Whale Glue Body Tempering

Xue Qinghe smiled and nodded, then shifted her gaze to She Long. "Uncle She, tomorrow, take Xiaofei to Sunset Forest and find a suitable first Soul Ring for his Golden Python martial soul."

She Long nodded in agreement.

But different thoughts began to stir in Zhang Fei's mind.

Over the past three years, he had lived in comfort, eating and drinking well. He had grown far taller than children his age, his little face fair and plump, like a porcelain doll.

Yet only he himself knew that this body had never undergone real tempering. At best, it was an empty frame raised on fine clothes and rich food.

With his current physique, let alone absorbing a Soul Ring beyond his limit, it was uncertain whether he could even withstand the roughly four-hundred-year limit of a first Soul Ring.

He understood perfectly how important Soul Ring configuration was to a Soul Master.

So he spoke up decisively.

"Your Highness, I'd like to ask you for a few things."

Xue Qinghe raised her brows slightly and looked at him. "Go ahead."

"I want several pieces of thousand-year whale glue."

The study fell silent for a moment.

She Long's expression stiffened instantly, and his stern old face visibly reddened.

He abruptly turned to glare at Zhang Fei, lowering his voice as he spoke urgently. "Xiaofei! What nonsense are you talking about?!"

He grabbed Zhang Fei by the arm and dragged him to his side, repeatedly waving his hand at Xue Qinghe. "Please don't blame him, Young Master. The child is ignorant and doesn't know what that stuff is. I'll teach him a proper lesson later."

She Long's reaction was not actually strange.

At present, whale glue was mainly bought by nobles and wealthy merchants as a tonic. Its primary use was as an aphrodisiac, commonly known as a "man's secret treasure."

For the grandson of a dignified Titled Douluo to ask for such a thing—where would She Long put his face if word got out?

Zhang Fei stumbled from being pulled, but after steadying himself, he wore an innocent expression. "Grandpa, didn't you know?"

He turned to Xue Qinghe and spoke with utter seriousness. "I read in a book that if whale glue is melted at high temperatures and swallowed directly, it can greatly strengthen the body and raise its limit for withstanding Soul Rings."

Xue Qinghe paused slightly. "You read it in a book? Which one?"

"I don't remember which book. I thought everyone knew, so I didn't pay much attention. I only remembered the method."

Zhang Fei's expression did not change. He had made up this explanation long ago.

She Long listened beside him in a daze. He looked at Zhang Fei skeptically, then at Xue Qinghe. Some embarrassment remained on his old face, but most of his anger had faded, replaced by confusion.

There was stuff like this in books? Looks like reading really was useful.

Xue Qinghe pondered for a moment. "We've never heard of this method either. Are you sure it works?"

Zhang Fei grinned, revealing his white teeth. "Just let me try. If it doesn't work, there won't be any loss. It's not like whale glue is poisonous, right?"

He said it casually, yet with complete certainty.

Xue Qinghe looked at him and smiled. "Fine. Since you're so confident, we'll give it a try."

She turned her head toward Porcupinefish Douluo, who had been standing nearby watching the show. "Uncle Porcupinefish, go to the Crown Prince's treasury and bring back a piece of thousand-year whale glue."

"Yes, Young Master."

Porcupinefish Douluo answered, his round, plump body turning as he prepared to leave.

"Wait, Grandpa Porcupinefish," Zhang Fei called from behind him. "Please also prepare a large iron bowl, a brazier, a wooden barrel, and some ice."

Porcupinefish Douluo turned back, looking at him with a half-smile. "Anything else, little ancestor?"

"No, that's all."

"You little brat, if it doesn't work, I'll beat your backside until it blossoms."

His round figure disappeared through the door.

The three remaining in the study stood in silence. She Long hesitated several times before finally asking, unable to hold it in any longer, "Xiaofei, are you sure... nothing will happen if you swallow that stuff?"

"Don't worry, Grandpa. I wouldn't joke around with my own life."

Zhang Fei's answer was firm, and She Long said nothing further.

About the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Porcupinefish Douluo returned.

He took the items out of his storage soul tool one by one.

A palm-sized lump of dark gelatinous substance, its surface gleaming with an oily sheen—it was precisely a piece of thousand-year whale glue.

There was also a black iron brazier, an iron bowl, and a wooden barrel half a person tall. Then he poured the prepared ice into the barrel.

"That's everything."

Porcupinefish Douluo waved his chubby hand, sending a thread of soul power into the brazier. The charcoal immediately ignited in orange-red flames.

She Long consciously placed the iron bowl over the brazier's opening, then casually tossed the piece of thousand-year whale glue into it.

The dark lump touched the scorching bottom of the bowl and slowly softened and collapsed. A layer of brown oiliness surfaced around its edges, then the entire lump melted into a pool of thick, dark brown liquid, tiny bubbles gurgling up across its surface.

An extremely unpleasant fishy stench spread through the study, like the smell of dried sea fish.

All four of them raised their hands to cover their noses at the same time.

Pinching his nose, She Long stepped forward and used soul power to lift the iron bowl. Steam rolled from the melted whale glue inside.

He held the bowl out to Zhang Fei and could not resist confirming it once more. "Xiaofei, are you sure you want to eat this? This... this is too disgusting."

Zhang Fei looked at the rolling pool of brown slime in the bowl. To be honest, he found it disgusting too.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and his body instinctively leaned back half a step.

But he quickly forced down the nausea.

Zhang Fei took a damp cloth and wrapped it around his hand before reaching out to accept the iron bowl.

He smiled at She Long. "Grandpa, just don't be too surprised when you see the results."

With that, he closed his eyes, held his breath, and tipped back his head.

A bowl of scalding, thick brown liquid poured down his throat.

Hot. Fishy. So thick it felt as though some living thing were wriggling down his esophagus.

The instant Zhang Fei swallowed it, he felt as if a lump of red-hot iron had been stuffed into his stomach. A blazing heat exploded from the center of his abdomen, like a small bomb detonating inside his body.

In the blink of an eye, the heat spread through his meridians and into every limb and bone.

His entire face began to flush red, and veins bulged at his temples, throbbing visibly.

Clang!

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Fei threw away the empty bowl in his hand and plunged headfirst into the wooden barrel piled with ice beside him.

With a crash, shattered ice flooded over his shoulders, nearly burying his entire body.

Bone-piercing cold surged in from every direction, violently colliding with the burning heat inside him. The sensation of ice and fire intertwining made his whole body tremble faintly.

Xue Qinghe stood to one side and watched, her fingers unconsciously tightening around her sleeve.

She Long crouched beside the barrel, staring at Zhang Fei without blinking. At the slightest sign that his grandson could not endure it, he would immediately use his soul power to protect his meridians.

But Zhang Fei did not make a sound. Curled amid the crushed ice, he clenched his teeth until they creaked.

Half an hour later.

More than half the ice in the barrel had melted. A layer of murky black flocculent matter floated on the water's surface, faintly giving off a foul, fishy odor.

Those were the impurities forced out of his body by the whale glue.

When Zhang Fei stood up from the barrel, his entire body shuddered. Water dripped steadily from his soaked short robe.

He climbed out of the barrel and stood on the blue-brick floor, taking two heavy breaths.

She Long immediately pressed a hand to his shoulder, sending soul power into Zhang Fei's body and carefully examining everything from his meridians to his muscles and bones.

A moment later, undisguised delight appeared on his stern face. "His physique has indeed improved. The toughness of his muscles and bones, as well as the smoothness of his soul power circulation, are both far stronger than before. And... many of the impurities in his body have also been expelled."