The girl was surprised when her teacher brought her to a local Hunting Guild. No one from the central continent would go there, so it was very likely that the person with the Will-Aura was local. 'This is great!' she thought as she excitedly kicked open the door.
BANG!
She hit a person standing behind the door in the back, but she didn't care. She hadn't used much strength, so they wouldn't be injured. Instead, she looked through the Hunting Guild, inspecting every person.
"That's him," she heard her teacher's voice inside her mind. Together with the voice, her attention was drawn to a youngster with black hair and black eyes. She smiled excitedly, but inside she was shocked. Someone of her age had already cultivated a Will-Aura? On top of that, the person was only in the Body Tempering Realm. Someone in the Body Tempering Realm with a Will-Aura was unheard of, even in the central continent.
Building a Will-Aura did not require talent, but required one to go through many life and death battles. How could anyone find so many equal enemies to defeat while not rising in their realm? It's not like one can just search for enemies and never meet anything out of their league that would just, straight up, kill them. Mishaps always happen.
She was very interested in the youngster, and her eyes sparkled. "Hello, I am here to offer you a trade!" she spoke loudly with an excited smile.
Gravis, who had returned to his cold self by now, looked at the girl. The girl looked beautiful, but he had seen lots of immortal beauties in his hometown, so he was not struck dumb. How could mortals compare to Gods? Yet, he felt something different this time. All the immortal fairies in the past were like stars in the sky, completely untouchable. This girl, however, was in the lower world and looking at him. It felt more real and less illusory.
"What trade?" Gravis asked evenly.
The girl heard his distant voice and looked into his cold eyes. Gravis did not release his Will-Aura, but the girl was already in the Energy Gathering Realm, so she could still feel a slight inkling. The hidden killing intent excited her. The stronger he was, the higher the chances of him helping her in the future. She had struck gold!
The girl threw a short glance at her teacher, and he immediately sent a sound transmission to her mind. "The boy has a very strong body for his age. His organs and blood are tempered, and by the feel of his body, he has been in that realm for multiple years. Only rich clans can afford to temper the organs and blood first, yet the boy has condensed a Will-Aura and is in this backwater town." Her teacher's voice sounded like he was in deep thought.
"This is very peculiar. No clan would risk losing all their invested resources by getting their heirs to fight that many life and death battles. Only when death is a genuine possibility can one build a Will-Aura. Also, his skin is about 60% tempered, yet he is not currently training. Instead, he is in a Hunting Guild." The old man furrowed his brows, but he slowly got an inkling about what was happening.
"He is probably desperately trying to get enough money to temper his skin for the yearly entrance exams for the Proxy-Elemental Guilds." The old man sighed bitterly in his mind. "But because of his strong body, his skin needs around 20 Skin-Pills for a full tempering. One Hunting Guild can't spit out that much money." Slowly, a sly smile was forming on the old man's face. "I think we arrived at the perfect time."
All of the old man's ramblings reached the girl in the span of five seconds. The hall was silent, everyone looking at the old man's face contorting into different emotions in the span over five seconds. Did the old man have dementia?
If Gravis knew that the old man basically found out everything about him in just five seconds, he would be shocked beyond belief. Just seeing through his cultivation required a spirit that would be able to leave one's body. This would mean that the old man had, at least, reached the third major realm, the Spirit Accumulation Realm. This person would be one of the most powerful people in the lower world.
The girl grew even more excited inside. Paying for around eight Skin-Pills was a little much, but she could handle it. This guy went through the most dangerous part on the journey to becoming an expert, condensing a Will-Aura. Now, the young man would only need resources to get to the higher realm.
"Let me introduce myself," she chirped. "My name is Joyce, and I am collecting favors!" she announced with pride. The hunters looked a little confused. How can one collect favors?
Gravis narrowed his eyes in uncertainty. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Joyce just continued smiling cheerfully. "Simple! I am traveling from town to town, searching for talented young people in trouble. I solve their trouble, but they need to repay me if they ever reach a similar strength to me." Joyce nodded in confidence. This was her great idea! Just spent some change to get a potential favor. She was practically sending coal to people in winter.
Gravis was surprised. Joyce was very direct and honest. She didn't try to sneak her way into him owing a favor but directly announced it. Gravis liked honesty and directness. It was uncomplicated, and it was easier to trust such people. Gravis felt refreshed. The world had greedy bastards like the bandits or that one youngster at the waterfall, but it also had honest and friendly people like Joyce or Anthony. People really came in all colors and forms.
"So, in exchange for something I need, you want me to help you with something when I reach sufficient strength?" Gravis asked for confirmation.
Joyce nodded. "Yep!"
"How strong would I have to be to repay the favor?" Gravis asked.
Joyce continued smiling. "When you reach the central continent by your own strength, you should have enough strength," she explained.
Gravis was not even sure where he currently was in the lower world. It probably was not the central continent. Just by the word "central", he could guess that it probably was the core of the lower world. That meant that he probably needed to be around the Spirit Accumulation Realm. This was far away from him.
Seeing that Gravis was silent for a while, Joyce continued. "So, what do you need?" she asked eagerly.
Gravis gritted his teeth. "Around 50 gold," he said. He knew that it was a lot of money, but she probably had enough money.
Joyce released a sly grin. "Alright," she took out a sack of gold, and everyone in the hall gasped in shock. The girl took out 50 gold like it was just some change. She offered it to Gravis.
He looked at the gold with excitement and stretched his hand toward it, but suddenly stopped. Joyce looked confused. Gravis gritted his teeth as he remembered something.
Just when Gravis had gotten close to Anthony, he was smacked by the door. It was not dangerous, just bad luck. But exactly that was the issue! Others might think it was just a coincidence, but Gravis thought otherwise. Heaven was probably warning him that he should keep away from others.
Heaven could reclaim all the karmic luck of others, but then it would throw away resources in the form of cultivators. Gravis heard from his father that Heaven was collecting energy with cultivators as a medium. His father did not elaborate further, but he told Gravis that this was the reason why he killed so many people back then. In his own words, he was basically destroying unripe crops from Heaven's farm.
If Gravis accepted the money, Heaven would probably steal all the karmic luck of Joyce and the old man. This helping hand was just too strong. Gravis gritted his teeth furiously. Someone came here to help him, and Heaven was threatening him with his savior's life. This was beyond despicable!
Gravis furiously clenched his fist and retracted his eyes.
"I can't accept this," he spat through clenched teeth.