Harvesting One Hundred Taels of Silver

"Young hero, we're only low-ranking gang members within the gang, but as far as I know, our White Ram Gang has more than ten stewards, with cultivation ranging from the Skin Tempering Realm to the Muscle Refinement Realm."

The leader of the bandits kneeling on the ground, an early-stage Skin Tempering Realm martial artist, paused. He raised his eyes to gauge Lin Fan's expression, hesitated, then continued.

"Above our dozen or so stewards are several deputy gang leaders and the gang leader. The deputy gang leaders are all in the Muscle Refinement Realm, while the gang leader has reached the Bone Tempering Realm." After some thought, the men decided to honestly reveal everything they knew. This young man's martial cultivation was simply too high. On top of that, the spear in his hand gleamed with cold light and could shatter huge boulders with ease. It was clearly a martial artist's weapon, and its forging grade did not seem low.

The few of them were absolutely no match for him. If they were thrown off the cliff, it would be too late for regrets. Besides, there was no one around here. Even if they spilled everything about the gang, once they returned, if they kept their mouths shut, who would know?

Lin Fan frowned slightly. "As expected, the White Ram Gang does have a Bone Tempering Realm expert." It seemed he needed to reach the Bone Tempering Realm as soon as possible. Otherwise, if enemies came calling, things would become troublesome. Although the odds of their gang leader personally coming over for a few insignificant lackeys were not high, Lin Fan still wanted to play it safe.

Opening the pale blue light-screen panel, he saw that he still had over seven hundred taels of silver in his balance. If he spent seven hundred taels to activate a seven-thousandfold super acceleration, then within a few days, he should be able to reach the Bone Tempering Realm. Even if he fell short, he would not be far from it.

With a seven-thousandfold acceleration in cultivation results, one day of Lin Fan's training was roughly equal to twenty years of training for others. Add in his Fifth-Grade Martial Root, and it was practically equivalent to a lifetime of cultivation for those with inferior eighth- or ninth-grade roots.

In truth, Lin Fan did not particularly want to activate this kind of extreme cultivation acceleration. The higher the multiplier, the more satisfying it felt to sense his strength constantly growing during cultivation, but when strength increased too quickly, it also made him feel less than comfortable. After training, his body felt as though it no longer belonged to him. Whenever he stopped after cultivating at such a high multiplier, he needed a long time to adapt to the power within his body. During that time, he felt awkward and uncomfortable from head to toe.

It was like the elevators on Blue Star in his previous life. Although elevators could travel incredibly fast, reaching ten meters per second or even faster and taking people to the floors they wanted in less time, elevators in reality moved at a leisurely pace. Because if they went too fast, they truly made people uncomfortable. Unless there was some special emergency, no one wanted to ride an elevator that rose or descended ten meters in a second.

For now, he first needed to deal with the people following him. Yet Lin Fan found himself somewhat troubled over how to handle them.

Killing them outright went against his instincts as a law-abiding young man from Blue Star in his previous life. Hunting did not count, of course. Prey and people were different, after all. Besides, these men had been fairly obedient and had not caused him and the others any serious consequences. Lin Fan immediately dismissed the killing intent in his heart.

"You lot, hand over every last bit of silver on you."

Lin Fan decided to give them a small punishment. Besides, he badly needed silver to recharge the system for cultivation.

"Be honest. If even a little silver is missing, I can't guarantee you'll return in one piece." To make sure they handed over all their money, Lin Fan decided to scare them a little. He casually pointed his spear at them several times.

Hearing that Lin Fan wanted all their silver, they were unwilling, but they did not dare disobey. Before this, they had still harbored some little schemes, believing that this young martial expert would fear the great number of martial artists in their gang and let them go. They had not expected the youth to be so unconcerned.

The men remained kneeling as they rummaged through their clothes. Before long, they gathered a small pile of silver. "Young hero, this is all of it."

As if afraid that Lin Fan would think it was too little, they hurriedly explained, "We left in a hurry and didn't bring much. If young hero thinks it isn't enough, we can go back and bring more."

Lin Fan glanced at the silver on the ground and estimated that it amounted to around one hundred taels. Since one of them was an early-stage Skin Tempering Realm martial artist, having this much silver was only natural.

"No need. Leave the silver, and we'll let this slide." Lin Fan swept his spear, watched the men scramble to their feet and retreat, then added, "Go tell your Fang Steward not to come again. If he wants to set his sights on us, then next time, I won't be so easy to talk to."

Lin Fan did not have them return to town to fetch more silver. Who knew whether they would come back with money or with a whole group of martial experts from their gang?

Even if he were guessing blindly, Lin Fan felt there was an eighty-percent chance it would be the latter. Besides, the hundred taels on the ground was enough. If he demanded more, he would forge a grudge with them. Lin Fan was not particularly afraid of that, but Uncle Wang and the Small Mountain Village hunting team often needed to go into town to sell goods. Moreover, Uncle Wang and the others were ordinary people with no martial cultivation.

The people of Small Mountain Village had treated him well enough. They had taken in and cared for the original owner of this body. He could not bring martial artists' enmity upon Small Mountain Village.

After letting the men go, Lin Fan crouched down, summoned the pale blue light-screen panel, and silently said, "Recharge." He deposited the one hundred taels of silver on the ground into the system. Watching the balance section on the pale blue panel suddenly increase by more than one hundred, Lin Fan grinned. "Not bad. A free hundred taels of silver. Hehe."

Watching the men flee in a panic, tumbling and scrambling away until they vanished from sight, Lin Fan put away his spear and turned back toward Uncle Wang and the others from the hunting team.

Earlier, when Uncle Wang and the others saw Lin Fan suddenly turn around, his martial aura erupting as he stopped several men, they instantly knew that they had been followed. But they were merely ordinary people, so they could only stand there dumbly, not daring to step forward.

When they saw Lin Fan return after dealing with the people tailing them, they hurriedly gathered around him and asked anxiously, "Lin Fan, who were those people? Have we sold too much game lately and caught someone's eye?"

Though they did not say much, the fear in the hunting team villagers' eyes could not be concealed. As villagers from Small Mountain Village near the town, they naturally knew that there were martial forces and gangs within the city. It was just that the game they had sold before had not been worth much, so they had never worried about attracting the attention of those martial gangs.

Given the current situation, before Lin Fan could even answer, the villagers had already pieced together most of the truth. Those men had secretly followed them for so long without their group noticing. Either they were exceptionally skilled at tracking, or they possessed martial cultivation and senses that surpassed ordinary people. That was why the group had failed to notice them all along.

And regardless of which possibility it was, those people were probably not ordinary petty thieves. They were very likely from one of the gangs in town.

Lin Fan smiled and reached out to comfort the frightened hunting team villagers around him. "Don't be afraid, everyone. It's nothing. Just a small matter, and it's already been handled. They probably won't follow us again."

He deliberately put on a relaxed manner to calm the villagers' fear, then continued, "Besides, I'll be staying in Small Mountain Village during this time. Even if I leave Small Mountain Village later, I'll remain in town for quite a while. I won't let such things disturb everyone's lives."

Hearing Lin Fan's explanation and assurance, the frightened and tense atmosphere gradually began to disperse. The villagers recovered their cheerful, relaxed spirits. After all, the hunting team villagers had all seen that Lin Fan had not chosen to kill or injure the men following them, which meant the matter was not yet too serious.

Moreover, the town was still under the rule of the imperial government. Unless there were extreme circumstances, few gang forces would do something like massacre a village. If the authorities investigated and found out, the consequences would be extremely serious.

The authorities usually turned a blind eye to certain matters involving martial forces, but that did not mean the town government feared them or allowed them to challenge the law at will. Especially not for a grave crime like slaughtering an entire village.

There were also many powerful martial artists within the town government.