Volume One: Emerging Brilliance Chapter Eighty-Six: A Huge Sum!

“Once this news gets out, the number of people heading to Blood Wolf Territory will be several times higher than it is now.” At this point, Monkey spoke with deep meaning, “After all, if you’re lucky enough to find a few plants, that’s a profit of a hundred to two hundred thousand. Most people can’t resist that temptation. It’s much easier money than selling materials from the blood wolves, and far less dangerous than hunting them.”

Some things are better left unsaid. Monkey was certain that once the squad behind Wang Jue learned this information, they wouldn’t be able to sit still.

Fifty thousand for a single plant? Wang Jue couldn’t help but feel tempted. His luck wasn’t bad—if he casually found a dozen or so, that would be hundreds of thousands. Besides, compared to the materials from blood wolves, wolfblood flowers weren’t nearly as conspicuous even if you carried them around.

“It’s just in time for me to test out the perfected secret technique, Heaven Severing. This is a deal worth making.” The decision was made in Wang Jue’s heart. It seemed he needed to make another trip to Blood Wolf Valley.

…

The next morning.

Wang Jue got up as usual, as if he were going to school. After eating the breakfast his mother had prepared, he left the house. So far, his family didn’t know that he hadn’t been going to school for several days. On one hand, Wang Jue was deliberately hiding it; on the other hand, he didn’t want to waste time on such meaningless things. He’d rather spend that time making more money.

With his current strength, he could easily pass the entrance exams anyway.

Leaving home, Wang Jue made his way once again to Blood Wolf Valley. From morning until afternoon, he trained hard there. At noon, when he got hungry, he roasted a blood wolf to eat, only to find the meat dry and astringent—edible, but barely palatable. If not for the need to fill his stomach, he wouldn’t have eaten it.

Apart from his meal, Wang Jue spent most of his time searching for and hunting blood wolves, and looking for wolfblood flowers along the way.

A spray of blood burst forth. The last blood wolf’s corpse fell heavily to the ground.

Wang Jue sheathed his sword, pleased to see his star essence increase by another point. This time, apart from hunting blood wolves, searching for wolfblood grass was also one of his goals. Unfortunately, after wandering the valley all day, he still hadn’t found any, though his star essence had increased by more than thirty points.

Surveying the carnage around him, he began to process the blood wolf corpses. His strength had improved significantly compared to before. Most importantly, each blood wolf provided him with one star essence and one hundred experience points.

Neither the experience nor the money from selling materials mattered much to Wang Jue. What truly mattered to him was the star essence, and only the star essence, from beginning to end!

Now, the star essence he’d accumulated was about halfway to the next talent upgrade. With about twenty days until the exam, he intended to raise his talent to the orange level before then!

It took him about an hour to dissect more than twenty blood wolves. Glancing at the darkening sky, he packed up the materials, slung the bag over his back, and was just about to leave when he suddenly stopped.

A small adventurer squad appeared ahead.

Noticing Wang Jue with a bag nearly as big as two people on his back, the squad members’ expressions changed. The atmosphere grew tense.

Wang Jue saw his path blocked, and the group clearly had no intention of stepping aside.

Without a word, he drew his sword in a flash. With one hand gripping the blade, he pointed it forward, murderous intent slowly radiating from within.

Sensing the immense threat from Wang Jue, the squad captain forced a casual tone, “Brother, don’t act rashly—we mean no harm.”

Wang Jue didn’t withdraw his sword. Instead, he pointed the tip at the path, his voice crisp and cold, “Move.”

The captain quickly waved his hand, and the team members immediately stepped aside, making plenty of room.

Wang Jue supported his bag with one hand and gripped his sword with the other, ready to strike at the slightest provocation. Perhaps it was this desperado air about him, but for a moment, no one dared make a move—he held the entire group in check.

Just as he was about to leave, the squad captain called out, “Hey, wait a second. Are you interested in teaming up with us for a job?”

Wang Jue didn’t answer and left without pause.

“Captain, should we…?” A young man beside him made a throat-slitting gesture, asking discreetly.

“Young as he is, he dares to come here alone. Do you really think he’s a pushover?” The captain’s smile disappeared as soon as Wang Jue was gone. He glanced after Wang Jue and shook his head, “Regardless of his strength, if a fight broke out, even with our numbers, we’d suffer casualties. No need to risk our lives for a few materials.”

“Don’t forget, we have a mission. Let’s keep going—we’ve only got seven days to complete our employer’s task.”

“Yes, Captain!”

…

After leaving Blood Wolf Valley, Wang Jue quietly took his spoils home and changed clothes.

To his annoyance, although Blood Wolf Valley was a fast way to earn money, he always ended up covered in blood, which was a hassle and could easily lead to trouble if he wasn’t careful.

“Honey, let’s go shopping together tomorrow morning.”

“Alright, you make dinner first. I’ll go pick up Xiaoyu.”

…

Unfortunately, just as Wang Jue was about to sneak out, he heard his parents talking outside the door.

Why were his mom and dad home so early today? Wang Jue froze in his room, eyeing the large, blood-stained bag on the floor. If his parents saw him like this, they’d know he hadn’t been to school.

His gaze swept the room and landed on the window. He quietly opened it and looked down. Fifteen stories up—jumping was out of the question.

To lighten the load and make sure the bag wouldn’t split, Wang Jue took out the smaller items—blood beads and fangs—put them into a new bag, and tossed the one with pelts, limbs, and claws out the window.

Without waiting to see where the bag landed, he calmly carried the smaller bag and left his room. In the living room, as his mother walked toward the kitchen, she saw Wang Jue emerge and asked in surprise, “Jue, why are you back so early today?”

“Just came home to grab something, heading to the martial hall now,” Wang Jue replied, a little guilty, as he made for the door.

His mother called after him, “Wait a minute, what’s in your hand?”

“It’s for the martial hall,” Wang Jue’s heart skipped a beat—just what he’d been afraid of.

Knowing his mother’s curiosity, he didn’t hesitate, quickly opening the door, “Mom, no time to chat, I have to go—see you later!”

With that, he shut the door and left. His mother, watching him disappear, scolded with a laugh, “That little rascal…”

…

After leaving, Wang Jue went to where he’d thrown the bag, but couldn’t find it at first. Eventually, he spotted it caught in the branches of a nearby tree.

Seeing his things were safe, Wang Jue let out a sigh of relief. After all, what was in that bag wasn’t worth just tens or hundreds of thousands, but one or two million! If he’d lost it, the whole day’s work would’ve been for nothing—he’d be sick with regret.

Half an hour later.

Wang Jue arrived at the martial hall. In a nearby alley, he messaged Monkey.

Soon, Monkey sneaked out over the wall. When he saw the bag Wang Jue had brought—bigger than last time—he was stunned, “Brother, your squad went to Blood Wolf Valley again?”

“Yeah,” Wang Jue chuckled, tossing over the small bag of blood beads and fangs. “Here you go, Senior, this has the beads and fangs.”

Monkey checked the bag, set it aside, then began inspecting the larger bag. As he worked, he asked, “By the way, did you guys find any wolfblood grass?”

“Spent the whole day in the valley and didn’t see any,” Wang Jue replied helplessly.

Monkey consoled him, “Don’t worry about it, Junior. Wolfblood grass is hard to find, especially in such a big valley. It’s just bad luck.”

Soon, Monkey finished counting, “This batch is a bit less than last time—one million nine hundred eighty thousand. I’ll round it up for you—two million. Transfer as usual?”

“Yes.”

With another two million deposited, plus the previous two point eight million and four hundred thousand from selling elixirs, Wang Jue’s account now held more than five million—five million two hundred thousand!

Five million was a huge sum, but if exchanged for star energy stones, it was only fifty. Even with his current star essence, it wasn’t enough for a talent upgrade.

After Monkey left, Wang Jue abandoned the idea of the martial hall and decided to head to the Martial Association for some easy gains—there were still about four hours until they closed, plenty of time!

As he walked toward the nearest bus stop, he opened his status panel.

[Name: Wang Jue]
[Level: Body Refinement Eightfold]
[Talent: Red Grade (Superior) 0/500]
[Art: Astral Soul Codex, First Layer (Unknown) 0/1000]
[Secret Technique: Heaven Severing (Incomplete) (Small Success) 0/100,000]
[Martial Skill: Basic Swordsmanship (Master) 0/10,000,000]
[Martial Skill: Basic Fist (Master) 0/10,000,000]
[Footwork: Basic Step (Master) 0/10,000,000]
[Star Essence: 262]
[Experience: 27,310]

Seeing his star essence jump from 227 to 262, Wang Jue couldn’t help feeling excited. After learning the Heaven Severing secret technique, his increase in strength brought about the greatest change: in just one day, he’d earned thirty-five star essence.

If converted to star energy stones, that would be 3.5 million. Adding the money from the blood wolf materials, today he’d made a total of 5.5 million.

As for the less than four thousand experience points, he naturally ignored them…