"Whale rubber does indeed help soul masters absorb the power of older soul rings, but it doesn't 'directly change the soul ring limit.' Instead, it strengthens the body, meridians, and qi and blood, raising the age of the soul rings a soul master can withstand."
Only after hearing this did Kai remember that he had forgotten about it.
In the Douluo system, the age of the soul rings one could absorb depended on soul power level, martial soul quality, physical strength, and spiritual power (older rings also brought soul/energy shock).
Whale rubber (especially thousand-year whale rubber and ten-thousand-year whale glue) was a substance of utmost hardness and pure yang that condensed in the brains of whale soul beasts. Consuming it could strengthen bones, muscles, and meridians, improving the body's endurance and thus giving soul masters a chance to absorb older soul rings than their original configurations allowed.
Typical examples were the protagonists of the second Douluo Continent novel, Peerless Tang Sect:
Wang Dong'er (Tang Wutong) had eaten whale rubber since childhood and could absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring at level 20.
Huo Yuhao obtained ten-thousand-year whale glue, and after Ma Xiaotao refined it with fire-attribute soul power for him to consume, his constitution improved dramatically.
But it was worth noting that whale rubber generally could not be eaten as it was. A fire-attribute soul master needed to refine it into liquid before it could be consumed.
The older it was, the more potent it became, carrying risks of aphrodisiac effects, excessive yang energy, and the body bursting apart.
It merely "raised the limit of what one could withstand," rather than allowing one to skip levels without a price-if one lacked soul power or spiritual power, one would still fail.
"Sister, then let's go get some whale rubber now and help our lord absorb better soul rings as soon as possible," Leng Yulai said.
She already could not wait to get some. One could say that the sworn loyalty marked by the system was evident; her loyalty was very high.
"Besides, this should be relatively convenient for us."
"After all, in this era, nobody knows what this stuff does."
Kai said this. In the first Douluo Continent novel, most soul masters, even Tang San, did not know its effects. None of them knew that this whale rubber could help them absorb older soul rings.
During the first novel, people understood whale rubber to be a gelatinous substance from deep-sea whale soul beasts, something that condensed in their brains.
Its mainstream uses were as an aphrodisiac, a virility booster, and a luxury for nobles' pleasure.
Among soul masters, nobody connected it with "raising the age of soul rings one could withstand."
The continent's soul masters did not study sea soul beasts as they did land soul beasts, so its value in "strengthening the body and raising the soul ring limit" remained buried.
"But getting this stuff takes money, doesn't it?" Leng Yaozhu threw cold water on the idea at that moment.
Kai was ultimately just the child of ordinary soul masters. His parents had only been around the Soul Grandmaster rank, so they had not saved much money.
Ordinary whale rubber was cheap, but its effects were not very good.
Hundred-year whale rubber cost anywhere from several dozen to over a hundred Gold Soul Coins. In a large city like Heaven Dou City, it might sell for around a hundred Gold Soul Coins. That was already expensive for an ordinary family of three (one Gold Soul Coin was enough to live on for several months).
Thousand-year whale rubber cost several hundred Gold Soul Coins. Overall, it was something "a small soul master team could consider, but not buy on a whim."
In the first novel, people regarded ten-thousand-year whale glue merely as a rare collectible or a top-grade aphrodisiac, not a cultivation treasure.
The shopkeeper at the Little Apothecary asked five thousand Gold Soul Coins for his family heirloom; at auctions, ten-thousand-year whale glue often fetched two to three thousand Gold Soul Coins, nowhere near the outrageous prices of soul bones (tens of thousands to millions of Gold Soul Coins).
"But are we supposed to give up this opportunity? Our lord has twin martial souls, a top-tier martial soul and a god-level martial soul, along with innate full soul power at level 20. With this stuff as well, he could cultivate with older soul rings. I reckon he might even be able to absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as his third soul ring, or even his second."
"But are we supposed to let our lord's talent be buried like this just because we have no money and no resources?"
Leng Yulai spoke with a headache as well.
And what she said made sense. Kai had twin martial souls and innate full soul power, as well as a top-tier martial soul and a god-level martial soul. If he combined those with this whale rubber...
He would definitely be able to absorb a ten-thousand-year ring as his third soul ring. There was even a chance, if all the whale glue he absorbed was ten-thousand-year whale glue...
There was even a chance that his second soul ring could be at the ten-thousand-year level.
After all, he had a god-level martial soul, and his body's soul power level was 20. It really was possible.
"I'm trying to think of a way too..." Leng Yaozhu pondered this, unsure what to do.
"Why don't we rob those slave traders? And rob the nobles behind them too?"
Kai came up with an idea at that moment.
"In this era, lots of people get captured and made into slaves. And neither of the two great empires, whether the Star Luo Empire or the Heaven Dou Empire, opposes capturing people as slaves, nor do they oppose people abducting and trafficking ordinary citizens as slaves."
"Although they openly prohibit selling slaves, the problem is that the ban is only on the surface. Behind the scenes, heaps of people get captured and made into slaves. To put it bluntly, it's just a way to fool the common people."
"Lots of nobles, even members of the imperial families, routinely capture plenty of ordinary citizens, or people with unusual traits caused by martial soul mutation, and take them as slaves, or sell them to other nobles to play with."
"I think if we robbed these human traffickers and the noble bosses behind them, I wouldn't feel any burden on my conscience at all."
"They're human traffickers and nobles who take pleasure in oppressing commoners anyway. I'd feel absolutely no burden on my conscience robbing them of their money."
As Kai said this, he also remembered a news story from his previous life. There had been a boxing coach who had lost his job and did not know what to do.
Then he encountered a robber who had just stolen someone else's money. When the robber ran into him, he simply robbed the robber of the money stolen from someone else, then spent it himself.
He was not punished or anything afterward, either.
So lots of people online said there was no need to feel any burden on one's conscience about robbing human traffickers, thieves, or robbers who stole other people's money.
They were not good people anyway. Robbing them of their money would not violate any heavenly law, and one could feel at ease about it.
So he felt this method should work quite well. The nobles of this era were no good anyway, or rather, most nobles were no good.
Especially the nobles of the Heaven Dou Empire. Things like openly capturing commoners and selling slaves were essentially done in public. Everyone knew, and nobody even stopped them.
Historical Figure Huang Chao had said it long ago: fighting one's way into Chang'an was easier than earning one's way into Chang'an through the examinations.
"If that's the case, then that works too."
Leng Yaozhu lived in an era of technologically advanced soul tools, namely the Legend of the Dragon King era. Naturally, she disliked those nobles at heart, and she also disliked those involved in human trafficking and the like.
So after hearing Kai's decision, she did not object. Since their targets were these inhuman nobles who exploited others for pleasure, there was no problem with taking action against them.
"Sister, then that's what we're going to do, right?"
Before you continue