Black Crystal

Sun Yong drew a short blade of refined steel from his waist and stopped before the corpse of the boar-like Black Beast.

He let out another low roar and circulated his power. His already burly body swelled further, and his skin faintly reddened.

The short blade, ordinarily the length of a man's forearm, looked like a dagger in his hand.

Holding the blade in a reverse grip, he aimed at the Black Beast's heart and viciously drove it down.

Yet it was as though the blade had struck stone, leaving behind only a shallow white mark!

After the Black Beast died, its skin was no longer as hard as before, but it was still difficult to pierce.

Sun Yong roused his Qi-Blood again. The muscles in his arm knotted like coiled dragons, and blue veins bulged.

"Hah!"

With a low shout, he stabbed down again.

This time, he finally managed to puncture a tiny opening.

He stabbed the same spot again and again. After a long while, he finally tore open a proper hole.

Then he inserted the blade and sawed back and forth, widening the opening bit by bit.

At last, the Black Beast's chest cavity was completely cut open.

A thick, fishy stench immediately rushed into their faces, making everyone furrow their brows.

Jiang Che was somewhat shocked by the sight.

This Black Beast's hide was actually this Toughness!

Even a body-tempering Martial Artist at the peak of the Ox-Hide Realm had needed so long to break it open.

For ordinary people, dealing with this Black Beast would have been basically impossible.

Sun Yong reached inside to feel around. His face suddenly showed shock, and he could not help turning to glance at Jiang Che.

Jiang Che was puzzled by the look.

"Chief Escort Sun, what is it?"

"N-No, nothing."

Sun Yong continued feeling around inside.

Just now, he had touched the area where the heart should have been.

Only to discover that all that remained there was a puddle of rotten flesh smashed into paste!

"He shattered this Black Beast's heart with one punch through hide and flesh!"

Sun Yong knew Jiang Che was formidable, but he had not expected him to be this formidable!

His assessment of Jiang Che's strength immediately rose another level.

After steadying himself, Sun Yong continued searching inside.

Before long, his eyes lit up, and he yanked something out with force.

It was a fist-sized organ wrapped in dark-red fascia, with a thick blood vessel still attached to it.

"What is that?"

Jiang Che was curious.

He had a rough understanding of pig organs.

Though this was a Black Beast, it looked like a wild boar.

This was definitely not one of the five viscera or six bowels!

Sun Yong then used the tip of his blade to pry open the fascia.

But what was revealed inside was not flesh and blood, but a fist-sized crystal, black all over!

"This is a Black Crystal!"

Sun Yong's tone was somewhat excited.

"A Black Crystal?"

The escort guards beside him had never seen one either, and they all crowded over to look.

"What is a Black Crystal?" someone could not help asking.

"Only Black Beasts at the Stone Skin Realm or above have Black Crystals in their bodies. It's perfectly normal that you haven't seen one."

Sun Yong explained, "I only learned of it myself through a chance opportunity."

"Then what is this Black Crystal used for?" Jiang Che asked.

"Brother Jiang, you've eaten Exotic Beast Meat before, right?" Sun Yong said.

Jiang Che nodded.

"Then you should know that Exotic Beast Meat comes in three grades: low-grade, mid-grade, and High-Grade."

"And this Black Crystal can allow artificially bred Black Beasts to advance in rank, letting them crossbreed into Exotic Beasts of higher quality!"

Jiang Che's heart jolted. So this was how Black Beasts advanced in rank!

Thinking of the prices of mid-grade and High-Grade Exotic Beast Meat, he instantly understood the value of this Black Crystal!

No wonder Chief Escort Sun said earlier that it was a treasure!

"However," Sun Yong continued,

"this single piece is definitely not enough. For an Ox-Hide Realm Black Beast to break through into the Stone Skin Realm, it must absorb at least ten Stone Skin Realm Black Crystals!

"And for a Stone Skin Realm Black Beast to break through into the Iron Skin Realm, it needs at least a hundred Stone Skin Realm Black Crystals! Or ten Iron Skin Realm Black Crystals!"

"That difficult?" Jiang Che was somewhat surprised.

He also understood why high-quality Exotic Beast Meat was so expensive.

That was without even considering the cost of raising Black Beasts from infancy.

Advancing their ranks alone was already extraordinarily difficult.

"Even so, this Stone Skin Realm Black Crystal is worth quite a bit. If taken to market, it could sell for at least five hundred taels of silver!

"Besides, this thing basically never reaches the open market. It is all absorbed internally by the major gangs and Lineages."

"Five hundred taels!"

Everyone was stunned by that number.

The escort guards around them immediately stirred. Their gazes burned as they looked at the Black Crystal, their eyes filled with longing.

Jiang Che secretly swallowed as well.

Five hundred taels!

He had worked himself to the bone and only earned a few dozen taels.

Yet this single piece could sell for five hundred taels!

Sun Yong swept his gaze over the crowd before finally settling it on Jiang Che. His tone was exceedingly solemn, carrying a faint warning toward everyone else as well.

"Brother Jiang! If not for you, everyone in our escort agency would likely have perished here today! You killed this Black Beast, so this Black Crystal should rightfully belong to you!"

The surrounding escort guards all nodded. Jiang Che had saved their lives; how could they still have the face to covet this Black Crystal?

The stray greed that had flashed through their minds was gradually suppressed.

"However, Sun has an impertinent request," Sun Yong suddenly said.

"Hm?" Jiang Che froze.

"It's like this. Our Zhenyuan Escort Agency also raises Black Beasts, so this Black Crystal would be of great use to our escort agency.

"How about this? On behalf of the escort agency, I'll buy this Black Crystal at the market price of five hundred taels of silver. What do you think?"

"No problem!"

Jiang Che did not hesitate.

It would not be easy for him to sell the Black Crystal himself. The risks in between were too great, and it might even bring about a disaster that cost him his life.

Being able to exchange it directly for money now meant putting it safely in his pocket. Nothing could be better.

Besides, during this journey, he had come to understand Sun Yong's character somewhat and trusted him fairly well.

"Wonderful!" Sun Yong said happily. "It's just that Manager Wang will have to give you the silver after we return to the escort agency, so you'll need to wait a few days."

"Fine," Jiang Che said.

Sun Yong then handed over the Black Crystal. "Then keep it safe for the time being!"

Jiang Che carefully accepted it.

After all, this was five hundred taels!

The Black Crystal felt icy cold in his hand and gave off a chill.

Jiang Che could not make heads or tails of it, so he carefully tucked it into the pack he carried with him.

"Oh, right, Chief Escort Sun, what about this Black Beast's hide and teeth?" Jiang Che asked.

A Stone Skin Realm Black Beast's hide should be worth something, in theory, right?

Sun Yong shook his head. "Brother Jiang, you don't know this. Black Beasts differ from ordinary wild beasts. Once they die, their flesh, hide, bones, and everything else will rot into a puddle of pus within half a day. None of it can be used."

"Then can any poison be extracted from it?" Jiang Che refused to give up.

Poisons were so expensive. If the Black Beast's poison could be extracted, it could fetch quite a bit of money too!

"No. This Black Beast's poison is very strange and cannot be extracted at all. It's not as if no one has tried, but they all failed. They say that rather than poison, it resembles some kind of strange force more than anything!"

"Force?" Jiang Che was taken aback.

"That's right, the kind of Qi-force cultivated by Force-Entering Realm martial masters. But the Black Beast's force is completely different from a human's. No one knows what it is, but in any case, it simply can't be used," Sun Yong explained.

Jiang Che nodded, thinking that this world truly was strange.

The group set off again.

Before long, they arrived at Hengsha City.

The gray city walls were taller and more imposing than those of Abyss-Facing City, while the flow of people entering and leaving the gates was clearly greater as well.

The guards wore refined iron armor and held long spears, their sharp eyes fixed on those entering the city.

Their breaths were long and steady, their Qi-Blood vigorous.

"They're all Martial Artists who have broken through Qi-Blood!"

Jiang Che was somewhat shocked.

This Hengsha City appeared much stronger than Abyss-Facing City!

After the escort carts were inspected, the group entered the city.

The streets were clean and broad.

The pedestrians' clothing was also comparatively respectable.

Jiang Che scarcely saw any refugees, hooligans, or idlers.

All along the way, vendors hawked their wares, selling a dazzling variety of goods that left Jiang Che's eyes unable to take everything in.

After arriving at their destination, Sun Yong led the escort carts away to hand over the goods.

The remaining escort guards were free to move about for the time being.

After their long journey and the encounter with the Black Beast, the taut strings in everyone's hearts finally loosened.

Some called for drinks, while others decided to try their luck at the gambling house.

In the blink of an eye, the escort guards dispersed in twos and threes.

Jiang Che did not go with them.

He looked at this unfamiliar yet prosperous city.

But his expression gradually grew heavy.

The true purpose of this journey was only just beginning.

That was to go to the Li Estate and investigate the whereabouts of his parents' disappearance!