"How much did he sell this pair of immortal goose ornaments to you?"
"Five hundred and twenty soul coins. Why, is there a problem?"
"This is at most a first-level soul tool. Mingdu's soul tool sales regulations strictly stipulate that soul tools below the second level are forbidden from being sold on the market for more than thirty gold soul coins. This is more than twenty times the limit and constitutes a serious violation of Mingdu's soul tool trade law. Arrest him."
Ju Zi waved her hand, and several soul engineers behind her immediately seized the shop owner.
"Wait!"
At this moment, Su Qingfeng spoke up. The shop owner looked at him as if he were a savior.
Su Qingfeng slowly stepped forward, took out thirty gold soul coins, handed them to the shop owner, and said calmly, "Reform yourself properly."
Only then did he take the pair of hair ornaments and place them into Gu Yuena's hand.
The shop owner wore a bitter expression: All that anticipation for nothing. I thought some rich young master was going to show mercy and help me out!
But Gu Yuena's cold expression instantly bloomed into a smile, like a stunning flower opening in the depths of winter. She handed the female goose ornament to Su Qingfeng."Su Su, hurry and put it on for me!"
With a helpless look, Su Qingfeng clipped the female goose hair ornament into Gu Yuena's silver hair. The female goose was entirely blue-edged with gold and red hues, adding a touch of passion to her proud and noble temperament.
Gu Yuena also eagerly burrowed into Su Qingfeng's arms and clipped the red-edged, gold-and-blue goose hair chain into Su Qingfeng's hair. The chain hung down beside his ear, adding an exotic beauty.
Watching this loving couple, Ju Zi felt a trace of envy in her eyes. When would she ever be able to have such pure love?
Su Qingfeng, where exactly are you?
Across heaven and earth, where am I supposed to find you?
Ju Zi sighed deeply in her heart.
Su Qingfeng: Envious? This love was exchanged for the first half of my life's effort and forbidden fluids.
"Thank you."
Su Qingfeng felt that this girl, who looked like a friendly older sister yet could mobilize several fifth- or sixth-level royal soul engineers, seemed somewhat familiar—but he did not think too deeply about it.
Ju Zi glanced lightly at Su Qingfeng and Gu Yuena, and was instantly startled by Gu Yuena's beauty. If it were in the past, she would have been utterly amazed. However, after having seen the image of that young man in Ye Xishui's memories, she was not as stirred.
Instead, it was this boy—coming out to play with his girlfriend, yet still wearing a mask.
As a student of Sun Moon Royal Academy and a capable soul engineer herself, Ju Zi noticed that the mask was actually a soul tool. Moreover, with her strength, she could not tell its grade at a glance, which meant it was at least a fifth-level soul tool.
These two were probably not simple in background. This girl was likely a soul master prodigy, and the boy's soul tool level would not be low either.
"You're from out of town, right? Our Sun Moon Empire is the birthplace of soul tools, and Mingdu is the imperial capital. We have very strict standards for soul tool sales. We have zero tolerance for profiteering merchants like this. I hope you enjoy your time in Mingdu."
Ju Zi smiled slightly at Gu Yuena.
Only then did Gu Yuena develop a bit of goodwill toward Ju Zi. It seemed that humans still had some people with kindness in their hearts.
"Ju Zi, why did you call me over?"
At this moment, from the other side of the street, a middle-aged man slowly walked over. This person was Ju Zi's teacher—Xuan Ziwen, an eighth-rank peak soul engineer of Sun Moon Royal Academy, eccentric in temperament and obsessed with soul tool research.
Seeing Xuan Ziwen arrive, Ju Zi did not continue talking with Su Qingfeng and the others. She hurried forward and said:
"Teacher, I really had no choice but to ask you to come this time. Other than you, I'm afraid no one else can do this."
Ju Zi said in a low voice, using a soul tool to isolate sound:
"Teacher, I must trouble you to personally take action this time. You once told me that you had seen Su Qingfeng with your own eyes. This time, I need you to craft a statue in Su Qingfeng's likeness."
Xuan Ziwen frowned and immediately turned to leave. "I won't carve it."
"Why? Teacher, you're one of the best soul tool masters there is."
Ju Zi said anxiously.
"Leaving aside whether I can carve that peerless bearing, do you think the academy knows nothing about what's going on in the palace? Xu Tianran has already killed dozens of painters and wax sculptors, venting his anger on innocents. How tyrannical is that?"
"Ju Zi, your soul tool talent is fairly good, and you cultivate diligently. Let me advise you—although Xu Tianran has shown you kindness, over the years you've done plenty for him, taken blades for him as well. You've more or less repaid that debt."
"Xu Tianran, as the crown prince, harbors wolfish ambitions. He does not put the empire's stability first, caring only for his imperial dream. He is extremely violent and lacks the bearing of a gentleman. If you continue to stay by his side, there will be no good ending. When the time comes, you'll only become his sacrificial pawn."
Xuan Ziwen snorted coldly, not looking at Ju Zi. He appeared indignant and turned his gaze toward the surrounding crowd to divert his attention.
His line of sight just happened to sweep over Su Qingfeng and Gu Yuena.
This immediately surprised him greatly. Around that girl seemed to linger a hazy, indistinct mist. When he looked more closely, it vanished again.
The boy beside her was no ordinary figure either. Although there was no powerful aura about him, he was extremely stable and peaceful. And the mask on his face was actually a sixth- or seventh-level soul tool!
Most importantly, the material of the mask was extremely peculiar. Even Xuan Ziwen could not tell what material it was made from. This meant it was a material he himself had never used before!
As a soul-tool fanatic, Xuan Ziwen unconsciously followed behind Su Qingfeng and Gu Yuena.
At this moment, Su Qingfeng was panicking internally:
So this girl is Ju Zi? She does look quite similar to how I remember—also a pitiful person. She loyally helped Xu Tianran, only to be noticed by him and made crown princess. He wanted to use her womb to produce an imperial heir, but in the end borrowed Huo Yuhao's child, giving birth to Xu Yunhan.
And this Xuan Ziwen—if I remember correctly, back then at the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters in the Evil Demon Forest, he also participated in that battle. He's seen me before. Won't he recognize me?
Go, hurry up and go!
Although Su Qingfeng's spiritual power had been greatly consumed by Gu Yuena, its quality was still there. The fourth-level soundproofing soul tool Ju Zi used could not block his hearing at all.
So they're all looking for me now!
And they even want to erect a statue of me?
That's terrifying!
"Young friend, young friend, please stop for a moment."
Xuan Ziwen ran to the front of Su Qingfeng, his gaze blazing as he stared at the mask on Su Qingfeng's face and asked:
"Young friend, may I presumptuously ask—are you willing to sell the mask you're wearing?"
Ju Zi brought several soul engineers over as well. Hearing that her teacher actually wanted to buy this young man's mask, she was rather surprised.
Her teacher's standards were extremely high. Only very rare soul tools, or those crafted with superb and exquisite techniques, could catch his eye.
Su Qingfeng shook his head and said coldly, "Not for sale."
"I'm willing to offer ten million gold soul coins."
Xuan Ziwen stated the number, shocking even Ju Zi.
Only Gu Yuena blinked and quietly asked Su Qingfeng, "What does ten million gold soul coins amount to? How many candied hawthorns and skewers can it buy?"
Su Qingfeng replied, "Probably more than you could eat in a lifetime."
Gold soul coins—ten million gold soul coins. Not silver soul coins, and certainly not copper soul coins.
"Teacher… ten million gold soul coins could buy a very good soul bone. Buying a mask for that price—isn't that too crazy?"
"Still not for sale."
Su Qingfeng shook his head. Although ten million gold soul coins was tempting enough to let an ordinary civilian instantly become the richest person in a normal city,
soul coins meant nothing to him. And this mask was extremely important—it could freely change appearance and conceal his looks.
"Fifteen million gold soul coins!"
Su Qingfeng shook his head.
"Twenty million!"
Xuan Ziwen gritted his teeth.
Su Qingfeng still shook his head.
"You don't need to keep bidding. No matter how much you offer, I will not sell this mask."
"One hundred million!"
............................
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