Spirit Hall's certification was like giving the Hundred Herbs Shop wings.
Residents of Nuoding City and the surrounding areas, low-ranking Soul Masters, and even some small mercenary groups and merchant caravans began streaming into the once-deserted little shop. Word of the effectiveness of its wound salve and several signature prepared medicines spread from mouth to mouth, quickly establishing its reputation. The shop's turnover rose almost in a straight line, and its profits became quite substantial.
The twenty percent share of profits delivered punctually to Spirit Hall each month made Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo and Su Yuntao increasingly satisfied with this "little merchant," Lin Yan, and more attentive to him.
This unexpected income was a sizable supplement for Spirit Hall's Nuoding City branch, further solidifying their partnership.
Lin Yan's Hundred Herbs Shop had now gained an initial foothold in Nuoding City.
Once the shop's operations were on track, Lin Yan devoted his attention to another matter of vital importance to him-buying whale rubber to strengthen himself.
Lin Yan hung a small wooden sign by the entrance of the Hundred Herbs Shop. It read, "This shop purchases whale rubber at high prices on an ongoing basis. All ages accepted. Prices negotiable in person."
At the same time, he privately instructed his two assistants to visit other medicinal herb shops, general stores, and even the markets around the city in their spare time, keeping an eye out for whale rubber. If they found any, they were to buy it regardless of its size or age.
However, things were not as easy as he had imagined.
Nuoding City was a small inland city. Though not particularly far from Vast Sea City, it was still several hundred kilometers away, and something like whale rubber remained uncommon in Nuoding City. First of all, whale rubber genuinely had limited uses and offered little profit, so few merchants were willing to spend large sums transporting it over such a long distance.
Although Lin Yan had already given up hoping to buy large quantities of whale rubber, he had not expected an entire month to pass without buying or receiving even a tiny piece.
The purchasing sign seemed to have become a mere decoration, attracting no inquiries. The assistants he sent out returned empty-handed every time, reporting that most shopkeepers had never even heard of the stuff, while the few who had said they had never handled it.
Lin Yan could not help feeling anxious and disappointed. Whale rubber's strengthening effect was a crucial part of his plan. It would determine whether he could temper his body to its current limits before obtaining his first Soul Ring, allowing him to absorb an older Soul Ring.
Do I really have to go to a coastal city? Lin Yan had considered this before. But with his current strength and finances, traveling a long distance to unfamiliar territory to make large-scale purchases was simply too risky.
Just as Lin Yan was about to lose hope of buying whale rubber in Nuoding City, he prepared to head out and see whether Spirit Hall could help. He had only just reached the shop's front hall when he saw a travel-worn middle-aged man standing at the counter, his face marked by worry and unease. Pointing at the small wooden sign outside, the man was quietly asking Physician Zhang something.
Something stirred in Lin Yan's heart. He stopped and listened.
"...Your shop... really buys this... whale rubber stuff?" The man's voice was slightly hoarse and carried a thick regional accent.
Physician Zhang followed his pointing finger to the sign outside and nodded. "Yes, our shop does purchase it. Do you have some?"
"I do... I have a piece, but..." The man seemed to find it difficult to say more. After a moment's hesitation, he carefully lifted an oilcloth-wrapped object from a worn cloth bundle behind him.
He unfolded the layers of oilcloth, revealing a dark-gold piece of gelatinous material several times larger than an adult's fist that appeared extremely hard. Natural patterns seemed to mark its surface, and it gave off a faint, distinctive fishy smell, though it was not unpleasant.
Lin Yan's pupils abruptly contracted! That size, that color, those faint fluctuations of energy-it was far larger than he had imagined! And judging by its appearance, it was definitely no young specimen!
Looking at the whale rubber, the man's expression grew even more troubled. "Sir, to tell you the truth, I'm a traveling merchant. Last time I went over toward Vast Sea City in the Far North, I paid a lot to buy this from an old fisherman. He said it was rare thousand-year whale rubber, good stuff... His asking price was much lower than the local selling price, so I thought I could bring it back and make something on the difference. But... but after I came back, I asked several medicine shops in Nuoding City, and... and those shops selling things to spice up the bedroom. They either didn't recognize it at all or offered so little it wouldn't even cover half my costs! They said it was too old to use properly, and melting it was a hassle... I... I've really lost a fortune on this!"
His words confirmed Lin Yan's guess. It really was old whale rubber! Suppressing his wild delight, Lin Yan stepped forward with an impassive expression.
"Grandpa Zhang, let me handle this," Lin Yan said to Physician Zhang before turning to the middle-aged man, his tone calm. "Uncle, we're the ones buying whale rubber. Could I take a closer look?"
The man froze for a moment when he saw that the person in charge was a half-grown boy. But seeing how respectfully the old physician and assistants treated him, addressing him as "young proprietor," he handed over the whale rubber, still half doubtful.
The whale rubber felt heavy in Lin Yan's hands, and a warm sensation with a hidden scorching heat seeped through his skin. He circulated a faint thread of Soul Power and sent it inside, immediately sensing the vast, pure energy contained within. Though dormant, it was like a sleeping volcano. There was no mistake: this whale rubber was definitely over a thousand years old, and its quality was superb!
The man kept rambling beside him. "Young proprietor, look, it really is good stuff. It's just... just like they said, it might be a little too old. Ordinary people can't take it, and processing it is troublesome... What do you think...?"
Lin Yan's heart was already blooming with joy, but he let a trace of difficulty show on his face and followed the man's lead. "Uncle, what they said is true enough. With whale rubber, older doesn't necessarily mean better. The medicinal potency of thousand-year whale rubber is far too fierce for ordinary people to withstand, and it's extremely difficult to melt down. It takes time and effort, so it really is... not very popular on the market."
Hearing this, the man's face grew even more ashen. He thought he would have to leave disappointed again.
But then Lin Yan changed tack, as though he had made a momentous decision. "Still, since our Hundred Herbs Shop put up that sign, we'll keep our word. Its age may be a drawback, but it's still rare whale rubber. How about this? I'll offer five hundred Gold Soul Coins for it. What do you say?"
"F-five hundred Gold Soul Coins?" The man jerked his head up, an incredulous light bursting into his eyes.
This price was a full hundred Gold Soul Coins more than he had paid for it.
"R-really? Five hundred Gold Soul Coins? You really want it?" The man was so excited that he could barely speak coherently.
"Of course." Lin Yan nodded firmly and gestured for an assistant to fetch the money.
Inwardly, however, Lin Yan marveled, What an incredible bargain! He clearly remembered that as the eras changed in the original Douluo Continent story, whale rubber's true value would be rediscovered. Even an ordinary piece of thousand-year whale rubber would cost over ten thousand Gold Soul Coins! A piece this large could only be worth more. Lin Yan could only marvel at how people now failed to recognize its worth.
Meanwhile, the burly man also felt that he had found himself a colossal sucker. And so, with both parties satisfied, the transaction went smoothly.
The man left clutching his Gold Soul Coins and thanking him profusely, while Lin Yan carefully cradled the dark-gold thousand-year whale rubber, his heart pounding with excitement.
Lin Yan no longer needed to visit Spirit Hall. He immediately returned to his room in the rear courtyard and eagerly shut the door.
After the tremendous joy, a grave question confronted him: should he use it?
According to the information revealed in the original novel Lin Yan had read, ordinary Soul Masters below the Four-Ring Soul Ancestor rank could withstand, at most, hundred-year whale rubber. The energy in thousand-year whale rubber was undoubtedly far too terrifying for him now. If he used it directly, would he fail to withstand that violent energy and die as his body burst apart?
The risk was immense!
Lin Yan stared at the enticing sheen of the whale rubber on the table, his gaze shifting uncertainly. Give up? He could not accept that! The opportunity lay right before him, and risk often went hand in hand with reward.
He recalled his persistence over the past year. Day and night, he had cultivated his Soul Power without pause and never once interrupted his physical conditioning, tempering his body until it far surpassed those of his peers and could even compare with some weaker Soul Grandmasters.
Fall behind one step, and you fall behind at every step. "Take life and death lightly. If you won't submit, fight!" A ruthless, resolute gleam flashed through Lin Yan's eyes.
The path of cultivation defies heaven itself. How could I achieve anything great if I kept looking back and forth, afraid to move?
I'll risk it!
Having made his decision, Lin Yan hesitated no longer. He fetched a small knife and carefully cut a piece about the size of a fingernail from the large chunk of whale rubber.
He sat cross-legged, held his breath, and focused, bringing himself into peak condition. Then he circulated the Soul Power within him and slowly wrapped it around the small piece of thousand-year whale rubber.
According to the method described in the original story, he needed to use Soul Power as fire, slowly heating and refining the whale rubber until it melted into a liquid that could be consumed.
Thousand-year whale rubber was extremely difficult to melt! Lin Yan's rank-ten Soul Power was like a feeble flame burning against solid ice, having almost no effect.
Time trickled by. Fine beads of sweat seeped from Lin Yan's forehead, his face began to pale, and the Soul Power within him drained at an alarming rate.
Clenching his teeth, he desperately squeezed out every last thread of Soul Power in his dantian, doing everything he could to maintain the output. He did not know how much time passed. Just as he felt his Soul Power nearing exhaustion and his head began to spin, the small, hard piece of whale rubber finally softened, gradually becoming a small pool of viscous, dark-gold liquid that gave off a strange sheen and a rich fragrance.
It worked! Lin Yan cried inwardly, almost completely spent. He immediately stopped supplying Soul Power and began circulating the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique to recover it.
Once his Soul Power had more or less recovered, Lin Yan's gaze sharpened. Without further hesitation, he opened his mouth and sucked in the whale rubber liquid he had melted with the strength of nine oxen and two tigers.
The whale rubber liquid had no unpleasant taste. Instead, it carried a peculiar fragrance and slipped into his stomach in an instant.
At first, he felt nothing unusual. But just a moment later-
Boom!
An indescribably terrifying torrent of heat suddenly exploded inside Lin Yan! Like a sleeping volcano erupting without warning, incomparably violent energy surged madly toward every limb and bone, every meridian, every cell!
"Aaagh!"
The excruciating pain instantly exceeded what Lin Yan could endure, forcing a piercing scream from him. He felt as though his body would be torn apart from within, bursting open! Every inch of his skin turned scarlet in an instant. Then fine beads of blood began seeping continuously from his pores, turning him into a blood-soaked figure.
Lin Yan curled up on the floor, convulsing violently, his clenched teeth grinding so hard they nearly shattered. His consciousness rose and fell amid the waves of pain, as though it might be extinguished completely in the next second.
But Lin Yan desperately held on to the last sliver of clarity in his mind and circulated the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique with all his strength. He guided that incomparably violent energy along the technique's circulation route while desperately forcing it into his bones, muscles, and meridians.
It was an agonizing, drawn-out process. Lin Yan felt as though every minute and every second were torment in hell. His body seemed to have become a battlefield: the violent energy of the thousand-year whale rubber wreaked destruction while the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique desperately repaired, absorbed, and strengthened.
Sweat mingled with blood, soaking his clothes and spreading into a dark puddle on the floor.
He did not know how much time had passed-perhaps two hours, perhaps six... At last, the heart-rending agony began to ease. It was not because the energy had run out, but because his body, having endured the initial devastating impact, was gradually adapting and greedily absorbing that immense energy.
The violent torrent of heat gradually grew docile, turning into countless warm streams that flowed into his limbs and bones and penetrated deep into his marrow.
An indescribable tingling and sense of comfort began replacing the agony, as though every cell were cheering and leaping for joy, undergoing transformation and rebirth.
When the final trace of energy had fully merged into his body, Lin Yan looked as though he had been hauled out of the water. He was drenched all over, blood and sweat mingling and giving off a fishy, salty smell. He lay limp on the floor, unwilling to move even a finger, yet an utterly exhausted and incomparably excited smile appeared on his face.
He had succeeded!
Feeling the surging, seemingly endless strength within him and the solid, substantial sensation from deep inside his body, Lin Yan knew that all the pain had been worth it.
Lin Yan felt that his physical capabilities had improved by at least twenty percent. His meridians also seemed to have widened considerably, allowing them to hold more, stronger Soul Power. His previously rank-ten Soul Power had instead fallen to around rank eight. Although his Soul Power felt lower, he could now handle two of his former self with strength to spare.
"I was... incredibly lucky..." Lin Yan panted, still shaken. Had he not spent the past year tirelessly tempering his body to the utmost limit of his current realm, he absolutely could not have survived that initial, most terrifying eruption. His body would certainly have burst apart, killing him.
At the same time, he clearly sensed that the thousand-year whale rubber's energy had not been fully absorbed. Most of its medicinal potency had settled deep within his body and would require continued exercise and digestion before it could gradually become true strength.
By a conservative estimate, it'll take at least three months to finish initially digesting this energy, Lin Yan thought. But these results... were worth it!