Lin Xiao's indifferent attitude left Hu Liena stunned.
In her mind, Lin Xiao should have tried to keep her there and done everything he could to sell his jars.
Yet now, why was he leaving her hanging?
Could I really have been wrong? She began to question everything.
Just then, impatient voices drifted in from outside the shop:
"Are the people inside still opening jars or not? They've been in there forever."
"Hurry up! My Gold Soul Coins are already thirsting for action..."
"Not 9.8 million, not 980,000, just 100,000! Take a Soul Bone home for 100,000 Gold Soul Coins!"
"Please, whoever's inside, show a little kindness and leave two jars for me..."
"..."
Just as Lin Xiao had expected, the people outside were fired up.
Xie Yue pulling a Soul Bone had truly stirred them up.
"Nana... are we opening more?"
Xie Yue was so anxious that his eyes had gone red, but unfortunately, Hu Liena held the money.
"Yes. I never said we weren't."
A glint of resolve flashed through Hu Liena's beautiful eyes.
She made up her mind. "Look, I brought all the money."
As she spoke, Hu Liena took out the Gold Soul Coins she had prepared.
There were five small chests in all, each containing 100,000 Gold Soul Coins.
Five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!
It was everything Hu Liena and Xie Yue owned.
"Nana, you really brought all our savings."
Xie Yue was surprised, too.
"Of course." Hu Liena puffed out her chest, brimming with confidence. Then she spread her fingers and waved her hand in front of Lin Xiao. "Boss, let my brother open one more jar..."
One... jar?
Xie Yue froze. Then why are you waving all five fingers? Couldn't you just hold up one?
"Sure."
Lin Xiao nodded. With a casual wave, he put away one chest containing 100,000 Gold Soul Coins, then asked Xie Yue, "Have you decided which one you want?"
This time, Xie Yue was no longer as casual as before. His expression was solemn. "I have. The sixth one in the sixth row."
"Mm."
Lin Xiao immediately turned around, retrieved that jar, and set it on the counter.
Xie Yue had been waiting a long time for this moment. He deftly picked up the Lucky Magic Hammer from the counter, aimed at the Lucky Magic Jar, and brought the hammer down.
Crack.
The jar shattered. Unfortunately, no dazzling light flashed out this time.
Ah!
What?!
Xie Yue froze.
He felt as though his Gold Soul Coins had been thrown into the water...
No, this was even worse. At least throwing 100,000 Gold Soul Coins into the water would have made a splash.
Opening a jar made them vanish just like that...
"Was it really a trap?" Yan was dumbfounded, too. His heart ached just as much.
Hu Liena frowned even harder. "I really did guess right. This is a pitfall. I knew nobody would put such a precious Soul Bone in a jar and let someone practically take it for free for 100,000 Gold Soul Coins!"
It seemed Xie Yue had merely gotten lucky earlier and unwittingly played the shill.
"Wait, it looks like it isn't empty. There's something under the fragments."
Xie Yue suddenly noticed a faint white glow among the fragments. He reached in and rummaged around, soon presenting a small object three centimeters long to everyone.
What was this?
Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan were all puzzled.
Lin Xiao, however, wore an odd expression. Isn't this an Experience Capsule from the game? Using it grants experience equal to a percentage of your current level...
With a thought, Lin Xiao brought the item's information into view.
Item: [Experience Capsule] Grade: [Common] Type: [Untradeable] Description: [Experience gain converted into soul power gain.] Effect: [After use, increases the soul power cap of the current Soul Power Level by ten percent.]
After reading the information, Lin Xiao's mind stirred, and he inwardly exclaimed, Well, would you look at that! The Experience Capsule has changed, too. Something that originally increased a character's experience in the game now increases soul power? That certainly fits the Douluo Continent!
Seeing the bewildered faces of Xie Yue, Hu Liena, and Yan, Lin Xiao looked at Xie Yue and explained, "The item in your hand is called an Experience Capsule. Using it can greatly increase the soul power cap of your current level."
"It can increase the soul power cap of our current level?"
The three of them still did not quite understand.
After all...
The very existence of something like an Experience Capsule lay beyond everything they had learned about Soul Masters.
Seeing this, Lin Xiao smiled slightly. "Suppose you're at level twenty-nine, and it would take you ten days of cultivation to reach level thirty. After using this capsule, you would gain a day's worth of soul power, so you would only need nine days.
"Of course, that isn't exact. It's just an analogy. You can also think of it as boosting your cultivation speed by one-tenth, with no restrictions whatsoever. In other words, even if you're a Titled Douluo, using it will still advance your cultivation progress by one-tenth."
"It can boost cultivation speed?"
"It's that amazing?"
"And there are no restrictions?"
This time, all three understood, and they were utterly shocked.
They even drew further conclusions from it and began making longer-term plans.
After all...
At lower levels, the effects of this Experience Capsule would not seem particularly impressive.
If someone could gain one Soul Power Level in two months, cutting that time by one-tenth would not make much difference.
Only after becoming a Titled Douluo would the Experience Capsule's effects truly shine.
Everyone knew that a Titled Douluo measured the time needed to gain a single Soul Power Level in years.
For some, it took one year; for others, more than a decade, or even several decades.
At that point, increasing the soul power cap of their current level by one-tenth, regardless of level, would be incredibly useful. It could spare them years of arduous cultivation for nothing.
Were several years of a Titled Douluo's time not worth 100,000 Gold Soul Coins?
They were!
Absolutely!
Besides, the Spirit Hall's Golden Generation were destined to become Titled Douluos, provided they did not perish along the way. Getting Experience Capsules now could be considered paving the road for their future!
His heart raced, and his hands trembled.
Xie Yue carefully put the Experience Capsule away.
He had already begun fantasizing. When I become a Titled Douluo, if I've saved up eighty or a hundred Experience Capsules and use them all at once, wouldn't I instantly become someone as powerful as His Holiness the Pope?
Hu Liena looked curiously at Lin Xiao and asked, "Boss, where exactly are you from? How do you have something so amazing?"
Lin Xiao smiled. "Where I come from isn't important. Just remember that I'm a merchant running a business."
"As you can see, in a certain sense, this tiny capsule is even more important than a Soul Bone. So you haven't really lost out."
"Now, do you still intend to open more jars?"
If Dungeon City players had heard Lin Xiao's words, they would surely have called him unscrupulous. "It's just a trash Experience Capsule, not a Level-Up Ticket, yet you're practically talking it into blooming flowers..."
After hearing Lin Xiao's words, Hu Liena and Xie Yue exchanged a glance, each understanding the meaning in the other's eyes.
Then Xie Yue swept his hand grandly and declared, "Yes! We'll spend all the remaining money. Give us four more jars!"
In his eyes, this shopkeeper truly had a conscience.
Even if he could not guarantee that every jar held a Soul Bone worth a million Gold Soul Coins...
In a certain sense, their contents were worth no less than a Soul Bone.
So why hesitate now?
Just open them.
Those two jars alone had already paid for themselves. Whatever came next would be pure profit.
Before you continue