Someone Had Their Eye on Him

Qian Renxue took a deep breath and calmed her restless thoughts. "Uncles, help me obtain my fourth Soul Ring first. As for that young man, we can investigate him when we return to the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace."

"If we want to look into him, someone that strong is bound to have left a few clues."

Snake Lance and Pufferfish replied respectfully, "As you command, Young Master!"

Li Changqing had no idea Qian Renxue had noticed him. After leaving the Star Dou Great Forest, he went straight to Wu Guangcai's Hundred Beasts Hall.

Wu Guangcai was still the only one working in the Hundred Beasts Hall. Just as he had been when they first met, he had his head down over his abacus.

Hearing someone enter, he looked up. When he saw Li Changqing, he smiled, set down his abacus, and said, "Brother Changqing, you haven't visited the Hundred Beasts Hall in three months. What is it? Got something good?" As he spoke, he walked toward the shop door to greet Li Changqing.

Over the past six years, as Li Changqing had grown stronger, the Soul Beasts he sold Wu Guangcai had grown older too.

At first, they had mostly been hundred-year Soul Beasts. Later, they were thousand-year ones, largely beasts Li Changqing had killed while helping others hunt for Soul Rings.

Of course, some were beasts he had killed while hunting Soul Rings for himself.

But as he grew stronger, he stopped accepting commissions for Soul Rings with low age requirements. Most of the commissions he took called for rings over four thousand years old.

Dealing with those Soul Beasts was simple for Li Changqing. One sword strike usually ended the fight without him even using a Soul Ring. So no one but Li Changqing himself knew he had absorbed Soul Rings beyond his level.

Although Li Changqing had never revealed his strength, Wu Guangcai could tell from the steadily increasing age of the Soul Beasts he sold him that his power was growing fast.

Once, Li Changqing had brought him a thirty-thousand-year Iron-Feathered Eagle—the source of his fifth Soul Ring. It had given Wu Guangcai quite a shock, but he had neither asked questions nor pried into Li Changqing's secrets.

He had calculated a price and bought it as usual. When others asked where he had found the Iron-Feathered Eagle, he said a Soul Hunting party had happened upon it badly wounded and near death, then sold it to him.

Wu Guangcai treated Li Changqing just as he always had. He did not deliberately distance himself as Li Changqing grew stronger.

He knew when to step forward and when to step back, and he understood boundaries. That was why Li Changqing was willing to keep dealing with him.

Li Changqing smiled. "This will probably be the last time I bring you a Soul Beast."

Wu Guangcai stopped in his tracks. Over the years, he had made a handsome profit from the high-level Soul Beasts Li Changqing sold him now and then. Hearing that Li Changqing would not sell him any more, his heart sank. "Brother Changqing, are you planning to stop taking Soul Hunting commissions?"

Li Changqing nodded. "That's right."

Between his earnings from six years of Soul Hunting and the money from selling Soul Beast carcasses to Wu Guangcai, Li Changqing now had well over a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins—more than enough for one person. Continuing to take Soul Hunting commissions would only waste his time.

"But I brought you a big one this time. Enough to keep you living in luxury for several lifetimes."

Wu Guangcai knew this was Li Changqing's choice. He could not force him, nor did he have any right to demand that Li Changqing keep hunting Soul Beasts.

But when he heard Li Changqing had brought something big, his sunken spirits rose again.

If Li Changqing put it that way, it had to be at least a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

"What kind of Soul Beast is it," Wu Guangcai asked excitedly, "that you'd call it a big one, Brother Changqing?"

"Let's go to the back courtyard," Li Changqing said mysteriously.

Wu Guangcai led Li Changqing into the rear courtyard of the Hundred Beasts Hall. It was vast, as large as three basketball courts. Several warehouses stood in a corner, holding the Soul Beast Materials the hall had purchased. A heavy smell of blood drifted from them.

The courtyard was also where the teams of drivers Wu Guangcai hired loaded Soul Beast Materials for transport elsewhere.

Li Changqing waved a hand. The ring on his finger glowed faintly, and a huge black shape appeared in midair before dropping to the ground with a dull thud.

Wu Guangcai's mouth fell open and his eyes went round. He could scarcely believe what he was seeing. "Th-this... is a Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf? At that size, it must be over fifty thousand years old!"

Li Changqing nodded. "Close to ninety thousand years."

Wu Guangcai's eyes widened further. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "A ninety-thousand-year Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf... Its strength could probably rival a Titled Douluo's. I never imagined you were this terrifyingly strong, Brother Changqing!"

Then he realized he had said too much. He hurriedly looked at Li Changqing. "Don't worry, Brother Changqing. I won't reveal your true strength. I'll tell people an unknown person sold me the Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf. I won't mention your name or describe your face."

Li Changqing smiled. "Oh? You won't say a Soul Hunting party got lucky and found a badly wounded demon wolf?"

Wu Guangcai's expression stiffened. He would have liked to say that, but the Iron-Feathered Eagle had only been thirty thousand years old. It was plausible that a stronger Soul Beast had injured it before a Soul Hunting party came across it.

But this was a ninety-thousand-year Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf. Only the king of the forest deep in the Star Dou Great Forest, the Titan Giant Ape, could likely have wounded such a powerful beast so badly.

Besides, using the same excuse twice was bound to arouse suspicion.

More importantly, anyone with eyes could see that the Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf's fatal wound was a neat-edged hole through its head. Any Soul Master with a little experience could tell it had been killed by a sword-wielding Soul Master.

There was not another wound on its body. It would take little thought to conclude that the Soul Master who had killed the wolf was extraordinarily strong.

Wu Guangcai wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve. "If you don't believe me, Brother Changqing, I can swear on my Martial Soul."

Li Changqing shook his head slightly. "There's no need. After six years, I know what kind of man you are, Boss Wu. You've always kept your word. If you say you won't reveal anything about me, I know you won't."

Wu Guangcai breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to the wolf's price, his expression serious. "A ninety-thousand-year Golden-Eyed Demon Wolf... A Soul Beast this powerful has never appeared on the market, so I don't know what price to offer. How about this? I only have one gold card on me, worth fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins. I'll give you that first. The wolf is certainly worth more, though, so once I've sold all of it, I'll make up the difference. I won't let you lose out."

Li Changqing shook his head. "I told you, this Soul Beast is a gift. Besides, I already have more money than I need. Anything extra would just gather dust in my Storage Soul Tool."