Douluo Continent, Star Luo Empire, on the outskirts of Star Luo City.
"This place is way too remote. How could there possibly be a real master here?"
A portly middle-aged man wearing a monocle held a map, comparing it with the shop before him.
The shop was called Lu Yu's Soul Ring Guidance. Its interior was shabby, with only a wooden table and chairs.
Only the handsome receptionist and the fully stocked bookcase behind him lent it a slightly professional air. It really did not look like the sort of shop rumored to house an expert.
The middle-aged man glanced at his fifteen-year-old son beside him. His own surname was Huo, his martial soul was Blue Silver Grass, and his innate soul power was rank zero. Years ago, a relative had become a maid to the current White Tiger Duke, and through that connection, he had successfully made contact with the great merchants of the Star Luo Empire. Even after that relative fell out of favor, he had long since used the connection to become a wealthy merchant.
To squeeze his way into the ranks of soul masters, he had deliberately paid a high price to marry a soul master surnamed Zhu, who had rank-one innate soul power and a Black Cat martial soul. They had several children.
The good news was that all these children had innate soul power. The bad news was that, apart from the boy before him who had awakened Blue Silver Grass, all the others had awakened White Cat martial souls.
Faced with Old Wang, a servant at the Duke's Mansion with the cultivation of a Soul Grandmaster, he could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger. To keep someone else from playing cuckoo in his nest, he could only stake his fate on his biological son.
Just today, his son had finally raised his soul power to rank ten. With his knowledge of soul masters, Huo the Merchant knew this might be his son's only chance to change his fate.
On the Douluo Continent, advanced knowledge of martial souls was kept under lock and key. If ordinary people wanted to defy heaven and change their fate, they either had to sell themselves to a sect or rely on their talent to enter a prestigious soul master academy and seek guidance from renowned teachers.
But those masters were all Soul Kings at the very least. As an ordinary merchant, he naturally had no way to reach them.
Only after making numerous inquiries and receiving a friend's recommendation had he learned that there was an unaffiliated master outside Star Luo City whose profession was soul ring guidance.
Now, looking at the rundown little shop before him, he felt certain his friend had been deceived.
"Forget it. Son, let's go. Even if it costs several thousand Gold Soul Coins, your father will get you guidance from a renowned teacher."
Just then, Lu Yu, who was reading nearby, twitched his ears.
Huo the Merchant had just taken his son's hand and turned around when a resonant voice came from behind him.
"Your son's martial soul is Blue Silver Grass, isn't it?"
Star Luo City was the capital of the Star Luo Empire, and the Star Luo Empire was the strongest of the Douluo Continent's three nations. Naturally, every inch of land in its capital was worth its weight in gold. Even an ordinary house in the outer city cost eight hundred Gold Soul Coins, requiring an ordinary person to work twenty years to afford it.
Huo the Merchant stopped in his tracks and turned around in disbelief.
The handsome young receptionist was propping his chin on both hands, looking at him with complete confidence.
"How did you know?"
Huo the Merchant thought of his friend. His friend was a business partner who had built his fortune from nothing alongside him, and must have set him up.
"How I know isn't important. What matters is what you want to know."
Lu Yu pointed at the wall behind him.
Huo the Merchant followed the direction of Lu Yu's finger and saw a sign hanging on the wall.
Assistant guidance: one Gold Soul Coin.
Regular instructor guidance: ten Gold Soul Coins.
Senior instructor guidance: one hundred Gold Soul Coins.
Technical director guidance: one thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Chief instructor guidance: ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.
"T-ten thousand Gold Soul Coins!" Huo the Merchant swallowed. His entire fortune amounted to only fifteen thousand Gold Soul Coins. What qualifications did this shabby shop have to charge ten thousand? Had he really run into a swindler?
Just as he was about to turn and leave, he reconsidered. What if? What if there really was an expert here?
Huo the Merchant extended a finger. "Hmm... let's start with the ten... ah, no, the assistant guidance for one Gold Soul Coin."
"Assistant guidance, is it? This customer is the one who needs soul ring guidance, correct?" Lu Yu pointed at the boy behind the wealthy merchant, then took a book from the shelf beside him and began leafing through it.
Huo the Merchant glanced over and discovered that he did not recognize the writing, and judging by the handwriting, it did not seem to be a printed book.
"A first soul ring for Blue Silver Grass... found it. Pay first."
After finding the section he wanted, Lu Yu spoke to Huo the Merchant.
"You're the assistant?"
"That's right. Is there a problem?"
The corner of Huo the Merchant's mouth twitched. Now he was even more certain this shop was a scam. Blue Silver Grass martial souls were as common as stray dogs by the roadside. If he had to look through a book to find it, one could only imagine how little business this shop usually got.
Forget it. I'll trust my friend this once.
He took out a Gold Soul Coin and tossed it onto the counter.
Lu Yu did not put the coin away. Instead, he smiled at Huo the Merchant and said,
"You should be able to get into the Star Luo Empire Forest administered by the Star Luo Empire, right? Three thousand meters southeast of its southern entrance, there's a cave. In the pool inside that cave is a three-hundred-year-old Thousand-Poison Vine with no intelligence. Its soul ring can give Blue Silver Grass the basic soul skill Blue Silver Entanglement, increase its toughness, and add a toxin lethal to hundred-year soul beasts."
It sounded quite reasonable to Huo the Merchant, but it differed from what he had learned from a sect in the Heaven Dou Empire that specialized in studying blue.
"Sen... young man, wasn't Blue Silver Grass supposed to add a snake-type martial soul for its first soul ring to increase its toughness?"
"You heard that from the Tang Sect, right?"
"Master, how did you know?"
Huo the Merchant's expression changed instantly. This assistant really seemed to know a thing or two.
"Blue Silver Grass martial souls are as common as stray dogs by the roadside. Even if I haven't served thousands of customers with them, I've served hundreds. Plenty of them said my advice differed from the Tang Sect's and called me a swindler. When I asked around, it turned out to be a useless sect that didn't even have a Soul King with the standard two yellow, two purple, and one black soul rings. No idea why so many people still believe what a sect like that says."
Lu Yu curled his lip. He remembered that a few years ago, when he had been running his guidance business in Heaven Dou City, someone named Tang Ya had come knocking because he had been bad-mouthing the Tang Sect. He had beaten a whole floorful of secret manuals out of her on the spot. Naturally, once he had gotten those manuals, he could not return them, so he had made a strategic retreat to develop his business in Star Luo City, where the seas were wider and the skies more boundless.
After hearing this, Huo the Merchant instantly grew respectful. That was a Soul King they were talking about, not someone an ordinary swindler would dare bad-mouth. If this man even looked down on Soul Kings, could the owner of this shop have an even higher cultivation?
"Master, where is that technical director who charges a thousand Gold Soul Coins? I'd like to seek some guidance."
Lu Yu grinned. This man had taken the bait.
"The technical director? He went to Shrek City to visit his alma mater. He won't be back for half a year. Looks like we can't do that business today."
Lu Yu closed the book and tossed it onto the table. A small portion of an envelope tucked inside protruded from it, bearing a green emblem.
As though bewitched, Huo the Merchant suddenly began breathing faster. He recognized the emblem of Shrek Academy. Having traveled far and wide for years, he could tell at a glance that it was genuine.
Huo the Merchant's eyes lit up. It was actually the illustrious Shrek Academy! That explained it. He really had stumbled upon a treasure.
Shrek Academy. If it was a renowned teacher from there, trusting them was not out of the question.
"Then is the chief instructor here? I'd like to ask the chief for guidance."
"The chief isn't here, but the chief wrote down the method for Blue Silver Grass."
Lu Yu pulled a book from the shelf and handed it straight to Huo the Merchant.
Huo the Merchant opened the book and took one look. Sweat immediately poured down his back.
"Th-this is what evil soul masters do, isn't it?"
The method taught in this book was actually a technique for drawing soul power from Blue Silver Grass. Even as an ordinary person, he knew this was the work of evil soul masters.
"Don't go making wild accusations. The book explains it perfectly clearly. This is a racial trait of Blue Silver Grass. Lower-grade Blue Silver Grass naturally offers soul power to higher-grade Blue Silver Grass. Your son has innate soul power, so his purity is definitely higher than ordinary Blue Silver Grass."
"Besides, for ordinary Blue Silver Grass with rank-one innate soul power like your son's, cultivating through normal methods would get him to Soul Grandmaster at the absolute most."
"So, are you going to cultivate it or not?"
"I am!"
The wealthy merchant gritted his teeth and took out a black-and-gold card. "Star Luo Empire Bank. The PIN is 123456. There are ten thousand Gold Soul Coins in it."
"Decisive." Lu Yu took out a Soul Guidance Device and swiped the card. A one followed by four zeros-the amount was correct. "This book is yours. It lists recommendations for Blue Silver Grass's first three soul rings."
The wealthy merchant picked up the book and grew more satisfied the more he read. Only after putting it down did he ask, "Master, weren't you afraid I'd grab the book and run?"
Lu Yu pointed at the exposed Shrek emblem. "Oh-ho, an evil soul master delivered right to our doorstep. Just the thing for my senior schoolmates from Shrek to boost their performance records."
"Brilliant, Master." After so many years navigating the world, the wealthy merchant understood with a single hint. If Shrek said you were not an evil soul master, then you were not. If Shrek said you were one, then you were. "Then I'll take my leave."
"Wait. Under our promotion, customers who spend ten thousand receive gold, silver, and bronze VIP cards, corresponding to assistant, regular instructor, and senior instructor guidance respectively. Each can be used once, all at ninety percent off."
"You certainly know how to do business, Master." Huo the Merchant accepted them with a beaming smile.
The gold and silver cards are nice. They'll make perfect gifts for business partners. This bronze card is a little too low-tier. Right, I happen to be stopping by the Duke's Mansion later to pick up my wife, who works there. I'll just slip it to that down-and-out relative.
Before you continue