Half an hour later.
Yang Xing stood in the main hall of a three-courtyard mansion in the center of Suotuo City, looking around.
Carved redwood pillars.
Silk curtains hung from the beams.
Thick animal skin rugs covered the floor.
On the long table directly opposite stood a jasper vase holding several unknown fragrant flowers, filling the room with a delicate scent.
It was better than his shabby hut…
by about ten thousand times.
Balak personally presented a golden Soul Coin Card to him with both hands.
“Your Eminence, this is a card with a limit of ten thousand Gold Spirit Coins.
It is accepted by all shops within Suotuo City.
If it proves insufficient later, simply inform the guard by your side, and he will fetch the corresponding amount of Gold Spirit Coins for you.”
Yang Xing took it and casually tucked it into his robe.
Ten thousand Gold Spirit Coins.
Converted to Copper Soul Coins, that was one hundred million.
His entire previous fortune had been ten Copper Soul Coins.
Yang Xing felt the corner of his mouth twitch, struggling to maintain an indifferent expression that said, “This small sum is beneath my notice.”
“In addition,” Balak clapped his hands.
The door curtains on both sides of the main hall were drawn aside.
A group of young women dressed in uniform light-colored gauze dresses filed in, lining up before Yang Xing and curtsying in unison.
Sixteen people.
Sixteen young women, all around seventeen or eighteen years old, with lovely faces and graceful figures.
“These are the most outstanding maids from Horn’s residence, arranged to attend to Your Eminence’s daily needs,” Balak said, bowing even lower.
“If Your Eminence is dissatisfied with any of them, Horn will replace them at any time.”
Yang Xing looked at the row of sixteen beautiful young maids before him.
He had originally thought of going out to explore Suotuo City’s night market after settling in, to experience the local customs of this otherworld.
Now he didn’t want to go.
Nor did he need to.
“Lord Balak,” Yang Xing turned his head, a genuinely sincere smile appearing on his face.
“You are a man who knows how to get things done.”
Upon hearing this, Balak’s entire face lit up with joy.
He bowed and retreated.
Only when the door closed behind him did the cold sweat on his back finally begin to flow.
The room fell quiet.
The sixteen young maids stood in a row with lowered eyes and submissive expressions, their gauze dresses shimmering softly in the candlelight.
The one at the front, with her hair tied in a low bun, looked up and spoke timidly, “Your Eminence, shall we prepare hot water for your bath?”
Yang Xing glanced at her.
She was around eighteen, with delicate features and a soft-spoken manner.
The others behind her were similar, each beautiful in her own way—some gentle, some bright, some charming.
Sixteen.
Yang Xing mentally gave the Suotuo City Lord’s competence a perfect score.
“Prepare it,” he said, his tone as calm as if he were asking for a glass of water.
A full ten years.
From age eight to eighteen, what kind of life had he lived in the Douluo Continent?
Seeking disciples, being rejected, rejected, rejected again, driven out of villages, driven out of cities, with only ten Copper Soul Coins to his name, living in a shabby hut even mice found cramped.
And now?
A grand mansion.
Ten thousand Gold Spirit Coins at his fingertips.
Sixteen beautiful young maids.
Life.
Next, Yang Xing led the sixteen maids directly into the bedroom, beginning a life of indulgence.
Meanwhile.
Three hundred li west of the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
The atmosphere in the sect master’s hall was as heavy as a layer of ice in winter.
Three master’s chairs were arranged in the main seat and on both sides.
The three people seated in them each had their own thoughts, yet all gazed toward the hall’s entrance.
Ning Fengzhi sat in the center.
His ink-purple shoulder-length hair fell neatly, his gaze as calm as still water, and his violet robe was impeccably pressed without a single wrinkle.
His fingers tapped rhythmically on the armrest, neither too fast nor too slow—a patience unique to waiting.
He was waiting for news of his daughter.
On the left, in a grand chair, Chen Xin sat with his eyes closed, clad in a snow-white robe.
His silver hair was neatly combed, his face as delicate as an infant’s, creating a bizarre contrast with his sharp, imposing aura.
He sat upright, like a sword sheathed in its scabbard—quiet yet keen.
The person seated in the chair on the right was far more exaggerated.
Gu Rong’s nearly two-and-a-half-meter-tall frame strained the gilded chair, causing it to creak.
His withered face, sunken eye sockets, and sparse white hair atop his head made him resemble a desiccated corpse dragged from a coffin.
His posture was utterly unrefined, leaning crookedly against the backrest, with his astonishingly long legs stretched far out.
None of the three spoke.
Hurried footsteps echoed from outside the hall.
“Report!”
A young Soul Master dressed in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s standard uniform hurried to the entrance of the hall, dropping to one knee with his forehead pressed to the ground.
Ning Fengzhi’s fingers stopped tapping.
“Rise and speak.”
The young Soul Master stood up, not daring to let his gaze wander.
The attention of three pairs of eyes fell upon him almost simultaneously—the pressure from two Titled Douluo and a seventy-ninth-level Soul Saint instantly drenched his back in sweat.
“Tell me about Rongrong’s enrollment situation,” Ning Fengzhi’s tone was gentle, even casual.
But everyone knew what lay beneath that casualness.
“Reporting to the Sect Leader,” the young Soul Master took a deep breath, “the young lady has successfully arrived in Suotuo City today and passed the enrollment examination of Shrek Academy.”
As these words landed.
The atmosphere in the hall eased.
Chen Xin’s closed eyelids lifted slightly before closing again.
Gu Rong’s slouched figure finally straightened a bit, his lips parting to reveal a rather unsightly set of teeth.
Ning Fengzhi’s gaze softened slightly, and his fingers resumed tapping the armrest, the rhythm now lighter than before.
“Hmm.”
He nodded and was about to say something. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
“However…”
The young Soul Master’s voice suddenly caught.
As if a bone were lodged in his throat.
The atmosphere that had just relaxed instantly froze again the moment the word “however” left his lips.
Ning Fengzhi’s fingers stopped.
Chen Xin’s eyes opened.
Gu Rong’s body creaked as he sat upright.
“However what?” Ning Fengzhi’s tone remained steady, but the furrow between his brows betrayed his concern.
“Has something else happened to Rongrong?”
The young Soul Master’s lips moved.
No sound came out.
“Bang!”
Gu Rong’s two-and-a-half-meter-tall frame shot up from his chair, his ferocious, unrestrained aura crashing toward the young Soul Master like a wall.
“Speak plainly!
What’s with the hesitation?”
Gu Rong’s voice, raspy like wind rustling through fallen leaves, echoed through the hall, filled with impatience and irritation.
“Do you know what happens when you make this old man worry about Rongrong?”
The young Soul Master’s knees weakened, nearly buckling again.
“Old Bones,” Chen Xin’s voice drifted from the side, light as a breeze.
He remained seated, unmoving, his silver hair gleaming coldly under the candlelight.
His tone was indifferent, as if discussing something utterly trivial.
“Mind your temper.
You’re frightening the junior.”
He lifted his eyelids slightly, casting a glance at Gu Rong.
There was a trace of faint superiority in that look.
Gu Rong turned and glared at him.
Chen Xin had already withdrawn his gaze, his eyes settling on the young Soul Master, his expression calm and unruffled.
“Since he came to report and said Rongrong has successfully enrolled, it can’t be anything serious,” Chen Xin’s tone was steady, his logic clear.
“If something truly serious had happened, he wouldn’t be acting like this.
It’s probably just that girl Rongrong being mischievous on the way, causing some commotion.”
He gave a slight nod to the young Soul Master.
“Speak with ease.
With us here, even if Rongrong turned the world upside down, what trouble couldn’t we settle?”
Ning Fengzhi also spoke up at the right moment, his tone returning to gentleness: “Don’t be afraid, go ahead.”
The young Soul Master swallowed hard.
Under the gaze of the three esteemed figures, his voice trembled slightly, but he mpanaged to force out the words.
“It’s…
it’s not that the young lady caused any trouble.”
He paused.
“It’s that after entering Suotuo City, the young lady…
took a master.”