Taking Whale Rubber

"Golden-yellow..." Seeing the Whale Rubber in Shui Qinghan's palm gradually turn golden-yellow, Jiang Lan felt slightly disappointed.

He had thought he might stumble upon an incredible bargain.

For example, a mercenary might not recognize its value and mistake weathered Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue for Thousand-Year Whale Glue.

He had not expected this piece of Whale Rubber to truly be nothing more than Thousand-Year Whale Glue.

"True, finding a bargain isn't that easy. Three hundred Gold Soul Coins for a piece of Thousand-Year Whale Glue isn't a loss either." Jiang Lan quickly adjusted his mindset. He had always been the type to be content with what he had.

Three hundred Gold Soul Coins for a piece of Whale Rubber was still quite a bargain.

"Lan'er, open your mouth~" Looking at the Whale Rubber in her palm, now completely softened, Shui Qinghan used her slender jade-like fingers to gently tear off a small piece from the slightly hot Whale Rubber. She cooled it with her ice-attributed Soul Power, then brought it to Jiang Lan's mouth.

Being fed by Shui Qinghan as though he were a child made Jiang Lan feel slightly embarrassed.

But after hesitating for only a few seconds, he accepted Shui Qinghan's feeding with perfect peace of mind.

That's right, I'm a kid!

The fact that he had not called her Mom on the spot was already his adult sense of shame at work.

Damn it, was his purity still not high enough?

It seemed he had not played enough Valorant.

The Whale Rubber entered his mouth, and a thick fishy stench exploded across his tongue.

"Blegh~"

The intense fishy flavor of the Whale Rubber nearly made Jiang Lan throw up.

How should he describe this taste?

Overall, it was like abalone that had begun to rot, its texture turned soft and mushy, carrying only the briny smell of the sea without any actual stink.

Fortunately, Jiang Lan's willpower was fairly strong. Enduring the nausea and revulsion, he forcibly swallowed the Thousand-Year Whale Glue in his mouth.

After eating just the first piece of Whale Rubber, Jiang Lan felt warmth rising through his chest and abdomen, as though he were soaking in a hot spring.

The Whale Rubber in his stomach turned into a searing current that began flowing through every limb and bone, feeling exceptionally comfortable.

Before long, Shui Qinghan had fed Jiang Lan every bit of that fist-sized piece of Thousand-Year Whale Glue.

All the Whale Rubber he had consumed became surging heat within Jiang Lan's abdomen, continuously flowing through his limbs and bones.

By now, Jiang Lan's skin had turned slightly red, like a cooked prawn, and reddish-brown sweat had even begun to seep from his body.

Jiang Lan sat cross-legged and worked hard to circulate the Soul Power within him, refining the medicinal efficacy of the Thousand-Year Whale Glue.

Fortunately, the medicinal potency of Thousand-Year Whale Glue was not as overbearing as that of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue. Furthermore, this was low-quality Whale Rubber that had weathered away, and much of its potency had already dissipated. Its side effects were nowhere near as intense as high-quality Thousand-Year Whale Glue, so Jiang Lan did not lose his mind from the excess yang energy.

Looking at the red-faced Jiang Lan, Shui Qinghan immediately rose from the bed and pushed open the tightly shut window.

"Whoooosh—"

The cold wind howled outside, carrying fine snowflakes with it and producing a sound like ghosts wailing and wolves howling.

Outside, the sky was pitch-black, and nothing could be seen at all—only boundless darkness.

The entire Hunter Soul Town had sunk into darkness. Only a handful of light sources gave off a faint glow within it.

The biting cold wind blew in through the window, carrying away Jiang Lan's excess heat and making him shudder violently.

The unceasing cold wind from outside successfully suppressed Jiang Lan's chaotic thoughts, allowing him to focus wholeheartedly on refining the medicinal potency of the Thousand-Year Whale Glue.

In just about two hours, Jiang Lan completely refined the medicinal potency of the Thousand-Year Whale Glue.

"Phew..." Jiang Lan slowly opened his eyes. Feeling the vigorous vitality in his body and the solidified Soul Power within him, a trace of joy flashed through his eyes.

This piece of Thousand-Year Whale Glue had not only greatly strengthened his physique, but also helped solidify his foundation. His Soul Power, which had become somewhat unstable from advancing too quickly, had become solid once more, greatly reducing the time he would need to spend cultivating painstakingly.

"Lan'er, how do you feel now?" The moment Shui Qinghan saw Jiang Lan awaken from meditation, she impatiently asked.

"My Soul Power has completely stabilized. After consolidating it for a while longer, I'll be able to break through again. And my physical strength has improved quite a bit too." Jiang Lan clenched his fists and said excitedly.

"Oh? Is that so? Then let me test your physical strength again." Shui Qinghan narrowed her phoenix eyes and released her Soul Power once more.

Since she had already tested him once, Shui Qinghan did not gradually increase her Soul Power as before. Instead, she immediately raised the level of her Soul Power pressure to thirty-one, then slowly increased the pressure on Jiang Lan.

After the Soul Power pressure test, Jiang Lan's limit had risen from level thirty-one to level thirty-three.

Although a difference of two Soul Power levels did not seem like much, for a Soul Elder, a two-level gap in Soul Power was equivalent to the gap between a one-ring Soul Master and a two-ring Soul Master. (Note 1)

In other words, the improvement this low-quality Thousand-Year Whale Glue brought to a Soul Master was enough to allow their first Soul Ring to exceed the limit by at least seven hundred years.

One had to know that a seven-hundred-year Soul Ring was already very close to the maximum age a two-ring Soul Grandmaster could absorb for their second Soul Ring.

Although it only increased the limit by three hundred years, such an improvement was already no small thing for a level-ten Soul Warrior.

"Teacher, how was it? How much has my physical strength improved?" Jiang Lan caught his breath and hurriedly asked.

"Lan'er, your physical strength is now comparable to that of a level thirty-three Soul Elder." Shui Qinghan exclaimed in amazement.

This was only the improvement brought by weathered, low-quality Thousand-Year Whale Glue. What if it were high-quality Thousand-Year Whale Glue, Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue, or even Hundred-Thousand-Year Whale Glue? How powerful would their effects be?

Of course, the greatest effect of Whale Rubber was not increasing the age limit of Soul Rings, but its ability to cleanse the sinews and marrow and improve one's aptitude.

If nothing unexpected happened, she would likely be like the overwhelming majority of eight-ring Soul Douluo on the continent, stuck firmly at level eighty-nine, unable to break through to level ninety and become a Titled Douluo before her vitality began to decline.

The discovery of Whale Rubber had undoubtedly given her a sliver of hope of breaking through to become a Titled Douluo.

Though it was only a sliver of hope, it was better than having no hope at all.

"Level thirty-three..." Jiang Lan muttered thoughtfully.

That meant this fist-sized piece of low-quality Thousand-Year Whale Glue had increased his Soul Ring age limit by at least more than two hundred years, nearly three hundred.

If he included the improvement brought by his thousand-year first ring, then his second ring could absorb a Soul Ring nearing three thousand years at minimum.

A three-thousand-year Soul Ring was nearly twice the maximum age for the third Soul Ring of an ordinary three-ring Soul Elder.

If he ate more high-quality Thousand-Year Whale Glue and Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue, then even absorbing a five- or six-thousand-year Soul Ring as his second ring would not be a problem.

(Note 1: In the original Douluo 2 novel, it was clearly stated that after Huo Yuhao took a Soul-Raising Pill, he broke through from the peak of level thirteen to level seventeen, advancing three levels in a row while also breaking through a bottleneck. The effect of a Soul-Raising Pill was equivalent to advancing from level thirty to level thirty-one, while the Soul Power required to advance from level thirty-one to level thirty-three was at least equivalent to three Soul-Raising Pills. Calculated this way, it was almost exactly the total amount of Soul Power from one ring to two rings.)