"Grandpa Patriarch, I'll just..."
Before Dai Tianfeng could finish, Dai Xiu cut him off decisively. "No. Until we know what Whale Rubber really does, absorbing it rashly won't do you any good!"
His concern was hardly baseless!
Whale Rubber was essentially an aphrodisiac. It was easy to imagine what would happen if a six-year-old boy took one!
At best, he might develop secondary sexual characteristics prematurely; at worst, his reproductive function could be affected.
"All right." Dai Tianfeng could only nod.
"This is an advanced meditation method exclusive to the White Tiger Lineage."
Dai Xiu took a thin booklet from his Soul Tool. "Although you haven't absorbed a Soul Ring, the Soul Power you cultivate will be stored in your body. Just cultivate as usual."
"Yes, Grandpa Patriarch."
Dai Tianfeng accepted the advanced meditation method.
There was no such thing as cultivation techniques on the Douluo Continent.
Soul Masters increased their Soul Power through daily meditation and by tempering themselves. That was the most basic way to cultivate.
Even the major powers had only developed meditation methods that could speed up Soul Power cultivation after their predecessors explored the matter.
Overall, the improvement was limited.
They were only a little better than the basic meditation method!
Otherwise, the Mysterious Heaven Skill would never have reigned supreme.
Compared to advanced meditation methods, the Mysterious Heaven Skill was more than just a little superior!
The internal power cultivated through the Mysterious Heaven Skill could be converted into Soul Power, granting its practitioner Innate Full Soul Power.
On that point alone, the Mysterious Heaven Skill was an unbeatable divine technique on the Douluo Continent.
However, the version Tang San left to the Tang Sect after becoming a god had been castrated, with the crucial method for opening the eight extraordinary meridians removed.
Tang San even claimed, under the fine-sounding pretext that opening the eight extraordinary meridians was dangerous, that this was why he had not passed the method on to the Tang Sect.
No wonder the Tang Sect declined ten thousand years later and nearly met its end.
Of course, the fundamental reason for the Tang Sect's decline was that its leaders had always been Blue Silver Grass Soul Masters who had also believed Yu Xiaogang's theories and chosen the wrong Soul Ring Configuration.
Did they really think everyone was Tang San?
Besides, Tang San's Martial Soul wasn't Blue Silver Grass, but the Blue Silver Emperor, a top-tier Plant-type Martial Soul.
In that light, the Tang Sect had been damned lucky to survive for ten thousand years.
Perhaps Tang San had a hand in it.
After all, during the era of The Legend of the Dragon King, the Tang Sect was a first-rate power, the equal of Shrek, the Spirit Pagoda, and the War God Temple.
If there was one difference during that period, it was that Tang San and the Divine Realm had been swept away by turbulent currents of space and time to who knew where!
After parting with Dai Tianfeng, Dai Xiu immediately summoned several members of the lineage.
All of them were Soul Masters about to acquire Soul Rings.
They varied in age and cultivation, but they all had one thing in common.
They were absolutely loyal.
The youngest, like Dai Tianfeng, had just awakened his Martial Soul.
As for Whale Rubber, there was no need to buy any.
Both the Star Luo Imperial Palace and the White Tiger Lineage's ancestral grounds had plenty.
As for why they kept it in stock, those who knew, knew!
Once everything was ready, Dai Xiu brought the three of them to a courtyard.
"Let's begin!"
Dai Xiu took out the three pieces of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber.
In the sunlight, the Whale Rubber glowed with a delicate, lustrous translucence, and a faint deep-sea brininess slowly spread through the air.
A middle-aged Soul Master stepped forward.
He was also a member of the White Tiger Lineage, but his Martial Soul had mutated, giving him the fire attribute.
His Soul Power surged, and a ball of crimson flame appeared in his palm.
Under the heat of the flames, the three pieces of Whale Rubber gradually softened, finally melting into three blobs of viscous liquid.
Without needing Dai Xiu to say another word, the three Soul Masters swallowed the warm liquid in turn, without the slightest hesitation.
Dai Xiu immediately released his spiritual power and carefully observed the changes in their bodies.
After a while, a gleam flashed in his eyes.
They had improved!
All three of them had indeed gained improvements in their physical condition, though to different degrees!
Dai Xiu was once again convinced that Dai Tianfeng was a person blessed with great fortune.
From ancient times to the present, no one had ever discovered this marvelous use for Whale Rubber.
Yet Dai Tianfeng, a child of only six, had unearthed it from an ancient text.
No one would believe it if he told them!
This discovery was immensely important to the Star Luo Empire.
Aside from ordinary Soul Masters, what power didn't know the optimal Soul Ring Configuration?
And this discovery about Whale Rubber was enough to break through the limits of that optimal configuration.
In theory, as long as one's body was strong enough, it was entirely possible to absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as one's First Soul Ring.
A thousand-year First Soul Ring!
If one appeared, who knew how many people it would shock!
This was unquestionably a strategic-level resource!
Never mind monopolizing the Whale Rubber market; even if they only gained a head start,
it would still be an enormous boon to the Star Luo Empire.
"Remember, what happened today is a top secret of the lineage. If word gets out, you know the consequences."
Dai Xiu swept his gaze over the three of them as he spoke in a low voice.
"Yes!" the three answered in unison.
Dai Xiu went straight to the Star Luo Imperial Palace. The lineage's strength alone would inevitably fall short if it tried to buy up Whale Rubber.
This was when they needed the power of the Star Luo Empire!
The secret would come out sooner or later, but they would keep it hidden for as long as they could.
During that time, they had to buy up as much Whale Rubber as possible.
Besides, if Dai Xiu remembered correctly, there was a piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue in the imperial treasury.
It would be perfect for helping Dai Tianfeng, the White Tiger Lineage's peerless prodigy, reach even greater heights.
Perhaps the first Soul Master in history with a thousand-year First Soul Ring would be born in the White Tiger Lineage.
Three days later, in a residence on the White Tiger Lineage's grounds.
Dai Xiu and Dai Mian stood before Dai Tianfeng, both wearing smiles they could barely conceal.
"Tianfeng, I've verified it. The Whale Rubber you mentioned really does work."
As he spoke, Dai Xiu took a piece of Whale Rubber from his Soul Tool.
The entire piece was a deep yellow.
"Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue!" Delight immediately lit up Dai Tianfeng's face.
Dai Tianfeng hadn't expected Dai Xiu to give him such a huge surprise!
This was Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue!
Even during the era of Peerless Tang Sect, it had been rare.
Even Huo the Great Cheat, whose luck defied the heavens, had only obtained a treasure like Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue by stumbling across an incredible bargain.
The middle-aged man who had tested the Whale Rubber earlier hurried forward. Crimson flames appeared in his palm, slowly heating the Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue.
The Whale Rubber softened in the flames, gradually melting into a blob of warm liquid that gave off a distinctive aroma.
As the hot, briny Whale Rubber entered his mouth, Dai Tianfeng felt a current of heat slide down his throat and into his stomach.
The soothing warmth gradually turned scorching, and waves of heat flowed through him without end.
This was Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue, a powerful tonic of the utmost yang and hardness to begin with.
If an ordinary adult man took it, it would have a powerful aphrodisiac effect.
Dai Tianfeng had eaten such a large piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue in one go, so the benefits to his body were naturally enormous.
But the side effects of excess yang Qi also began to appear.
Dai Tianfeng's body gradually turned red.
He swayed, looking as though he might collapse at any moment.
"So hot!"
Dai Mian hurriedly supported Dai Tianfeng, only to find that his body was frighteningly hot. "Patriarch, what's happening?"
"The side effects of the Whale Rubber must be setting in."
Dai Xiu also stepped forward, his brows tightly furrowed. "Damn it, I forgot this was Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue. Its medicinal effects can't be compared to Thousand-Year Whale Rubber at all!"
"Why not find him a pair of sisters?" Dai Mian suggested, struck by a sudden idea.
Now that the Whale Rubber's effects had set in, all he needed was a release.
But Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue was so potent that one certainly wouldn't be enough. A pair of sisters would be just right, guaranteed to cure the ailment as soon as the medicine was applied.
"Are you insane?"
"Tianfeng is only six."
Dai Xiu rolled his eyes irritably. "We can only use ice water to relieve it."
Getting a pair of sisters for a child so young.
What a fine father he was!
"I was just so worried I couldn't think straight."
Dai Mian scratched his head awkwardly, then fetched some ice water and poured it over Dai Tianfeng's burning body.
Hiss!
A great quantity of ice water instantly steamed into a cloud of white mist, and the vapor gradually enveloped the entire courtyard.
Yet Dai Tianfeng's body was still alarmingly hot.
"Still not working?"
Dai Xiu's frown deepened. He glanced at Dai Mian. "What are you standing there for? Hurry and find an ice-type or water-type Soul Master, the higher their cultivation the better!"
"Right... right!" Dai Mian finally came to his senses and rushed out.
Before long, an ice-type Soul Master at the Soul Saint level was brought over.
Under the gazes of two important figures, Dai Xiu and Dai Mian, the ice-type Soul Saint swallowed and hurriedly used all his Soul Power to cool Dai Tianfeng down.
Only then did Dai Tianfeng gradually calm down.
By the time the ice-type Soul Saint had exhausted his Soul Power, heat was rising from Dai Tianfeng again.
With no other choice, Dai Xiu had Dai Mian find someone else.
This time, Dai Mian found a water-type Soul Saint.
The two Soul Saints took turns cooling him down, and a full day and night passed like this.
At last, Dai Tianfeng slowly opened his eyes.
He stood up and was immediately filled with a sense of strength he had never felt before, as though his whole body had an inexhaustible supply of power.
Clearly, the Whale Rubber's effects were quite good.
Unlike Dai Tianfeng, the two Soul Saints had collapsed on the ground, both wearing the expressions of people who had narrowly escaped disaster.
They felt that if it had gone on any longer, they would surely have been worked to death.
"You may leave! I promise you won't be shorted a single coin of the reward I promised!" Dai Mian waved a hand.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" A flash of delight crossed the two Soul Saints' faces, and they hurriedly withdrew.
"Tianfeng, how do you feel?"
Only after the two had completely disappeared from sight did Dai Xiu turn to Dai Tianfeng and ask expectantly.
"I feel great!"
The corners of Dai Tianfeng's mouth lifted slightly. "I feel like I can try absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring!"
He had Wu Siduo's talent and had absorbed Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue. A Soul Ring around a thousand years old shouldn't be much of a problem!
"Excellent. Have you decided what kind of Soul Beast's Soul Ring you want to absorb?"
Dai Xiu was overjoyed to hear it.
"A top-tier Soul Beast with the light attribute," Dai Tianfeng said, voicing his thoughts.
Dai Mian was just about to say something, but a glare from Dai Xiu stopped him.
"All right, I'll have someone make the arrangements right away."
A thoughtful look flashed in Dai Xiu's eyes as he nodded.
Dai Tianfeng, on the other hand, was somewhat surprised by this.
He had thought he would have to explain himself!
He hadn't expected things to turn out this way.
That was fine too; it saved him a lot of talking!