Zhu Ziyang's worry turned out to be unnecessary. On the second day after his return, Zhu Changhe and the others also made it back to Anyang City.
He saw his father beaming with pride at the academy. After advancing to Soul Elder, Zhu Changhe had been appointed as Vice Dean of Anyang Academy by Hong Zhen.
To celebrate his advancement, Liang Ying prepared a feast at home. Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan were both brought home by her.
At the dining table, Zhu Changhe was boasting with satisfaction. His third soul ring came from a thousand-year Chi Ming Armored Beast, and the soul skill was a support-type—perfectly complementing his first and second soul skills, which were both offensive. Perhaps due to accumulated potential, Zhu Changhe's soul power had surged directly to rank 32.
He was overjoyed and even proudly showed off his thousand-year soul ring to Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan. His smug expression couldn't be more obvious.
However, when Zhu Ziyang revealed his second soul ring, Zhu Changhe was stunned—almost questioning reality.
Liang Ying, while excited, was mostly upset over Zhu Ziyang's risky behavior. Only after he solemnly promised not to do it again did she spare his ears a round of scolding.
That night, Zhu Ziyang consumed the Minghuang Fruit. The medicinal effect was excellent.
His soul power rose to rank 23.
——
The next day.
Zhu Ziyang followed Zhu Changhe to Dragon City.
Dragon City, the main city of the northern province under the Heaven Soul Empire, was the largest soul tool materials market in the continent's north. Anyang City was one of Dragon City's subordinate cities. Every year, City Lord Hong Zhen had to report to the Duke of Blue Lightning, the lord of Dragon City.
The reason Zhu Changhe and Zhu Ziyang visited was to sell the Chi Guang Mantis forelimbs that Zhu Ziyang had collected.
Zhu Changhe, familiar with the terrain, took them straight to the soul tool materials market without hesitation and approached a large stall. It was clear he'd done business there before. Zhu Ziyang noticed the stall's sign bore the image of a black Tyrannosaurus head.
Earth Dragon Sect!
Zhu Ziyang immediately recognized the background of the stall—it belonged to Earth Dragon Sect.
Earth Dragon Sect was one of Dragon City's two major forces. All its soul masters possessed Earth Dragon martial spirits, hence the name. Since their martial spirits were all sub-dragon types, Earth Dragon Sect was considered a powerhouse even within the Heaven Soul Empire. With Zhu Ziyang's Ice Armored Dragon martial spirit, if he were to join Earth Dragon Sect, he would definitely be given priority training. Unfortunately, he had no interest in that.
In contrast to Earth Dragon Sect, the other major force in Dragon City was Tian Long Sect. The soul masters of Tian Long Sect all possessed Heavenly Dragon-type martial spirits. Their strength surpassed that of Earth Dragon Sect because true dragons were inherently superior to sub-dragons—not just in spirit strength but also due to bloodline suppression, which worked just like with soul beasts.
Legend had it that Tian Long Sect was once the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, one of the top three sects from ten thousand years ago. Their core disciples had possessed Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial spirits. Mu En, the Dragon God Douluo who reigned supreme a century ago, was rumored to have had a mutated Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon spirit.
The lord of Dragon City was also the head of Tian Long Sect. When the Heaven Dou Empire split, the ancestors of Tian Long Sect contributed greatly to the founding of the Heaven Soul Empire and were rewarded with the title Duke of Blue Lightning, responsible for guarding the empire's northern frontier.
Earth Dragon Sect and Tian Long Sect shared a long history. It was said that Earth Dragon Sect had originally been a subordinate sect of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Later, they moved to Dragon City with Tian Long Sect's founders and eventually broke away for various reasons. The fact that Tian Long Sect allowed Earth Dragon Sect to operate in Dragon City suggested that they had been in the wrong during the split.
"Yo! Changhe, it's been a while! What've you been up to lately?" The stall owner greeted Zhu Changhe warmly upon seeing him.
"Things have been peaceful, so I haven't been around much," Zhu Changhe replied with a smile, clearly in a good mood.
"Well, that's great!" The stall owner grinned. Then he looked toward Zhu Ziyang and said, "Is this Ziyang? He's grown so much!"
"That's right! Ziyang, this is your Uncle Liang Yu," Zhu Changhe introduced proudly.
"Uncle Liang Yu!" Zhu Ziyang was a bit surprised but didn't show it. The stall owner's surname was Liang, clearly a relative from his mother's side. His mother had never mentioned having connections with Earth Dragon Sect before.
"Aye! Good boy! You really take after your mother," Liang Yu said with admiration. Then he turned to Zhu Changhe, asking, "So, what goodies did you bring me this time?"
"Chi Guang Mantis forelimbs!" Zhu Changhe chuckled and then pulled out ten massive mantis forelimbs from his storage soul tool. Their appearance immediately drew attention from nearby onlookers, who stared in astonishment.
Liang Yu was no exception. His eyes widened. "Holy—Changhe, did you raid a mantis nest? That's a lot of mantis legs! And if I'm not mistaken, these are all from thousand-year Chi Guang Mantises, right?"
"Doesn't matter whether I raided them or not. Just tell me how much they're worth," Zhu Changhe said with a grin.
"A thousand-year Chi Guang Mantis forelimb typically goes for 500 to 550 gold soul coins. These are well-preserved, rich in elemental energy, and since we're old friends, I'll give you 550 apiece," Liang Yu offered after examining them and using a special tool to verify their quality.
"Deal." Zhu Changhe accepted happily.
Zhu Ziyang was also quite pleased with the price. At 550 gold coins apiece, it was clearly a premium offer.
Just like that, the ten forelimbs earned the Zhu family a total of 5,500 gold soul coins.
Currently, all nations on the continent used a unified currency system: copper soul coins, silver soul coins, and gold soul coins. Copper and silver coins were used mostly by common folk, while gold soul coins were the hard currency of soul masters.
The exchange rate was 1 gold = 10 silver = 1,000 copper soul coins.
For example, a kilogram of ordinary rice cost 50 to 100 copper coins. A three-person household would consume about 25 kilograms a month, meaning a maximum expense of 25 silver soul coins, or 2.5 gold soul coins. So, to an ordinary person, 5,500 gold soul coins would be an enormous fortune.
However, for a soul master family, 5,500 gold soul coins weren't quite as significant.
After delivering the goods and collecting the payment, Zhu Changhe and Zhu Ziyang went shopping for supplies and then returned to Anyang City.
On the way back, Zhu Ziyang was given 200 gold soul coins as hush money—because Zhu Changhe had secretly kept 300 for himself as private funds. The remaining 5,000 gold soul coins were to be handed over to Liang Ying.
Watching his father sneakily stashing his share, Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but laugh.
(End of Chapter)
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