A teleportation portal, large enough for a human to pass through, appeared in a secluded area not far from the tower.
Shortly after, two figures emerged from the portal—Argon and Cambion.
Argon surveyed his surroundings and, after ensuring that no one was nearby, turned his attention to Cambion.
"Cambion... For now, call me Young Master, not My Lord," Argon said, observing Cambion's soulless expression.
"As you wish, My- Young Master," Cambion responded.
Since Cambion had been summoned, Argon couldn't detect any emotions on his face; it remained perpetually stiff and soulless.
"Very well, let's proceed," Argon nodded.
A minute later...
As Argon laid eyes on what lay before him, his eyes widened, and an expression of disbelief washed over his face.
In front of him stood a small town, with his dungeon at its center. Although it lacked surrounding walls, there were houses, stalls, and camps scattered around the tower, forming a semblance of a bustling town.
The area had been transformed into a flat expanse, devoid of trees.
"What is this? How quickly were these houses built?" Argon couldn't help but be impressed.
Though he hadn't inspected the happenings around his tower, he wondered how many days had passed since these people arrived at the dungeon—had it been one or two days?
"Well, these people are cultivators, so felling trees and constructing ordinary houses in a day shouldn't be a problem for them," he thought to himself.
With a sigh, he continued walking, with Cambion trailing behind.
During their stroll, Argon noticed a fruit stall on the side and quickly snatched a fruit. The vendor didn't react at all; Argon's hand was too fast for the vendor to see.
Argon took a bite of the fruit, savoring the first food he had eaten since arriving in this world. Although, as a Qi Gathering realm monster, he could survive without food for a month, as a modern person, he still missed the taste of food.
A sweet flavor filled Argon's mouth; it tasted like an apple.
"Such a familiar taste," he mused.
While enjoying his fruit, he heard a commotion nearby. Curious, he looked around and saw a gathering of people, so he decided to approach.
"Hey, old man, why is your returner stone so expensive? People are selling it for 20 qi stones, but you're selling yours for 25 qi stones."
"That's right! This is daylight robbery!"
"Yeah, why don't you make it 30 qi stones? You shameless old man!" a female cultivator shouted in anger.
For low-level cultivators, acquiring a returner stone was difficult since low-level monsters rarely dropped them. As a result, they could only buy them from high-level cultivators if they didn't want to risk getting trapped inside the dungeon. However, obtaining 20 qi stones was nearly impossible for cultivators in the first to third layers of body tempering. Even for high-level body tempering cultivators who could afford it, twenty qi stones would represent a significant portion of their lifetime earnings.
The crowd fell silent as the old man did indeed raise the price to 30 qi stones.
Everyone turned their gazes to the woman who had shouted, and if not for her gender, they would have already confronted her.
Robbing the old man was out of the question; he possessed a cultivation base of the sixth layer of body tempering and was considered a master in this area. Furthermore, the three forces overseeing the place ensured that no one dared to cause trouble.
Argon observed the scene quietly from a corner.
"Qi stones must be some form
of currency in this world," he surmised.
Argon didn't linger and continued on his way.
"System, how much does a returner stone cost?"
Since returner stones were highly sought after, he planned to use them to gather information. Though he could order Cambion to abduct a human and extract the information, it seemed unnecessary and burdensome.
[There are four types of returner stones: low, middle, top, and special grade. The higher the grade, the more people it can teleport. The prices are as follows:
Low grade: 100 soul coins
Middle grade: 1,000 soul coins
Top grade: 10,000 soul coins
Special grade: 100,000 soul coins]