Realm of the Night God

Yang Haoran knew that Master Jiang was a very principled person, and he also knew that Master Jiang was a devout believer who could sacrifice his life for his faith at any time.

Although Yang Haoran did not think this was a good thing, he had no choice because for a devout believer, his faith was more important than his own life. If he questioned his faith or tried to change his mind, not only would he not achieve the desired results, but it would even backfire.

Moreover, as a Burial Master, Yang Haoran should be a devout believer of the Death God like Master Jiang, but he was not. However, he could not show it, so he could not persuade Master Jiang.

At this time, Master Jiang's words were actually quite simple. The questions Yang Haoran would ask next, as long as they did not violate his principles, he could inform him, but if they did, he could not help either.

Fortunately, the question Yang Haoran wanted to ask was not about any underworld secrets and would not conflict with Master Jiang's principles.

"I just want to ask you how much money it would cost to open a shop in the underworld."

Yang Haoran smiled and spoke. In his opinion, as a ghost attendant, Master Jiang should know more about this than he did, and he might learn something from Master Jiang.

"You want to open a shop in the underworld?" Master Jiang frowned, his expression becoming more serious.

From Master Jiang's facial expression, it seemed that he did not approve of Yang Haoran opening a shop in the underworld.

"I'm thinking of opening a shop in the underworld, but I don't know much about the situation there, so I decided to consult you first," Yang Haoran said with a smile.

"Opening a shop in the underworld requires different amounts of hell coins in different areas. The specific cost depends on where you choose to open the shop. However, opening a shop in the underworld is not a simple matter. And even if you successfully open a shop, it doesn't mean you can make money. I've seen many shops go out of business in the past two years," Master Jiang said.

Yang Haoran knew that Master Jiang was warning him to be cautious, but he had already considered this matter carefully, so he would not change his mind because of Master Jiang's words.

"In business, there are gains and losses, and that's normal. However, I don't have any plans to open a shop in the underworld right now. I just want to learn more about it, and I'll take the next step when the time is right," Yang Haoran said with a smile.

Master Jiang nodded in understanding. He did not try to change Yang Haoran's decision but told him everything he knew.

When Yang Haoran left Master Jiang's residence, four hours had passed. Since there was no alternation of day and night in the underworld, the sky looked the same when Yang Haoran entered and left Master Jiang's residence.

From Master Jiang, Yang Haoran learned a lot about opening a shop in the underworld, and he now had a deeper understanding of this matter.

It was precisely because he had gained a deeper understanding of this matter that Yang Haoran now looked worried.

According to the information he learned from Master Jiang, the rent for a storefront in the underworld was extremely expensive. For a remote location like the Yin Yang General Store, the annual rent would be around one million hell coins, which is equivalent to one soul pill. A Burial Master's annual salary is only three soul pills, which means that even if he opened a shop in the most remote area of the underworld, the annual rent would consume one-third of his salary.

For other locations, depending on the area and the size of the storefront, the rent could be exorbitant, ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of hell coins.

This was only the rent, not including other expenses, which were also extravagant. Without a certain amount of financial resources, it would be difficult to open a shop in the underworld, let alone in a prosperous area.

At this moment, Yang Haoran felt that he was too poor. If he could not solve this problem, his plan to open a shop in the underworld could not proceed normally.

In the following days, Xu Meijing rested in the inn without going out, while Yang Haoran went out every day.

He would find a way to prepare the hell coins, but during this period, he also needed to investigate the market and decide what kind of shop to open based on market demand.

While investigating the market, he could also broaden his horizons and gain a better understanding of the underworld.

The annual soul collection came as scheduled. With last year's experience, Yang Haoran was no longer curious about this process as he was last year.

Just like last year, the squares above were divided by continent, and the Burial Masters of each continent handed in their souls according to the rules. The process remained unchanged.

For the Jingling Continent where Yang Haoran was located, the Guardian in charge was still Luo Yao, but compared to last year, Luo Yao's complexion looked much better.

Of course, compared to last year, his complexion only looked better, but there was still no smile on Luo Yao's face.

Last year, when handing in souls, Yang Haoran received five soul pills in total, including his salary. However, this year, he received six soul pills, one more than last year.

Three Soul Pills were exchanged for Yang Haoran, and Undead obtained two Soul Pills. The reason Undead obtained two Soul Pills was that he deliberately controlled it within this range.

As for the source of the other Soul Pill, it was the soul of Spirit Master Du Xiao and that evil spirit subjugated by Master Wu and the Night Watch.

Du Xiao was only a Spirit Master, without a Guardian Spirit, he couldn't even be considered a Spirit Master, but his soul was exchanged for half a Soul Pill.

And the evil spirit that was handed over, although not the strongest among the evil spirits, was still quite powerful, and it also obtained half a Soul Pill. The two combined, Yang Haoran obtained one Soul Pill.

For ordinary Undead to obtain one Soul Pill, they need a total of ten thousand. Among these ten thousand Undead, regardless of their strength, all Undead are treated equally.

From this, we can see how difficult it is to obtain a Soul Pill through Undead, as ten thousand Undead is not a small number.

It is precisely because of this that Du Xiao's soul, plus one powerful evil spirit, was able to obtain one Soul Pill, which surprised Yang Haoran.

This surprise made Yang Haoran recall the scene when he handed over the evil spirit to Deng Feng. At that time, when Deng Feng discovered the evil spirit within the soul gathering bead, he was quite excited.

Later, when he handed over the soul of Spirit Master Du Xiao to Deng Feng, Deng Feng was even more excited and tried every means to find Du Xiao's master, Duda.

From the current situation, he understood why Deng Feng was so excited at that time, because handing over an evil spirit brought considerable rewards, and handing over the soul of a Spirit Master brought even more astonishing rewards!

Although before this, Yang Haoran knew that the souls of Spirit Masters and ghosts above the Undead could obtain decent rewards in the Underworld, he didn't have a specific number in mind for how much those rewards were. Now, after personally exchanging them, he found that the rewards obtained were even more bountiful than he had imagined, so he understood why Deng Feng was so excited at that time.

Du Xiao was only a Spirit Master without even a Guardian Spirit, but his soul could be exchanged for half a Soul Pill. For a powerful Spirit Master like Zhao Hong, the rewards obtained would undoubtedly be even more astonishing!

If it weren't for the fact that he still needed to use the souls of Zhao Hong and another Spirit Master for research, Yang Haoran might have used their souls to exchange for Soul Pills as well!

According to Yang Haoran's plan, just like last year, obtaining five Soul Pills this year would be enough. However, he didn't expect to have an unexpected surprise and obtain one more Soul Pill than anticipated.

And Xu Meijing's harvest of Soul Pills this year also surprised Yang Haoran. According to his estimation, with Xu Meijing's abilities, she should have obtained more Soul Pills than Yang Haoran this year, but the reality was the opposite - Xu Meijing obtained one fewer Soul Pill than him!

This situation occurred because this year, Xu Meijing only handed over twenty thousand Undead and not a single evil spirit or malevolent spirit. She also didn't hand over any souls of Spirit Masters.

In Yang Haoran's view, this situation should not have happened, especially since Ancheng is larger than Lecheng and has a larger population, so Xu Meijing's harvest should not have been so meager.

With a little thought, Yang Haoran guessed the root of the problem.

He felt that the reason Xu Meijing's performance was so poor this year was perhaps not because he didn't have any harvest but because Xu Meijing likely hid more of her harvest and didn't hand it over!

This guess in his mind made Yang Haoran feel a little worried, and he felt that he needed to remind Xu Meijing about this.