Nero revolved his Qi to dispel the fatigue. He then forcefully pulled himself up and sat cross-legged. Like this, he entered a state of meditation, however, it didn't last very long. A transmission orb hummed and glowed with a weak light in front of him. This was Amaya's voice passing a message to him. Nero grumbled a few times before standing from where he was. After he had a shower and changed his clothes, he left to meet Amaya.
Amaya sat in a big hall. Nero arrived an hour later after receiving Amaya's message and she didn't feel so good about it.
"You left me waiting for an hour, I was just about to storm your room and bring you out myself." Amaya quickly scolded Nero when he arrived at the hall.
"I had to take care of some things before leaving. Did you get what I asked for?" Nero indifferently replied and asked another question instead.
"Yes, but these were more difficult to find and cost more than the others." Amaya said and handed a box over to Nero.
Looking at this box, Nero nodded, "The cost isn't a problem as long as you can obtain it. Thank you for your help."
All the while Nero had spent staying at the State Master's Villa, he had used the connections here to gather the materials he needed to refine a healing potion that would help heal his wounds. If he set out to look for these materials on his own, it would take a longer time to do so. Moreover, the State Master had made him an esteemed guest so they naturally wouldn't hide their resources from him. Nero had gathered a majority of what he needed to refine the potion but he still felt that it wouldn't be effective enough on his wounds. According to his estimation, he needed something more powerful and potent to complement its effects.
"This is all I need for now, if I have something else I'll call you." Nero said and turned around to leave.
Amaya scoffed. "All you do is train indoors all the time while a lot of things happen in the outside world. You probably haven't heard of the appearance of the Life restoring plume fruit."
Hearing 'Life restoring plume fruit', Nero halted and turned back.
"Life restoring plume fruit?" He asked again to be sure that he didn't hear the wrong thing.
A Life restoring plume fruit was a top-grade miracle fruit that has a wondrous effect in nourishing and replenishing the body. It can be used by alchemists to refine potions for both the meridians and the Spirit core. The news about its appearance spread after a team of martial artists caught a glimpse of it in the Rhedaia forest, but was immediately intercepted by the Beast King! The Beast King as the name implies is the king of beasts; the strongest beast around. Its strength was said to match up to a Grand cultivation master or might be slightly stronger.
As this news spread out, many powers within the Western Earth kingdom galvanized all their forces to retrieve it, but no one had succeeded. First of all, they had to first find the Beast King, and secondly, they had to beat it to obtain the fruit. Even with the help of the Grand Cultivation masters, finding the Beast King had only been a dream they wished would come true. For many months, they hadn't heard or seen anything about the Beast King. Since everyone wanted to obtain the fruit for themselves, some conflicts arose from time to time. Some forces would attack the other ones to reduce the chances of others finding the fruit. Now, instead of finding the fruit, everyone had turned their weapons to one another killing their way to the top.
The Gandor kingdom had sent out a group of martial artists as well, and Prince Galen was the one leading the team. They too were finding it difficult to find the fruit. Nero wouldn't know something like this had appeared here because he spent most time training, trying to figure out how to slow down the growth of his injuries. And now that he found out, he couldn't hide his happiness.
"The Beast King, how strong is it?" Nero asked.
"From what I've been told, it is much stronger than my father."
"And you say your kingdom has already sent out a team to find it?"
"Yes, they have. Master Aito and my father chose the team and placed my brother as the leader." Saying this, Amaya didn't look too happy. Nero knew that the reason she wasn't happy was because of the untold hatred she had for her brother, and he was disinclined to even ask.
"You wish to obtain it?" Amaya asked when she saw Nero's thoughtful look.
"Yes." Nero didn't intend to hide it.
"To obtain it, you have to fight the other forces that have their eyes on it. I heard that even that old mad man who is said to be the strongest in the Western Earth Kingdom is seeking the fruit too. Although you have the protection of my Gandor kingdom, I can't say that that will guarantee your safety. I know you're strong but you would also be up against combined forces that my kingdom might not be able to contend with."
What Amaya said was indeed true. This search wasn't only for the Gandor kingdom but the forces of other powers will also be present. If the team of the Gandor kingdom was to obtain this fruit then nobody would dare go against them. But if a foreigner like Nero was to obtain the fruit, even if he had the protection of the Gandor kingdom it still wouldn't be enough to fight off the forces that might try to forcefully take it from him. And there was also the character said to be the strongest that was also said to be seeking the fruit. If such a character was to move against him, even the power of the State Master wasn't able to hold a candle to this old man.
It was better to avoid problems as much as possible. However, to obtain more power and grow in the road of martial arts, one had to continuously take risks and undergo many tribulations. Even if the Gandor kingdom wanted to obtain this fruit, it would only be for them. Although they treated Nero as an esteemed guest, that didn't mean that they would just give away all their treasures for his sake. To obtain this fruit, Nero had to venture out on his own to find it, and with his vast knowledge, he had hopes of finding it before anyone else did.