Within the chamber, Leo continually drew, failed, and regained soul energy as though he had gone into a trance.
Leo was still energetic, even after a day and a night without sleep. He equated the cultivation period devoted to soul power recovery with rest.
Leo's progress during the day and night was truly remarkable. When he released the soul energy to draw at this moment, Leo had already reached seventy-eight percent. He would succeed, for sure, if he was given a little more time!
Regaining his soul energy, Leo started painting again. His attention was drawn to his fingertip right away, and a tiny bit of soul force materialized.
Watching the fingertip move with such flexibility and beauty—like water—was breathtaking. Leo had long ago successfully remembered the Wild Explosion Rune after training for so long.
A faint, crystalline line remained as a small amount of soul energy seeped out during the process. Not even 50% of the leakage was present!
Leo's fingertip started moving more quickly. A vastly intricate rune began to slowly condense in the atmosphere. Leo's last stroke caused the entire run to abruptly flare and burst into light!
"Hahahaha! At last, I did it!" Leo burst out laughing as soon as he saw the entire rune appear.
Finally, after a day and night of work, a satisfying moment arrived!
A moment later, there was a knock on the door. "Older Brother Leo, is something wrong?" yelled Alden.
Leo had abruptly gone yesterday and locked himself in his room. For a brief period, Alden was really concerned, but Leo had told him flatly not to worry about him. Alden was afraid to enter the area, but he had to knock on the door after becoming aware of Leo's loudness.
Then the rune in the air started to fade, vanishing from sight, for it had lost its sustaining soul energy.
Leo went to open the door after hearing Alden's worried voice.
"Calm down, I'm fine!" Leo's expression remained joyful. After giving Alden a shoulder pat, he added, "Let's go. Come to Spirit Materials Street with me this time. I have several purchases in mind."
Seeing Leo look healthy, Alden decided not to ask, even though he had no idea what the young man wanted to buy on Spirit Materials Street.
Naturally, Leo wanted to make the enchanted scroll since he could already draw the Wild Explosion Rune. There were just three days left until the Zephyr Blade Sect evaluation was due. The enchanted scroll had to be made and sold within three days if Leo was to earn enough money to purchase the pills and unlock the fourth level of body refinement!
With ease, the two arrived at Spirit Materials Street and proceeded straight to the store they visited the day before.
The store, known as The Golden Pavilion, was regarded as one of the best and had a very extensive inventory. They arrived here since Leo should have been able to get the supplies he needed from the store.
The elderly guy seated behind the desk looked at the two as they entered and turned his head aside.
He recalled that those two had arrived only the day before. They didn't seem like the wealthy kind based on how they looked. They appeared to be here only to gaze and slightly open their eyes to the outside world.
The Treasure Pavilion was a huge store, so it made sense that it would have a large storefront. Those who came in were regarded as clients, regardless of their financial situation. They may still browse around, even if they decide not to purchase anything.
Leo walked straight to the elderly storekeeper this time, though.
"Does this place sell any enchantment material, old shopkeeper?" Leo inquired directly. Upon hearing Leo's remarks, the elderly retailer was momentarily taken aback. Was he seeing things wrong? Was this child before him indeed a enchanter?
He was clearly astonished, but it didn't show on his face. "Of course," he answered with a smile. "Treasure Pavilion is the name of this shop. This store carries everything that is available in Stellaria City."
Leo's face flashed an expression of joy. It seemed like he wouldn't need to search elsewhere. "What are the prices of a blank scroll and the blood of a savage wolf, respectively?"
The rune was naturally included on the blank scroll, and the Wild Explosion Rune was drawn using a potion made of the blood of the savage wolf.
"A low-grade blank scroll is one tael of gold, an intermediate-grade blank scroll is five taels of gold, and a high-grade blank scroll is ten taels of gold. The prince is looking for a certain kind."
When the elderly merchant mentioned the prices, Leo was surprised. I thought the price was very high, wasn't it?!
He couldn't even afford to purchase a blank scroll for middle school with his net wealth. How much more so for the savage wolf blood, given that it was the primary ingredient, if even the blank scrolls were that pricey?
With a glimmer of optimism, Leo inquired, "What would a bottle of savage wolf blood cost?"
"You can't put a price on savage wolf blood because it is a low-quality magic material." One hundred pieces of gold for the bottle. You should be able to get eight or ten uses out of a bottle.
The current rate of exchange between one troy ounce of gold and another kind of gold is unknown to me (TN). However, it appears that they are interchangeable.
After hearing his response, Leo gave up hope. He was unprepared for the astronomical cost of a few magic components.
No amount of starting capital would make his enchanting skill useless.
Before Leo could scowl and think, a piercing yell cut him off.
"Dear Leo! You have the audacity to return!"
Leo and the other two turned to look at it when this voice caught their attention, and they noticed a crowd of people approaching. The person in charge had a furious look on his face. I mean, who else could it be except Harold?
The elderly retailer's face contorted in a scowl as he emphatically thumped the counter, declaring, "Loud music or fights are strictly prohibited within this store. Be ready to face the repercussions if you break the rules."
Harold was abruptly reminded upon hearing the old shopkeeper's admonition that fighting was definitely forbidden on Spirit Materials Street, much less within the Treasure Pavilion—a sizable and significant business. Seeing Leo had made him too enraged, and he had forgotten this rule.
Even Harold had to behave himself because they were within Stellaria City, even if he could be conceited in Azure Peak Village.
After apologizing to the elderly storekeeper, he turned to face Leo and said, "Give it to me straight. Did you take care of Old Second and Old Third?"
Harold had simply intended to discipline Leo at first, but upon his return, he had discussed it with Franklin. As Franklin had casually said, why not simply blow him up?
Harold gave it some thought, and with Franklin's support, his bravery increased. The following day, he dispatched people back, ready to demolish Leo's Dantian.
However, he had not anticipated that Old Second and Old Third, the house servants, would not return after such a lengthy absence when he had assigned them to look after Leo. When he dispatched personnel to investigate after a day, they found that those two had, in fact, already been slain for some time. Given that Leo was still alive and in Stellaria City, he was probably the murderer.
Harold didn't say anything further before asking Leo at their meeting.
Leo would have remained terrified if it had occurred before he had the sword crystal, but he had long ago hidden Harold from view; if it hadn't, he wouldn't have come back to Stellaria City.
Glancing at Harold, Leo casually said, "Old Second and Old Third? Who are those nobodies? Ah, your servants that do your dirty work. Who knows if they irritated a strong expert and were killed on the spot? There's nothing surprising about that."
Leo's words irritated Harold's servants. He called Old Second and Old Third nobodies, which also implied that they were nobodies. Although they were servants, they were servants of the Whitaker family. They felt that they were superior to others by a grade and simply looked down on Leo, who was just the young master of a small, declining clan.
Not to mention that they just beat Leo within an inch of his life earlier. Now that he dared to show his attitude in front of them, how could they not be angry? If fighting hadn't been forbidden in the Spirit Materials Street, they would have already charged forward.
Seeing Leo's look of indifference, completely unafraid, Harold became even angrier and coldly laughed. He spread out the folding fan in his hand and shook it twice, saying: "Very good. It seems like the lesson I gave you last time wasn't enough. Or maybe I just had too much mercy!"
All Harold had intended to do was stir up problems for Leo. Harold was genuinely concerned about Old Second and Old Third's deaths, as their absence raised suspicions about Leo's involvement in the matter. However, he didn't genuinely believe that Leo was the murderer. Old Second was a fourth rank martial artist with a refined physique. In reality, he didn't think Leo could win over a fourth-level specialist in body refinement.
He had also looked over Old Second's body. A merciless slash that went straight through his heart abruptly ended his life, sealing his tragic fate. How could Leo have stabbed Old Second when he didn't even have a sword?
After finishing speaking, Harold looked at Alden and asked, "Alden, if you're spending time with Leo, are you planning to oppose me? Or is your family considering leaving Azure Peak Village?."
Facing Harold's threats, Alden was fearful, knowing the Whitaker family's control extended throughout Azure Peak Village. The large and small clans all needed to accept the Whitaker family's tyranny. If it were just him, Alden would think about fighting, but he didn't want to hurt his parents."
"Harold, what ability of yours does it take to threaten Lei? If you have some ability, come at me!" Leo's voice once again sounded out.
Leo intervened on behalf of Alden as soon as he saw Harold threatening Alden. Since the Whitaker family had lived in Azure Peak Village for a considerable amount of time and no one had ventured to overtly disturb them, he was also aware of Alden's worries.
The elderly retailer across the way gave his facial hair a soft pat. Given that Leo was already under criticism, he thought it was admirable that he was able to assist a buddy in need at this particular moment. The child had a decent heart. His years of expertise had naturally shown him that there was tension between Leo and the others.
Seeing Leo daring to defend Alden, Harold coldly smiled. "So daredevil! Do you think I can't harm you? Leo, you're making a big mistake."