Zhu Ziyang's worry turned out to be unnecessary. The day after his return, Zhu Changhe and the others also came back to Anyang City.
At the academy, he saw a radiant Zhu Changhe. After reaching the Soul Elder rank (Soul Sovereign), Zhu Changhe had been appointed Vice Dean of Anyang Academy by Hong Zhen.
To celebrate Zhu Changhe's breakthrough, Liang Ying prepared a delicious feast at home. Both Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan were brought back to join.
At the dinner table, Zhu Changhe boasted proudly. His third soul ring came from a millennium-old Blazing Bright Armored Beast, and the soul skill was a support-type skill, perfectly complementing his first two attack-type skills. It seemed he'd had a breakthrough after long preparation, because his soul power had also jumped to level 32.
Zhu Changhe was thrilled. He even proudly showed off his millennium soul ring to Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan.
But when Zhu Ziyang revealed his own second soul ring...
Zhu Changhe was stunned—almost questioning reality.
Liang Ying, although also shocked, was more focused on scolding Zhu Ziyang for taking such a dangerous risk. Only after he promised not to do it again did she let go of his ear.
That night, Zhu Ziyang ate the Radiant Yellow Fruit, and its effects were excellent.
His soul power reached level 23.
The next day
Zhu Ziyang followed his father Zhu Changhe to Dragon City.
Dragon City, the main city of the Northern Province of the Heaven Soul Empire, was home to the continent's largest soul tool material market in the north. Anyang City was a subordinate city under Dragon City. Every year, City Lord Hong Zhen had to report to the Duke of Blue Lightning, the ruler of Dragon City.
The reason Zhu Changhe and his son visited Dragon City was to sell the forelimbs of the Blazing Light Mantises that Zhu Ziyang had collected.
Zhu Changhe, very familiar with the place, took them straight to a large stall in the market—clearly somewhere he had visited before. Zhu Ziyang took note of the sign above the booth, which depicted the head of a black Tyrannosaurus rex.
The Earth Dragon Sect!
Zhu Ziyang immediately recognized the background of the stall—it belonged to the Earth Dragon Sect.
The Earth Dragon Sect was one of the two major factions in Dragon City. All its members had Earth Dragon martial souls, hence the name. Since their martial souls were sub-dragon types, their strength ranked high even within the Heaven Soul Empire. If Zhu Ziyang were to join them with his Ice Tyrant Dragon martial soul, he would surely be given priority training. Unfortunately, Zhu Ziyang had no such interest.
Their counterpart was the Sky Dragon Sect, whose members all had true dragon martial souls. Naturally, Sky Dragon Sect was stronger, as true dragons surpassed sub-dragons in both soul strength and bloodline suppression—which worked as powerfully between martial souls as it did between soul beasts.
Legend says that the Sky Dragon Sect was the successor of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, one of the three top clans from ten thousand years ago. Their core disciples were all Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Masters. A century ago, the famed Dragon God Douluo Mu En reportedly had a mutated Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul.
The Lord of Dragon City was also the leader of the Sky Dragon Sect. During the split of the Heaven Dou Empire, the sect's ancestor earned military merit and was rewarded with the hereditary title of Duke of Blue Lightning, charged with guarding the northern border.
The Earth Dragon Sect and the Sky Dragon Sect had a long, intertwined history. It's said that Earth Dragon Sect originally began as a subsidiary of the Blue Lightning Sect. They followed the Sky Dragon Sect's founders to Dragon City and only later became independent. Judging by how the Sky Dragon Sect allowed them to remain in Dragon City, perhaps they owed them a favor back then.
"Hey, Changhe! Long time no see. What've you been up to?" the stall owner said excitedly when he saw Zhu Changhe.
"Things have been peaceful lately, so I haven't come by as often," Zhu Changhe replied, smiling with satisfaction.
"That's great to hear!" the man replied warmly. Then he looked at Zhu Ziyang and said, "Is this Ziyang? He's grown so much!"
"That's right! Ziyang, this is your Uncle Liang Yu," Zhu Changhe said proudly.
"Uncle Liang Yu!" Zhu Ziyang responded politely. Internally, he was surprised—this vendor was clearly from his mother's side, but she'd never mentioned her ties to the Earth Dragon Sect.
"Good kid! You really look like your mom," Liang Yu said with a smile. Then he turned to Zhu Changhe, "So, what good stuff did you bring me this time?"
"Blazing Light Mantis forelimbs!" Zhu Changhe grinned and took out ten massive forelimbs from his storage soul tool. Their size and number immediately drew attention—onlookers were shocked.
Liang Yu's jaw dropped.
"Damn, Changhe! Did you raid a mantis nest? These are all thousand-year Blazing Light Mantis parts, right?"
"Never mind how I got them—just tell me how much they're worth," Zhu Changhe chuckled.
"Thousand-year Blazing Light Mantis forelimbs go for 500 to 550 gold soul coins each. These are in excellent condition and rich in elemental energy. Since we're family, I'll offer 550 each," Liang Yu said after examining them and running a check with a special device.
"Deal!" Zhu Changhe agreed cheerfully.
Zhu Ziyang was also very satisfied with the price—550 per limb was already a premium rate.
Thus, the ten forelimbs brought the Zhu family a total of 5,500 gold soul coins.
About Currency:
The continent uses a unified currency system with:
Copper soul coins (lowest value)
Silver soul coins (mid-tier)
Gold soul coins (highest value)
Among these, copper and silver are most used by regular citizens. Among soul masters, gold soul coins are the primary currency.
The exchange rate is:
1 gold = 10 silver = 1,000 copper
For example:
A kilo of ordinary rice costs 50–100 copper coins. A typical three-person household consumes about 25 kilos of rice per month, costing at most 25 silver coins (or 2.5 gold coins). So, 5,500 gold coins would be a massive fortune for a common family.
However, for a soul master household, 5,500 wasn't all that impressive.
After delivering the goods and collecting payment, Zhu Changhe and Zhu Ziyang bought some supplies and headed back to Anyang City.
On the way home, Zhu Ziyang received 200 gold coins as a hush-money bonus—because Zhu Changhe had quietly pocketed 300 for himself, and the remaining 5,000 would be handed over to Liang Ying.
Watching his father's sneaky behavior, Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but laugh.