Ning carefully dropped down from the tree and approached the massive crater-like opening that served as the boar’s lair. The ground trembled faintly in the distance; the enraged beast was still chasing Xiao Fan. Good. That meant he had time… but not much.

  He crouched low, steadying his breath as he extended his senses. His vague intuition picked up nothing, no movement, no sound. It was quiet.

  That made sense.

  Black boars never tolerated other creatures inside their nests. Their sheer aggression was enough to keep everything far, far away.

  Still, Ning didn’t dare stroll in carelessly. He scanned the entrance twice, then a third time, before inching forward with caution of hearing something move on the other side of the room at the dead of the night.

  The moment he stepped inside, a foul, musky odor slammed into him like a wave. The lair was dark, cramped, and littered with broken branches, mud, and shredded bark.

  Ning’s eyes, however, went straight to the far wall.

  There were residual roots, bits of stem, and qi residue.

  From the looks of it, there had been at least five stalks of Dragon Qi Grass, all of which were picked in haste, probably because Xiao Fan was startled by the black boar and had to flee immediately.

  "As expected, Xia Fan already got the treasure." Ning was not surprised. In fact, this was beneficial to him; it means he did not steal an 'opportunity' from a protagonist. That means, now all this was free real estate.

  Ning crocuched down and examined the remnants of the plant.

  “Hah… such good material…” Ning’s eyelids twitched.

  As a spiritual farmer, his heart ached seeing how roughly they had been harvested. Someone like Ning would never let even a single inch go to waste.

  But clearly, what Ning treasured was nothing special in Xiao Fan’s eyes.

  Remembering how the three attackers had “kindly” distributed all their belongings and even pointed out this herb, Ning realized the truth. There was no shortage of treasure delivery boys in Xiao Fan's life.

  It all makes sense now.

  He remembered asking others how Xiao Fan had cultivated so quickly. Wei and the rest simply said it must have been an inheritance from Xiao Fan’s parents and support from the Xiao Clan.

  But would someone like Xiao Hong really allow Xiao Fan to keep such resources? If he had any, they would’ve been taken long ago.

  Now it was obvious, Xiao Fan’s cultivation was built on a chain of coincidences and lucky “opportunities” lining themselves up.

  Alas, between talent, resources, and opportunity, it was no wonder some say opportunity was the most important.

  Ning lamented, but he wasn’t blinded by envy. In fact, this time, he was benefiting from Xiao Fan’s action.

  This was the first real windfall Ning had acquired without much effort. It gave him a deeper understanding of the phrase “Fortune favors the bold.” With his quick wit and even quicker feet, he finally understood what Xiao Fan must’ve experienced all this time.

  Ning’s mind moved quickly, but his hands were methodical. With practiced movements, he scraped up the last bits of the remaining herb material and kept them in a container, even scooping up some soil into his sack.

  His inner loot goblin came out in full force. A moment later, he was stuffing everything into his bag, the broken bones of various beasts, fragmented weapons probably belonging to unlucky hunters, anything that wasn’t firmly attached to the ground.

  Fortunately, aware of his own tendencies, Ning had brought a large sack. He even had a backup one for emergencies.

  As he moved deeper, he reached the innermost corner of the lair… and found something different.

  A demon core.

  Demon cores were left behind by spiritual beasts, the condensed result of their qi. Only beasts with exceptional bloodlines or those in the late stage of Qi Condensation could form one.

  The one Ning found was the size of a large marble, with qi so sparse it was obvious the boar had already absorbed most of it to break through.

  Without further inspection, Ning swiftly sealed it inside a separate box. The reason was simple, it stank. And judging by the sticky, slippery texture when he lifted it, the boar had kept this thing in its mouth while cultivating.

  The thought alone made Ning’s skin crawl.

  Shaking off the disgust, he quickly cleared up the surroundings. The haul was quite impressive.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Finally, he took out a sealed container and tossed it into the lair before moving away swiftly. At once, the lair’s already pungent smell intensified severalfold. It was the “Beast Repellent” he had bought just in case, essentially a bag soaked in foul liquid designed to irritate beasts and keep them away.

  As someone raiding a lair for the first time, Ning was cautious. He didn’t know if the boar’s strong senses might pick up his scent later and come knocking. Better safe than sorry.

  When he stepped out of the lair, only a few minutes had passed.

  And then, using the Shadow Steps, Ning ran straight back toward Blackthorn City, leaving all the trouble behind.

  ...

  Inside Blackthorn City, Ning headed straight to the marketplace.

  He quickly arrived at his usual spot, Xi’s Butchery.

  Dropping two heavy sacks onto the counter, he patiently waited.

  As per the stereotype, Xi the butcher was a massive, broad-shouldered man towering over everyone else. With practiced hands, he examined the contents.

  “A black boar, huh? Damage is minimal… but the poisonous residue in the flesh knocks the value down a bit,” Xi Shu grunted.

  “I know. Just give me the usual rate,” Ning replied. He was aware that the poison would reduce the price by at least one spirit stone, but this time, he didn’t mind.

  “Alright. But this haul only comes to four spirit stones. Looks like the hunt wasn’t that good, you usually bring back at least two boars.” Xi Shu gave him a measuring look.

  “It’s because there are other gains this time.” Ning slid another sack across the counter.

  Inside were various bones from different beasts.

  “Did you raid a lair?” Xi Shu raised a brow. “These bones are from all sorts of animals.”

  “Let’s just say I got lucky,” Ning said casually.

  He didn’t bother hiding anything. This butchery was reputable, and he had been introduced by Old Zhou. With his outer-sect status, he wasn’t going to be exalted, but neither would he be cheated.

  Blackthorn City was under the sect’s direct control. The status of a disciple carried weight here, especially since most guards were also sect disciples. Disputes typically favored their own people.

  It was ironic: outside the city, wearing an outer-sect robe made a disciple look like a “fat sheep” to merchants and “prime prey” to robbers. But inside the city, it was a protective talisman.

  “The bones are chewed up and handled poorly. For all this, I can give you… Twelve spirit stones at most,” Xi Shu finally concluded.

  “Alright.” Ning nodded; it was a fair price. “Then cut the boar’s tusks for me as a bonus.”

  “Sheesh… fine. You always try to squeeze out something extra,” Xi Shu muttered. In his imagination, sect disciples should act loftily and proudly, but Ning always asked for discounts.

  “You know, every stone saved is a stone that improves cultivation,” Ning said with a grin.

  …

  After finishing at the shop, Ning wandered toward the open marketplace to set up a stall.

  Most people he passed were early-stage Qi cultivators. A few reached mid-stage. Late-stage cultivators were rare in this part of the city.

  Independent cultivators had it rough. Without being chosen by the sect, their talent was usually mediocre, and they had to lease spiritual dwellings from sect-appointed managers. Even cultivating required paying rent.

  This was one of the sect’s main income sources. Clearly, they knew that being a landlord was the most profitable profession.

  While it seemed like the sect often exploited its disciples, the treatment independent cultivators faced was far worse.

  At least the disciples had a clear path to rise. Independent cultivators walked on eggshells, afraid of offending someone stronger, and even their meager savings were eventually siphoned away.

  The romantic image of carefree “immortals” from legends was a distant fantasy for them.

  Ning’s thoughts drifted as he set up his stall. Thanks to his outer-sect robe, he didn’t have to pay “offerings” to the local managers to display his goods.

  He arranged three fragmented weapons, two slightly chipped swords, and, his highlight, the demon core.

  Time passed as Ning practiced Turtle Breathing behind the stall. Occasionally, people walked by, asked for prices, and bought something.

  Most wanted the demon core, but their offers were mediocre. Seeing Ning’s identity, they didn’t try to haggle aggressively and simply left.

  Eventually, all the scrap metal was sold for ten spirit stones. Only the demon core remained.

  Ning wasn’t worried. Beast cores had countless uses across different professions.

  Just as the monotony settled in, someone approached the stall, and Ning’s eyebrow twitched.

  It was Xiao Fan.

  If there were a fourth-stage cultivator getting chased by a very angry late-stage boar, they would probably perish, but that was clearly not the case for Xiao Fan. Of course, he didn't seem totally fine. His clothes were tattered, his expression was pale, but he didn’t seem to care.

  “How much for this?” Xiao Fan asked, pointing at the demon core.

  Ning remained calm. He didn’t act shocked or call out Xiao Fan’s name like some cliché fool. He had long prepared himself for this meeting; after all, they were from the same sect.

  “Well, I want to trade this demon core for something that improves cultivation. If you have something suitable, I’d gladly trade,” Ning said.

  While spirit stones were nice, goodies from the protagonist were nicer.

  “Something to improve cultivation…” Xiao Fan muttered, thinking. Then he pulled something out. “How about this?”

  Ning’s eyes narrowed.

  A stalk of Dragon Qi Grass, one of the ones Xiao Fan had taken from the lair.

  He had hoped Xiao Fan would offer one.

  As a spiritual farmer, Ning wanted to plant it and needed a sample.

  “A Dragon Qi Grass?” Ning pretended to be surprised. “That’s rare. I’m interested.”

  “If you’re okay with it, let’s trade. But your demon core seems to have been used before,” Xiao Fan added, unable to hide his eagerness.

  “Hmm… how about I add ten spirit stones on top? How about that?” Ning said casually.

  “That simple?”

  “Yeah,” Ning replied blankly.

  “No, no problem. It’s just… the price is fair.” Xiao Fan blinked. Did the sun rise from the west today?

  For the first time in his life, he was getting something at a fair price. Was this the day he finally completed a transaction without being scammed? Xiao Fan almost shed tears of gratitude.

  “Of course. I pride myself on fairness,” Ning said, thumping his chest, utterly confused why the protagonist looked so emotional.

  “You really should.” Xiao Fan nodded seriously. “If you get more demon cores, come find me to trade.”

  Ning nodded.

  Watching Xiao Fan’s retreat, he couldn’t help but wonder.

  He had picked up the demon core from the boar’s lair. Demon cores seemed quite useful to Xiao Fan. But due to misinformation, Xiao Fan had fled and missed it, only to receive it now through Ning.

  Was this his luck?

  Or Xiao Fan’s?

  If this were a novel, Ning could easily imagine a scenario where he foolishly offended Xiao Fan while selling the core, overcharging him, and ending up brutally killed, while the core still fell into Xiao Fan’s hands anyway.

  Hmm… food for thought. I suppose.

  ...

  Thanks for reading~!