Underground Black Market! Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber!

The day Qian Shengyuan left Spirit City with Qian Yaoting, the East Courtyard became much quieter.

Li Long stood at the courtyard gate, watching the two figures vanish in the direction of the city gates.

"Between twenty thousand and thirty thousand years old, a light-attribute dragon."

Li Long silently repeated the target Qian Shengyuan had revealed before leaving.

There were not many soul beasts of that level on the entire continent. With the additional restrictions of attribute and species, the search range became even narrower.

With Qian Shengyuan personally taking action, he should not return empty-handed.

The courtyard fell quiet.

Li Long returned to the cultivation room. After completing a cycle of the Guidance Method, he still felt unable to sit still.

He had spent more than half a year in the East Courtyard, traveling back and forth between the cultivation room, the pharmacy, and the training grounds. He had long grown tired of the scenery.

Today, he had neither cultivation assignments nor notices of newly allocated resources. Suddenly, he had the urge to go out for a walk.

He rummaged through his storage ring and found a dark gray hooded cloak. Once the hood was pulled down, it concealed most of his face. He then took out a prepared half-mask and fastened it over his face.

When he left the Papal Palace, the guards glanced at him, but they saw the ordinary deacon badge hanging from his waist.

He had deliberately switched to an old badge and had not worn his Holy Son emblem, so they did not question him.

The streets of Spirit City were more familiar than when he had first arrived.

The shops lining both sides of the main street remained lively. Pedestrians streamed past in an endless flow, while the auras of all kinds of Soul Power fluctuations mingled in the air.

Li Long walked along the main street for a while, turned into a side alley, crossed two more streets, and finally stopped before an inconspicuous iron door.

There was no sign on the door, only an unremarkable symbol carved into it—the mark of Spirit City's underground black market.

He raised a hand and knocked on the iron door three times, two short knocks followed by one long one.

A rustling sound came from within. Then the iron door opened a crack, revealing an aged face. The old man glanced at Li Long's half-mask beneath his hood and said in a dry voice, "Come in."

The gap widened, and Li Long slipped inside sideways.

Beyond the door was a flight of stone steps leading underground. The wall lamps on either side cast a dim yellow glow, and the air was damper than outside, carrying a mixture of medicinal herbs, metal, and the scent of unknown beast bones.

This was Spirit City's underground black market. Transactions and goods forbidden aboveground could all be found here.

At the bottom of the stone steps was a vast underground space, roughly as wide as three or four rooms placed side by side. Open-fronted shops lined both sides, their displays packed with goods of every kind.

Li Long lowered the brim of his hood and walked slowly along the passage, his gaze sweeping over the stalls.

Herb shops, Soul Tool shops, shops selling beast bones and hides, and even several stalls with signs advertising the purchase of intelligence.

Li Long stopped before a shop bearing a sign that read Deep-Sea Oddities.

Rows of dark brown rubber blocks sat on the shelves. They varied in size and shape, but Li Long recognized them at a glance.

Whale Rubber.

He walked over, crouched down, and inspected them carefully.

The Whale Rubber on the shelves ranged from hundred-year to thousand-year grades, all of excellent quality. A few were especially dark, faintly emitting a dusky golden sheen.

The shopkeeper was a lean middle-aged man. Seeing a customer stop, he immediately put on a smile. "You have a good eye, sir. This batch was just shipped over from the East Sea. The quality is absolutely top-notch."

Li Long looked over the shelves and pointed at the most expensive pieces. "How much for the thousand-year ones?"

The shopkeeper glanced at Li Long, his gaze lingering for a moment on the mask beneath his cloak. But there were plenty of masked customers in the black market, so he did not ask questions. He quoted a price. "Thirty-five gold coins per thousand-year piece. If you buy a lot, I can bring it down to thirty-two."

Li Long quickly did the math in his head.

Old Zhou's pharmacy in Notting City charged forty-five gold coins for even eight-hundred-year Whale Rubber. Yet thousand-year Whale Rubber in Spirit City's underground black market cost only thirty-five. Different channels truly came with vastly different prices.

He did not haggle and simply said, "I'll take all the thousand-year pieces in this batch. Also, let me look at the one on the very top shelf first."

The shopkeeper followed his gaze. At the edge of the top shelf lay a fist-sized piece of Whale Rubber set apart from the rest. Its color was a full shade deeper than the thousand-year pieces below, and its surface carried a deep, dusky golden gleam.

The shopkeeper glanced at it, somewhat surprised. "That one is ten-thousand-year grade. It's rare on the market. To be honest, it's been sitting here for nearly half a year. Not many people recognize its value, and those who do come to look always say it's too expensive."

"How much?"

The shopkeeper hesitated, then held up three fingers. "Three hundred gold coins. No bargaining."

Li Long counted out more than three hundred gold coins from his storage ring and placed them on the counter. The shopkeeper's eyes widened for an instant at the pile of gleaming coins.

Li Long carefully took down the ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber and inspected it.

The color, texture, and weight all matched. It was at least a genuine, high-quality ten-thousand-year piece.

"I'll take all the thousand-year ones too. Count them at thirty-two each."

He was not short on money now. He might as well buy as much as he wanted.

The shopkeeper's eyes shone even brighter. He hurriedly packed all the thousand-year Whale Rubber into a large wooden box.

Li Long paid another sum, stored the entire box in his storage ring, and separately sealed away the ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber.

After handling this batch of goods, Li Long did not leave immediately.

He looked at the shopkeeper and casually asked, "Is your supply of Whale Rubber stable?"

Having received so much money, the shopkeeper was in a great mood and answered readily. "Stable. The sea folk over by the East Sea supply it year-round. This is an established channel of mine. If you need more, I can provide it over the long term."

Li Long nodded and added, "The old man in my family is getting on in years, and his body urgently needs this material. From now on, whenever you have stock—whether it's hundred-year, thousand-year, or even ten-thousand-year—I'll take it all. The price is negotiable. You don't need to worry about not being able to sell it. I'll take however much you have."

The shopkeeper was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. "No problem, no problem! Leave me a contact method, sir. As soon as new stock comes in, I'll reserve it for you immediately."

Li Long left a communication address.

It was a parcel collection point outside the East Courtyard, which did not reveal his real identity. Then he turned and headed back along the passage.

The iron door at the top of the stone steps opened a crack once more. He slipped outside sideways and stood beneath the sunlight again.

The sunlight on the street was dazzling. He narrowed his eyes, lowered his hood's brim, and made his way back.

After returning to the East Courtyard, he locked the courtyard gate and took out the ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber in the cultivation room, placing it on the table.

Under the lamplight, the dusky golden rubber was faintly translucent. It was several times denser than the eight-hundred-year and thousand-year Whale Rubber, heavy in his hand, and gave off a far richer fishy, salty scent.

"With this ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber, along with medicinal baths and the Guidance Method, the time needed to reach four rings should be greatly shortened."

Li Long carefully put away the Whale Rubber, sat down cross-legged, and began meditating. He casually returned his cloak and mask to his storage ring.

Meanwhile, deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, Qian Shengyuan and Qian Yaoting were tracking a massive golden figure.

The traces left by flying dragon-type soul beasts formed visible streaks of light in the sky. The two followed those light trails deeper and deeper into the forest, already nearing the target's habitat.

Qian Yaoting followed behind his father, his level-sixty Soul Power surging through his body as his gaze remained fixed on the faint golden trail ahead.

He suddenly recalled the figure standing at the East Courtyard gate, seeing them off when they left the city that day.

I'll fight him again when I get back.

I'll show him that the Six-Winged Angel at the six-ring Soul Emperor level is vastly different from the Six-Winged Angel at five rings.

Qian Yaoting silently muttered to himself.

But when he thought of Li Long's final strike, empowered by the stacking of three soul rings, he felt that he should probably absorb his sixth soul ring first before saying anything else.