No matter which world you're in, there will always be things that remain buried and overlooked—the Douluo Continent was no exception.
Just like the ten-thousand-year whale fat currently lying in Lin Yun's storage soul tool, its shabby appearance concealed its true brilliance. Aside from a select few, the world would be fooled by its dust-covered exterior.
Staring at the unremarkable stone before him, Lin Yun's expression was complicated.
The stone was about the size of Lin Yun's fist, roughly round in shape, with a pitted and uneven surface. The only hint of its extraordinary nature was the strange, intermittent fluctuations it emitted.
Of course, even this faint, eerie ripple wasn't something just anyone could detect.
The Treasure Pavilion's description of it was: Incredibly hard—even the power of a Soul Sage couldn't damage it. Placing it nearby can gather the surrounding heaven and earth energy, increasing the cultivation speed of soul masters below the Soul Sage level by ten percent.
Valuable, but not that valuable.
A ten percent increase in cultivation speed was significant, but Shrek Academy already had the Golden Tree—the source of life on the Douluo Continent—so the stone's energy-gathering effect was practically negligible here.
For other soul masters, however, it was indeed a rare treasure. At first glance, a ten percent boost might not seem like much, but in the long run, cultivating for ten years would save a full year's worth of time—a considerable enhancement.
Thus, its price was set at: 500,000 gold soul coins.
Comparable to some lower-quality soul bones.
"To think I'd actually encounter this here. Compared to me, Huo Yuhao's luck seems a bit lacking," Lin Yun mused silently. After staring at the stone for a few seconds, he turned and bought it without hesitation.
He wasn't as wealthy as Ning Tian, but he still had tens of millions in gold soul coins—wealth accumulated over countless years from the countless soul masters who had perished in the Star Dou Great Forest, their riches forever left behind.
Since Di Tian and the others had no use for it, Lin Yun had taken a portion as living expenses for his time in the human world.
Top floor of the Treasure Pavilion.
An elderly woman dressed in simple clothing frowned in contemplation, her expression a mix of confusion and hesitation.
"He actually bought that stone? Could there be some hidden secret within it that even our Shrek Academy is unaware of?" Her expression shifted, but she soon shook her head.
"No, that stone was personally examined by Xuan Zi. He confirmed there was nothing special about it. Maybe Lin Yun bought it simply because of his ultimate attribute, hoping to use it to boost his cultivation speed?"
Lin Huiqun quickly settled on her own conclusion.
Indeed, the old woman was none other than Lin Huiqun, the person in charge of the Treasure Pavilion and a member of the Sea God Pavilion.
From the moment Lin Yun stepped into the Treasure Pavilion, Lin Huiqun had been secretly observing him. After all, he was currently Shrek Academy's only possessor of an ultimate attribute, and his name was well-known throughout the Sea God Pavilion.
Because ultimate attributes were that rare!
In Shrek Academy's ten-thousand-year history, the number of soul masters with ultimate attributes could be counted on one hand. Four thousand years ago, one such soul master had led the three nations of Douluo to defeat the ambitious Sun Moon Empire, stripping the Sun Moon Continent of its right to be called a continent on par with Douluo.
That victory had cemented Shrek Academy's status as the supreme holy land for soul masters on the Douluo Continent.
Now, another ultimate attribute soul master had appeared—and not just any ultimate attribute, but the domineering Ultimate Strength, with the Golden Dragon, the progenitor of power, as his martial soul. How could the old fogies of Shrek not be itching to recruit him?
"He was a Soul Elder when he enrolled, right? He must be feeling the difficulty of cultivating an ultimate attribute, so he's trying to use that stone to speed things up," Lin Huiqun mused, her expression profound.
"It's useless, child. Shrek is your ultimate destination. The sooner you test into the inner academy, the sooner you'll enjoy the benefits of the Golden Tree. Only then will you stop fixating on external aids."
"Only Shrek is your true home!"
And so, another old fogey set their sights on Lin Yun. +1.
The only regret Lin Huiqun had was that Lin Yun hadn't gone to evaluate his credit limit—otherwise, she could've openly showered him with benefits to win him over.
But let's be real: Lin Huiqun had been utterly screwed over by Xuan Zi this time.
Had this stone been examined by Mu En—who possessed a similar item—even if he couldn't discern its exact origins, he would've at least recognized its extraordinary nature.
But Xuan Zi?
What the hell does he know?!
An unimaginable treasure had been left in the Treasure Pavilion, priced at a measly 500,000 gold soul coins—an outright insult to its true value—only to end up in Lin Yun's hands.
If Five-Star General Lin Yun were to learn of Xuan Zi's actions, he wouldn't be able to resist commenting:
"Truly the double agent of the Sun Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Cult! The legendary Supreme Elder above Kong Deming, the Supreme Elder above Long Xiaoyao, the true reason Ye Xishui rejected both Mu En and Long Xiaoyao, the spiritual pillar of evil soul masters!"
"A man whose heart will never rest until Shrek is destroyed!"
Xuan Zi's undercover infiltration of Shrek, enduring such humiliation, must not go unrewarded—lest the hero shed tears. (😂)
But let's leave that aside for now.
This trip to the Treasure Pavilion really was just Lin Yun picking up hidden treasures while Xiao Xiao and Ning Tian accompanied him. The two girls bought nothing at all, and Wu Feng might as well have been a restless spirit bound to Ning Tian's side.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Still, after browsing around, there weren't any other hidden gems to be found. After all, Shrek wasn't completely full of idiots—they had a general idea of the value of the items they put up for sale. There weren't that many overlooked treasures lying around for Lin Yun to scoop up.
As for soul bones and soul tools? They weren't interested.
So after wandering around a bit more with the girls, Lin Yun's group met up with the equally empty-handed Huo Yuhao and left the Treasure Pavilion, returning to Shrek Academy.
All in all, this outing had been fruitful. That "stone" alone made the trip worth it—the returns far outweighed the effort.
Back at Shrek, Lin Yun had initially planned to help Xiao Xiao absorb the whale fat immediately. But considering the dress she was wearing tonight, he dismissed the idea. In the original story, Huo Yuhao had made quite a mess of himself during the absorption process. He'd find another opportunity to help Xiao Xiao later.
Having already absorbed the Fire Dragon King's soul bone and gained the Ultimate Fire attribute, Lin Yun could easily melt the whale fat himself—no outside help needed.
"See you tomorrow, Yun-ge~" Xiao Xiao stood on her tiptoes, giving Lin Yun a deep kiss before blushing and darting upstairs.
"...See you tomorrow." Lightly touching his lips, where her lingering fragrance remained, Lin Yun smiled and stepped into his room.
Today had truly been a day of abundant gains.
(End of Chapter)
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