"Fuck, this is going too far! Ganging up on me with their numbers-what a bunch of animals." Lin Fan leaned against a tree, panting, feeling rather helpless.
He had come brimming with enthusiasm to harvest points, never expecting to encounter such a sinister, crafty bunch.
But since he himself was so open and aboveboard, it was understandable that he had fallen for their tricks.
"Fine, you bastards. Just you wait. If I don't wipe out your whole nest in a few days, my surname isn't Lin." Lin Fan silently swore to himself. He had lost face this time, but losing face wasn't frightening, as long as he won it back next time.
A few days later.
At the sect.
Lin Fan looked left and right. Once he saw that no one was around, he hurried toward his quarters.
"Junior Brother Lin." Just then, a voice came from behind him.
Lin Fan turned around, saw who it was, and immediately smiled. "Oh, it's you, Senior Brother Zhang."
"Junior Brother Lin, I heard from Lü Qiming that you went off on a mission. How did it go? Did you complete it?" Zhang Long asked.
"No, I couldn't find the target. It was a wasted trip, so I came back first. I'm planning to take another look in a few days." He certainly couldn't say he had been scared off by their numbers. If word got out, where would he put his face?
Zhang Long nodded in understanding. "Missions aren't easy these days. Those people wanted by the sect are all slippery. Sometimes it comes down to luck."
"Exactly. I noticed that too. Those fellows are really slippery. Think about it-I wasted all those days and didn't see a single soul. I could only come back empty-handed." Lin Fan sighed, then noticed that Zhang Long's blood and Qi had grown more robust than before. He couldn't help changing the subject. "Senior Brother, did you make a breakthrough?"
At that, a smile involuntarily appeared on Zhang Long's face.
"Just luck, just luck. After the sect handed out the rewards this time, I used the money I'd saved to exchange for a pill and successfully broke through to the Body Tempering Seventh Stage."
"Senior Brother, you're too modest."
"Oh, right, Junior Brother. In a while, a few of us fellow disciples are planning to take on a mission together. You must join us when the time comes," Zhang Long said.
Zhang Long was deliberately looking out for Lin Fan. The sect had plenty of team missions, and completing them earned substantial rewards.
Especially now that Zhang Long had broken through to the Body Tempering Seventh Stage, he was brimming with confidence and wanted to earn a good haul of rewards. Of course, he wouldn't forget Junior Brother Lin, which was why he wanted to bring him along.
"Sure, no problem. Senior Brother, let's leave it there for now. I'm feeling a little down, and I need to go back and make some preparations." Lin Fan didn't feel like saying much now. To put it bluntly, he had returned this time to work on grenades. He had been far too confident at first and had been promptly taught his place.
But just wait until I get these grenades made. I'll make sure they learn how formidable I am.
They each went home.
Lin Fan had already learned the grenade manufacturing manual and was thoroughly familiar with how to make grenades. Still, there were difficulties involved.
First, he had to sort out the most basic casing materials, and then the gunpowder.
Scrap iron here wasn't worth much-or rather, no one fucking wanted it. But to Lin Fan, scrap iron was now an absolute necessity. Without it, he couldn't make grenades.
He cultivated for a night.
The next day!
Lin Fan found some tools and went out pushing a small cart.
"Junior Brother Lin, what are you off to do?" Lü Qiming was in a very good mood upon seeing that Lin Fan had returned. But he knew Senior Brother Lin hadn't completed his mission, so he didn't bring it up.
"Senior Brother, go about your business. I'm going to collect some scrap iron," Lin Fan replied as he pushed his cart.
Lü Qiming froze, rather baffled. What was Junior Brother Lin doing?
Collecting scrap iron?
What did he want scrap iron for?
It didn't seem to have any use.
On the street where the sect disciples lived.
Holding a gong and drum, Lin Fan banged away with a clattering racket, then shouted at the top of his lungs, "Come one, come all! Don't pass this up! Come take a look and have a listen! This is definitely something good!"
Some sect disciples stopped and looked at Lin Fan in confusion.
They had no idea what this fellow was up to.
"Senior Brother, are you going to perform the boulder-smashing-on-the-chest act? I left my hometown quite a few years ago. It's been ages since I last saw it," one disciple asked.
Lin Fan rolled his eyes. Smash your sister's damn boulder.
"Come take a look! Turning trash into cash is just that easy! Buying scrap iron now! Any fellow disciples with scrap iron, bring it over right away! One jin... one Flame Magnificence Currency per jin! Miss this shop, and you won't find another!"
Lin Fan shouted his pitch. He had now realized that some disciples were so poor their pockets rattled. Once they heard that scrap iron could sell for money, wouldn't they bring out everything at home that could be sold?
Sure enough, quite a few disciples were shocked when they heard what Lin Fan said.
As far as they knew, scrap iron was worthless, and hardly anyone wanted it. The apprentices at the Artifact Refining Hall did want such things, though. Since they were apprentices, they naturally needed practice, so they generally used scrap iron. It wasn't worth much either and was usually given away for free. Hearing a fellow disciple offer one Flame Magnificence Currency per jin, they all wondered whether they had misheard.
"Senior Brother, is that really true? You're not tricking us, are you?" one disciple asked.
Lin Fan thumped his chest in assurance. "Why would I trick you? Fair dealing for young and old alike! If you have any, hurry and bring it over. Time is limited. I'll have to move somewhere else in a bit."
At that moment, some of the disciples grew restless.
"Fuck, my weapon broke a while ago, and I don't even know where I threw it. I need to hurry and find it."
"Right, right, I need to go look too. Since when was this stuff worth money?"
"Holy shit, I only earn a few dozen Flame Magnificence Currency a day. Who'd have thought scrap iron could sell for this much?"
Quite a few disciples began to get anxious. They had never imagined these things could sell for money and had thrown away whatever needed throwing away. Finding it all again now really wouldn't be easy.
Lin Fan stood there beaming, feeling delighted inside. It looked like he would be reaping a bountiful harvest shortly.
But he also knew the purchasing power of Flame Magnificence Currency now. What he was spending was wealth.
Just thinking about it made his heart ache a little.
But once he thought about being able to make grenades, that thought vanished without a trace.
Only, something wasn't quite right. There seemed to be rather few disciples coming to sell things.
Could they have failed to find it?
"Senior Brother, how many jin do you reckon this sword weighs?" A gleam flashed in this disciple's eyes, as though he was full of anticipation.
Lin Fan looked at the rusty scrap iron in his hands, broken into three pieces, and hefted it slightly. He muttered inwardly that this thing had to weigh at least a dozen jin.
"Hmm, this is about four, five, six, seven, eight jin. I'll count it as six."
The disciple froze. "Senior Brother, that's not right. I think it weighs more than that."
"Oh, Junior Brother, it used to weigh more, but not anymore. Look, doesn't this look like bugs have been chewing on it?" Lin Fan pointed at the yellow spots on the blade, which were riddled with tiny holes.
This disciple knew nothing about rust. At a glance, he really was taken in by Lin Fan.
"So the inside of your sword has already been eaten by bugs, making it lighter. Since you're my first customer, I'll count it as seven jin. How about that?" Lin Fan said. "You should know, people like your senior brother are a rare sight these days. I'm practically handing out benefits to you all."
Meanwhile, he muttered inwardly, Bug-eaten, my fucking ass. Those would be some seriously hard teeth.
The disciple saw the light. "Thank you for your generosity, Senior Brother. I'll sell it as seven jin, then."
Money in one hand, goods in the other, with sincerity in abundance.
Holding the money, the disciple felt delighted. It wasn't much, but it was still a fifth of what he could earn in a day.
Then he happily left.
He was off to find more scrap iron to sell.
Having bought his first batch of scrap iron, Lin Fan smiled brilliantly. "Any other fellow disciples selling? The road to riches is right before your eyes! Miss it, and it'll be gone!"
Just then, a First-Grade Outer Sect Disciple swaggered past Lin Fan, munching on nuts. Tilting his head, he spat out a shell.
It stuck straight to Lin Fan's shoe, but the other fellow acted as though he hadn't seen it.
But Lin Fan had certainly seen it.
"Stop."
Arrogant. Far too arrogant. Eating in front of me, then spitting a shell my way without so much as an apology. This is simply going too far.