In the living room, the members of the Min Clan present were all elderly clan elders.
At this moment, their expressions varied, but they all silently turned their gaze toward Clan Leader Bai He.
The younger generation of clan members was hiding outside the door, eavesdropping on the conversation.
If the elder generation of clan leaders looked at Bai He with a mixture of confusion, questioning, and uncertainty, there was also a sense of trust and support in their eyes.
On the other hand, the younger clan members, especially those who had experienced the turmoil seven years ago, no longer regarded Bai He with the same respect as they once did.
They had learned that Bai He possessed a valuable treasure, yet he chose to let his clan live in such poverty rather than sell it to improve their lives.
While refusing to take the soul master subsidies from the Spirit Hall could be seen as rejecting the enemy's charity, the fact that he refused to part with the treasure that could bring his people a better life made him seem selfish in the eyes of the younger generation.
Among the younger clan members, a girl around five years old stared at the changed expressions of the older clan members, stunned and shaking her head.
"It's not like that! It's not like that! My grandfather isn't like this! Don't look at him like that!" she cried.
However, her words faded before they even left her mouth.
Bai He, with his immense spiritual power, had long sensed the younger clan members hiding outside.
The glances they cast, full of disdain, made it difficult for him to turn and face them directly.
In the living room, although the clan elders' eyes showed respect and support for his decision, there was also a hint of expectation.
In Bai He's heart, two voices were constantly arguing with each other.
At first, the two voices were equally balanced, but as time passed, one gradually took the upper hand and eventually silenced the other.
"Here, this is what you wanted," Bai He said with a calm expression after his internal struggle subsided. He reached into his robe, pulled out a jade box from an unknown storage device, and tossed it toward Lin Rong.
The jade box was caught mid-air by the old butler using his soul power. After carefully inspecting it, he handed it over to Lin Yong.
The box was about 15 inches long and 6 inches wide, made of top-grade sheep-fat jade that glowed with a smooth, lustrous finish.
From Lin Rong's perception, he could sense the life energy of a five-thousand-year-old ginseng emanating from the box.
The energy took the form of a five-clawed dragon, unmistakably the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng.
Sigh! Lin Rong muttered in his heart as he accepted the jade box. "For Tang San, you'd give it freely, but for me, I have to pressure and bribe you to get it."
"Why does everyone seem so devoted to the Haotian Sect?"
Once the jade box was secured, Bai He had already placed the gold card into his possession and began to usher the guests out.
"Lord Lin, the transaction is complete. Bai will not see you off."
However, Lin Rong remained seated, showing no intention of leaving. Instead, he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and said to Bai He:
"I heard that Bai Clan Leader is on good terms with Yang Wudi, the clan leader of the Po Clan."
"I have a small request: could you write a letter of recommendation for me? There are some matters I need to ask Yang Wudi to assist with."
Was he asking the old goat to help? Was he requesting that he refine the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng into a pill?
Bai He felt a knot of resistance in his heart and instinctively wanted to refuse.
But as he was about to voice his rejection, he paused, realizing that refusing might not be wise.
While the transaction had been finalized, what if Lin Rong changed his mind after being rejected?
He could certainly handle the young man, but the old butler, a Soul Douluo, had control over the clan members in the village.
If he remembered correctly, the old butler's martial soul was related to stars, and he was a control-type Soul Douluo.
If things escalated and the conflict turned hostile, aside from a few higher-ranked clan members, the rest would not survive.
No, this young man's life was not as valuable as the lives of his clan members. Furthermore, his precious granddaughter was still waiting outside. He couldn't afford to act on impulse.
With a deep breath, Bai He took the paper and pen and wrote the recommendation letter as Lin Rong requested.
Lin Yong had not expected Bai He to agree so quickly. His prepared words hadn't even left his lips when Bai He had already agreed.
Soon, the letter was completed, and Lin Rong placed it into his possession. He then stood to leave.
"Senior, you truly are quick to act. It's already time for dinner, so I won't impose any longer. I will take my leave now and hope to meet again soon."
Lin Rong and the old butler walked a short distance away from the village. A faint silver glow flashed around them, and in the next moment, two small stones appeared in the spot they had just left.
At the same time, three miles away, Lin Rong and his companion appeared there. Nearby, the carriage and coachman had been waiting for some time.
When absorbing soul rings and bones from the same soul beast, both the rings and bones would strengthen their abilities.
For Lin Rong's second soul skill, Qingye Mark, after absorbing the soul bone from the Empty Blue Bamboo's head, he had gained a new ability: Spatial Exchange.
Lin Rong could make two marked targets swap places with each other.
Just like earlier, he randomly picked two small stones and marked them as targets, then applied the Qingye Mark to himself and the old butler.
By triggering all four marks simultaneously, Lin Rong used the spatial exchange effect to switch places with the two stones.
The maximum range for spatial exchange was the same as the maximum distance for Qingye Mark's teleportation, which was initially one kilometer. Each additional soul ring added one extra kilometer to the distance.
Of course, although this spatial exchange ability was powerful, it had its drawbacks.
If the marked target resisted the exchange at the moment of the switch and their strength surpassed Lin Rong's, there was a chance the exchange would fail.
The higher the difference in strength, the greater the likelihood of failure.
But as Lin Rong's strength grew, this flaw would gradually shrink and possibly disappear.
Activating the four Qingye Marks simultaneously drained 40% of Lin Yong's soul power.
Since the soul power cost for triggering Qingye Mark was one-tenth of the total soul power, even if Lin Rong reached the Title Douluo level in the future, with a maximum of twelve Qingye Marks, he could still only swap a maximum of ten targets at once.
This was one of the main drawbacks of percentage-fixed consumption-type soul skills.
Such skills were powerful in the early stages, but as time went on, they became less effective, except for a few that had growth potential or percentage-based increases.
It was a case of "win with fixed consumption, lose with fixed consumption."
Fortunately, Lin Rong's second soul skill, Qingye Mark, was one of the few that had growth potential.