After Xiao Chu left, Xiao Ning picked up the cloth sack he had left on the ground and checked the glass jar. Luckily, it remained intact. There wasn't even a single crack. Feeling relieved, he walked over to the boy, who remained kneeling in the same place. He picked up the bamboo basket and said to Xiao De:

  "Here, your basket."

  Xiao De looked up at him, turned his face, and hit his head on the ground.

  "Thank you, savior! Thank you!" he thanked with all his heart.

  "No need to thank me so much. Just stand up," said Xiao Ning, waving his hand in a gentle gesture. "By the way, my name isn't savior, it's Xiao Ning."

  "Xiao Ning..." murmured Xiao De, who had the slight feeling the name wasn't unfamiliar. When he finally remembered. "The bum?" he exclaimed, looking surprised.

  "The very one!" he affirmed, nodding his head. He wasn't the least bit upset to be called that.

  "Ah! Sorry. I didn't mean to call you..." realizing the discourtesy with which he had treated his savior, Xiao De was already about to prostrate himself once again, but was stopped before he did so.

  "Ahh, no need to apologize again," grumbled Xiao Ning. "I don't care how they call me."

  "...I see!" Relieved, Xiao De finally stood up. He still had a frightened expression on his face, and there was blood running down his forehead. However, before worrying about these little things, he needed to make sure the contents of the basket were safe.

  Xiao De opened the bamboo lid and looked inside the hamper while shaking his head continuously. And when he was sure everything was in its proper place, he let out a sigh. He had dedicated himself so much to gathering that.

  As Xiao De still tried to calm down from the scare he had gone through, a pair of quick hands, without any warning, snatched the basket from his fingers.

  "Let me see what's in here," said Xiao Ning, excited, as he pulled off the bamboo lid. He had a good feeling about the contents.

  He was already going crazy to find out what was inside. By the familiar and intense Energy being exhaled, he knew there was a good amount of Herbs, but he needed to check with his own eyes. This was the curse of a Herbalist and Alchemist. When they saw an interesting Spiritual Herb, they couldn't control themselves.

  "Oh! I can't believe there are so many! How did you manage to get so many Merciful Ladies?" he asked, with shining eyes, unable to take his attention away from the basket.

  Inside the bamboo hamper, there were almost a hundred Merciful Ladies. With this amount, it would be possible to make hundreds of healing potions, among other things. For a fanatic alchemist like Xiao Ning, this was truly a real treasure, worthy of greed.

  "Just look in the parts where no one looks," answered Xiao De, with sincerity and a tone of modesty. He couldn't lie to his savior.

  "Just look in the part where no one looks, hm..." murmured Xiao Ning, looking at Xiao De with a doubtful look and at the same time showing some interest. "Ahahaha, indeed!" he smiled amusedly. Although he knew it wasn't that simple. Then, he handed the basket back to its rightful owner and asked, "What are you going to do with these flowers?"

  "I'm going to sell them, why?" Receiving the fruit of his hard work back, Xiao De hugged the hamper using considerable strength to ensure it wouldn't be stolen a third time.

  "Ah, you see! I also have some Herbs here," he patted the cloth sack. "And I wanted to sell them, the problem is that I don't know where."

  "In that case, you should go to the Chaos Warehouse. It's near the center of the city, and they buy everything there," informed Xiao De, willingly.

  "Even monster parts?" inquired Xiao Ning, who also had no idea where he would sell the Red-Haired Boar's hide and tusks.

  "Also!"

  "I see, that's good! Thanks for the information," thanked Ning. Now, knowing the name of the place where he could sell his things, he didn't have to worry anymore. "Anyway, we part ways here, I still have to hunt some monsters," saying this, he turned around and started to walk away.

  "Wait!" Suddenly, Xiao De called out. "It's better not to go up the mountain. Today is not a good day to hunt."

  "What do you mean?"

  "See that dense and dark cloud at the top?" Xiao De pointed, and Xiao Ning followed the line traced by his finger.

  The Jade Ancestral Mountain was sunny, without a single cloud disturbing the sky. You could say it was a beautiful day in Chaos Border City.

  However, at the top of the mountain, as if attracted by that place, dense and dark clouds discharged lightning constantly, but strangely, the rumbles that should be caused by the thunder died out in brief moments, without causing a big fuss in the lower parts.

  Obviously, something so flashy hadn't escaped Xiao Ning's eyes. But this strange weather was normal on the Jade Ancestral Mountain. Therefore, he didn't give it much importance.

  "I don't know why, but when the clouds get like that, the Demonic Beasts hide," explained Xiao De. "Even if you search all day, you won't find anything."

  "So that's how it is..." murmured Xiao Ning, looking intrigued at the top of the mount.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  He had come all this way to hunt monsters to be able to gather money to buy a new Enchanted Cauldron. But it seemed he would have to return home empty-handed.

  Of course, he could continue gathering Herbs. Just that would be enough to raise a good amount. However, that way he wouldn't train his Essence Flames, which was the other reason he had opted for hunting monsters.

  Realizing there wasn't much to be done, Xiao Ning let out a sorrowful sigh, let his shoulders drop, and asked Xiao De:

  "Are you going back to the Family territory now?"

  "I am."

  "In that case, let's go together."

  And so, the two descended the mountain together...

  Back in the Xiao Family territory, Xiao Ning went straight home. And Xiao De went who knows where.

  Once in his room, he placed the knife on the bamboo table—he would save it for another occasion—and stuffed the Red-Haired Boar's hide and tusks into the sack along with the glass jar containing the Spiritual Herbs. Since he couldn't hunt Demonic Beasts, he would go to the city to sell the little he had gathered.

  Then, with his clothes still dirty from the fight—the only ones he had—and carrying a cloth sack, which released a strange and unpleasant smell of raw meat, Xiao Ning set off toward the city center.

  Despite being in a dangerous region, Chaos Border City was a bustling place. Merchants passed through these parts all the time. Some came to buy rare Herbs or Demonic Beast parts needed for some medicine, and others were just passing through, as the capital of the Shining Golden Empire was further ahead.

  Obviously, the ones who enjoyed this trade the most were the four Families: Xiao, Xu, Zhan, and Qin. Who governed the region, protecting the population from the unpredictable Jade Ancestral Mountain and the deadly Forest of a Thousand Dooms.

  Be that as it may, Chaos Border City was a lively place, full of people and with a rich market.

  At this moment, Xiao Ning was crossing an imposing golden portal, guarded by two guards in the Virtuous Realm, which separated the Xiao Family territory from the rest of the city.

  "Which way is the center?" he asked one of the guards. He carried nothing more than the cloth sack. The spear had been left in his room, and the glass jar containing the Herbs was wrapped in the boar's hide.

  Before answering, the guard cast a strange look at Xiao Ning. What kind of idiot didn't know where the center of the place he lived was? After a while, he finally answered:

  "That way!" he pointed to the right.

  Xiao Ning thanked him with his usual relaxed smile and followed the indicated direction.

  Watching the boy walk away, the guard who had been questioned looked at his companion and asked:

  "Who was that?" He had never seen a lazier face in his life. Despite already being at the 4th Layer of the Mundane Realm, his shoulders were arched and his spine crooked, as if walking was something difficult, not to say boring.

  "Ah, that one? He's Zhuang's son," answered the other guard, who looked a bit older.

  "The boy everyone calls a bum? I heard he never leaves the house."

  "Me too!" nodded his companion, in agreement. "Perhaps we have witnessed an extraordinary occasion."

  The two smiled and continued talking about the boy everyone called a bum. There was no blaming them. When you're in a boring place like that, it's normal to look for something to distract yourself.

  Xiao Ning slowly dragged his body toward the city center. The place he was in now was one of the residential districts, therefore, all that could be seen were children playing here and there, nothing too abnormal. But for someone like him, who never left the Xiao Family territory, not even in his past life, the neighborhood was an exotic place, decorated with picturesque landscapes. Therefore, without much hurry, he continued on his way, contemplating his surroundings.

  After walking for a while and crossing an arch-shaped bridge, Xiao Ning found himself in a bustling place, I mean, truly bustling. Carriages came and went from all sides. On the wide streets, which had become cramped due to the large number of people, stalls were seen on both corners while merchants shouted at the top of their lungs.

  "Soul Fruit! Soul Fruit! Purifies the Anima branches! Only two left! 5 gold coins each!"

  "Cat hair herbs, repels monsters! 10 grams for 15 bronze coins!"

  "Grey Cinnamon Antelope Horns! One silver a pair!"

  Xiao Ning walked through the crowd, looking from side to side. It was a festival of shouting. Spiritual Herbs and Fruits were seen here and there, some genuine, others not. There was also meat among other parts of Demonic Beasts laid out on wooden benches, as well as pieces of rare Magical Beasts.

  There were even Combat Techniques being sold. Whether they were genuine or not, that was a mystery, since the seller insisted on leaving them sealed, because what if someone with a good memory steals them, right?

  Indeed, there was a bit of everything and more there. As he walked, Xiao Ning was constantly stopped by some peddler. But when he said he had no money, the scoundrels would run away, faster than if they were being chased by a Demonic Beast. Wasting time with a pauper, who would be crazy enough?

  However, for Xiao Ning, this made no difference, because what he really wanted was to find this so-called Chaos Warehouse. He turned here, onto this street full of restaurants. Went around there, in the inn area. But no warehouse. He asked a few people; however, most were from out of town, from a distant place. And when he finally found a local, he got even more lost. Because they would say something more or less like this:

  "You have to take the first right, onto Mess Street, and then you'll arrive at Noise Street, once you're there, you go down to Confusion Street, walk another fifty meters or so, and then you've arrived. Understood?"

  Confused with so many strange names, Xiao Ning had no other choice but to nod, saying "Yes. I understood!", although he remained dazed by the weird things he had just heard. However, by the time he realized his mistake, the person had already left. And when he asked the next one, the explanation was the same:

  "You have to take the first right, onto Mess Street..."

  What the hell kind of names were these? In his five thousand years of age, he had never heard stranger ones. As someone whose outings consisted of a nap at the foot of the mountain, he had never realized before, but what a strange city this was that he lived in, right?

  It wasn't known for sure how much time had passed when he finally found a sign that said "Confusion Street". And I must say, it lived up to its name.

  Confusion Street was where the bars were. Just getting close, it was possible to smell the strong and intoxicating scent of alcohol and urine invading the nostrils. On the ground, shards of glass from wine bottles could be seen scattered everywhere. Luckily, the bars were closed, so there were no drunks causing trouble, just a few lethargic ones, passed out in the corners or under a wooden stool.

  And as he had been told several times, upon reaching Confusion Street, Xiao Ning walked another fifty meters. However, even before walking the path, he could already see a huge shed, with giant letters nailed to the top of a portal containing the words "Chaos Warehouse: we buy cheap and sell expensive". Something rare these days, an honest merchant.

  With the cloth sack on his back, he entered the warehouse.

  To his surprise, inside, dozens of people could be seen. Some carried whole monster bodies, others dragged large bamboo or wicker baskets. And next to each of them was a woman or man smiling amicably, and what they all had in common was the standardized brown tunic covering their bodies.

  With Xiao Ning, it was no different; the second he entered, a man approached, gave him a courteous smile, and enunciated:

  "Good afternoon, dear customer! Do you wish to buy or sell?"

  "Buy... do you sell Enchanted Cauldrons?" asked Xiao Ning, who couldn't help himself.

  "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but unfortunately not." The attendant gave an awkward smile and shook his head. "Our specialties are Spiritual Herbs and Demonic Beasts."

  "In that case, I would like to sell," said Xiao Ning, showing the cloth sack.

  "In that case, right this way, please."