At those words, Xue Qinghe slowly loosened the fingers gripping his cuff, and his tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed.
He walked over to Zhang Fei and patted his shoulder. "Little Fei, you've done us a tremendous service."
Beside them, Porcupinefish Douluo also wore a look of shock. "You little brat, you actually stumbled onto the right answer."
Xue Qinghe curved his lips into a smile, took a ring off his hand, and held it out to Zhang Fei.
The ring was silvery gray, its surface smooth and unadorned. The material felt warm and smooth to the touch and gave off a soft sheen.
He placed the ring in Zhang Fei's palm. "This is the storage ring I use myself. It has thirty cubic meters of space. Take it as your first reward."
Zhang Fei looked down at the ring in his palm. Its inner surface still held the warmth of Xue Qinghe's finger.
Before he could speak, Xue Qinghe continued, "I'll also reward you with a Soul Bone later. Is there anything you want?"
Zhang Fei's eyes lit up. He raised his head and looked at him earnestly. "Your Highness, could I... ask you for something?"
"Go ahead."
"I'd like a Storage Soul Tool that can hold living things."
"A Storage Soul Tool that can hold living things?" Xue Qinghe raised his brows slightly. "Those are rather rare."
"But don't worry, I'll remember your request. Tomorrow, I'll look through the imperial treasury. If there's one there, I'll give it to you as well. If not, I'll have the Heaven Dou Auction House keep an eye out for one."
With that, Xue Qinghe returned to his desk and sat down, his usual composure settling over his face again.
He looked around at the three of them and lowered his voice. "The matter of whale rubber must remain absolutely secret. You mustn't tell anyone. Only the four of us can know."
All three nodded in unison.
Zhang Fei immediately returned to his room to change. His short robe was still covered in black, fluffy impurities, making it extremely uncomfortable.
That night, She Long came to Zhang Fei's quarters and began teaching him Spirit Hall's advanced meditation method.
"Close your eyes, feel the circulation of your soul power, and guide it into your dantian..."
She Long instructed him patiently.
Unlike the basic meditation method taught to outsiders, Spirit Hall's advanced method significantly improved cultivation efficiency. The route soul power followed through the meridians was more refined, providing far greater benefits than ordinary meditation methods.
Zhang Fei sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes closed as he felt that warm energy slowly travel along its prescribed route.
Having never learned any martial arts or cultivation methods in his previous life, he found it utterly wondrous.
For the next five days, he consumed one piece of thousand-year whale rubber each day, then soaked in a tub of ice for an hour.
The first three doses had the most obvious effects. Each time, he could feel his muscles and bones being tempered anew.
Starting on the fourth day, the improvements gradually diminished.
By the fifth day, the whale rubber's effects were negligible.
After he climbed out of the ice tub for the last time, She Long examined him as usual and nodded in satisfaction. "Little Fei, your physique is now probably close to a Soul Elder's. But to be safe, you still shouldn't go straight for a thousand-year first soul ring. A Soul Beast around eight hundred years old is your safest choice right now."
Zhang Fei nodded.
He had worked it out clearly: one piece of thousand-year whale rubber could raise the age limit of the Soul Ring he could withstand by roughly a hundred years, though the last two pieces had provided much smaller gains.
The five pieces had raised his limit by around four hundred years. Added to his original foundation, that did indeed put him near the eight-hundred-year threshold.
A Thousand-Year Soul Ring? Better forget it. Zhang Fei wasn't that greedy. Steady, sure progress was the right path.
Xue Qinghe's rewards also arrived one after another over those two days.
One was a green gourd half the size of his palm, emerald green all over.
It was a Storage Soul Tool that could hold living things. Its internal space was a little over ten cubic meters-not large, but sufficient.
Zhang Fei almost laughed aloud when he received it. Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, immortal herbs, wait for me.
A Soul Bone arrived along with the gourd: a forty-thousand-year strength-type right arm bone, glowing ocher all over.
Of course, Zhang Fei certainly wasn't going to absorb this Soul Bone.
His goal was a full set of Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones. Anything less wouldn't do justice to the prestige of living a second life.
Zhang Fei put the Soul Bone away, considering when he might find a suitable opportunity to give it to his grandfather.
Honestly, She Long's current setup was a little shabby. With a purple fifth Soul Ring, he was looked down on wherever he went. Zhang Fei had to give the old man something more to stand tall with.
The night breeze swept past the window lattice, and the side courtyard fell quiet.
Zhang Fei sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes closed as he practiced the advanced meditation method. Only late into the night did he finally fall into a deep sleep.
The next morning, daylight had yet to fully break, and the eastern horizon had only just turned the pale white of a fish's belly.
She Long hauled Zhang Fei out from under his covers.
"Wake up. We're leaving."
Zhang Fei opened his eyes groggily, rolled out of bed, and hastily pulled on his clothes.
She Long patted his shoulder. A gentle current of soul power enveloped them both, and with a flicker, they swept silently out of the Crown Prince's Residence.
They left Heaven Dou City through its southern gate and flew southwest.
Held in the crook of She Long's arm, Zhang Fei heard the wind roar past his ears as the city and fields beneath his feet rapidly fell away behind them.
Sunset Forest was the second-largest forest of wild Soul Beasts on the Douluo Continent. It lay southwest of Heaven Dou City, only about two or three hundred li away. At a Titled Douluo's flying speed, they could reach it in less than two hours.
When a boundless sea of green came into view, they had reached Sunset Forest.
Seen from above, it was a vast, endless ocean of trees. The trees were taller than he could have imagined, their dark green crowns overlapping layer upon layer, stretching all the way to the horizon.
She Long slowed down and gradually descended, finally landing in a forest clearing on slightly higher ground.
As his feet touched the soft layer of humus, Zhang Fei couldn't help taking a deep breath.
The forest air was completely different from Heaven Dou City's. It carried the dampness of soil, the faint sourness of decaying leaves, and a certain wild scent that instinctively put him on guard.
She Long withdrew his soul power and patted Zhang Fei's shoulder. "From here on, we'll walk."
Zhang Fei nodded.
He understood She Long's intention. He had always been kept in fine clothes and fed rich food. Aside from what he had learned from books, his practical combat experience was almost nonexistent.
Without slogging through mud and pushing through the woods, he would never become truly strong through secluded cultivation alone.
She Long walked ahead, forming his blue-purple snake lance in his right hand. Its tip gleamed coldly as he casually pushed aside the vines and low-hanging branches blocking their path.
"Stay close. Don't stray more than three steps away."
Zhang Fei followed right beside She Long, practically brushing against his grandfather's robe.
Honestly, Zhang Fei was a little nervous. Although he had lived on the Douluo Continent for three years, he had never seen a real Soul Beast.
Whenever he stepped on a dry twig, even its crack made his heart tighten.
The two slowly made their way deeper into the forest. After pushing aside a vine, She Long asked, "Little Fei, have you given any thought to what you want for your first soul ring?"
Having read the original novel, Zhang Fei had considered this question long ago.
A beast martial soul was different from a tool martial soul. What mattered was the accumulation of bloodline strength.
To get anywhere on the Douluo Continent, what counted was your backing, your cultivation resources, and your martial soul's bloodline.
You don't have a body martial soul, so why train yourself half to death? Evolving your bloodline is the right path.
Of course, that was merely Zhang Fei comforting himself out of laziness, and it wasn't a sound approach. Even with whale rubber, he would still have to exercise from time to time.
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