He had spent rather a long time at the apothecary.
By the time Gao Shang returned to the milk tea shop, Sun Meng had already prepared the ingredients they would need tomorrow.
She was sitting alone at the dining table, chin resting in her hand as she stared into space.
Hearing the door open, Sun Meng immediately turned her head, a little more anticipation appearing on her face.
"Boss, you're finally back! Do you want something to eat?"
Gao Shang glanced at the bowls, chopsticks, and food containers laid out on the table and shook his head.
"Xiao Meng, just eat without me. I already ate outside."
"Eat without you? That won't do, Boss..."
Seeing that she was about to keep persuading him, Gao Shang hurriedly raised a hand to stop her.
"Hold it. If I tell you to eat first, just eat first. I might not have time to look after the shop these next few days, so I'll have to trouble you to keep a closer eye on it."
Hearing this, Sun Meng could only nod.
Her gaze returned to the table, to the celebratory feast she had specially prepared.
Unfortunately, the guest of honor seemed not to have noticed at all.
Sun Meng also understood that, now that Gao Shang had awakened his innate Soul Power, he would certainly have to treasure every moment and work hard to become a Soul Master.
At that thought, she gently pressed her lips together and said quietly:
"All right, then..."
"Mm."
Gao Shang answered, his mind filled entirely with making money. He did not notice Sun Meng's mood at all, nor did he realize that this meal had been prepared especially for him.
After returning to his room, he set the bag full of whale rubber on the table and opened the system panel with a thought.
"System, recycle all this hundred-year whale rubber."
[Eight-hundred-year whale rubber, low quality. Can increase a Soul Scholar's soul ring endurance limit by thirty years.] [Shop price: 3,000 Gold Soul Coins. Recycling price: 2,400 Gold Soul Coins.] [Seven-hundred-year whale rubber, low quality...]
The system listed the whale rubber's prices one after another. Without examining them closely, Gao Shang simply confirmed the recycling.
The prices the system offered already left him quite satisfied, anyway.
[Recycling complete. Total item value: 28,800 Gold Soul Coins. Deposited into the system inventory.]
"Nice!"
Looking at the system notification, Gao Shang could not help clenching his fist.
Although hundred-year and thousand-year whale rubber differed enormously in price, sheer quantity made up for it.
Including the money he had earned earlier, his total Gold Soul Coins had now passed fifty thousand.
As long as the system's pricing was fair and reasonable, this fortune would definitely buy quite a few good things.
At that thought, Gao Shang immediately perked up and swept his hand grandly.
"System, show me the most expensive things in the shop."
Without any further response, blue light flashed across the panel, and rows of golden, gleaming merchandise filled the entire interface.
[Super Divine Artifact, Asura God Sword: 40 billion Gold Soul Coins] [Divine Artifact, Sea God Trident: 16 billion Gold Soul Coins] [Divine Artifact, Angel Holy Sword: 12 billion Gold Soul Coins.]
Gao Shang: "..."
"Sorry to bother you."
Gao Shang, who had just thought he had a little money to his name, was promptly taught a harsh lesson by reality.
Fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins?
Before these items, that did not even amount to pocket change. Calling him a pauper would be flattering him.
Silently switching back to the search panel, Gao Shang raised a hand and scratched his head.
The good news was that the system truly deserved the name Omnipotent Shop. It really did have everything.
The bad news was that he had overestimated his wealth.
However, while scanning the shop just now, Gao Shang had also noticed an issue.
The system's item enhancement limit seemed to stop at a million years. Everything more expensive was a divine artifact that already existed on the Douluo Continent.
At that thought, Gao Shang could not resist making a snide remark:
"System, you're not exactly omnipotent, are you? Why don't you enhance immortal herbs to ten million years? Don't tell me you can't?"
[Dear customer, apart from items already existing in this plane, the regular shop only offers merchandise up to God Officer level. Please work hard to spend more.]
Gao Shang froze for a moment.
As someone who had gone through over a decade of exam-oriented education, he immediately caught the key point.
"Regular shop? What do you mean? There's a higher-tier shop?"
Unfortunately, this time the system gave no response.
No matter how Gao Shang questioned it, the system remained as silent as though it had gone completely offline, quiet enough to infuriate him.
"You're pretty good at playing dead."
Since the system refused to answer, Gao Shang could only let the matter drop for now.
His gaze fell on the piece of whale rubber on the table, which was over a thousand years old.
Thousand-year whale rubber was not difficult to soften. An ordinary flame was enough.
Gao Shang lit the fireplace in his room, found an iron tray used for roasting meat, and placed the whale rubber on it.
Before long, the slightly cloudy, pale yellow crystalline substance began to melt, turning into a translucent, jellylike paste, soft and yielding, and giving off a peculiar, delicate fragrance.
Gao Shang knew this was the best time to consume it.
Without hesitation, he lifted the iron tray and swallowed the softened whale rubber in one gulp.
The instant the paste entered his mouth, a fishy stench exploded across his tongue.
The taste shot straight to the crown of his head.
Despite having braced himself, Gao Shang nearly vomited on the spot.
At that critical moment, he viciously pinched his thigh.
The intense pain forced him to clamp his mouth shut and swallow the whale rubber.
But once the whale rubber reached his stomach, the real trial had only just begun.
A raging torrent of heat, supremely forceful and yang, instantly erupted from his abdomen and surged along his meridians into every limb and bone.
Almost immediately, Gao Shang's body turned bright red, like a large shrimp freshly scooped from a pot. Faint wisps of heat even rose from his skin.
A tearing, stabbing pain came from his meridians.
His bones felt as though countless iron hammers were pounding them over and over.
Blood surged wildly through his body, his heartbeat thundering like a war drum.
Fine beads of sweat constantly seeped from his pores, mingling with traces of blood and gray-black impurities as they were expelled from his body bit by bit.
The entire refinement process was painful and prolonged.
Fortunately, his Sharingan Martial Soul had granted Gao Shang spiritual power far beyond that of Soul Masters at his level.
Even while enduring the intense pain, he could still forcibly stabilize the Soul Power within him and guide that raging torrent of heat to temper his flesh evenly.
Otherwise, once this medicinal power went out of control, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Time trickled past. After six full hours, the refinement finally neared its end.
The raging power gradually grew docile, flowing slowly through his meridians before sinking, bit by bit, deep into his bones and flesh.
Crack.
Crack, crack...
Amid a series of fine, crisp cracks, Gao Shang slowly stretched his body.
The crust of blood, sweat, and grime covering him flaked away, revealing fair skin beneath.
"Whew... I nearly didn't make it."
Letting out a long breath, Gao Shang could clearly feel the tremendous increase in the strength within him.
Even though he had yet to obtain his first soul ring, an ordinary adult could no longer possibly be his match.
He gently pushed open his room's door, went into the courtyard to draw water, and washed the grime from his body.
Yet after bathing, the expression on his face gradually turned strange.
"Wait, this stuff whitens your skin, too?"
Gao Shang looked down at his bare upper body. His skin, previously somewhat dark from years of exercise, was now as fair and tender as a baby's.
As the saying went, fair skin concealed a hundred flaws.
Besides, he had never been ugly to begin with.