your body." Old Wang winked repeatedly, his smile somewhat lecherous.

Clearly, he assumed Jiang Lan was buying whale glue for that sort of entertainment.

"..." Seeing the stall owner's lewd winks, how could Jiang Lan not realize he had misunderstood?

After all, in people's eyes nowadays, whale glue had no use other than for that sort of thing.

"Deal!" Jiang Lan paid without hesitation.

Jiang Lan did not explain, nor could he be bothered to haggle further. He directly counted out three hundred Gold Soul Coins and tossed them to the stall owner.

Three hundred Gold Soul Coins for a piece of thousand-year whale glue was an incredible bargain.

Though it had weathered slightly, even whale glue of this quality would have cost several thousand Gold Soul Coins during the era of Douluo II.

"Ah, young master, how generous!" Seeing Jiang Lan purchase the thousand-year whale glue without even blinking, Old Wang's grin stretched from ear to ear. His mouth showered Jiang Lan with compliments, while his hands counted the money without slowing in the slightest.

"Take a look and see if there's anything else you want. I'll throw something in for free."

"No need." Jiang Lan shook his head.

"Alright then, young master. I wish you a pleasant night~" After counting the Gold Soul Coins, Old Wang hurriedly picked up the thousand-year whale glue from the stall and stuffed it into Jiang Lan's hands, afraid Jiang Lan might change his mind.

Jiang Lan gave a slight nod, took the thousand-year whale glue he had bought, and turned toward the inn.

As they watched Jiang Lan's unhurried departing figure, the mercenaries running the nearby stalls were filled with envy.

Damn it, there was even a little colt pulling a big cart. That was truly enviable.

"Ah, I want to be reborn as a noble too."

"Hehe, anything is possible in your dreams."

"Old Wang, you have to treat us today."

"I'll treat you, I'll treat you. I finally sold that whale glue that had been sitting in my hands, and I even made a huge profit."

Jiang Lan stepped into the inn, and an attendant hurried over to ask, "You must be Young Master Jiang, correct?"

"Yes. What is it?"

"Your room is on the third floor. I'll show you up."

"Then I'll trouble you." Jiang Lan nodded slightly and followed the attendant up to the third floor.

Before long, the attendant stopped in front of an ornately decorated room, gave a slight bow, and withdrew.

Knock, knock, knock.

Jiang Lan raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Shui Qinghan's voice came from within.

Jiang Lan pushed open the door, entered, and closed it behind him. Then he said mysteriously, "Teacher, I picked up something good!"

Jiang Lan had thought carefully before deciding to tell Shui Qinghan about the secret of whale glue.

Although he no longer needed to consume whale glue to raise the maximum age of his soul rings, its effects of strengthening the muscles and bones and enhancing one's physique were exactly what he currently needed.

After all, no matter how much his physique improved, he would only ever feel it was not enough.

If thousand-year whale glue was insufficient, then he would eat ten-thousand-year whale glue, continuing until whale glue no longer had any effect on him.

Not to mention, he could use the effects of whale glue to greatly increase Shui Qinghan's favorability toward him.

When the time came, as the great contributor who had discovered whale glue's effects, Jiang Lan could feast on thousand-year and ten-thousand-year whale glue to his heart's content.

It was killing two birds with one stone. Why not?

"Something good?" Shui Qinghan found it somewhat amusing. What good thing could a child who had just become a Soul Master and knew almost nothing about the world of Soul Masters possibly pick up from those sly old mercenaries?

It would already be fortunate if they had not cheated him out of his money.

Forget it. She would treat it as a lesson and let the child learn how treacherous people could be, so he would not be deceived again in the future.

"Please use your soul power to soundproof the room first, Teacher, lest the walls have ears," Jiang Lan said cautiously.

"Alright~" Shui Qinghan found Jiang Lan's cautious appearance rather amusing.

Her disciple truly was adorable.

Shui Qinghan smiled slightly and raised a hand, setting up a simple soundproof barrier with her soul power. Then she asked, "Go on. What exactly is this good thing that warrants such caution?"

"Teacher, look." Jiang Lan took out the weathered piece of thousand-year whale glue.

"This is... whale glue?"

Though the weathering was severe, Shui Qinghan recognized it at a glance.

Shui Qinghan's beautiful brows furrowed. Her cool, exquisite face turned completely frosty, and a flicker of anger flashed through her eyes.