Chapter 44: Soto City... Flender's Little Shop

Hu Liena wiped away her tears, slowly loosening her tight embrace around Xusheng. Putting on a forced smile, she said, "Xusheng, no matter how long you are gone, we will always be the Spirit Hall's Golden Generation."

A trace of indulgence flickered in Xusheng's eyes as he gently stroked her hair. "Mm, wait for my return. I hope that when we meet again in a few years, your soul power will have advanced even further."

Though he kept his emotions hidden on the surface, his three years in Spirit Hall had been deeply fulfilling...

Xusheng was well aware of Hu Liena's feelings for him, but his own heart had not yet reached that point regarding her...

For now, they were still much closer to being intimate teammates.

Yan stood nearby with his hands on his hips, sourly chiming in, "Hey, hey, Xusheng, throughout these three years of training together, we never even knew what rank your soul power was. Now that you're leaving, surely you aren't planning to keep it a secret?"

Three years ago, he had regarded Xusheng as a rival in love, but ever since realizing that Hu Liena had no such intentions toward him, he had gradually let go of those feelings.

Nearby, Xie Yue watched the scene with cold detachment. Hu Liena had never once shown such an attitude toward him, her own biological brother.

He let out a silent sigh. "Xusheng has unwittingly stolen away my little sister..."

He hardly knew whether to be glad that his sister had found someone she truly loved, or to grieve that the sister who had been by his side for so many years had just been snatched away like that...

"Yan, if you want to know my soul power rank, then work harder to improve yourself. As you are now, you aren't worthy," Xusheng calmly dropped these words...

Yan's expression instantly soured as he retorted with utter disdain, "Hmph, what's with the attitude? If you won't tell, don't tell. Who cares anyway?"

Even if Xusheng's soul power was higher than the three of theirs, just how much higher could it possibly be?

Did he really think his arrogant tone made him a powerhouse on the level of a Titled Douluo?

...

After leaving the Spirit City, Xusheng headed rapidly north. It took him nearly a full day to reach the Barak Kingdom...

Xusheng came to a halt on the street. At this moment, he was draped in the black cloak gifted by Hu Liena, and a hat pulled down over his head completely concealed his face...

He slowly raised a hand to push the brim of his hat upward, his cold gaze sweeping across the bustling, moderately prosperous street...

In a flat tone, he murmured, "So this is Soto City? It actually looks quite nice!"

In truth, deep down, he still felt a sliver of gratitude toward Hu Liena...

Fortunately, she had given him these two items. While they might look a bit shabby, they truly spared him a mountain of unnecessary trouble...

This was simply because, during his long journey toward the Barak Kingdom, Xusheng had failed to conceal his appearance, which—combined with his otherworldly, transcendent aura—made him stick out like a sore thumb amidst any crowd...

It had resulted in a constant stream of married women and beauties coming over to flirt with him...

Having learned his lesson, he had put on the two "treasures" given by Hu Liena and successfully arrived here...

Yet the very next moment, as Xusheng looked around, his gaze gradually locked onto a shop that resembled an antique dealer's. He narrowed his eyes. "Hmm? This shop..."

Lowering his hat once more, he walked up to the storefront, looked up at the calligraphically styled sign, pushed open the door, and stepped inside...

...

Before Xusheng even had a chance to observe his surroundings upon entering, he sensed an ancient and elegant atmosphere permeating the entire shop...

His gaze shifted slightly forward to see a wooden rocking chair placed ahead. A bearded middle-aged man wearing silver-rimmed glasses was leisurely staring at a magazine...

From the moment Xusheng stepped into the shop, the man hadn't even spared him a single glance...

Xusheng thought to himself, *As expected, no wonder this shop matches the description in my memories.*

The owner of this establishment was none other than the Dean of Shrek Academy, Flander...

A flash of white light suddenly reflected off Flander's glasses, and then he said in an indifferent tone, "If you want something, look for it yourself. If not, get out. Just don't disturb me!"

Xusheng pressed his lips together without replying, instead beginning to pace and closely examine the objects displayed around the room...

He reached out to touch a bronze utensil resting on the floor; its cool texture made him reluctant to pull his hand away...

Continuing straight ahead, he arrived in front of a shelf, his curiosity piqued by a simple, unadorned ring placed upon it...

Xusheng silently picked it up to toy with it, examining it closely. Its exterior was made of silver, gleaming with a faint luster, while a rhombus-shaped blood-red gemstone was embedded at its center. It looked exceptionally gorgeous, though perhaps due to a layer of dust, it appeared completely inconspicuous...

Xusheng shook his head, the interest in his heart mostly fading away...

"This ring doesn't look particularly special either. It probably just looks prettier after being washed clean."

Just as Xusheng turned his body, about to go inspect other trinkets, a violent buzzing sound suddenly echoed in his mind...

It was as if something was urgently calling out to him...

Xusheng cast a cold, sweeping glance around, but detected nothing out of the ordinary...

When he took another step forward, that intense trembling sound rang out in his mind once again, and this time, it was far more violent than before...

Perplexed, he cast his gaze toward Flander, who was lounging in the rocking chair, and said calmly, "Boss, did you hear any vibrating sound just now?"

Who would have thought that Flander, lounging in his rocking chair with one leg crossed over the other, would push his glasses up with his middle finger, cast an impatient and annoyed glance at Xusheng, and snap, "It's quiet as a grave in here, there wasn't any sound..."

With that, he promptly redirected his gaze back to his magazine...

He had been sitting so close, yet he apparently hadn't heard a single trace of the vibration Xusheng mentioned...

Xusheng silently shook his head, thinking to himself, *Could it be that I'm hearing things?*

Yet, that intense vibrating sound from just a moment ago...

Wait!

Xusheng took a step backward, returning to his previous spot, and fixed a hard stare on the ring inlaid with the rhombus-shaped blood-red gemstone...

The vibrating sound had only started after he touched this ring. Could it be...

To test his hypothesis, Xusheng took a deep breath, kept his eyes locked on the ring, and took a step forward...

Before his foot had even fully touched the ground, the ring in Xusheng's sight began to tremble frantically, and the buzzing sound inside his head resumed incessantly...

Xusheng snatched up the ring, stared at its utterly ordinary appearance, and muttered to himself, "Is it this ring? It doesn't seem simple at all. I might as well buy it and keep it."

Recalling the original storyline, he remembered that Tang Shisan had taken a massive piece of yellow crystal from this very same Flander's shop, which he seemed to have used to craft a hidden weapon called the Dragon-Whisker Needle...

Its penetrating power was so formidable that it could apparently pierce through Zhao Wuji's defense...

After a few minutes of searching, a heavy, expensive-looking piece of yellow crystal came into view before Xusheng...

Xusheng tapped the unusually hard crystal, feeling quite astonished inwardly. "Is this the thing?"

He picked up both the crystalline essence and the blood-red ring, placing them onto the counter used for transactions...

Fixing his devoid-of-emotion gaze upon Flander, Xusheng said flatly, "Boss, how many gold soul coins for these in total? I'll take them both."

Flander merely cast a surprised look at Xusheng. Taking in his bizarre attire—which didn't even reveal his face—and noting that he was buying two items he himself considered utterly worthless, Flander narrowed his eyes slightly...

Deep down, he began to ponder Xusheng's identity...

"That crystal is five hundred gold soul coins, and the ring is three hundred..."

Since that was the case, he would let himself see whether this fellow truly had any genuine need for these items...

The prices Flander casually quoted for the two items were a full five times higher than those in the original story!