Early morning.
Xiao Xuan sat cross-legged. When the first rays of sunlight entered the dormitory, he slowly opened his eyes, a trace of delight appearing in them.
I finally broke through!
Level 20 Soul Power!
Xiao Xuan got out of bed and went to the window. It's time to set out and hunt for my Second Soul Ring, he thought.
Xiao Xuan had a clear target for his Second Soul Ring: a Power Attack System Soul Beast at least a thousand years old.
This time, however, he didn't intend to trouble Director Wang Ping'an of the academic affairs office to accompany him again.
After all, his First Soul Ring had turned purple after the three-in-one upgrade. If he revealed it in front of Wang Ping'an, it would be very difficult to explain why.
Besides hunting for his Second Soul Ring, Xiao Xuan had another important matter to attend to on this trip.
He had to synthesize and upgrade the Four-Star Lone Bamboo.
That's right. Just a few days earlier, Xiao Wuyong had brought him news of two more Thousand-Year Lone Bamboos.
Both Lone Bamboos were in the Star Dou Great Forest, and they were close to each other.
Xiao Xuan didn't want to miss this opportunity, because he had waited three years for this news alone.
News had trickled in before, but the two wild Thousand-Year Lone Bamboos had always been too far apart to meet the conditions for synthesis.
Although they were in the Star Dou Great Forest this time, Xiao Xuan was going Soul Hunting anyway, so it was right on his way.
Before he went, however, Xiao Xuan had one more thing to do.
He needed to go to Suotuo City and buy the Hair Crystal in Flender's shop to use as an auxiliary material for his next synthesis.
Having made up his mind, Xiao Xuan went straight to the academic affairs office to request leave.
When Wang Ping'an heard that Xiao Xuan was going to hunt for his Second Soul Ring, he offered to accompany him, but Xiao Xuan politely declined, saying that his father had already arranged for a mercenary team.
Wang Ping'an didn't think much of it. After all, he knew Xiao Xuan's father was a Soul Grandmaster.
After leaving the academy, Xiao Xuan didn't go home. Instead, he boarded a carriage straight to Suotuo City.
This was his first long journey alone since coming to the Douluo Continent.
Listening to the rumble of the wheels over the gravel, Xiao Xuan felt especially lighthearted.
Outside the window, the scenery streamed past, the plains gradually giving way to rolling hills.
After more than a day of jostling travel, a towering gray-white city finally appeared at the end of the road.
Suotuo City.
The Balak Kingdom's city of grain, whose prosperity was far beyond that of the little border city of Nuoding.
The streets were wide and level, the shops on either side clean and tidy. The cries of hawkers mingled with the sounds of horses and carriages, making for a lively scene.
Xiao Xuan jumped down from the carriage and strolled along the long bluestone street with the flow of people.
Just as he was wondering where to find Flender's general store, a rough quarrel suddenly erupted from an inconspicuous little shop on the corner ahead:
"For this piece of junk? You wanted two hundred at first, and now you want five hundred? Do you really take me for a sucker?!"
Immediately afterward, an indifferent voice, uncaring and slightly hoarse, replied:
"Buy it or don't. If you're not buying, get lost. Don't block my sunlight."
Bang!
A fat man shoved the door open, cursing. He muttered a few more curses under his breath and hurried away.
Hearing the commotion, Xiao Xuan walked over, somewhat curious.
Inside the shop was a man with a long, narrow face and a slightly protruding chin. Black-framed crystal glasses sat on his nose, and his eyes were shrewd and crafty.
Xiao Xuan raised an eyebrow, secretly amused.
That face, that temper-it should be Flender.
Xiao Xuan walked in at an unhurried pace.
The shop was small and dimly lit. All manner of secondhand goods lay in a jumble on the wooden shelves, and the air smelled of old dust.
Seeing a new customer enter, and a young teenager at that, Flender didn't even lift an eyelid. Taking him for a child just browsing, he continued resting with his eyes closed.
Xiao Xuan didn't mind. He strolled between the wooden shelves, looking around.
Before long, his gaze fell on a stone on the bottom shelf in the corner.
The crystal was about the size of a human head and a deep, dark yellow all over. Its surface was covered in rough, uneven grooves and impurities, making it so ugly that any ordinary person would take one look and think it was roadside scrap.
Xiao Xuan kept his expression unchanged and reached out to touch it.
The next second, the system's voice instantly sounded in Xiao Xuan's mind.
[Ding! Target locked: tabular crystal] [Quality assessment: tier four (four-star auxiliary material)]
With a definite answer, Xiao Xuan suppressed his delight and stood up with an unruffled expression. He picked the crystal up in one hand, walked to the counter, and asked casually:
"Boss, name a price for this lousy crystal. How much?"
Flender slowly pushed up his glasses and glanced at Xiao Xuan. Seeing that he was dressed neatly, he casually quoted a figure he often used to test an outsider's limits.
"Two hundred Gold Soul Coins."
By Flender's reckoning, the boy would most likely haggle. Then Flender could take advantage of it to work him over and make up some story about the crystal's extraordinary origins. He might even be able to push the price higher.
What happened next, however, was completely beyond his expectations.
Xiao Xuan didn't so much as raise an eyebrow. Calm and composed, he reached into his robes with his right hand and set a hefty animal-hide money pouch steadily on the counter.
"Fine. Two hundred Gold Soul Coins. It's a deal."
His words were crisp and decisive, without a single word of unnecessary nonsense.
Flender froze for a moment, all his prepared speeches and price-raising tricks stuck in his throat.
But the boy had paid with remarkable speed, without even a trace of hesitation, putting his chips straight on the table. That, Flender truly hadn't expected.
Flender cleared his throat, untied the pouch, and gave the coins a rough count. The thick stack of Gold Soul Coins was exactly right: two hundred Gold Soul Coins, not a coin short.
Flender looked Xiao Xuan over a few times in surprise and muttered, "You're young, but you certainly get things done quickly... All right, it's yours."
Xiao Xuan knew all about Flender's endless business tricks.
In the original story, Tang San had hesitated and haggled when buying the Hair Crystal, and this fellow had seized the chance to raise the price from one hundred Gold Soul Coins all the way to five hundred.
So Xiao Xuan had prepared several money pouches containing different amounts, precisely to keep Flender from getting a chance to raise the price.
After leaving the general store, Xiao Xuan didn't linger in Suotuo City at all.
He crossed the bustling main street, went straight to the long-distance carriage depot outside the city, hired a carriage, and set off for the Star Dou Great Forest.
Meanwhile, a short, chubby boy rushed happily into Flender's general store.
"Teacher! Teacher! My Soul Power broke through to level 20!"
Seeing Ma Hongjun's disheveled clothes, Flender frowned slightly. "Didn't you go to vent your fire? How did you break through too?"
Ma Hongjun scratched the back of his head and laughed. "I'm not sure either. Anyway, after I finished venting the Evil Fire... I broke through! Can you take me to hunt for my second Soul Ring now?!"
Flender nodded. "All right, let's set out now!"
"Huh?"
Hearing that they were leaving immediately, Ma Hongjun visibly froze. He had promised Xiao Hong that he would spend some intimate time with her that night.
But he didn't dare disobey Flender's order, so he could only silently straighten his clothes.