Austin took five earth spirit fruits out of the Space Ring and gave them to Mindy.
Pleasantly surprised, Mindy touched the fruits with great care. She looked like a little girl who was thrilled at receiving a toy she had long dreamed about.
‘She is quite pretty!" Austin thought as he admired Mindy's slender figure.
"Hey! What are you staring at?" Mindy blushed and questioned Austin when she noticed his meaningful look.
"Ah! What are you talking about? | wasn't doing anything." Austin was embarrassed.
"Well, you'd better behave decently. | thought you were a gentleman when we were at Beast Mountain, and now you seem to have a dirty mind." "There seems to be some misunderstanding here." Austin found it hard to justify his action.
At the sight of Austin's embarrassed expression, Mindy burst out laughing.
"All right. | was just kidding." Mindy was an outspoken and jolly young girl. Austin had undoubtedly earned her gratitude when he presented her with the five earth spirit fruits, as Mindy knew that he wasn't obliged to share any with her at all. After all, Austin had risked his life when he fought with Marvin, and so he deserved the fruits.
Considering what he had done, Mindy had formed a good opinion about Austin.
"Are you done, Tin? Please let me know if you are.” Evan's voice could be heard as he walked closer to them. Hesitantly, he glanced at Austin and Mindy.
Austin frowned.
"What the hell are you doing, Evan? Come over here." Evan ran toward them immediately.
"l thought you were doing something unspeakable! | was mistaken when | heard the flirting words. So | thought ..." Evan tried to be careful with his wording.
"What are you thinking about ?" Austin almost choked with anger.
Mindy blushed scarlet and gave Austin a hostile glare.
"Nonsense! Seriously, why are you here, Evan?" Austin hastened to change the topic.
"I've reached the second level of the Energy Gathering Realm!" Evan looked truly radiant. Since joining Sun Sect, he had been stuck at the first level of the Energy Gathering Realm. A breakthrough was what he had longed for, but his goal always seemed out of reach.
However, after he consumed the Energy-boosting Elixir that Austin had given him, Evan made it to the second level without much effort.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Well done. But don't be complacent about your progress. Your cultivation base is still rather low. Here are three earth spirit fruits and the secret manual of the Raging Dragon Fist." Austin gave Evan the three earth spirit fruits and a manual.
"Ensure that you take only half an Earth Spirit Fruit each time. It's very powerful, and you don't want to be blown up. And don't start practicing the Raging Dragon Fist until you reach the third level of the Energy Gathering Realm." Austin warned.
Mindy was deeply impressed to see how generous Austin was, both to her and Evan.
"Are you sure these are all for me, Tin?" Evan was thrilled at the precious gifts from Austin. Although Evan didn't know much about the earth spirit fruits, he could sense their spiritual power. Apparently, they were not just fruits.
As for the Raging Dragon Fist, it was the first secret manual he could own because he was too poor to purchase any.
Austin had helped Evan realize many of his dreams. He couldn't be more thankful! "Tin, you are so kind to me." Evan looked up gratefully. Austin could see the tears welling in his eyes.
"I really don't know how to pay you back, Tin. But | would not hesitate to give my body and my life to you." Austin looked at the ground awkwardly.
"Eww! Take that back. I'm not interested in your body, please.” The cheesy confession left Austin feeling very uneasy, and so he fled with Mindy as soon as possible.
Mindy felt warm and relaxed when she saw how much Austin and Evan cared about each other.
At the Marginal Trade Market, which lay in a vacant area in the forest, people of all ages clamored about. It was crowded and chaotic! A dazzling array of booths that presented various goods attracted the passers-by to stop and take a look.
The sellers were bustling around, yelling for attention, bargaining, or arguing.
Dozens of wooden cabins had been made in the forest. Each was of a different size.
Austin followed Mindy to the market. The goods for sale also caught their attention.
The booths were gaily decorated, and the sellers were busy calling to passing customers.
Austin and Mindy stopped at one booth and met the owner, a skilled young man.
Mindy laid ten beast cores on the table.
After examining the beast cores, the young man offered a price of 350 vital energy crystals.
Satisfied with the relatively reasonable price, Mindy agreed on the amount, and packed the crystals cheerfully.
Three hundred and fifty vital energy crystals were quite a fortune for an outer disciple.
This fair deal gave Austin confidence in the purchaser. Quickly, he displayed his collections from the Beast Mountain.
There were ten beast cores of first level diabolic beasts and ten cores of the first level demonic beasts. He had also placed three cores of second level demonic beasts, and two cores of second level diabolic beasts.
Mindy was dumbstruck when she saw Austin's collection.
She knew that Austin worked alone. How could Austin, a cultivator at the fifth-level of the Energy Gathering Realm, kill all these beasts by himself? Mindy was astonished when she saw his trophies.
"Beast core of a second level magic fox and a second level evil ape." Surprised and excited, the young purchaser carefully studied them. When he was convinced, the seller took a deep breath to keep calm.
"I'll pay you 800 vital energy crystals for these five beast cores. What do you think?" He looked at Austin earnestly and eagerly, hoping to get an affirmative answer.
"Deal. What about the others?" Austin accepted his offer without hesitation.
The purchaser was greatly relieved. He was sure to be rewarded if he took these two rare beast cores back to the Chamber of Commerce.
He was an employee at the Chamber of Commerce of a nearby city, and his job was to purchase goods and materials.
While the second level magic fox was not top-class, its beast core could be useful. In addition, it was rare to find a magic fox, and so its beast core had become a scarce resource.
"I'll give another 400 vital energy crystals for the rest of your beast cores.” The remaining cores Austin had shown belonged to common first level beasts, and hence, they were not worth 400 vital energy crystals.
But the young man was perfectly content with the three beast cores of the magic fox, so he decided to give Austin a generous bargain.
The final offer of 1200 vital energy crystals was satisfying to Austin. He smiled delightedly, as he was now in possession of a small fortune.
With the main task accomplished, Austin took the vital energy crystals and continued to stroll around the booths to see if anything interested him.
"Information about Ancient Relic is now on sale! I will charge 100 vital energy crystals for a limited time. First come, first served!" Soon the booth that was promoting the sale was surrounded by a crowd.
Unable to resist the allure of the Ancient Relic, Austin ventured closer to the booth.
Two pale but good-looking young men were yelling for attention, yet they didn't sound very convincing.
Pleased with the gathering crowd, one of them bowed with hands folded in front.
"Attention, please, everyone. My brother and | happened to find an Ancient Relic, and we are hoping to recruit some team members to explore it." "Aren't you hustling us? If it's true, why don't you just look for the treasure by yourselves? Do you think you can fool us?" Someone questioned.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmMany others nodded as they agreed with the person that had questioned the two young men. The crowd was by then, on guard, as they were afraid of being tricked.
"You misunderstood us, brother. There are many beasts in the relic. Although they are third level beasts, we can't risk our lives as we are merely at the sixth-level of the Energy Gathering Realm." Then he pulled up his clothes and showed others the deep scratches on his ribs. The blood and flesh contrasted sharply with the white bones beneath.
"To tell you the truth, we have entered the relic once and almost died. We have no choice but to ask for help. Please consider the 100 vital energy crystals as compensation for our injuries and this important information ." "Hurry up if you are interested. Once the news spreads, cultivators at the Earth Realm and even the Mysterious Realm will be here any minute. At that time, we will have to step aside. Wake up. We are nobodies! Seize the chance.” Another young man urged.
He had made a valid point. This was an entry-level market that attracted mainly people at the Energy Gathering Realm. Their cultivation base would be like a drop in the bucket compared with masters from the Earth Realm.
"All right. I'll give it a shot. But if you are lying to us, well... look at all these people here. They will skin you alive." A bystander threw 100 vital energy crystals onto the table. If what the men were saying was true, he would earn a good fortune by following them.
Encouraged by the first buyer, many others paid for the information.
In a short moment, the pile of vital energy crystals on the table had grown.
"What do you think, Austin? Would you care to check it out?" Mindy whispered.
"I might have sensed something unusual. But they are only at the sixth-level of the Energy Gathering Realm, and we've got many hands here. It will be fine. Let's find out.” Austin decided to participate. He placed 200 vital energy crystals on the table.
After a while, the two young men picked up the vital energy crystals with a satisfied smile and guided the crowd east.
After around four hours, they arrived at the entrance of a valley, which was surrounded by tall bamboos.
"The Ancient Relic is in the valley. Get ready! We're about to start the treasure hunt." One of the young men shouted.
The group of volunteers cheered and prepared for the adventure.
The whole valley was enveloped in mist. The tall and luxuriant bamboos added mystery to the surroundings.
The two young men took the lead and walked into the valley.
The others rushed behind them, as none wanted to be left behind.
It wasn't long before Austin noticed something strange.
The two men had mentioned that third-level beasts had injured them previously. If so, the two young men should have been cautious when leading the group of people. To Austin's surprise, they weren't.
Instead, they boldly led the others into the valley.
"Be careful. Something is wrong,” murmured Austin.
After about half an hour, they stopped at a flat vacant area.
"Where on earth is the Ancient Relic?" Someone else had also sensed the danger and questioned.
"There, there. What an impatient virgin!" An alluring voice was suddenly heard. The woman breathed hard and moaned with enjoyment, sending out lustful information.