As Gao Shang looked at the Soul-Gathering Scythe in Sun Meng's hand, his voice brimmed with envy.
"You really hit the jackpot this time!"
"Huh?"
Sun Meng froze for a moment, then looked up at Gao Shang.
She had never imagined her boss would react this way.
"But this ability of mine, compared to a Fallen Soul Master's..."
Seeing her concern, Gao Shang smiled and patted her arm.
"Sister Xiao Meng, a Martial Soul is ultimately just a Martial Soul. What truly determines whether it's evil is the person using it."
"As long as you stay true to yourself, kill only those who deserve it, and don't harm innocents to increase your strength, you can't be considered a Fallen Soul Master."
Sun Meng lowered her head to look at the Soul-Gathering Scythe and pressed her lips together.
After a moment of silence, her fingers finally loosened their grip on the shaft a little, and she nodded gently.
"Mm. I'll listen to you, boss."
"That's the spirit."
Gao Shang clapped his hands in satisfaction.
Sure enough, Talk no Jutsu worked in any world, and its power was extraordinary.
Still, persuasion aside, he had to give her the necessary warning.
"Sister Xiao Meng, this ability of yours is called a domain. Even top-tier Martial Souls don't necessarily have one. From now on, never reveal it in front of outsiders unless you have to."
"All right."
Sun Meng agreed readily. Whatever Gao Shang told her to do, she would do. She trusted that he wouldn't harm her.
"Then head back and familiarize yourself with your Martial Soul, Sister Xiao Meng. There's no rush on the Soul Ring. I'll arrange it."
"Mm."
After Sun Meng left, Gao Shang brewed himself a pot of tea and began considering his plans for the near future.
After using a hundred-year Red Spider Lily on Sun Meng, his once fairly ample supply of Gold Soul Coins had dwindled to forty-six thousand.
Building the restaurant cost money, daily meals cost money, and Sun Meng's whale rubber and Soul Ring needed to be arranged soon as well.
He had originally been counting on a steady income once the restaurant opened.
But these immediate expenses clearly couldn't wait until then.
To cover the funding shortfall ahead, he could only turn to whale rubber to save the day for now.
However, there probably wasn't much whale rubber left in Nuoding City.
It hadn't been long since his last purchase. Even if those shops had restocked, their supplies wouldn't be large.
After all, whale rubber wasn't a commonly used medicine, and few people usually bought it.
If he wanted to keep buying it, he would have to go to nearby cities.
At that thought, Gao Shang set down his teacup and instructed the maid by the door:
"Go fetch Wang Tianyuan."
"Yes."
The maid answered and left.
Before long, Wang Tianyuan arrived in the courtyard. He first bowed respectfully, then couldn't help asking:
"Boss, do you have an assignment for me?"
During this time, Gao Shang had first been recovering from his injuries, then standing guard over Sun Meng. Wang Tianyuan hadn't sparred with Gao Shang for ten days or so.
He was still getting paid, yet he hadn't done any work.
The longer he lived like this, the more uneasy he became.
"There is indeed something I need you to do."
Gao Shang didn't beat around the bush. He glanced at the storage ring on Wang Tianyuan's hand and waved his own.
Twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins were withdrawn from the system balance and stacked neatly on the stone table.
"Take this money and go buy whale rubber in the nearby cities. Only buy pieces over a thousand years old."
Looking at the Gold Soul Coins on the table, Wang Tianyuan felt as though his eyes were about to be dazzled blind. It took him a long while to squeeze out a sentence:
"All this, just for whale rubber?"
Of course, he knew that the Storage Soul Tool Gao Shang had given him was worth far more than twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins.
But knowing something was valuable and seeing so much money with his own eyes were two entirely different things.
This was the first time in his life he had seen twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins piled together.
"Yes, all for whale rubber."
Gao Shang added another reminder:
"But you must do this in secret. You can take your time, but don't draw anyone's attention."
Wang Tianyuan put away his surprise and nodded earnestly.
"Understood. I'll get on it right away."
After putting the Gold Soul Coins into his storage ring, he strode out of the courtyard.
Watching his retreating figure, Gao Shang lifted his teacup and took a sip.
Wang Tianyuan seemed rather careless, but he was reasonably reliable when it mattered. There shouldn't be much trouble entrusting this task to him.
Next, it was his own turn.
After telling the maid that he was entering seclusion and must not be disturbed, Gao Shang turned and entered the bedroom.
On the bed, Gao Shang closed his eyes and regulated his breathing for a while.
Once he had brought himself into peak condition, he took the Red Spider Lily out of his Soul Tool and, without another look, swallowed it in one mouthful.
As the flower entered his mouth, a cool, soothing energy spread out.
There was no impact as he had expected, nor any violent medicinal power.
Rather than traveling along his meridians, this energy surged straight into the depths of his brain.
A slight pressure built between Gao Shang's brows, and he could clearly feel his spiritual power growing rapidly.
Even the traces of fatigue left by his lack of rest over the past few days were swiftly swept away.
Just as he thought absorbing the immortal herb would be smooth sailing this time, something suddenly stirred in his eyes.
Beneath his closed eyelids, his Sharingan activated on its own.
A single black tomoe spun rapidly within his scarlet eyes, and a suction force emerged from them.
The Red Spider Lily's medicinal power, which had been flowing toward his Niwan Palace, was forcibly split into two streams.
One of them surged straight toward his eyes!
What's going on?
Is my Sharingan evolving?
Caught completely unprepared, Gao Shang nearly had his focus disrupted by this sudden change.
Fortunately, although the disturbance was considerable, there was none of the intense pain he had experienced during his first Martial Soul Evolution.
He hurriedly steadied his mind and guided the medicinal power with his spiritual power.
The two streams of energy fluctuated for a moment before stabilizing again, flowing toward his Niwan Palace and his eyes respectively.
Silence returned to the room.
Only after more than three hours, when the last wisp of medicinal power had been fully absorbed, did Gao Shang slowly open his eyes.
Within his scarlet eyes, the once solitary tomoe now had company.
Directly opposite it, a second black tomoe had condensed into shape.
The two tomoe rotated slowly, lending those eyes an even more uncanny look.
At the same time, information about the Two-Tomoe Sharingan entered Gao Shang's mind through his connection with his Martial Soul.
After briefly sorting through it, he understood the reason for this change.
"So that's it. Because my spiritual power reached the Soul Elder level, it brought my Sharingan along with it into an evolution."
"And the Futatsudomoe also awakened the Insight ability?"
With a thought from Gao Shang, the tomoe in his eyes began to spin faster.
When he looked around the room again, he actually saw the Soul Power drifting through the air!
Gao Shang immediately took a Polar Ice Phosphorus Shrimp out of his Soul Tool and focused his gaze on it.
This time, the distribution of Soul Power throughout the shrimp's body appeared clearly before his eyes.
At the shrimp's back, a mass of icy Soul Power remained condensed, sealed inside by its shell.
Once the shell was broken, the icy Soul Power inside would surge through the opening and inflict frostbite on whoever had broken it.
"As expected of the Sharingan's innate ability. It can even see the circulation of Soul Power inside living creatures clearly."
"If anyone tries to fool me with feints and disguises in future battles, they'll be in for a world of pain."
At that thought, Gao Shang could no longer quite restrain the Uchiha power within him. Covering his forehead with his right hand, he threw his head back and laughed aloud.
"Hahaha-hahahaha..."