PS: The earlier plot felt a little slow, so the author made a few small revisions.
Seeing her junior brother and that strange pharmacy owner simply staring at each other,
Hu Liena, who stood beside them, curiously leaned over and asked in confusion,
"Junior brother, does this stuff have some special effect?"
At those words, whether Jiang Huai kept a straight face or not, the pharmacy owner was the first to crack.
"Little lady, whale rubber is good stuff."
Jiang Huai decisively interrupted the bizarre pharmacy owner's casting,
"Enough of that nonsense. Shopkeeper, just bring out the best whale rubber you have!"
Enjoying the show was one thing, but business still had to be done.
The pharmacy owner also understood that going too far was as bad as not going far enough. Smiling, he took a box from a medicine drawer beneath the counter, opened it, and pushed it in front of the two of them.
Inside lay a piece of milky-white whale rubber streaked with pale gray, its texture resembling a translucent crystal.
"Young friend, you look like a seasoned connoisseur yourself. I'm sure you know how sought-after this stuff is. This piece is a full five thousand years old."
"Whale rubber of this age is always in short supply. If you want anything better, we'll have to have it shipped from a coastal city, which will take some time."
Jiang Huai lowered his head and looked it over.
Around five thousand years?
That would do.
Consuming whale rubber could also lead to a degree of resistance. He understood that going too far was as bad as not going far enough.
Once his Pope teacher learned what this stuff did, she would certainly arrange something better for him and Hu Liena.
"All right, boss. I'll take this piece."
"Senior sister, pay up."
This made the pharmacy owner think even more highly of him.
This young fellow has some moves.
Getting a girl to pay for this stuff, too. Interesting.
Just as Jiang Huai was about to pull Hu Liena away, something suddenly occurred to him.
To absorb whale rubber, it first had to be softened with powerful heat or powerful Soul Power before it could be consumed.
Rather than going to all the trouble of explaining the twists and turns of this to his Pope teacher afterward,
he might as well borrow the pharmacy's stove to soften the whale rubber here, consume it, and then let Dongzi see the results after absorption.
"Shopkeeper, let me borrow your back room."
"I think it would be best to take this right away."
The pharmacy owner was stunned!
Surely not?
Was he really that impatient?
But looking at the stack of Gold Soul Coins Jiang Huai slapped onto the counter, the pharmacy owner declared with righteous conviction,
"You make a good point, young friend. This really should be taken as soon as possible."
"I happen to have a spacious guest room out back. Feel free to do as you please, young friend."
When they entered the room, a tub of bone-chilling ice water had already been prepared at Jiang Huai's request, though the pharmacy owner had not understood why.
The piece of whale rubber had also been divided in two. One half was wrapped up again and handed to Hu Liena, while the other was placed in a bowl and slowly heated over the medicine stove.
After quite a while, the hard whale rubber gradually softened, finally turning into a thick liquid. Its smell carried a savory fragrance mingled with a fishy scent of the sea.
"Senior sister, after taking this, your body will expel a lot of impurities. Once I finish absorbing mine, go back and ask Teacher to soften the other half for you. It'll be easier for you to wash up after taking it."
Hearing that there was such a thing involved, Hu Liena nodded repeatedly.
As Jiang Huai's exceptionally gifted senior sister, she had to maintain the best possible image at all times.
"Don't worry, junior brother. Your senior sister will stay right here and watch over you."
Once the whale rubber had melted completely, Jiang Huai used a cloth to lift the bowl off the stove and let it cool for a moment. When it was cool enough to drink, he downed it in one gulp.
The first thing that rushed to his head was an overpowering, intensely fishy sea smell, followed only afterward by that peculiar savory fragrance.
Almost the instant it reached his stomach, a scalding current surged out of it and raced throughout his body!
Not daring to delay for even a moment, Jiang Huai plunged headfirst into the ice water prepared earlier.
After all, Jiang Huai had only just awakened his Martial Soul, and his physical hardware was still entirely at its "factory default settings."
This five-thousand-year-old potent tonic did not cause anything too embarrassing to mention.
The feeling was like getting tilted and overheated after a losing streak in a game in his previous life. Hot blood kept surging straight to the crown of his head, burning his eyes red.
The ice water suppressed the burning heat on his skin, but the hot current inside him continued circulating.
Time passed, second by second, minute by minute...
After who knew how long, the sweltering heat that had left him unable to sit still finally began to fade, and Jiang Huai's gaze gradually cleared considerably.
In its place came a sense of comfort from head to toe.
He clenched his fists and could clearly feel that the strength of his flesh, meridians, and even bones had risen by more than a single level!
However, a layer of sticky black impurities had also seeped out over his originally fair skin.
Even the water in the tub had turned somewhat murky, giving off a sour stench.
"So good. Even better than doing that."
Hu Liena stepped farther away in disgust.
"Eww... Junior brother, wash yourself off. I'll wait outside."
With that, she left the room without looking back.
After another short wait, Hu Liena and Jiang Huai walked side by side toward the Papal Hall, under the shopkeeper's gaze that said, "You're fucking amazing, kid."
After Huo Yuhao absorbed that roughly ten-thousand-year-old piece of whale rubber, the age of Soul Rings his body could withstand had increased by a full two thousand years,
so Jiang Huai felt that absorbing half of this five-thousand-year-old piece should give him a considerable improvement too?
They arrived at the Papal Hall and went inside. Yue Guan and Gui Mei looked at the returning pair with some surprise and confusion.
After Jiang Huai told Yue Guan and Gui Mei why he had come, their expressions grew even stranger.
"Xiao Huai, you do know what whale rubber is used for, don't you?"
"You're planning to give Nana this stuff? Aren't you afraid His Holiness the Pope will come over and give you a thorough thrashing?"
"Besides, whale rubber has only ever had effects in that particular area all these years. I've never heard of it improving a Soul Master's physique."
Yue Guan spoke with a smile, his thumb and middle finger pinched into an orchid gesture.
Jiang Huai covered his face in anguish. He had known this would happen.
He immediately gave Yue Guan and Gui Mei a complete account of his polished explanation, along with what he had felt after absorbing half a piece of five-thousand-year-old whale rubber,
and the look in these two workhorse Douluos' eyes changed!
If this was true, its strategic value would be immeasurable!
The two immediately flashed over to Jiang Huai, each taking one of his arms, and began examining him carefully.