by D cat
According to their grade, an F-class Wind Wolf could go from anywhere between 20 to 50 silver coins.
Although the items he got from his kills were different, they were flawless and had perfect quality. They would surely go for 40 silvers on average.
In other words, Su Lang earned quite a lot of gold coins in a short span.
To understand how rich he was right now, see it like this. An ordinary cultivator, who wasn't foolish enough to risk his life hunting, wouldn't even earn a single gold coin in a month.
Of course, neither anyone was as lucky as Su Lang, nor was there an endless supply of Wind Wolfs. It was his luck that he found a Wind Wolf's group.
Even so, Su Lang's Clone's hunting efficiency was on a different level when compared to ordinary cultivators. He could earn at least tens of gold coins daily.
The most important thing was that other hunters had to risk their lives to earn that money. To hunt, they had to spend on equipment which was a heavy blow to their pockets. Moreover, then they had to hunt while keeping their life on the line. It was a pay that required their blood and sweat.
On the other hand, Su Lang just had to lie down, take a nap, and wait for those cuties to roll over into his pocket.
CHAPTER 32 - HIGHWAY ROBBERY!
However, a dozen of gold coins per day wasn't what he was after as they weren't enough for even a proper system upgrade.
Another thing to keep in mind was that his Clone Dispatch was merely at the first level.
And more importantly, Su Lang would soon become a Standard Martial Cultivator.
Since the clone's strength was about the same as his, he would soon be able to hunt E-class beasts using it.
One had to understand that the strength of an E-class Vicious Beast was similar to a Standard Martial Cultivator. Moreover, an E-class beast was about 10 times stronger than an F-class beast.
On the other hand, the after-taste of destroying a stronghold just struck Su Lang; it was sweet and addictive as hell.
Although the Broken Axe Hunting Group's stronghold was no longer in the world, he still had the Ye Family to satisfy his thirst for chaos and destruction.
"What a pity that I'm still weak. And the number of clones I have isn't satisfactory at all."
All of a sudden, a thought struck Su Lang and his eyes sparkled. "System, what's the cost for upgrading Clone Dispatch?"
"Host, upgrading the Clone Dispatch function to level 2 requires 1000 gold coins."
"With each upgrade, you'll get an additional clone. Moreover, after reaching certain levels, you'll even unlock new abilities."
"Wow! I can still get new abilities?"
"The abilities of this system are so terrifying! Damn! Why am I so poor?"
Filled with new-found determination, Su Lang raised his eyebrows and said, "It looks like I have to become a Standard Martial Cultivator as soon as possible."
Right now, he had 319 gold coins—a long stretch from the 1,000 he needed.
After pondering for some time, Su Lang sat on the public transport and left for the League of Martial Cultivators.
Su Lang was a Quasi Martial Cultivator right now, yet he wasn't planning on collecting the allowance for that.
Why? Well, he collected the allowance for breaking through the Primary and Intermediate Body Tempering just this morning.
It was evening now, and he had broken through the Advanced Body Tempering stage, the Peak Body Tempering Stage, and was now a Quasi Martial Cultivator. If people found out about his cultivation speed, the entire world would be in a hubbub.
If he attracted the attention of some strong powerhouses while still being unable to contend against them, he wouldn't be able to control his fate.
However, no one could hide the luster of pure gold. His talents were bound to come to light one day. But by that day, Su Lang would be invincible! If he was strong enough to kill whoever dares to cause strife, then there wouldn't be any strifes.
Half an hour later, Su Lang arrived at the League of Martial Cultivators building.
Even though it was already dark, the League of Martial Cultivators' building was brightly lit and had a constant stream of people entering and leaving.
Su Lang blended in with the crowd and arrived at the second floor of the building.
The first floor acted as the reception area, and the floors from second to fourth were reserved for official League of Martial Cultivators stores. Among the numerous stores, some specialized in selling cultivation techniques.
Right now, the easiest way to increase his combat strength was to practice cultivation techniques.
A beginner-level cultivation skill could increase his strength b leaps and bounds. Moreover, it would only take minutes!
He slowly began dreaming about the time when he would have dozens or even hundreds of cultivation techniques and would be able to kill opponents that had a higher level of cultivation than him. The fantasy made him so excited that he began laughing like maniacs.
Yet, when he entered the shop. his joy and laugher came to an abrupt halt.
Beginner Body Tempering Technique—Vigor of the White Lion, 888 gold coins
Beginner Weapons Cultivating Technique—Sierra Sundering Seven Swords, 1298 gold coins
Beginner Attribute Cultivation Technique—Scarlet Inferno, 23,000 gold coins.
...
"A cultivation technique is actually so expensive?"
Su Lang looked at the price tags, and the corner of his lips began twitching.
Adding insult to the injury was the fact that all of them were mere beginner cultivation techniques.
Dreading what was about to come, Su Lang glanced at the intermediate cultivation techniques, and his eyeball nearly flew out of their sockets! None of them had a price lower than five digits; the attribute cultivation techniques were in the six-digit territory.
Shivering, he looked at the advanced cultivation techniques and was surprised again. Not because of the price tags, but because there were only three advanced cultivation techniques there. The true treasure among them was the Traceless Snow Palm—5 million golden points!
"I say, these guys are committing highway robbery, damn!"
Looking at all those "phenomenal" price tags, Su Lang was left speechless. Even if he counted every morsel and penny he had, he still wouldn't be able to afford the cheapest technique here.
On an even sadder now, the store already had the Origin Bodybuilding Technique and the Ghost Moon Saber Technique. So, his plan to sell his techniques and buy newer from them failed.
"Sigh, money, money..."
Su Lang walked out of the cultivation technique store with a wretched expression, "Looks like my plan to buy cultivation techniques to increase my strength was cut short."
While he was lamenting, he was struck by a sudden flash of inspiration.
"If I can't buy it, I can just rob it! Didn't I steel the Ghost Moon Saber Technique too?"
"Isn't the Ye family one of the four major powers in the Red Maple City? They must surely have a lot of cultivation techniques. Let alone beginner techniques—I'm sure they must have some advanced techniques too!"
"And then there is the Broken Axe Hunting Group; I have to eradicate them! Who knows what good stuff they are hiding?"
"When I'm sufficiently strong, I'll go out to hunt them!"
Thinking about his future wealth and fame, reinvigorated Su Lang and his increased his pace towards the fifth floor.
The fifth floor of the League of Martial Cultivators building was home to numerous cultivation rooms, martial arts training centers, training grounds, meeting halls, luxury restaurants, and other areas.
Su Lang's current destination was the cultivation room.
CHAPTER 33 - STANDARD MARTIAL CULTIVATOR!
The cultivation rooms on the fifth floor had two categories: Ordinary rooms and Spiritual Qi rooms. One had to pay depending on the amount of time they cultivated in the room.
Ordinary cultivation rooms provided a serene and safe e
nvironment for cultivation. The spiritual energy concentration in these rooms was about the same as the outside world.
Spiritual Qi rooms, on the other hand, boasted an incredibly dense environment. The air here was saturated with spiritual qi, and this helped cultivators in cultivating faster.
Su Lang went to the counter and brought the pass for the best Spiritual Qi room.
As soon as he entered the room, the dense spiritual qi flooded his body.
"Such dense spiritual qi! Cultivating here will be so refreshing."
Su Lang felt the surrounding spiritual energy and revealed a satisfied smile.
After closing the door, Su Lang did something legendry; it was something that no one had ever dreamt of doing—he laid down and slept!
He tossed and turned around in hopes of increasing his cultivation speed. However, regardless of the "stance" he took, it didn't affect the one-click cultivation technique.
At the same time.
Inside a luxurious room of the Golden Fruit Building.
"Ah Biao and Ah Qing still haven't returned?"
Inside the room, a bald man with menacing black snake patterns could be seen pacing around with a frown.
Around him stood two Quasi Martial Cultivators and four Peak Body Tempering cultivators.
On the sofa, one could see a few beautiful women lying naked, covering in fear. They were trembling, and the panic was quite apparent in their eyes.
"Boss, we've already sent people to the F-class Wind Wolf area stronghold."
One of the Quasi Martial Cultivators lowered his head and said, "I think we will soon get some news."
Just as he finished his sentence, they could hear a ruckus erupting outside.
"Not good!"
"Boss, the stronghold is gone!"
"Everyone is dead, everyone is dead. The entire stronghold is filled with corpses, mangled bodies, and blood-red walls!"
While shouting with horror, a man with a massive built entered the private room. He was panicked, drowned in his own sweat, and was out of breath.
As soon as he said those words, the bald man's body shook. One could see a wave of terrifying anger emerging from his eyes.
As for the rest of the occupants, they were just stunned out of their minds by his words.
Their stronghold in the F-class beast territory was established a long time ago. They had already crushed all resistance and conflicts there could be. So, who and how did someone destroy their stronghold so quickly?
"How dare someone touch the stronghold of the Broken Axe Hunting Group! Who is it? Who is it!"
"Investigate for me! Investigate for me! I want to see the results within a day!"
"Hurry up and go!"
The bald man with serpent pattern on his body was burning with rage. He was akin to an active volcano on the verge of erupting.
"Yes, yes!"
"Boss, calm down. This subordinate will investigate this matter immediately!"
"Quick, let's go together! We must find the murderer!"
All the subordinates were terrified when they saw his anger. They kneeled on one knee and left as soon as they received their orders.
Soon, only the menacing bald man and those trembling women were left in the room.
"Regardless of who you are, I'll catch you. And when I do that, you'll suffer a fate worse than death!"
Vengeance and wrath filled the bald man's eyes; he looked vicious right now.
He turned around and walked towards the women cowering on the sofa.
"Boss!"
"Please, spare m—"
...
In the blink of an eye, two hours passed.
In the League of Martial Cultivators building.
"Host, the sea of cultivation has been filled. Do you wish to breakthrough?"
Su Lang's sweet sleep was suddenly broken because of the system notification. He groggily opened his eyes and lamented about how hard cultivation was.
"Finally! Cultivating in the Spiritual Qi room was indeed not a wasteful endeavor."
Su Lang stood up excitedly. "System, help me a breakthrough!"
Suddenly, all the spiritual energy in his surrounding rushed towards his body as if it was a black hole.
His body was going through an enormous change right now.
The sheer amount of spiritual qi rushing inside of his body was tempering and baptizing him. Slowly, his body was undergoing a seemingly absurd transformation.
All his meridians, tendons, bones, and tissues were transforming. (E/N: Megazord Activate!)
Wisps of dark-red blood began seeping out from his body and started enveloping his body. Soon, these wisps were thick enough to form a hard shell around him.
A vortex of pure spiritual energy emerged from within his dantian. Strands of spiritual qi began flowing out of the vortex and went to the meridians.
After what seemed like a long time, the dark-red shell began peeling off inch by inch. From inside came Su Lang, who now had healthy and glossy skin.
"Finally, I became a Standard Martial Cultivator!"
Su Lang grinned, his eyes erupting with shocking divine light.
Becoming a Standard Martial Cultivator from the Body Tempering realm was in essence similar to going through a life-changing transformation.
This was precisely why the Red Maple City only had ten thousand authentic martial cultivators despite it having tens of thousands of citizens.
Quasi Martial Cultivators and Standard Martial Cultivators were akin to the ground and sky. The former being on the land—never being able to touch the latter who lived in the skies.
Now that Su Lang was a Standard Martial Cultivator, he stood above the mass. Not many could compare to his status and strength now.
CHAPTER 34 - SHOW THEM A LITTLE BIT
"Ah~ This feeling is so good."
Trying to feel his power, Su Lang circulated the spiritual qi to his palms and formed a fist. Looking at his fist, he was sure that he could even send an elephant flying with it.
To get a proper analysis of his growth, he opened the Property Panel.
Name: Su Lang
Race : Human
Qualification Level: Turbid Body
Realm Level: Standard Martial Artist
[Attack Level]: Standard Martial Artist+
[Defense Level]: Standard Martial Artist
[Movement Level]: Standard Martial Artist
[Endurance Level] : Standard Martial Artist
[Skill Mastery]: Infinite Heart Sutra, Ghost Moon Saber Technique (Beginner, Beginner), Origin Bodybuilding Technique (Beginner, Beginner)
[Activated System Functions]: One-click cultivation (Level 3), One-click martial arts (Level 3), Clone Dispatch function (Level 1)
"It seems like the beginner technique, Origin Bodybuilding, wasn't all that helpful to a Standard Martial Cultivator like me. Only my attack level is on a fringe benefit; defense, movement, and endurance are just the same as my cultivation."
"Thankfully, I have recently added two more attack techniques. With them, I can triumph over anyone of the same level!"
"Furthermore, with such strength, I can easily crush the F-class stronghold!"
"Hehehehe!"
Reveling in his new-found power, Su Lang curled his mouth up and revealed a sinister smile.
He decided to start with the F-class stronghold first to show them his true might.
Let's do it.
After achieving the breakthrough, Su Land immediately vacated the Spiritual Qi room.
"Good day, customer. You total for the room adds up to 30 gold coins.."
A staff member walked over to collect the fee, but was shell shocked when he saw Su Lang.
This staff member was the one who welcomed Su Lang when he entered the store. At that time, he saw Su LAng and was certain that he was a mere Body Tempering realm cultivator.
However, Su Lang was exuding faint spiritual aura whenever he moved now.
It was a clear indication of a Standard
Martial Cultivator.
"He became a Standard Martial Cultivator at such a young age; is he a genius scion from some prominent family?"
Right now, the staff member was going through a multitude of emotions, but envy and shock prevailed them all. He bowed down and apologized, "Sir, please forgive my previous transgressions."
"It's fine."
Su Lang was in a good mood, so he just paid the bill with a generous smile. Then, under Staff Member's respectful gaze, he left the fifth floor of the building.
When he arrived on the third floor, the people there, too, stared at him with respect. They only had awe and reverence for such a young Standard Martial Cultivator.
On the third floor, Su Lang spent one gold coin to buy the best map he could find.
Like any other map, this map also showed the areas of different Vicious Beasts. However, it also showed all the materials one could obtain from those areas. Also marked on it were the stronghold locations and even the number, name, and strength of guards guarding each one of them.
If one studied the map, they would find that there were about 200-300 strongholds in the F-class area. They were about 90% of the entire stronghold population in all the areas.
Compared to the staggering number of strongholds in the F-class areas, the number of strongholds in the E-class area was just 30 or so.
As for the number of strongholds in the D-class area... there were just four of them. They were situated in the cardinal directions and acted as a watchtower for the Red Maple City.
There was not a single stronghold in the C-class area. Red Maple City had F-grade, E-grade, and D-grade strongholds only.
In other words, the entire Red Maple City acted as a C-grade stronghold.
The number of strongholds outside the Red Maple City stronghold territory was pitiful, at best. Despite its vast population, they weren't able to establish more strongholds outside of their territory.
It wasn't that the population was just too cowardly to build more strongholds.
Instead, they all found it to be a wasteful endeavor. Why? Well, every ten years, there would come a Vicious Beast's Tide, and it would completely level all the strongholds.
The Vicious Beast's Tide could easily level a D-grade stronghold. Strongholds of such a grade were made by the joint alliance of the four major powers.
