The next day,
Taichu went to the Spirit Hall branch, registered his identity as a Spirit Master, and casually collected the benefits distributed by Spirit Hall.
One gold coin.
It wasn't much, but Taichu was the thrifty type. If there was free money to take, why wouldn't he? Especially since he had many places where money was needed—such as purchasing Whale Glue.
That alone was no small expense.
However, he didn't buy ten-year or hundred-year Whale Glue.
Because those two grades were actually the most expensive.
On the contrary, thousand-year and ten-thousand-year Whale Glue were much cheaper.
At this stage, Whale Glue was still regarded as nothing more than an aphrodisiac.
For most people, the effects of ten-year or hundred-year Whale Glue were already more than sufficient. As for thousand-year or ten-thousand-year Whale Glue? That was purely something for wealthy nobles—people with too much money who wanted something "high-end."
And because ten-year and hundred-year Whale Glue were the most commonly purchased, their prices were pushed higher.
For example,
One piece of ten-year Whale Glue cost one gold coin.
Hundred-year Whale Glue cost ten gold coins.
But a piece of thousand-year Whale Glue only cost fifty gold coins.
As for ten-thousand-year Whale Glue—it was merely three hundred gold coins per piece.
When Taichu first learned the prices, he was stunned.
It was ridiculously cheap.
If the truth were exposed—that consuming Whale Glue could strengthen one's physique and allow the absorption of higher-year spirit rings—then the prices of these Whale Glues would skyrocket beyond imagination.
A piece of ten-year Whale Glue would probably cost hundreds of gold coins, while ten-thousand-year Whale Glue wouldn't even be obtainable without millions.
Therefore…
Taichu began hoarding large quantities of thousand-year and ten-thousand-year Whale Glue.
Sooner or later, he intended to reveal the secret of Whale Glue.
There was no other reason.
Since Bibi Dong had targeted him because of Yu Xiaogang, then he would strike back at Yu Xiaogang in a way that would make Bibi Dong suffer.
As for Yu Xiaogang—he was originally a complete failure. The only thing propping up his reputation was the so-called Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls, which he had plagiarized to earn the hollow title of "Grandmaster."
That title was nothing more than emotional comfort for him.
So Taichu planned to attack him academically—and ruthlessly.
Moreover, once the effects of Whale Glue spread across the entire continent, even if Taichu later revealed his thousand-year first spirit ring, the attention of the major factions would no longer be focused solely on him. At the very least, it would significantly ease the pressure he faced.
In the time that followed, Taichu devoted nearly all of his time to cultivation.
Aside from that, he continued purchasing thousand-year and ten-thousand-year Whale Glue—but the supply at those levels was limited.
There was a fair amount of thousand-year Whale Glue, but ten-thousand-year Whale Glue was extremely rare.
Don't be fooled by the fact that he managed to buy two pieces—it took several months to obtain them. That alone spoke volumes about their scarcity.
And that was only natural.
After all, no one would deliberately hunt a ten-thousand-year whale-type Spirit Beast just to obtain an aphrodisiac.
That day, Taichu was cultivating intensely, striving to reach level twenty as soon as possible so he could absorb his second spirit ring.
However, an uninvited guest arrived.
"I'm here to challenge you!" Tang San declared directly.
"Not interested."
Taichu prepared to shut the door in his face.
"Are you afraid?!"
Tang San grew irritated at Taichu's blatant disregard.
"I have no interest in someone I've already defeated," Taichu replied calmly.
"Instead of wasting time on you, I'd rather spend it cultivating."
His gaze swept over Tang San indifferently.
After more than a month of cultivation, Taichu could already feel himself on the verge of level nineteen. He was close to breaking through—and Tang San, a defeated opponent, had come knocking.
To him, Tang San wasn't worthy of interest.
At best, he was an annoyance.
"You—!"
Tang San felt deeply humiliated.
"You only won because you used despicable methods!" he said stubbornly.
He absolutely did not want to acknowledge that he had lost after falling into an illusion.
"I've already said it. I'm not interested in you," Taichu replied coldly.
"I refuse your challenge. If you want to loiter here, that's your business."
With that, he moved to close the door.
Slap!
Tang San stretched out his foot and blocked it.
"Wait!"
"I'll pay you. Is that okay?"
A look of pain flashed across Tang San's face.
After becoming a Spirit Master, he received one gold coin per month from Spirit Hall. During this period, in order to wash away his humiliation, he had focused entirely on cultivation and hadn't taken on any work.
That single gold coin was essentially all he had.
"Are you very rich?"
Taichu glanced at Tang San with undisguised contempt.
"One gold coin should be enough, right?"
Tang San pulled out a gold coin from his spirit tool, his heart aching.
He had come to reclaim his pride—only to end up paying out of his own pocket.
"Do you think I care about one gold coin?" Taichu said disdainfully.
If Tang San had brought dozens or hundreds of gold coins, Taichu might have considered it.
But one coin?
That was practically an insult.
"Then what do you want for you to accept my challenge?"
Tang San asked, putting the gold coin away in humiliation.
"Spirit Beast information."
"Not the ordinary records from Notting Academy," Taichu continued calmly,
"But the Spirit Beast information in your teacher Yu Xiaogang's possession."
It had to be said—Yu Xiaogang's Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls was utter garbage.
But the Spirit Beast intelligence in his hands was not.
Those records were copied from Spirit Hall.
Their level of detail was far beyond what the Nuoding City branch hall possessed.
The Spirit Beasts Taichu intended to absorb in the future—many of the top-tier ones—had no records in the branch hall at all.
Creatures like the Sky Azure Bull Python, the Titan Giant Ape, and others simply weren't documented there.
But Yu Xiaogang's materials almost certainly contained such information.
"You—!"
Tang San opened his mouth, wanting to curse Taichu for being shameless—for daring to covet his teacher's collected knowledge.
"You don't agree?"
"Then forget I said anything. You can leave now."
Taichu moved to close the door again.
"Wait!"
Tang San clenched his teeth, hesitated for a moment, and finally said,
"I need to ask my teacher first."
"Please do."
Taichu watched as Tang San hurried away.
Not long after, there was another knock on the door.
Tang San had returned—this time carrying the Spirit Beast information.
Taichu took the materials, carefully examined them, and confirmed there were no issues.
Only then did he look up at Tang San.
"I accept your challenge."