Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Shadow Soul Stone

Deng Mengqi could tell at once that, with Lin Yi being this stubborn, there was no way to settle the matter peacefully.

She gritted her teeth and said, “Brother Ye, I’m from the Deng family of Shan Province. I hope you can spare us this once for the Deng family’s sake.”

“The Deng family?” Tao Chengye gave a cold laugh. “What kind of great clan is that? I’ve never even heard of it.”

Deng Mengqi felt a little helpless. The Deng family was only a third-rate minor clan, the sort of family that existed in countless numbers across all of Shan Province.

As for Tao Chengye, though he fought in underground boxing matches, he was connected to many powers and had a web of contacts so wide it could rival most second-rate families.

“Brat, if I don’t break all four of your legs today, I’ll take your surname.”

With that, Tao Chengye threw a punch straight at Lin Yi.

The force behind it was so fierce that even a sheet of steel might have been left with a clear fist imprint.

Lin Yi’s expression did not change. He simply reached out and caught Tao Chengye’s fist in his palm.

Tao Chengye’s face changed. That punch had carried at least two hundred pounds of force; he had the confidence to send even a fat man flying with it.

And yet it had been caught so easily. Looking at Lin Yi now, he could tell at once that the young man had barely exerted himself.

He had misjudged him.

In an instant, Tao Chengye understood that Lin Yi was not some simple fool at all, but a true expert.

That realization did not frighten him. Instead, it stirred the savage blood in his veins.

With a jolt of his arm, Tao Chengye tore free of Lin Yi’s grip and drove both fists down like hammers toward Lin Yi’s temples.

He was incredibly fast. If an ordinary person were struck head-on by those blows, even if they did not die, they would likely end up a vegetative wreck.

Lin Yi’s eyes turned cold. He grabbed Tao Chengye by the head and slammed him downward with force.

That single motion caused Tao Chengye’s fists to drop as well, striking Lin Yi on both sides of the chest, yet they did him no harm whatsoever.

Instead, Tao Chengye’s own fists throbbed painfully, as if he had slammed them into steel plate.

But Lin Yi still did not let him off. At the same time, his right knee came up.

With a dull bang, Tao Chengye’s face met Lin Yi’s knee head-on, a sight so brutal it made everyone’s scalp tingle.

The pain made Tao Chengye scream once, then he immediately blacked out.

Lin Yi let go and dropped him.

Only then did the crowd notice that the underground boxing king’s nose had been completely smashed flat, his face covered in blood. The sight was terrifying.

At that moment, everyone nearby felt a chill in their hearts.

No one had expected that this thin, seemingly frail young man could be so ruthless.

Deng Mengqi and Pei Wanting were especially stunned. They both felt that they needed to get to know Lin Yi all over again.

“That...,” Deng Mengqi said, breaking the silence after a brief daze.

“Hm?” Lin Yi turned to look at her.

“It’s nothing.” Deng Mengqi hurriedly shook her head, then secretly studied him again, looking like she wanted to say more but did not know how.

Pei Wanting, standing beside her, let out a long breath and said in a low voice, “Lin Yi, you’ve really caused trouble this time.”

“How so?” Lin Yi asked.

“Tao Chengye himself isn’t the problem. The real issue is the network of powers behind him. You should get off the plane as soon as possible and wait until this dies down,” Pei Wanting advised kindly.

Lin Yi said calmly, “No matter. I’d like to see which family in Shan Province dares to stand against me.”

“You...”

Pei Wanting was at a loss for words.

Wasn’t Lin Yi bragging a little too much? The way he said it made it sound as though the entire Shan Province belonged to him.

There were so many first-rate families in Shan Province, and so many martial artists. None of them could be compared to Tao Chengye.

Forget it. Why bother with this brat?

Pei Wanting put the matter out of her mind, glanced at Tao Chengye on the floor, and kindly called an ambulance.

Not long after, two security guards in white shirts came over.

“Sir, hello. Please come with us for a moment,” one of them said.

There was no trace of panic on Lin Yi’s face. He said, “Let me make a phone call first.”

The two guards exchanged a look and said nothing more.

Lin Yi called Wu Da. This was no longer something Anqier alone could handle, so he told Wu Da everything that had happened.

Wu Da repeatedly said there was no problem. Before long, the guards’ walkie-talkies crackled.

After listening, the two of them turned to Lin Yi and said, “Mr. Lin, we wish you a pleasant journey.”

After the guards left, Deng Mengqi asked in some surprise, “Lin Yi, what exactly are you? You seem pretty impressive.”

“Nothing much. I just happen to know the pilot here,” Lin Yi said without going into detail.

The two women did not ask further.

A few minutes later, the plane took off.

With Tao Chengye gone, Deng Mengqi regained her cheerful mood and kept finding topics to chat about.

More than two hours later, Lin Yi got off the plane. After saying goodbye to Deng Mengqi and Pei Wanting, he once again came to the underground market in Wuxi City.

After walking for a while, Lin Yi spotted an old acquaintance: the old man with the gold tooth who had sold him the ring last time.

Lin Yi walked over. The old man was smiling broadly, but when he recognized Lin Yi’s face, his expression instantly turned a little pale.

He had not forgotten how fiercely Lin Yi had fought with Ling Tian last time, even kicking the man flying.

And he had swindled Lin Yi out of several hundred thousand yuan. If Lin Yi had come for revenge, his old bones probably would not withstand a single kick.

“Brother, last time it was the young princess of the Zhang family who tricked you. It had nothing to do with me,” the old man wailed, putting on a miserable face.

“I’m not here to trouble you,” Lin Yi said, amused.

“Really?” the old man asked, delighted.

Lin Yi did not bother explaining. His gaze fell on the old man’s stall.

At the lower right corner, he spotted a pitch-black stone.

“It’s actually a Nether Soul Stone,” Lin Yi thought to himself.

As its name suggested, the Nether Soul Stone was specifically useful against the soul.

A magical item refined from Nether Soul Stone could defend against attacks on the soul. Even wearing a raw piece of it could slowly strengthen one’s soul over time.

Unfortunately, Nether Soul Stone was quite rare. It usually formed only in places dense with yin and baleful energy.

Even martial artists who stayed too long in such places would go mad and lose their reason. In more serious cases, their vitality and blood essence would be depleted, damaging their foundation.

Lin Yi pointed at the stone and asked, “How much for this?”

“Ten thousand?” the old man asked cautiously. In truth, he had picked up the stone from the countryside and used it to weigh down the edge of his cloth.

Who would have thought that anyone would actually want this thing?

Lin Yi nodded immediately. “No problem.”

Compared with the true value of a Nether Soul Stone, ten thousand was practically free.

Lin Yi’s straightforwardness made the old man regretful. If only he had asked for more.

That was how people were: greed always came first.

Lin Yi picked up the Nether Soul Stone. It felt slightly cold in his hand, and if one sensed carefully, one could feel faint streams of power flowing from it, nourishing the soul.

Still, the effect was not very obvious. Even after ten years, it might only strengthen the soul to the width of a single hair.

But that did not matter. Once Lin Yi refined it into a magical artifact, its effect would increase greatly.

“This old man seems to bring some good fortune. I should come here more often.”

Lin Yi thought to himself. On both occasions that he had come to this old man’s stall, he had found good things.

What a pity the old man did not recognize treasure, otherwise he would not have sold these treasures so cheaply.

“Where did you get this stone?” Lin Yi asked after putting the Nether Soul Stone away.

“Young man, is this stone some kind of treasure?” The old man rolled his eyes and asked curiously.

“It is indeed a treasure,” Lin Yi said with a nod.

The old man felt even more distressed. He swore that if he ever found anything again, he would be sure to inspect it carefully.

“Young man, I picked this stone up in the village,” the old man said without hiding anything.

“I see. If you find any more stones like this, I’ll take all of them. One stone for one hundred thousand,” Lin Yi said generously.

The old man’s eyes widened immediately.

My heavens, this rich kid really knows how to play. The price had gone up tenfold in one breath.

“Not enough?” Lin Yi asked.

“Enough, enough.” The old man’s eyes shone.

After leaving the old man’s stall, Lin Yi wandered around some more. Before he knew it, he had come to the Hall of Salvation.

The women in qipaos in the main hall remembered Lin Yi very clearly. Last time, he had spent tens of millions in a single transaction.

“Sir,” said a petite woman in a qipao. The tag on her chest read Zhi Tong.

“Yes. Do you have any medicinal herbs over a hundred years old here?” Lin Yi asked directly.

“Yes, we do,” Zhi Tong said happily.

The qipao-clad beauty who had served Lin Yi last time had already been transferred to the large Shan Province branch.

“Bring them all out and let me take a look,” Lin Yi said.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhi Tong quickly took several wooden boxes that had already been wrapped from the counter.

Lin Yi opened the boxes. Inside each one was only a single spiritual herb, and they were merely ten-year crimson ginseng roots, which did not interest him much.

Still, he did not refuse them. After all, he now had two more spirit beasts that consumed Blood Qi Pills.

“Wrap them all up,” Lin Yi said generously.

“Yes, sir.” Zhi Tong cheerfully wrapped up all the medicinal herbs.

Just then, a middle-aged man walked in. He looked extremely slovenly, with a beard that had clearly not been trimmed in ages, nearly an inch long.

His clothes were equally dirty and messy. He looked almost like a beggar.

“Sir, how can I help you?” The Hall of Salvation had rather good service and did not judge people by appearances.

“I... I want to sell something,” the man said, glancing around nervously as though afraid someone might snatch his treasure away.

“If it’s medicinal herbs, we have a specialist appraiser here,” said a tall qipao-clad beauty.

“This is it.”

The man took a tiny ginseng rootlet from his chest. It was only about an inch long, a very thin strand.

The tall beauty frowned. She had seen plenty of people selling medicinal ingredients, but this was the first time she had encountered someone trying to sell only a single ginseng fiber.

“Sir, you only have a single ginseng rootlet...?” she asked in confusion.

“Yes.” As he spoke, the man kept nervously glancing around.

The smile on the tall beauty’s face gradually faded. She began to suspect that he had come here deliberately to make a fool of her.

“I’m very sorry, sir. Our Hall of Salvation cannot buy a single ginseng rootlet,” the tall beauty said.

The man grew anxious. He stepped forward, frightening the tall beauty so much that she hurriedly backed up two paces.

Yet the man paid her no mind. Lowering his voice, he said, “My ginseng rootlet is different from the others. I’m telling you, it’s alive!”