The rules must not be broken

The storage ring on Sun Shan's hand trembled incessantly.

Something seemed to have awakened.

He took out the enormous cocoon. Countless tiny cracks covered its surface, and an invisible pressure spread from within.

The enormous cocoon shattered, and a young dragon, golden from head to tail, leaped out.

Its initially scrawny body swelled in the wind, growing to over ten meters in just a few breaths.

Holy radiance shone around its body, and its slit pupils resembled fissures into heaven, golden light flowing within them.

Roar!

The great dragon roared, shaking the mountain forest.

The birds and beasts in the woods all prostrated themselves, their legs trembling in terror, afraid of provoking the dragon's might.

This golden dragon was none other than Luo Sanpao, who had evolved after receiving the power of nine dragons.

Perhaps he had awakened at this moment under the influence of Sun Shan's emotions.

"This... this is a dragon!" Hu Liena's beautiful eyes trembled slightly.

Any Soul Beast or Martial Soul bearing a dragon bloodline was synonymous with strength.

And true dragons had not been seen on the Douluo Continent for a very long time.

Naturally, Hu Liena found it hard to believe that Sun Shan had suddenly summoned a great dragon with such a pure bloodline.

Sun Shan took Hu Liena's hand and brought Mi Liang along, swinging up onto Luo Sanpao's broad back.

Luo Sanpao beat his wings, turning into a streak of golden light that vanished into the horizon.

Finding the culprit behind the fire in Rice Fragrance Village was no difficult matter for Sun Shan.

There were only so many Titled Douluo-level Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent.

And now, almost all Soul Masters had connected to the Stock Realm.

As long as a Soul Master had traded in the Stock Realm, their information was an open book to Sun Shan.

Sun Shan only needed to investigate them one by one using the key information Mi Liang provided, then have him make the final confirmation.

Before long.

Sun Shan identified the culprit responsible for the fire in Rice Fragrance Village that day.

Tian Xiezi.

Soul Power Level: 90.

Martial Soul: Fallen Heart Flame.

Martial Soul secret: Used the greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, and doubt in the hearts of all living beings as fuel, absorbing various negative emotions to strengthen itself and advance Soul Power cultivation.

The southern Heaven Dou Empire.

Renji Village.

Due to factors such as geography and transportation, this place was quite backward.

Even so, these people all had hearts as pure as gold.

Passing through, Tian Xiezi took deep breaths, catching the exceptionally rich Qi of goodness in the air.

He chuckled wickedly:

"There are so many good people here. Wouldn't it be a tremendous feast if I made them all fall into corruption?!"

Tian Xiezi transformed himself, disguising himself as an aged wealthy merchant.

Leaning on a cane and looking as though he could barely manage, he approached the door of a dilapidated home.

Bang, bang, bang!

After a burst of urgent knocking.

A young man emerged from the house. His worn clothes were covered in patches, and upon seeing an elderly man at the door, he hurriedly invited him to sit.

Tian Xiezi feigned weakness:

"What a bitter life this old man has had! My only son died of illness on the road. How can an old fellow like me live on alone? Please take pity on me and spare me a drink of water."

The young man, Niu Er, felt great sympathy upon hearing this. He hurried inside and brought out a pot of hot water, then a bowl of rice broth.

This bowl of rice broth had been his food for lunch that day, but seeing how weak the old man was, he could not worry about that and gave it to him as well to fill his stomach.

As a result, Niu Er would have to work in the fields on an empty stomach.

After eating, Tian Xiezi thanked him and prepared to leave.

But as luck would have it, a hole opened in the bulging bundle on his back.

Several Gold Soul Coins rolled out.

On the Douluo Continent, the monthly expenses of an ordinary family of three would never exceed one Gold Soul Coin.

What lay on the ground now was a fortune!

Niu Er saw that the old man seemed completely unaware and was about to walk out the door.

His heart suddenly tightened.

He silently stepped forward, picked up the Gold Soul Coins, wiped them clean, and looked at them again and again.

That's right, just like that! Tian Xiezi laughed inwardly.

Human nature was inherently evil. Anyone who was human would harbor greed.

A lonely old man carrying a fortune was walking through a remote, impoverished place and had accidentally exposed his wealth.

Surely a great calamity would befall him.

Human desire was like a boulder rolling down a mountain. Once it started, it could never stop.

First came your fall, then the corruption of the entire village.

"Niu Er, oh, Niu Er, let me see your true colors!"

Niu Er hurried after him and stopped Tian Xiezi.

Tian Xiezi felt smug.

Was he about to strike?

The next moment.

Niu Er returned every last one of the Gold Soul Coins he had picked up:

"Sir, you dropped your money."

After speaking, Niu Er even thoughtfully reminded Tian Xiezi that his bundle was torn.

He also took out a scrap of cloth and patched it for Tian Xiezi free of charge.

"?"

Hearing this, Tian Xiezi was dumbfounded:

"Do you know how much money this is?!"

"Yes."

Niu Er did not understand why the old man would say such a thing.

"This bundle is full of Gold Soul Coins! Do you know how comfortably you could live if you had all this money?!"

Tian Xiezi stamped his feet in agitation.

"But this is your money. What does it have to do with me?"

Niu Er tilted his head, looking bewildered.

"With a fortune this large, only you and I know about it here. If you secretly robbed and killed me, then took the money and fled far away, wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Tian Xiezi continued tempting him.

Niu Er waved his hands repeatedly. "Don't say only you and I know. It knows too!"

Niu Er pointed at his conscience.

"I want money, but the rules must not be broken. Only then can I hold that money without it burning my conscience!"

Tian Xiezi was speechless. A dignified Titled Douluo-level Soul Master, he felt he had run into rotten luck today.

He thought Niu Er was most likely simply dim-witted.

So Tian Xiezi immediately ran to the center of the village and repeated his trick at dusk, when everyone lined up by the well to fetch water and the crowd was largest.

Tian Xiezi pretended to fall, and the bundle in his hands suddenly came undone.

A small mountain's worth of glittering Gold Soul Coins scattered across the ground.

The gazes of Renji Village's villagers froze, and their breathing grew heavy.

"Good heavens! I've never seen so much money in my life!"

"If only this money were mine!"

The scene immediately descended into chaos as the villagers began scrambling for the Gold Soul Coins on the ground.

Tian Xiezi stood up smugly:

"Grab them, grab them! Your greed is the finest nourishment for me."

"Hm, something's wrong?!"

Tian Xiezi suddenly realized that his cultivation had not increased.

Was this a joke? They were fighting over the money like this, yet had not committed a single one of greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, or doubt?

Before long, the villagers who had been scrambling for the Gold Soul Coins all did exactly as Niu Er had.

They returned all the Gold Soul Coins they had picked up, untouched.

A total of 8,643 coins, not a single one missing!

With kindly smiles on their faces, the villagers of Renji Village spoke in unison:

"The rules must not be broken. Earn clean money, and it won't burn your conscience when you hold it!"

"Aaaaargh!" Tian Xiezi completely lost his composure.

Tian Xiezi snapped and gave a vicious smile.

Dark red Soul Power surged around him, and flames erupted from within his body.

"You bunch of damned bots! To hell with your fucking rules! Die, all of you!"