“Clan Chief, the Spirit-Tailed Chicken has escaped again!”
In the clan, Ethan Chen was momentarily stunned upon hearing the report from a dejected clansman. For a moment, Ethan didn’t know how to console him.
However, seeing that the Sacred Tree hadn’t conveyed any new thoughts, Ethan quickly responded, “If it ran away, then let it be. No need to worry about it.”
After all, another Spirit-Tailed Chicken in the clan was about to lay eggs. If necessary, they could always catch another one from the Disordered Burial Mountain.
Right now, the clan needed a lot of manpower for planting Blood Rice and building roads.
As long as the Sacred Tree didn’t issue any orders, Ethan didn’t have the time to go searching for the lost Spirit-Tailed Chicken.
Watching the Clan Chief leave, the clansman responsible for taking care of the Spirit-Tailed Chickens felt a bit lost.
…
A month later.
In Yong’an City, Oliver Chen stood in front of a bustling shop.
The shop was named Stone Warm Pavilion.
This city was his last stop and the closest one to his clan that he had found during his investigation. According to his calculations, it would take only three days to travel from the clan to this city.
Of course, that was at his speed. For ordinary people, it would take much longer, especially since there were no wide roads from the Disordered Burial Mountain to Yong’an City.
If one were to ride a Wind Chaser Falcon, the speed would be much faster.
Although this city was large, it paled in comparison to Cloud Dream City, where the Zhou Family resided.
However, it was still much more prosperous than his current clan. At least the shop in front of him was filled with items he had never seen before.
Previously, he had been too busy traveling and completing clan tasks to take a closer look.
Now that his map was almost complete, he could finally take a look inside.
“Welcome, sir. Please come in.”
As soon as Oliver stepped into the shop, a young attendant in green greeted him.
The attendant had a flattering smile but was at the late stage of the Body Tempering Realm.
Innate Realm warriors had a unique aura about them, and the attendant quickly noticed Oliver’s realm, his face lighting up with enthusiasm.
“What would you like to purchase, sir? This is the largest shop in Yong’an City, and we have everything you could need. Just name it.”
“Oh? You have everything?” Oliver asked in surprise.
The young attendant chuckled and said, “Our shop is backed by the Stone Clan, one of the Four Great Families of Yong’an City. While our Stone Clan might not be the strongest, we excel in trade and commerce, far surpassing the other three families. If you don’t believe me, you can check the other shops.”
“If you can’t find it here, you won’t find it anywhere in Yong’an City.”
The attendant’s face filled with pride as he mentioned the Stone Clan, and the unique family emblem on his clothing confirmed it. Oliver smiled and said, “I’ll take a look around first.”
“Of course, sir. Take your time.”
The young attendant was very perceptive and didn’t disturb Oliver further. Instead, he followed behind, occasionally introducing items that caught Oliver’s eye.
The shop’s reputation was well-deserved, with a vast array of items for sale, including common iron tools, special materials from fierce beasts, and unique minerals. There were even techniques and combat skills for warriors.
As he continued browsing, Oliver’s eyes lit up.
Although his clan had a few combat skills, one could never have too many of them.
Oliver picked up a book titled “Tiger Fist” and started reading. However, he quickly realized it was just a common Normal-Grade low-tier combat skill with no special features. It even required mimicking a tiger’s hunting posture.
Such a combat skill was beneath him.
He browsed through two more books, but they were also Normal-Grade low-tier combat skills. The only mid-tier combat skill required a specific weapon to use.
This made Oliver frown and ask, “Are there no higher-grade combat skills here?”
The young attendant looked at Oliver in surprise before explaining with a bitter smile, “Sir, you’re joking. Higher-grade combat skills are treasured by the great families and are only circulated within the family. They rarely make it to the market.”
“Even if a high-tier Normal-Grade combat skill appears, it is quickly acquired by the great families, and ordinary warriors never get to see it.”
“Moreover, the cost of high-tier combat skills is enormous. Ordinary warriors can’t afford them.”
Hearing the attendant’s explanation, Oliver was no longer puzzled and stopped looking at the combat skills, nor did he bother with the techniques.
If the combat skills weren’t good, the techniques wouldn’t be either.
The attendant’s words were true; these combat skills were quite expensive. The “Tiger Fist” he first looked at cost three thousand Jade Coins.
Jade Coins were something Oliver had only learned about after leaving the Disordered Burial Mountain.
They were a form of currency circulating in various regions, made from a material similar to jade but different. It was said to be mined from a type of mineral called Blood Jade and polished for market circulation.
Oliver had never heard of Blood Jade before, but he assumed it was controlled by top families.
The reason Jade Coins could be used as currency was due to the trace of blood energy within them, a unique feature of Blood Jade that made it hard to counterfeit.
The purer the Jade Coin, the denser the blood energy inside, divided into three levels.
Ordinary Jade Coins contained a trace of blood energy.
White Jade Coins had half blood energy.
Blood Jade Coins were filled with blood energy.
Their exchange rate was 1:10:100.
Ordinary Jade Coins contained only a trace of blood energy.
White Jade Coins had half blood energy.
Blood Jade Coins were filled with blood energy.
It was said that in critical moments, warriors could extract the blood energy from Blood Jade Coins to enhance their own Qi and Blood.
However, this was extremely difficult, requiring at least a Five Stages of Qi Control warrior. Moreover, extracting the blood energy would shatter the Jade Coin, and the extracted energy was worth less than the coin itself, so high-realm warriors rarely did this.
Oliver didn’t have a single Jade Coin on him. Over the past month, he had survived on his innate realm strength after finishing his dry rations, let alone having a thousand Jade Coins to buy combat skills.
But this didn’t stop Oliver from looking around.
His purpose was to understand the outside world and report back to his clan.
Oliver wandered around and soon reached another corner of the shop.
The items here were quite unusual, each costing hundreds or thousands of Jade Coins, no less valuable than the combat skills he had just seen.
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