Reward

Tie Li had prepared in haste and had not thought to bring a container.

Without protective measures, the spiritual energy would dissipate.

"You can swallow it directly. I'll stand guard for you," Li Li said.

He felt somewhat guilty and intended to make up for it by guarding Tie Li.

Tie Li did not stand on ceremony. After swallowing the Mystic Spirit Grass, he sat cross-legged on the ground and began refining it.

The unique spiritual energy flowed from his abdomen. His Martial Soul actually manifested on its own, strands of white light wrapping around it.

It was gradually improving the quality of his Martial Soul.

At that moment, a commotion arose below. Two injured Soul Masters supported each other as they unknowingly headed toward the mountain peak.

Li Li immediately went to stop them.

At that moment, Tie Li suddenly stopped refining and rose to the spot where the Mystic Spirit Grass had been picked.

He took out the Single Horn from his robes and began digging. A flash of delight crossed his furrowed brow.

Tie Li dug out a bead that resembled a drop of dew.

Without drawing attention, he picked up the Iron-Armed Ape's head and stuffed the bead inside.

To avoid suspicion, he took out a cloth rope, tied up the Iron-Armed Ape's corpse, and carried it on his back.

"Kid, if you know what's good for you, get out of the way."

Seeing that Li Li actually dared to block them, the two men could not help feeling a surge of inexplicable anger.

Even though they were injured, they were still Soul Masters.

One white and one yellow—their Soul Ring configurations were identical. Both were Two-Ring Soul Grandmasters.

Li Li summoned his Martial Soul, and a yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring appeared.

"I've already absorbed the Soul Ring. Let's go!"

Tie Li's voice came from behind. He was not only reminding Li Li, but also giving the other two an explanation.

When the two men saw the Iron-Armed Ape on Tie Li's back, a thought rose in their minds.

No wonder this kid dared to stop us. His companion was absorbing a Soul Ring.

Everything now seemed perfectly reasonable.

Of course Li Li understood what Tie Li meant. They could not expose the Mystic Spirit Grass. But in such a short time, could Tie Li really refine it completely?

In Li Li's eyes, Tie Li had been forced to stop in order to avoid a conflict, making him feel even guiltier.

But there was no way he could bring himself to give Tie Li a Mystic Spirit Grass as compensation.

"You'd better leave from the other side. There's a group of bandits outside."

These two were Soul Masters from the merchant caravan. For certain reasons, they had chosen to hide in the forest.

"Could you do us a favor? Go to the Snowwind Trading House in Manno City and notify them. They'll reward you," the other Soul Master could not help saying.

"If we don't run into the bandits, perhaps we can," Tie Li said.

Neither Tie Li nor Li Li wanted to linger here. Since those two had hidden in the forest, the bandits might have entered it as well. They needed to leave as soon as possible.

Li Li had two Mystic Spirit Grasses on him, while Tie Li had hidden the bead inside the Iron-Armed Ape's head.

Both of them carried treasures, so naturally they wanted to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible.

"Thank you."

Perhaps the two of them were lucky, or perhaps they had avoided the bandits by taking detours. When the sun rose in the morning, they safely returned to Manno City.

"Do you want to go to the Snowwind Trading House together?" Tie Li asked.

"I'm not going. Are you?"

"Yeah. Not only can I collect the reward, I can also sell them the Iron-Armed Ape."

What Li Li wanted most now was to refine the two Mystic Spirit Grasses. They could not only improve the quality of his Martial Soul, but also raise his Soul Power Level through their spiritual energy.

Competition at the Intermediate Soul Master Academy would be even fiercer, putting considerable pressure on him.

Since Li Li was not going, Tie Li headed there alone.

Before that, Tie Li took the Mystic Spirit Dew out of the Iron-Armed Ape's head.

Seeing the Mystic Spirit Dew, a smile could not help appearing on Tie Li's lips.

This Li Li clearly had not studied properly. Mystic Spirit Dew had a chance of forming in the roots of Mystic Spirit Grass, and its effects were several times greater than the grass itself.

If Mystic Spirit Grass sold for five hundred Gold Soul Coins on the market, then Mystic Spirit Dew would sell for five thousand Gold Soul Coins.

After putting away the Mystic Spirit Dew, Tie Li carried the Iron-Armed Ape's corpse to the Snowwind Trading House.

The Snowwind Trading House's supervisor knew at a glance that Tie Li had come to sell a Soul Beast corpse.

Many Soul Hunting Groups accepted commissions to hunt Soul Rings. After the employer absorbed the Soul Ring, they would pack up the Soul Beast's corpse and bring it back to sell to trading houses or restaurants.

As soon as Tie Li entered the Snowwind Trading House, he saw its supervisor. The man had a bloated figure and wore lavish clothes, with a Soul Master standing beside him. Tie Li could sense the fluctuations of Soul Power coming from him.

"Huh? A Hundred-Year Iron-Armed Ape."

The Fat Supervisor was not surprised by the Hundred-Year Iron-Armed Ape, but by Tie Li's age.

He looked like a boy of only ten, yet he had actually managed to hunt a Hundred-Year Soul Beast.

"So, how much can I sell it to you for?"

"Other than the wound on its back, the fur is intact. Its body is complete with nothing missing, though the head is badly damaged. I'd price it at around thirty Gold Soul Coins."

The Fat Supervisor could not help inspecting the Iron-Armed Ape's head several more times.

The Iron-Armed Ape should have been killed by the boy beheading it, so why was its skull damaged so badly?

The moment Tie Li heard thirty Gold Soul Coins, his eyes lit up. He had originally thought it would only sell for twenty.

With this money, his family's situation could be resolved. Even if Tie Wen and Tie Wu both entered a Soul Master Academy, it would not be much of a problem.

"Oh, right. On my way back, I ran into your trading house's caravan. They were attacked by bandits and asked me to notify you. They said you would give me a reward." Toward the end, Tie Li's tone grew heavier.

"What?" The Fat Supervisor's expression changed, and he immediately rose to handle the matter.

As for Tie Li's reward, he had a worker beside him take Tie Li to collect it.

After leaving the Snowwind Trading House, Tie Li checked the money pouch in his robes once more.

There were forty Gold Soul Coins in total.

Once he had money, more ideas naturally came to mind.

For example, Tie Li was now imagining saving up to buy a high-level Meditation Method.

For a Soul Master family or sect to remain powerful, powerful inherited Martial Souls alone were not enough. To maintain their strength, they needed to constantly uncover the potential of their Martial Souls.

They had to determine the future development paths of their Martial Souls, the optimal Soul Ring configurations for producing Soul Skills, and develop Meditation Methods best suited to their Martial Souls.

A family whose inherited Martial Soul was the Armored Rhinoceros might develop three paths for it: the strength path, the defense path, and the Power Attack path.

They would record the Soul Skills created by every type of Soul Ring in combination with their Martial Souls, then use generations of people to test Soul Ring combinations and summarize the combinations most suitable for each Martial Soul development path.

They had to achieve the best possible match between Martial Souls and Soul Rings.

Meditation Methods were equally important. A sect or Soul Master family with deep foundations would possess Meditation Methods best suited to their inherited Martial Souls.

Never underestimate any sect or Soul Master family. With such a large base, exceptional geniuses would always emerge and use their talents to fill in whatever gaps remained.

If Tie Li could obtain a high-level Meditation Method, preferably one of the strength or elemental type, he would choose to cultivate it without hesitation.

Cultivating a high-level Meditation Method not only offered faster cultivation speed, but more importantly, it subtly improved the quality of one's Martial Soul.