The shops in Heaven Dou City fell into two categories: civilian shops and Soul Master shops. The former consisted mainly of grain stores, cloth shops, smithies, and general stores, spread throughout the city and serving civilians. The latter were located near Spirit Hall or the Soul Fighting Arena and catered to Soul Masters.
Whale Gelatin was a Soul Beast material and was sold only in Soul Master shops.
Fang Lin searched five or six shops along the way before finding a piece at a pharmacy called Begonia Studio.
The pharmacy manager was a long-bearded old man who appeared to be an ordinary person. His robes carried a faint medicinal fragrance. When he heard that Fang Lin wanted Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, he took a patterned mahogany box from beneath the counter and flicked open its clasp, revealing an oval lump of bright yellow rubber about as wide as the mouth of a bowl.
"Two thousand six hundred years old, priced at twelve hundred Gold Soul Coins. We only acquired it last month, and no one has asked about it yet." The long-bearded old man quoted the price with a smile, giving Fang Lin a seemingly meaningful look. "The medicinal effects of Thousand-Year Whale Gelatin are potent. Young man, be sure to watch the dosage when you use it."
Fang Lin coughed lightly and put on a serious expression. "You misunderstand, shopkeeper. I'm buying it for my father. I didn't bring that many Gold Soul Coins this time, so I'll pay a deposit and come back for it in a few days."
With that, he took out a hundred Gold Soul Coins and placed them on the counter.
"What a filial young man you are." Still smiling, the long-bearded old man pushed more than half the Gold Soul Coins back across the counter. "Our shop only takes a deposit of one percent of the item's value. I'll write you a receipt as well."
After accepting the receipt, Fang Lin asked another question:
"Shopkeeper, can you get Whale Gelatin of a greater age? Say, seven or eight thousand years old or more?"
When Fang Lin had taken that piece of nine-hundred-year-old Whale Gelatin, he had already surmised that the medicinal effect of Whale Gelatin of the same age would weaken, and the closer their ages were, the poorer the effect. After taking this piece of two-thousand-six-hundred-year-old Whale Gelatin, the next piece would have to be close to ten thousand years old to have any effect.
The long-bearded old man shook his head. "Whale Gelatin of that age is hard to sell in the outer city. Our shop has a branch in the inner city too, but even there, we might not have any. If you make it into the inner city, young man, you could try the Seven Treasures Pavilion or the Heaven Dou Auction House."
"The inner city... that'll have to wait a while."
Fang Lin muttered to himself.
As the imperial capital, Heaven Dou City was divided into an inner city and an outer city. Most of the inner city's residents were high-level Soul Masters and nobles, while the outer city was populated mainly by civilians and low-level Soul Masters. Spirit Hall and the Soul Fighting Arena lay between the two because of their special nature. To enter the inner city from the outer city, one needed proof of being a Soul Elder or above, or proof of noble status.
"Thank you for telling me, shopkeeper."
Fang Lin cupped his hands and left. Since his mother ran a medical clinic, he had a natural measure of extra respect for healers.
The old man chuckled, not forgetting to offer a reminder.
"Young man, although Whale Gelatin is harmless to the body, it's easy to become dependent on it. You'd be better off using medicine to regulate your condition while you're still young."
Fang Lin's step faltered briefly, but he maintained his upright expression. "Thank you for your kindness, shopkeeper. I'll be sure to have a good talk with my father when I get back."
Having located Thousand-Year Whale Rubber before reaching level thirty, Fang Lin could put one concern to rest.
The age limit for a Third Soul Ring was 1,760 years, but Tang San had relied on his protagonist halo to absorb a two-thousand-year-old Man-Faced Demon Spider Soul Ring and had even obtained the External Soul Bone Eight Spider Lances. Fang Lin guessed that absorbing a Soul Ring beyond the limit might offer a chance of obtaining an External Soul Bone.
When he had absorbed his Second Soul Ring, he had already found it much easier. For his Third Soul Ring, Fang Lin planned to try one at two thousand years, beyond the limit, and follow the same pattern afterward. He refused to believe that by level seventy, he still wouldn't have managed to get an External Soul Bone.
"The Seven Treasures Pavilion and the auction house might have Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue, but that'll definitely cost another huge sum of Gold Soul Coins. Then there are the medicinal baths after level thirty. I need Gold Soul Coins everywhere I turn."
Fang Lin sighed and began to regret hiring that carriage.
When he returned to the dormitory, Yu Feng was sitting dejectedly by the window, his chin in his hand. As if on cue, two withered leaves with slightly curled edges blew in through the window and drifted past his forehead.
The boy's sorrowful gaze fell on Fang Lin. He paused for a long while before speaking, his voice low and mournful.
"Brother Lin, you're finally back..."
Without blushing or skipping a beat, Fang Lin said,
"It's already mealtime. Let's go eat at the cafeteria. They're serving Soul Beast meat today, and it's free."
Yu Feng ignored Fang Lin's invitation. He looked up at the ceiling and muttered to himself with a sigh.
"Brother Lin, I can't eat... if only I still had my two hundred Gold Soul Coins. Sigh, I was so stupid... I knew the bookmaker was sly, but I didn't think he'd be this sly..."
After losing two hundred Gold Soul Coins, Yu Feng had gone to Niu Heng to ask about the bookmaker taking outside bets on the final eight. He had asked around but found no one, and even he wasn't so stupid that he couldn't guess who the bookmaker was.
"Ahem, then I'll go by myself. There won't be any left if I'm late."
Fang Lin coughed and was about to leave when Yu Feng suddenly sprang to his feet and grabbed the hem of his clothes, his lips trembling.
"Brother Lin, you can still bring yourself to eat? Doesn't your conscience hurt?"
"That was two hundred Gold Soul Coins! Two hundred! Boo-hoo, I'd have to save my allowance for more than a year to put that much together. Grandpa was right after all: gambling birds come to no good end."
"Hey, your grandpa wasn't entirely right. When you gamble Gold Soul Coins, you win some and lose some. Didn't you win more than two hundred before?" Fang Lin sounded a little guilty and tried to slip free of Yu Feng's hand without seeming to, but Yu Feng held on tight, showing no sign of letting go, and kept muttering:
"I was so stupid... I thought one more win would be just about enough to buy a Storage Soul Tool. Now look, who knows what year of the monkey and month of the horse I'll have to wait until."
"Stop going on, stop going on. Can't I surrender?"
Unable to bear the nagging, Fang Lin took out a bag of Gold Soul Coins and dropped it on the table. "For your grandpa's sake, the bookmaker has decided to give you your money back."
At the sight of the Gold Soul Coins, the clouds over Yu Feng's face instantly cleared, his grievance swept away. He pulled the bag of coins close and began counting them. A moment later, he looked up in confusion.
"Brother Lin, something's wrong. There are only 190. Where did the other ten Gold Soul Coins go?"
"I used them to hire a carriage." Fang Lin spoke without a trace of shame. Returning Yu Feng's Gold Soul Coins was already the limit of his conscience; there was absolutely no way he would pay another ten out of his own pocket.
"You went to Heaven Dou City? And you used my Gold Soul Coins to hire a carriage?" Yu Feng grumbled. "Forget it. At least I got it back."
"Speaking of which, Brother Lin, what did you go to Heaven Dou City for? Take me with you next time. There's a shop that makes really delicious flaky sugar cakes."
Having recovered his lost gambling money, Yu Feng was all smiles again, but Fang Lin's mood plunged. He didn't feel like paying Yu Feng any attention and headed glumly to the cafeteria.
Dinner at the cafeteria was served in standard portions: a bowl of meat and vegetable soup, two buns, and a serving of meat and vegetables, with no limit on how many portions one could take.
The air was still filled with the mingled steam of cooked flour dishes, stewed meat, and coarse-grain dishes, but there were hardly any students left by then. The pot at the counter serving free Soul Beast meat had already been scraped clean. Though it tasted awful, plenty of students still believed it was highly nourishing and were willing to abandon their sense of taste for the sake of growing stronger.
Only after Fang Lin had taken three standard meals in succession did his earlier sorrow and indignation ease a little. He looked up just in time to see Niu Heng and Yang Yue walking over.
Niu Heng's brows were knotted together, and he looked torn over something.
"Linzi, a Teacher Qin came looking for us. He wants to recruit us into the Heaven Dou Team's reserve squad."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Fang Lin was puzzled. Niu Heng hadn't seemed very happy when he said it, but he had entered the Heaven Dou Tournament in the first place with his sights set on the Imperial Fighting Team.