Resting Up in Town

Little Doctor Fairy, who possessed the Calamity Poison Body, was hailed as the finest slim waist in Battle Through the Heavens. Naturally, Ling Li wanted to see her for himself. Unfortunately, the guards she was recruiting had to be at least Fighter Two Stars, while Ling Li was only Fighter One Star. Although, with Dark Night, he could probably contend even against Fighter Three or Four Stars, exposing Dark Night among these mercenaries would not be a wise move.

Within a few breaths, the middle-aged steward from Myriad Medicine Pavilion was surrounded by mercenaries. With so many people, chaos was inevitable. On the Dou Qi Continent, it was hardly unusual for people to resort to violence over trivial matters.

However, Ling Li noticed that although these mercenaries cursed and argued as if they were ready to draw blades at any moment, they honestly formed a line. And whenever Little Doctor Fairy was mentioned, the ferocity and brutality on their faces seemed to vanish by mutual understanding, replaced by simple, honest expressions, as though they were protecting the only beauty in Monster Beast Town.

"These people..." Ling Li shook his head and continued carrying several monster beast corpses into town.

Aside from their magic cores, the most valuable parts of monster beasts were naturally their hides. A whole, intact monster beast hide might not fetch as much as a magic core, but it could still sell for more than ten Gold Coins. Many mercenaries had the traditional skill of skinning a monster beast without damaging its hide.

However, Ling Li did not possess that ability, nor did he know the technique. He could only bring over the intact corpses, since damaged hides were worthless.

Not far from the entrance to Qingshan Town was a place resembling a slaughterhouse. Inside, quite a few bare-chested men could be seen laboriously processing monster beast hides and other materials.

Dragging the monster beast corpses into the slaughterhouse, Ling Li looked around for a while before walking up to a burly, bare-chested man who seemed to be in charge. He asked, "Do you buy monster beast corpses here?"

Mang Biao followed the voice and saw a youth standing before him, dragging the corpses of four monster beasts.

This kid is incredibly strong! A trace of surprise flashed through Mang Biao's eyes as he inwardly marveled.

The four monster beasts Ling Li had brought were all medium-sized beasts. Each weighed at least a hundred jin, making their combined weight over four hundred jin. Yet the youth before him had carried them with ease, and judging by his expression, he still had strength to spare! This youth was probably at least Fighter Two Stars!

Without thinking too much about it, Mang Biao first examined Ling Li's attire. It was ordinary, no different from most mercenaries scraping by in Qingshan Town. Blood still stained his body, clearly showing that he had just emerged from the Monster Beast Mountain Range. His face was also covered in blood and grime, making his age impossible to discern, but judging from his voice, he was probably only seventeen or eighteen.

A Dou Zhe at seventeen or eighteen... tsk!

Mang Biao clicked his tongue. Then, when he looked at the monster beasts Ling Li was carrying, his expression froze again. The reason was simple: every one of the monster beasts had been decapitated, and the cuts were exceptionally smooth. It was obvious that each had been beheaded in a single strike.

"Did you kill all these monster beasts?" Mang Biao could not help asking. As he spoke, his eyes deliberately drifted toward Ling Li's waist. When he saw no trace of any treasured sword or divine weapon, a faint, concealed disappointment flashed through his eyes.

"Just luck. I used traps to gain an advantage, and I nearly died at the hands of these beasts." Ling Li smiled, paying no attention to Mang Biao's gaze.

After entering Qingshan Town, Ling Li had stored Dark Night in the System Space. He understood the principle of not flaunting one's wealth. Though Dark Night did not look like any sort of treasure, it was indeed a precious saber.

"Tsk, being able to catch four first-tier monster beasts means you're quite lucky, little brother. Some men might not catch even one before they die," Mang Biao said casually.

"So? Other than their heads being cut off, these monster beasts are intact everywhere else. If I had the ability to skin them properly, I wouldn't have brought the corpses here directly." Ling Li changed the subject and asked again.

"To be honest, little brother, we don't buy monster beast corpses here," Mang Biao said.

In fact, nowhere in all of Qingshan Town handled monster beast corpses. No mercenary would carry a monster beast corpse intact out of the Monster Beast Mountain Range. They usually took only the claws, fangs, hides, and similar materials, because entering the Monster Beast Mountain Range was not a matter of one or two days. It was entirely possible to remain inside for a month or two. Dragging a corpse around was burdensome enough, and if it rotted and began to stink, even the hide—the last valuable thing left—would be ruined.

Just as Ling Li felt somewhat disappointed and was preparing to find some unlucky mercenary in town to borrow money from, Mang Biao abruptly changed his tone. "But these corpses don't seem to have been dead for long. They're still fairly fresh. There's even an Ink Leopard among them. Those beasts are incredibly fast and powerful, so they aren't easy to hunt."

"Normally, an intact Ink Leopard hide can fetch 25 Gold Coins, while the hides of the other three monster beasts are worth around 20 Gold Coins combined. But your beasts are all missing their heads, and none of them have been processed, so the price naturally has to be lower. How about this? Sell me every monster beast you catch from now on, and I'll take all of these for 60 Gold Coins. What do you say?" Mang Biao said.

"Deal!" After considering it briefly, Ling Li agreed.

After the money and goods had changed hands, Mang Biao watched Ling Li's retreating figure and muttered, "A Dou Zhe in his teens... should I get involved?"

"Forget it, forget it. There aren't many easygoing lone wolves. Don't let me fail to gain anything and end up covered in trouble instead."

In a small place like Qingshan Town, people generally advanced to Dou Zhe at around twenty-five. A Dou Zhe in his teens naturally stood out. Had he obtained some treasure? Or encountered some opportunity?

Even if Ling Li had nothing on him, the unknown itself was a danger.

Naturally, Ling Li had no way of knowing Mang Biao's thoughts. He was fairly satisfied with the price of 60 Gold Coins. He had just wandered around Qingshan Town and found that there really was nowhere that bought monster beast corpses. Since he lacked the skill to skin monster beasts himself, there was nothing unacceptable about letting someone else earn a little labor fee. After all, if he skinned them himself and botched it with one cut, even those sixty Gold Coins might be gone.

As for Mang Biao's offer of a long-term partnership, that did not seem impossible either!

On the Dou Qi Continent, Gold Coins had fairly decent purchasing power. Twenty Gold Coins could cover one person's food and clothing expenses for a year. Though it would not allow one to eat or live well, it was enough to live without worrying about basic needs. By that calculation, one Gold Coin was roughly equivalent to one hundred yuan from his previous life.

Sixty Gold Coins were more than enough for Ling Li to rest and resupply in this town.

Because Qingshan Town was located in a remote area, prices were somewhat high. Ling Li booked a room at an inn, took a bath, bought some food, meat, fresh water, and a rough map needed for entering the Monster Beast Mountain Range. Afterward, only thirty of his sixty Gold Coins remained.

Naturally, the most expensive purchase was that crude map, which cost a full twenty Gold Coins. It marked some caves and cliffs within the Monster Beast Mountain Range, as well as a few extremely dangerous areas where high-tier monster beasts had been sighted. Still, such a map would indeed be greatly helpful after entering the Monster Beast Mountain Range, so Ling Li accepted the expense.

Ling Li had originally thought the map was outrageously expensive, but after taking a stroll through Myriad Medicine Pavilion, he realized he had been wrong. Everything sold there was priced in the hundreds of Gold Coins, and some unprocessed high-grade medicinal herbs cost nearly ten thousand Gold Coins. Such sky-high prices left Ling Li, who now had only ten Gold Coins on him, without even the courage to look twice.

Sure enough, in this world, anything related to cultivation was absurdly expensive...

I had no money in my previous life, and I still have no money in this one. Without money, nothing is easy! If I could find that cliff cave... Ling Li could not help thinking.

But the next moment, Ling Li shook his head. He knew that the cliff cave lay along Myriad Medicine Pavilion's herb-gathering route, but today he had seen for himself that the Monster Beast Mountain Range, known as the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, was filled with countless peaks and cliffs. Even along a single route, there were probably dozens of cliffs.

That cliff cave might not have any restrictions, formations, or traps, but monster beasts were bound to inhabit the cliff face. With his feet hanging in empty air, the threat they posed was self-evident.

"I'll rest properly for a few days first, then enter the Monster Beast Mountain Range to train. Without strength, even if I know where that cliff cave is, I won't be able to take the treasures inside." Ling Li smiled in relief and walked toward the inn.