Inside the Kalut Forest, a young man, wearing the blue, outer court uniform of the Heavy Mountain Sect could be seen cautiously looking around. He was carrying a wooden ax that radiated metallic sheen. It was apparently brand new.
This young man's name was Jun Hong, 16 years old and a newly accepted outer court sect disciple of the Heavy Mountain Sect. However, unlike the proud and courageous disciples from the inner sect, Jun Hong was getting startled and would swing his head around from the slightest sound.
After all, this was the infamous Kalut Forest, where the weakest beast was at least a Rank One.
Indeed, Jun Hong came here to chop some wood, a special type of wood that Alchemist students used to heat their cauldrons.
He had taken the job to earn money and buy a Bone Tempering Pill. It costs one Rank One Beast Core or 10 Spirit Stones or 100 gold coins, but this job only gave him 2 gold coins. That was because it was an alchemist that posted the job. If it was another person, it would have been half that price.
But after two months in the sect, he had already accumulated over 98 gold coins. So completing this job was enough for him to buy the pill.
A gold coin equals a hundred silver coins or a thousand bronze coins. And in this continent, a gold coin was enough to sustain a family of five for a year.
A Bone Tempering Pill was that expensive. And considering that it was just a pill for someone who has not broken through the Body Tempering Stage, just imagine the price for more powerful pills!
Jun Hong cautiously traversed the land while occasionally checking the map drawn on a goatskin. That was where one can chop the best firewood for alchemists, the White Tree. The tree was white so it was called White Tree!
After almost to hours of walking, he finally reached his destination. The white trunks of the unique tree confirmed it. The trees were humongous and two people would barely able to hug them.
Cautious as he was, Jun Hong took out a roll of thin string and carefully tied it around the area where he was going to cutting trees. After that, he took out a few bells and tied them on the strings. If thy were in any way disturbed, the bells would ring and he would be alerted.
With all that prepared, Jun Hong started to swing his wooden ax. It took him a full 10 minutes to cut down an entire tree, however, he had already successfully refined his muscles, tendons, and blood; the only thing left was his bones. He did not even drop a sweat after that much swinging.
The tree issued a creak, and before it could fall, Jun Hong took out a purple-colored crystal from his pocket and absorbed a tiny bit of Spirit Qi. Since he was yet to reach Qi Condensation, Jun Hong immediately needed to channel the Spirit Qi before it could dissipate. With a touch, the tree suddenly vanished!
Jun Hong could not help but chuckle as he patted the small pouch hidden in his inner pocket. It was a Spatial Storage Bag produced by Rune Masters. It has about 20 cubic meters in space, big enough to fit a small house! It was given to him when he entered the Heavy Mountain Sect! Bear in mind that this for an outer sect disciple!
Unlike Alchemists who use plants as an ingredient, Rune Masters study Runes and integrate them into weapons, armors, and clothes to make them more powerful and tougher. But, if you want to use Runic tools, you need to have Spirit Qi!
And Jun Hong, who was still just a Body Tempering Stage kid needed a Spirit Stone to activate the Storage Bag. Even if he had yet to unlock his Dantian, he could still absorb and channel Spirit Qi with his meridians.
Spirit Stones are naturally formed. Naturally formed Spirit Veins could be mined and produce Spirit Stones. They are usually found in a place with concentrated Spirit Qi. The standard size of a Spirit Stone is as big as an adult's fist and that would cost 10 gold coins each.
The only reason Jun Hong even bought one was to have the ability to activate his Storage Bag and make use of the convenience. Like now, thanks to the Storage Bag, he did not have to carry the tree one by one and return! It would be a hassle and a waste of time!
Jun Hong was already starting to sweat from his 4th tree, suddenly, he stopped in alarm when he heard the faint sound of a bell ringing! Snap! The sharp sound of the string snapping made Jun Hong tremble from fear as he could feel the arrival of something terrible!
Sh*t! Is it a beast?!
Jun Hong immediately hid behind the tree that he was going to cut. He did not carelessly run knowing that it might attract some more beasts nearby. Just then, Jun Hong heard a snort!
'Is it a wild pig?' The snort that sounded like it came from an air brake made him think. Wild pigs are not naturally aggressive unless they were cornered or desperately starving.
When Jun Hong finally had the courage to take a peek, he froze when he saw a gigantic black figure. A huge wild pig standing at the height of almost two meters, with a pair of large tusks, and had rough dirty hair. It seemed to have known long ago that Jun Hong was behind the tree as they stared at each other.
The tense atmosphere resembled a Mexican standoff between a person and a huge wild boar!
'Sh*t! Why is it staring at me?!' Jun Hong was a coward! Be it in his past life or now, he was still a coward! He kept imagining the wild boar ramming at him and impaling him with its tusk, somehow, it reminded him of being smashed by a truck.
'What do I do?! What do I do?!' He gripped his ax tightly while also planning on how to react in every possible situation. But after ten seconds of what felt like a Mexican Standoff, the wild boar simply snorted and continued sniffing on the ground, slowly making its way deeper in the forest. It was as if it disdained to have the thought of eating the human.
Jun Hong finally relaxed when the beast left.
'That was definitely a Rank 1!' Beasts had nine ranks. With Rank 1 as the weakest and Rank 9 as strongest. Beyond Rank 9 Beasts were the Fierce beasts, but forget about them, even a Rank 9 beast was enough to slaughter several peak Foundation Establishment stage disciple!
...
Due to him being cautious, Jun Hong finally cut down 15 White Trees. Although ten was the required amount, there was an additional 20 silver coins for each tree. And 15 was also the limit of his Storage Bag.
After retrieving his strings and bells, Jun Hong made his way back for another three hours. Fortunately, the only thing he encountered was some senior brothers going for a hunt who also gave him a nod of encouragement.
He flashed his identification token to the guards and entered the city. If he was not a sect disciple, he would have needed to pay a silver coin as a toll.
Heavy Mountain City is only one of the 16 cities under the full control of the Heavy Mountain Sect. However, the cities were just a place where the outer sect disciples rules. Only if one was promoted to inner court disciples would they be worthy to go and live in the headquarters and receive endless support!
Due to it being close to a beast infested area, few ordinary people would be here. Even men in the trade business were cultivators who reached Qi Condensation and above.
The moment Jun Hong entered, he could feel the liveliness of this city. It was not as majestic compared to the large cities on Earth, but the old model buildings had their own charms.
Indeed, Jun Hong was a man of two worlds. After dying in a car accident, he was reborn in this world. Since then, it had been 16 years! Unfortunately, he did not have a Goldfinger even though he was a reincarnator! Still, he did not see that as a disadvantage and just kept living a normal life.
Because of his cowardly personality, he wanted to get stronger in a lowkey manner and not stir up trouble. So even though he was able to pass the test to enter the Heavy Mountain Sect, which was the strongest sect in a ten thousand-kilometer radius, his results were among the normal ones.
His experience of getting bullied at school led to his shut-in life, low self-esteem, and cowardly personality. Of course, as a reincarnator, Jun Hong also dreamed of becoming a powerhouse among the powerful and beat every bully that he met, rule the world, or whatever.
But unfortunately, this cultivation world humbled his whole being! Gone were his arrogance as a reincarnator; gone were his silly dreams of becoming a hero.
Now, his goal was to become someone who could control his fate, marry a beautiful woman, and live a peaceful life.
...
Jun Hong silently passed by the vibrant stalls and some shady looking alleys. he wanted to submit the logs as soon as possible and purchase his much-desired pill. After ten minutes, he was now in front of the entrance of the inner city!
The walls stood 30 meters tall which almost doubled the height of the outer wall. However, the five towering pagoda's could still be seen outside.
Again, Jun Hong showed the guards his sect token and entered without a hitch.
The gates that were sculpted with a dragon and a tiger stood face to face in the entrance as people many people went to and fro. Most of them were wearing the same blue robe to show that they were also disciples of the Heavy Mountain Sect.
Again, Jun Hong showed the guards his sect token and entered without a hitch. With the sect being so strict, no one dared to make trouble!
Jun Hong also strolled in, neither looking anxious or too relaxed. His temperament garnered some second glances from some people but he ignored them. His looks were above average and his physique was also well built. His bronze skin was developed thanks to several years of being on the farm with his father so it added to his charm.
It was as if his body was saying, "I am not weak!".
Five grand seven-story pagodas formed a pentagon with a statue of a middle-aged man in the middle.
Hong Jun! The founder of the Heavy Mountain Sect!
Legends say that he was already at the peak of the Nihility realm when he founded the sect. Now that thousands of years have passed, surely, he should have already surpassed the Ascension realm and became an Immortal!
Jun Hong respectfully bowed to the statue before making his way to the Business Pagoda. The reception lady smiled.
"What can I do for you, Junior Brother?" Make no mistakes, although the staffs in the pagoda were disciples who were considered to be mediocre, they were still mostly powerful Foundation Establishment stage experts! Even the workers who swept the floors were actually Qi Condensation stage disciples!
This was how Heavy Mountain Sect was different from other smaller sects. The laws were strict and the punishment was even more brutal. It does not matter what background you have, every punishment would still be meted out. That was why there were a few who "dares" to make trouble.
"Hello, Senior Sister." Jun Hong also greeted with a smile. He took out the parchment paper and passed it to the lady. He also took out his Storage Bag and handed it to her. Of course, he had already removed the personal items and only left the 15 White Tree logs!
"Please..." He gestured.
"Let's see... You have 15 White Trees so there are an additional 100 silver coins. That makes it a total of 3 gold coins. However, you are in luck, Junior Brother. The person who issued the job left 10 gold coins as a bonus to the first one who will bring the wood! So you will receive 13 gold coins in total! Congratulations!" The reception lady said with a brighter smile.
"Really?!" Jun Hong was also pleasantly surprised. He did not think that his luck would be so good today!
"Hehe, indeed! Here you go. Work hard, Junior Brother!" The reception lady smiled with encouragement, and with a wave of her hand, the ring on her finger shined and 13 gold coins dropped on the counter. She also reached out from below and took out another Storage Bag identical to the bag that Jun Hong gave her earlier.
"Thank you, Senio Sister! Please also give my regard to the person who issued a job!" Jun Hong bowed and immediately left the first floor of the Business Pagoda with visible delight.
With a light heart, Jun Hong sprinted to the second floor!
The reception lady chuckled seeing his behavior. Although 13 gold coins were nothing to her right now, she was also like Jun Hong in the past.
...