"Brother Tao, let's have dinner together tonight."
Gao Shang stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes.
"Consider it my thanks for your guidance today."
"Hmph, at least you've got some conscience, brat."
Su Yuntao rubbed his shoulder, deliberately putting on a disgruntled look.
"I'll have to eat enough tonight to cover my medical expenses too."
His injuries looked frightening, but they were not actually serious.
With his Soul Grandmaster constitution, he would recover naturally after two days of rest. There was no need to seek treatment.
"Hehe, then let's go to the Fortune and Prosperity Pavilion in the south of the city."
Gao Shang smiled.
"Bring Sister Sisi along too. More people means we can eat more."
"You little brat..."
Su Yuntao glared at him.
Despite his grumbling, his feet were already carrying him out of the training grounds.
On his way home, Gao Shang unconsciously rubbed his stomach.
Although he had eaten plenty that morning, the fight had consumed an enormous amount of stamina, and now his stomach was protesting again.
"Looks like I'll need ingredients containing Soul Power from now on. Ordinary food gets digested too quickly."
As far as Gao Shang knew, some sects that focused on physical cultivation gave their disciples fixed portions of Soul Beast meat to meet the energy demands of their daily training.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Elephant Armor Sect were prime examples.
Even Yu Xiaogang, that grandmaster of plagiarism, knew to make sure his disciples ate their fill and ate well.
He certainly would not shortchange himself.
As for the danger of hunting Soul Beasts and the scarcity of high-quality ones?
To Gao Shang, those were not problems at all.
With the system shop, as long as he had the money, he could eat Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast meat at every meal.
If he was willing to spend a little more, he could even buy finished dishes prepared by food-type Soul Masters.
With that thought, Gao Shang summoned the system panel, intending to see which ingredients suited him best at his current stage and buy some ingredients for tonight's dinner treat while he was at it.
But just as he was about to search, he suddenly noticed an additional item in the storage slots beneath the search bar. He had no idea when it had appeared.
It was a small red box topped with a large bow, much like the gift boxes in online games.
"System, what's this?"
"Did your conscience suddenly wake up? Did you decide the beginner gift pack wasn't good enough and give me another one to make up for it?"
[Dear, this is an upgrade gift pack congratulating the host on breaking through to one ring.]
"It really is a free gift pack!"
Gao Shang was delighted at first, but then something occurred to him.
"Then why didn't you notify me?"
[Dear, congratulations on your increased strength. You have received one One-Ring Upgrade Gift Pack. Please work hard to level up and spend lots.]
"?"
Gao Shang stared blankly at the fresh system notification.
I asked you to explain, and you just patched in a notification on the spot? That's going too far.
With that service attitude, were you some shopping website's human customer service agent before this?
Gao Shang pursed his lips, speechless.
Since there were benefits to be had, he could not be bothered to keep arguing with the system. He found a deserted alley at random, turned, and slipped inside.
"Open the upgrade gift pack."
[Ding, One-Ring Upgrade Gift Pack successfully opened.] [Congratulations! Obtained: Random Item Discount Card ×1 (limit: 100,000 Gold Soul Coins)] [Congratulations! Obtained: Prize draw attempt ×1 (choose one of three)]
Compared to the beginner gift pack, this upgrade gift pack seemed rather shabby.
Not only were there fewer prizes, but their quality also seemed a notch lower.
At least the beginner gift pack had given him a 90% Off Item Card with a clearly specified discount.
Still, since the system had specifically labeled it a "One-Ring Upgrade Gift Pack," presumably he would receive a corresponding gift pack whenever he advanced a major realm in the future.
He first looked at the Random Item Discount Card.
After using it, he could receive a random discount on a single item priced at no more than 100,000 Gold Soul Coins.
For him, with only a little over 30,000 Gold Soul Coins left, it was still very useful.
Then Gao Shang looked at the vaguely worded prize draw description.
"System, what does 'choose one of three' mean?"
"Do you draw three items and let me choose one?"
[Dear, no. The host may choose one of three prize draw pools.]
"Prize draw pools?"
Gao Shang frowned. Just as he was about to ask more, the system presented the specific options.
[Option one: Douluo Plane] [Option two: Hokage Plane] [Option three: Random plane] [The host may select one plane for the prize draw. The prize is guaranteed to be an item of relatively high value from that plane.]
"So that's how it works."
Having understood the rules of this prize draw, Gao Shang stroked his chin and sank into thought.
He could rule out the Douluo Plane first.
The system shop already carried every item from the Douluo Plane. Whatever he wanted, he could simply buy it. There was no need to waste a precious prize draw opportunity.
After weighing the remaining options, the Hokage Plane and a random plane, Gao Shang decided on the Hokage Plane.
The reason was simple.
A random plane involved too much uncertainty.
If he got lucky and landed on some top-tier xuanhuan plane, he would make an absolute killing, of course.
But if he got unlucky and landed on a hentai plane...
What would the so-called high-value items there be?
Mysterious little potions or miraculous little pills?
He was still in the early stages, lacking strength. He had to treasure every resource he possessed and improve himself as steadily as possible.
A choice with that much uncertainty was better left for a gamble later, when he was strong enough.
Besides, even the worst high-value item from the Hokage Plane ought to be a Ninjutsu technique, which would neatly address his lack of options in these early stages.
"I choose you, Hokage Plane! Draw!"
[Ding, prize draw commencing.]
The instant the system notification ended, Gao Shang's consciousness seemed to be pulled into an infinitely vast starry sky.
Countless spheres of light floated around him, some as large as stars, others only the size of a fist.
Gao Shang instinctively wanted to touch the nearest sphere.
But the moment that thought arose, his consciousness seemed to be forcibly repelled by some kind of rule and instantly returned to his body.
At the same time, the final result of the prize draw appeared on the system panel.
[Congratulations! Obtained: Complete Collection of Uchiha Ninjutsu ×1]
A Ninjutsu scroll appeared in his inventory.
Gao Shang's breath caught, and then he pinched his thigh hard.
The next second, a smile twisted by pain appeared on his face.
This time, although he had not hit the jackpot, he had definitely won one of the prizes best suited to him.
The name alone told him this could not be a scroll containing a single Ninjutsu technique, but rather an inheritance scroll containing a complete system.
However, Gao Shang did not inspect it immediately.
He did not even take the scroll out.
It was already in his possession, after all. There was no rush.
For now, he should buy the ingredients he needed for tonight first.
"System, search for Soul..."
Halfway through speaking, Gao Shang suddenly stopped.
"Wait, just search for ingredients instead."
He thought for a moment, then added:
"Oh, and the price of any single item must not exceed one hundred Gold Soul Coins."
Gao Shang had originally intended to search directly for Soul Beast meat, but not all Soul Beast meat was suitable for eating, and he had neither the time nor the inclination to sort through it item by item.
As for the price...
It was not that he begrudged treating Su Yuntao to something better, but if Su Yuntao recognized the ingredients' value, he would have trouble explaining their origin.
He might as well set the limit at one hundred Gold Soul Coins, neither too high nor too low. Even if they were recognized, his publicly known financial circumstances would allow him to afford them.