"Pack this up!"
"I'll take this too!"
"Pack up everything except this!"
Qian Renxue put on a thoroughly impressive display of what it meant to be a top-tier little rich girl. She bought whatever caught her eye, spending Soul Coins without so much as blinking.
From fragrant candied hawthorns to clay figurines and sugar paintings shaped into all sorts of forms, she stuffed them all into her mouth.
When they passed a jewelry shop, Qian Renxue suddenly stopped. She spent a long time inside, leaning over the counter as she carefully picked things out and held them up for comparison.
Crystal hairpins in every color, rings with pink tassels, and even tiny bells set with aquamarines-she took them all.
Watching Qian Renxue pull out Gold Soul Coins without batting an eye, the jewelry shop owner smiled so broadly that his old face nearly bloomed into a chrysanthemum. He all but bent his waist to the floor.
Lying atop Qian Renxue's head, Chen Qianqiu gave a helpless yawn.
She was still a little girl, after all. A love of beauty was only human nature.
This shopping trip was very boring for him. He could guess with his eyes closed what a little brat Qian Renxue's age liked and wanted.
Unexpectedly, after only a little while, things suddenly took a somewhat strange turn.
Qian Renxue stuffed the great handful of glittering jewelry into a bag, then tilted her head back, looking upward with her big, watery eyes full of anticipation.
"Xiao Hei, that's everything I've picked out. Is there anything else you like? Tell me!"
Chen Qianqiu went rigid.
What did Qian Renxue mean by saying that to me? Could she...?
An extremely bad premonition had only just surged into his heart when Qian Renxue's little hand reached over impatiently.
"This blue crystal goes here on the left, this little pink bell hangs at the base of your little wing, and this tassel wraps around here... ah, perfect!"
Chen Qianqiu widened his dark-gold slit pupils, watching helplessly as his imposing, deep black scales were forcibly covered with a heap of colorful hairpins and gaudy tassels!
I'm male! Male!! What the hell is this, dressing me up like a peacock spreading its tail?! Outrageous!
But his opinion clearly did not matter all that much. How could his newborn little body hold out against Qian Renxue, whose innate full Soul Power was level twenty?
Now I've really disgraced all dragonkind. What am I supposed to do when I go outside looking like this?
Qian Renxue, however, was clearly thoroughly satisfied. She smugly patted Chen Qianqiu's gem-adorned little head, then hummed a tune and turned
around to enter a century-old medicinal herb shop with exceptionally tasteful decor.
"Shopkeeper, bring out all your most precious medicinal herbs that won't cause heartburn!"
The little rich girl flaunted her wealth, waving a little hand as though she meant to buy out the entire shop.
"Yes."
The herb shop owner had seen much of the world. Recognizing at a glance that Qian Renxue was someone extraordinary, he immediately agreed and went back to prepare.
Before long, the counter was filled with rare and wondrous herbs seldom seen in ordinary times: nine-leaf ice jade grass that gave off an intensely cold air, blazing sun spirit-gathering fruit that was blood-red all over and could cleanse the tendons and marrow, and a translucent section of hundred-year mind-calming fragrant wood.
These were all supreme ingredients for tempering Soul Power and the body. Any single one offered outside would have countless Soul Masters fighting until their heads split open to obtain it.
Qian Renxue had seen much of the world. She merely nodded her approval and took the whole lot.
She casually picked up a bright-red blazing sun spirit-gathering fruit and pushed it straight to Chen Qianqiu's mouth.
Chen Qianqiu instinctively took a bite, and the flesh entered his stomach.
Buzzz-
A pure, gentle current of warmth instantly traveled through his limbs and bones. Even the profound bloodline power within him grew slightly stronger.
He looked at the mountain of precious medicinal herbs in the bag, and all his anger over Qian Renxue dressing him up however she pleased vanished in an instant.
One thing is one thing; another is another.
Qian Renxue has spent so much investing in me already. What's wrong with putting up with a little indignity and giving her some emotional value?
Nothing wrong with that! Eat someone's food and your mouth goes soft; take their gifts and your hands grow short. Hanging a few pink bells and hair ornaments on me won't cost me any flesh. A true man can bend and stretch! Once I've laid low and eaten these heavenly treasures until I'm invincible under heaven, who would dare utter half a word of protest?
Just as Chen Qianqiu finished this thoroughly self-righteous bit of mental preparation and happily readied himself for a second bite of the spirit fruit, an exceptionally loud cry suddenly came from out in the street.
"Everyone passing by, don't miss out! An unparalleled treasure brought out of the inner reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest at the risk of my life!"
A vendor stood on a battered wooden crate, holding a dark-red bone in his hands.
Its surface was covered in strange, blood-colored markings like spiderwebs, and it faintly exuded a savage, wild presence beneath the sunlight.
The instant it appeared, it drew countless gazes. Even the noisy market gradually quieted down!
None of those who could make their way in Spirit City were ordinary people. They could see the value behind this bone at a glance.
"To tell you the truth, I don't know exactly how much this thing is worth either, so I figured I'd try my luck in Spirit City and see if anyone here knows their stuff!"
"As for the price, I can't really say. All I can say is, the highest bidder gets it!"
As the vendor finished speaking, Chen Qianqiu, who had been lying comfortably atop Qian Renxue's head munching his fruit, abruptly shuddered. His dark-gold slit pupils fixed intently on that dark-red bone marrow fossil.
The nidhogg bloodline within him, previously quiet and dormant, was like a wild beast that had caught the scent of blood. An intensely frenzied urge to devour it erupted uncontrollably!
Qian Renxue's attention had also been drawn over early on. Her gaze passed through the crowd as she examined the skeletal remains with a somewhat appraising look.
At that very moment, she distinctly felt the movement atop her head.
Qian Renxue reached up with both hands and gently brought Chen Qianqiu down from her head into her arms.
As she looked at the little black dragon, the little girl's gaze grew especially gentle. She softly rubbed Chen Qianqiu's chin with the pad of her finger and asked in a tender, somewhat doting voice.
"Xiao Hei, Xiao Hei, do you really want those skeletal remains?"
Chen Qianqiu nodded and nuzzled into her arms.
This absolutely isn't acting cute. It's communication. Communication.
Qian Renxue understood at once, and a brilliant smile lifted the corners of her mouth:
"All right, Xiao Hei! I'll go buy them for you!"
In that short time, a dense crowd of Soul Masters had already gathered around the vendor to watch the excitement.
Qian Renxue wasted no time either. Taking advantage of her petite figure, she darted straight to the front like a slippery little loach.
By then, someone inside had already started bidding.
"I offer sixty Gold Soul Coins!"
A burly man with a face full of stubble shouted,
"Brother, that's about enough. A live hundred-year soul beast in good condition would only fetch this much! Besides, all you have left is a little piece of dried-up bone. Who knows whether it's still useful?"
Quite a few people around him nodded in agreement. No matter how special a piece of skeletal remains might be, fetching a price like this was already quite rare.