Preparing to Hunt Demon Beasts

The goods sold for a total of over 160 taels of silver. Lin Fan only took 100 taels, leaving the remaining 60 for Uncle Wang and the others to divide among themselves.

One should not underestimate those 60 taels. In the past, when Uncle Wang and the Small Mountain Village hunting party went to town every half month to sell their prey, everything together was worth only ten or twenty taels. Divided among the households of Small Mountain Village, each family would receive roughly two or three taels of silver.

Su Qingwei chatted with Lin Fan for a while longer before Lin Fan left the Su Family Shop.

As usual, Lin Fan went to several food shops in town and packed up some food. After quietly sensing whether anyone was following behind them, he left the town gates with Uncle Wang and the others. Of course, Uncle Wang and the others had also bought plenty of millet. Selling game in town was only one purpose of each trip; the other was to buy millet as food for the villagers of Small Mountain Village. Although they had become much more financially comfortable now, the villagers of Small Mountain Village still could not bear to make meat their staple food.

After leaving the town gates, Lin Fan found that no one was bothering or tailing them. He could not help but feel much more at ease. It seemed that after the last incident, the White Ram Gang no longer dared to cause him trouble.

Meanwhile,

Within the town, in a quiet residence, was Fang Steward's quarters in the White Ram Gang.

Two White Ram Gang underlings stood bowed in the hall, reporting everything they had just seen.

"Fang Steward, Lin Fan came to town again just now. And we discovered that after leaving the Su Family Shop, Lin Fan had changed to a new spear! Its forging quality was extremely high. It seemed to be a heavy weapon suited for a Bone Tempering Realm martial artist!"

Bang!

"What? He changed weapons again? Its forging quality seemed to have reached the standard of a Bone Tempering Realm martial artist's weapon?" Upon hearing his subordinates' report, Fang Steward slammed his palm heavily onto the table.

Tea splashed from the teapot onto the tabletop. "Are you certain you did not see wrongly?"

"There should be no mistake, Fang Steward. Whether in color, bearing, or sheer feel, that weapon was more than a level stronger than his previous spear."

"Last time, he was still in the Muscle Refinement Realm, yet this time he is suspected to have reached the Bone Refining Realm. Remaining in a Small Mountain Village with so few martial resources, yet cultivating so quickly... that boy likely carries a great secret." Fang Steward tapped his fingers against the tabletop. "Perhaps some extraordinary great fortune. If we could seize it..."

But the boy's strength was already so formidable that sending his own men after him would not work. He could only first report to the gang leader that the youth was suspected of possessing a great treasure and an unparalleled opportunity, then let the gang leader decide.

In this world, martial opportunities came in all shapes and sizes. Some were spiritual pills and herbs; others might be divine crystals or treasures capable of increasing cultivation speed and even improving one's innate martial talent. Some such opportunities were nurtured by heaven and earth, while others were remnants left behind by powerful senior martial artists.

Now, on Lin Fan's side—

After leaving town and confirming that no one was following him, Lin Fan carried the many packages he had bought, held the newly acquired Forging Road 25 spear in hand, and headed back toward Small Mountain Village first.

After breaking through to the Bone Tempering Realm, Lin Fan had become even faster. With the same-sized body possessing greater strength and more explosive power, an increase in speed was only natural. Lin Fan took merely an hour—half a shichen—to return to his thatched cottage in Small Mountain Village.

As for why he had never built a larger, better house, it was because Lin Fan had no plans to stay here long-term. Now that he had reached the Bone Tempering Realm, he would next sweep through the nearby deep mountains and investigate them. If he found any demon beasts that had broken through to the Skin Tempering Realm, he would hunt them down along the way. Then he could take his younger sister and leave Small Mountain Village—leave his newbie village. The resources here were still too scarce to support his future cultivation.

His younger sister, Lin Ruoruo, was also nearing the age at which she could begin martial cultivation. Given his own aptitude, his sister, born of the same parents, should not have poor martial bones either. When the time came, he would need to help her find better cultivation methods and some martial pills. Although once he broke through into the Bright Force Realm, he could use Inner Qi to raise another person's cultivation, it did not seem ideal for his sister to rely entirely on him pouring cultivation into her.

After leaving Small Mountain Village, Lin Fan planned to stay in town for a while first. After all, he had previously promised Uncle Wang and the others that he would remain in town for some time. Besides, he was fairly familiar with this place. There were auctions in town as well, and occasionally, Inner Qi Circulation Methods suitable for Bright Force Realm martial artists would appear there.

For a martial artist to reach the Three Qi-Force Realms, they had to begin cultivating an Inner Qi Circulation Method after reaching the late stage of the Bone Refining Realm and being unable to raise their cultivation any further. Only then could they break through into the Bright Force Realm. Unlike the cultivation methods for the Three Body-Tempering Realms, which cost only a few taels of silver, Inner Qi Circulation Methods were extraordinarily expensive. Their starting price was generally ten thousand taels. For a good Inner Qi Circulation Method, a price exceeding one hundred thousand taels was nothing unusual.

It seemed he would need to save money for quite some time, unless he got lucky and captured several demon beasts that had broken through to the Skin Tempering Realm. Thinking of Inner Qi Circulation Methods, Lin Fan sighed. The Lineage of the original Lin Fan's body had possessed such a method, but unfortunately, the original owner had not memorized it, only remembering the commonplace Azure Cloud Method.

And now, he was still a wanted criminal of the imperial court in name. He still did not dare swagger back to his home in the Capital City to search for an Inner Qi Circulation Method.

After playing with his younger sister and the Golden Rat, Mao Mao, for a while, Lin Fan spent 100 taels of silver to begin the 1,000-fold cultivation effect acceleration. Now that he had reached the Bone Tempering Realm, his sense of security had greatly increased, so there was no longer such an urgent need to raise his cultivation.

Lin Fan planned that after tomorrow, he would head into the nearby deep mountains—places steep and dangerous, thick with trees, where sunlight struggled to penetrate year-round—to search for demon beasts.

He would bring the Golden Rat, Mao Mao, along as well. Mao Mao's sense of smell was somewhat useful. Otherwise, if he failed to notice a demon beast in time and was caught off guard by a sneak attack, that would be rather awkward.

In the night, with every breath Lin Fan took, it was as though a primordial ferocious beast lay dormant within his body. The pressure of his aura silenced even the mosquitoes and insects around him.

Though he was a Bone Tempering Realm expert with three thousand jin of strength, Lin Fan's body did not have the grotesquely bulging muscles of those ordinary worldly fighters who did not practice martial cultivation. His figure was tall and well-proportioned, his flesh and skin not coarse-looking at all. He even carried the faint fair complexion of a youth. His skin was firm and taut, without excess fat, making him seem like nothing more than a frail scholar. Yet the muscles, organs, meridians, fascia, bones, and everything else within Lin Fan had long been tempered a thousand times over, ready at any moment to unleash terrifying power.