by Kajack
Grandmaster Bai stood there deep in thought.
“Don't tell me these weapons are all fakes?”
“This is strange perhaps this kid’s weapon is a weird weapon... from another planet...”
“But... before he didn't use his weapon and the mortal weapons broke. I don't believe that this kid is a core foundation. Have you seen his age? It is impossible!”
The crowd was dumbfounded and very confused right now, they couldn't understand how a mortal weapon could destroy a profound weapon even if it was a low one. During the confrontation between the weapons, neither the kid nor Grandmaster Bai used any kind of Qi, they were just doing basic moves to compare weapons.
That scythe is strange, a top mortal weapon capable of crushing a low-grade profound weapon? For sure that weapon holds a huge blacksmithing mastery in its attributes. I have been stuck at 3-Stars for many years already, If I can get that scythe and study it, for some years, I could breakthrough to 4-Stars or at least improve enough to make top profound weapons. I must find a way to get that weapon. Thought Grandmaster Bai.
“Kid, don't be so proud of your weapon!” Grandmaster Bai finally spoke after a few minutes of pondering. “You just crushed the lowest profound weapon, in fact, it could barely reach the rank of a profound weapon!”
Strange this Grandmaster Bai is not yet acting... what are his thoughts? Could it be, he is going to surrender so soon? I have barely positioned an advantage over him, maybe he is a quitter. I lost myself in thought watching the unmoved Grandmaster Bai.
The customers were waiting for something to happen yet the little kid and the old man were looking at each other smiling, they were clearly scheming against each other.
“I'm sorry for breaking your weapon old man,” I said.
“It's okay. It's not important. The weapons you faced were just inferior to your weapon. Still it's a little bit of a loss to the shop...” said Grandmaster Bai with that completely different thought in his mind of obtaining the scythe.
This old man… I still wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the situation.
“You aren't expecting me to pay for your fake goods, are you?” I said directing a glare to him.
“How could I lower myself, to ask for money from a little kid. I will show you good will, everyone knows I'm a generous man. I will exchange your mortal scythe for a mid-profound weapon.”
So, it was like this, the old man is interested in getting the scythe hahaha! My instincts were trying to tell me something before, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint it at the time. It seemed that I would need much more training to become proficient at detecting other’s intentions.
“But... what if the mid profound weapon is worse than my scythe...” I said innocently, behaving as much like a cute normal kid as I could.
Grandmaster Bai was starting to get restless and bothered. Think about it...you are facing a stupid seven year old kid! Master Bai thought as he became even more restless.
Gosh! stupid old man! You don't understand my meaning yet, are you dumb or what! I couldn’t believe such a wise old man could not catch my meaning at this point. I wanted a much higher weapon level than a mid-profound.
“That easy to solve! I can prove it to you, the weapon I will give you is better! The moment your scythe gets a little bit damaged, I give you that weapon. What do you think about that?” Grandmaster Bai said impatiently and angrily.
“Good! Great idea grandpa!” I laughed at his idea, this was what I was aiming for all along.
“Good, good, your grandfather has a nice grandson! Hahaha!” Grandmaster Bai laughed like a creaky old frog. “I will give you a good weapon! Don't you worry about it.” Grandmaster Bai walked again back inside the back of the shop.
The crowd of customers felt very awkward. A grandfather, and what grandson? The general sentiment was that both of them were clearly taking advantage of each other.
I don't believe… that with any of my other profound weapons I won't do too much damage to a little scythe like that—I must be very careful. I cannot destroy it, thought Grandmaster Bai as he was preparing for the next exchange.
“Be careful grandson!” Grandmaster Bai slowly swung another profound weapon. This time it was another mid-profound weapon.
“Don't worry grandfather!”
After ten strikes the profound weapon broke. I kept my head lowered, looking a bit disappointed.
Mortal Soul Reaper Scythe (Sealed) (2/50)
Grandmaster Bai’s mind was in a state of confusion, It broke again? How can this be? Right, I must have hit the Scythe too light, it must be this…
“Don't worry. I must have been confused, yeah this must be my disciple’s weapon...” Grandmaster Bai encouraged himself.
I sighed, Can’t this be any faster… what a waste of time.
◆◆◆
Mortal Soul Reaper Scythe (Sealed) (17/50)
I left the shop disappointed, in the end, my scythe managed to crush seventeen profound weapons, it helped me, but I was expecting to make my weapon evolve as soon as possible. Sigh! This greedy weapon! The poor Grandmaster Bai was left with a huge blow to his weapon inventory. All of his assets were totally devoured by the scythe. Poor Grandmaster Bai, until the very end he believed that he could win my scythe! Hahaha..
After the hard work at the shop, I returned to the INN to see if both women had something interesting for me.
“Master we found ten more books regarding King Beasts!” said Shu Yi. Clearly, she was waiting be get praised for her job well done! I have to say her personality was that of a little child. Shu Er was clearly more mature.
“Great job! Next time... I will spank your ass with less strength,” I said showing her my hand.
Chapter 41
Rank-up
Trait Mortal Monster Hunter upgraded to King Monster Hunter.
King Monster Hunter: +25% damage to any beast on King rank or below. Everything known about beast on King rank or below.
Good! With this and my combat power fighting King Beast will be much easier for me to kill them and earn XP. Sadly killing beasts only gives me 1 Death Point.
It's been awhile since I killed someone and got a good amount of Death Points. Yesterday I decided to accept a Silver Mission from the Assassins Guild, I could already kill Qi Refining stage cultivators so it was worth the reward. I also had the help of Shu Yi and Shu Er, they were perfect for assassination. All they had to do was sneak attack the target, and I would finish the job with an arrowhead, us three made a good team.
Ding!
Killed 2 x Normal Human. Qi Refining stage, 4th rank. +1500 XP.
Death Points +340.
Death Core +2.
Finally, I upgraded my badge to Silver rank. My mask and my cloak were upgraded as well, now both items’ durability was on par with a Qi Refining stage peak, only a Core Foundation could destroy them. There were a few missions left to be done in the city and since Shu Yi, Shu Er and I were working together I decided to run a few more missions. Since the rewards were quite good, each Qi Refining stage rank produced ten low spirit stones. I wasn't going to be rich but better something than nothing. I planned to leave the city tomorrow morning.
After a good night’s run for Death Points and spirit stones, I was leaving the city feeling pretty satisfied. I managed to get up to 3,000 Death Points in a single night! The people I killed had killed more than enough people during their lives, some of them had killed more than two hundred people. I was now one-third closer to level-up to Mortal Realm, 9th rank. The best thing out of all of this was besides earning 500 low spirit stones was that I finally found something interesting to exchange a Qi Art for called Shadow Steps. It's a low movement speed art worth 1,500 contribution points. It allows the user to move faster while using Qi. The good thing is that during the night it is quite useful since one of the Shadow Steps main focus is not making any sound. Unfortunately it uses Qi, I’ll have to wait to get it I can’t use Qi yet.
Rose Assassins Guild
Code Name: Eternal Rest, Silver Rose rank, rank: 9871, Missions completed: 251, Contribution: 1505
“Shu Yi, Shu Er. How many spirit stones do you need to breakthrough again?” I knew some basics regarding the Qi Refining, stage but they were not enough to fully comprehend.
“Master, Qi Refining stage doesn't need any kind of comprehension or anything, so as long as you have enough resources you will be able to keep opening meridians. It also depends on your body quality, and talent age is also important. Normally a Qi Refining stage at the 4th rank to breakthrough to the 5th rank will need more or less 1,500 spirit stones. For Shu Yi and me we roughly will need 1,200 spirit stones.” Shu Er explained happily, she was happy to be useful to her master. They were no longer afraid of him after a few days with him. They knew their new master had a lot of potential and a bright future. Without him, they would have been ravaged by some random men and ultimately killed or fed to the dogs.
It seems low spirit stones are quite important to cultivate; without them, absorbing the heaven and earth energy is a long process. I checked my low spirit stones, I had close to 4,000 after so many killings in the city. Shu Yi and Shu Er were also using two swords, both of them were low profound weapons. I think it's better to improve Shu Yi and Shu Er’s cultivation, for now, having two Qi Refining stages at the 5th rank will help me kill more people faster, and be safer overall.
I threw the girls 2,500 spirit stones. “Focus on cultivation during the trip as much as you can, let’s see if you can breakthrough to the next level before reaching the cave.”
“Yes, Master.” Both of them had a smiling face, they were truly beautiful. They couldn't hide their joy, it's barely been one week since they were bought and their master bestowed enough resources to breakthrough from the 3rd rank to 5th rank. Shu Yi and Shu Er’s hearts were full of gratitude towards him. A firm belief was set in their hearts: Never lose sight of him.
◆◆◆
“Master we are here, this is the cave.”
“How long will it take for both of you to breakthrough?” In the end, one week of traveling wasn't enough for both of them to breakthrough.
“If we rest and we focus on cultivating, it will take one to two days to reach the 5th rank.”
“Good, then we will camp here. You two focus on your breakthrough. I will investigate the cave first.”
“Yes!” they replied in unison and laughed afterwards mischievously.
Seriously, these girls, teasing me.
I moved closer to the cave, there were many people that had died as soon as they exited the cave for some reason. I was a little nervous. There was nothing extraordinary about the cave, it looked dark and normal from the outside. I decided to venture inside. The cave was dark, thanks to my darkness affinity I could see better in the dark. I expanded my soul just to be safe. I knew that in the end caution would help me out the most.
Ding!
The host has entered an illusion array. Due to host soul, the illusion is ineffective.
That's good! Otherwise, I would have been screwed. I seriously need to find some books with information about the soul. I get the feeling my soul is quite strong. Without knowing more I cannot make Shu Yi and Shu Er go inside.
“System can you identify which level of array it is?”
There is not enough information in the database.
I was a little bit disappointed, it seems I also need to improve the System’s database. I'm afraid unless I rob a bank I will be too poor to fill the database…
After having already walked more than 100 meters, I found nothing, the only thing I could see and notice was that the cave was quite long, my soul could not reach the end. After 500 meters I finally found something.
“This is getting interesting,” I muttered.
Chapter 42
Five Crazy Old Men
Placed in the middle of the room there was an altar surrounded by five old men. Their features were quite clear, the five of them were wearing the same clothes. They must be from some kind of sect. Currently, they were discussing and yelling to each other, I couldn't hear them clearly, I could only see their lips moving.
Ding!
Poison neutralized. Poison absorbed +1000 XP
Oh! There is poison in the air, I guess that's how the people who died upon exiting. This is due to the altar or the five old men? Wait! I got XP and absorbed the poison. What's going on?
I started to feel the Death Core pulsing. The Death Core likes poison? So far, the Death Core didn't have any kind of reaction to anything... If I can absorb the poison and get XP that's a great way to get stronger.
I kept observing the five old men, besides talking and complaining they seemed to do nothing; I didn't move for four hours, just in case so they didn't notice me. There was nothing more in the cave besides the zone where the altar was and the five old men. I tried to move closer to the altar, There seems to be nothing preventing me from reaching the altar. I was roughly five meters away from the five old men. The five old men didn't notice me, I couldn't hear them, There must be some kind of barrier around them.
I felt like I passed through something. What a strange feeling. The five old men turned to look at me. They had expressions of disbelief on their faces, after a few seconds they suddenly stood up.
“We are screwed!”
“Fuck, how did a little kid come in?”
“No way, no way!”
“Damn our hope.”
“We are dead meat...”
Seriously... I know I'm a kid but what's wrong with these five old men…
“Hello...” before I could finish what I wanted to say, the altar started to tremble...
“It's starting,” said one of the old men with a serious face. The other four old men got serious as well.
“Kid! Catch it!” An old man threw me a token, the moment I picked up the token, everything went black.
◆◆◆
I woke up confused, What happened? Did I get teleported? I checked my surroundings, I was in a room with no exits. I looked at the walls to see if there was some kind of mechanism or something. There were strange symbols on the wall, I didn't comprehend them at all but I had a feeling that it was related to the exit.
“System. Can you help me out?”
Replying to the host. The System cannot recognize the symbols on the wall. The database doesn't have enough information.
I swear next time, I will do anything to fill the damn database. This time I'm screwed.
“Kid! Do you hear me?” A voice popup came out of nowhere.
“Yes! What's going on?” I asked a little anxious.
“Kid, listen to me. To talk with us you need to infuse energy into the token I gave you.” Another voice popup out of nowhere, it was the other old man. Right, the token.
“We are screwed... the kid is not even at a Qi Refining stage.”
Indeed, I cannot use Qi, maybe the token can work with my soul. I was just about to try to use my soul to talk through the token, when an old man said something interesting.
“Old Ji! Send through the token a Cloud Strengthening pill. We need to increase that kid’s realm to Qi Refining stage.”
“Are you insane? Do you know the worth of that pill! That pill compacts all the cells inside the body: it will increase the strength of the body by at least 1,000 jin. It's a 7-Stars pill, to any person it will double the intensity of his mortal body! I only have one.” The old man didn't want to part with the pill.
A pill that could change the body to such a degree? That's a godly pill, who the hell were these five old men? If I can consume this pill will my strength double?
“Old Ji! Do you want to be trapped here forever or what! The kid can use that pill, even if he has no foundation, the pill should be able to bring him to the Mortal Realm peak.”
“Old Ji!”
“Alright! Don't complain to me anymore. I will send him the pill. Kid listen well, the five of us will help you reach the Qi Refining stag
e. Currently the six of us are trapped and we need you to be able to use the token. Don't get scared, a pill will pop up from the token. You need to consume it, it won't harm your body, it will take awhile for the effect to show up. You need to exercise your abilities; the pill will help you reach the Mortal Realm peak.”
After the voice of Old Ji faded a pill appeared from the token.
Obtained Cloud Strengthening Pill. Consume it or convert it to XP.
Cloud Strengthening Pill: Compact the cells inside the body, doubles the body foundation.
What an amazing pill, it can double my foundation and reach the Mortal Realm peak, this will help me out a lot. Like hell I will convert it to XP. I was happy I had yet another way to get XP from consuming pills!
I immediately consumed the pill. Nice flavour. I could feel the pill slowly dissipating, a huge energy was emanating from it when it went inside my body. I could feel my cells getting compacted and tight!
Not good! The pill contains pulsating life. The now compacted cells, upon meeting a wave of life energy started to get destroyed, my whole body started to bleed. I started to refine the bodies Shu Yi and Shu Er gave me. One hour later I was almost out of bodies that I had stored, my life energy was only at 50%. I won't make it, there is not enough bodies... if this continues my body will get destroyed. My thoughts turned frantic as I was almost passing out.
When I thought that everything was over for me, the life energy went to my heart, it clashed against the Death Core. It only took a few seconds and then the Death Core consumed all of the life energy.
Chapter 43
Big Chance