Once he parted ways with Wuji, Luotian returned to the wreckage of his home. The air still smelled of ozone and shattered stone. The lightning he had summoned had all but destroyed the upper structure, leaving charred timbers jutting from the rubble. He picked his way down to the reinforced basement, where he kept his most important belongings.
Fortunately, the heavy stone slabs of the underground floor had acted as a shield, preserving his gear from the violent, heaven-shaking force of his training session.
After cinching the straps of his travel bag, he wove through the city's streets toward the bustling merchant district near the eastern gate. He had no intention of actually trailing behind a slow-moving caravan as he had claimed; that was merely a convenient cover story.
Instead, he stepped into the cool, shadowed interior of a specialized gem shop.
This was no ordinary jeweler hawking decorative trinkets for the nobility. The primary merchandise here was monster cores—raw, pulsing power sources harvested from the monsters of the wild. A few wealthy customers were scattered throughout the hushed, high-end showroom, their faces illuminated by the multicolored glow of the stones on display as they searched for a compatible energy match for their own cultivation.
Luotian scanned the vault-like interior, his gaze lingering on the crystalline displays until a well-dressed attendant approached, the floorboards creaking under a polished boot.
"How may I help you, Young Master Feng?"
As the son of the god who had once protected the city, Luotian was a familiar face. Though people had called him a cripple for years, the attendant recognized him at once and greeted him with a courteous bow.
"I'd like to make an exchange," Luotian replied.
"Of course. What level of monster cores do you wish to purchase from us today, Young Master?" the attendant asked, his tone polite but tinged with the expectation that the boy would ask for the low-grade, discarded scraps typically sold to those of weak constitution.
"Bring me every monster core of the Lightning-type and Speed-type you have in your inventory," Luotian commanded.
"Lightning and Speed types, sir?" The attendant's professional mask cracked, a furrow of genuine confusion breaking across his brow.
Luotian paused, his own eyes narrowing as the silence stretched. Ah, I forgot, he mused, the realization cold and sharp. The knowledge of this era is even more hollow than I remembered. No wonder Teacher Shu never touched upon this in the academy.
It wasn't a case of Teacher Shu keeping secrets; the man simply lived in an age of ignorance. Even a Five Wings Master like the Peacock Lord was likely stumbling in the dark. If a powerhouse of his caliber had understood that monster cores possessed hidden elemental traits, he would have surely exploited that knowledge to fortify the city as a whole.
In reality, monster cores were far more than crude "batteries" to be drained for raw energy. Each one carried a unique, dormant signature tied to its origin. While the specific trait of a single core might be negligible to a commoner, refining several dozen of the same elemental alignment would trigger a tectonic Breakthrough in one's development.
The most coveted of these hidden benefits was the direct acceleration of Skill Proficiency.
Luotian's [Pinnacle Flash Lightning] was a dual-type Innate Skill, governed by the overlapping laws of Lightning and Speed. By refining cores that mirrored those exact metaphysical traits, he could bypass days or maybe weeks of grueling repetition, leveling his Legendary-rank power at a rate that would seem like a miracle to his peers.
In this remote area of the world, most cultivators were blindly refining any monster core they could find just to push their cultivation level a fraction higher. They had no inkling that by selecting the correct "fuel," they could increase their Skill proficiency at the same time.
Feng Luotian shook his head, the movement sharp and dismissive. He fixed a cold gaze on the man and said, "Never mind that. Bring all the monster cores of Seven Fangs to Nine Fangs. I will pick what I want myself."
"Seven Fangs to Nine Fangs, Young Master Feng?" The attendant's voice wavered, his eyes wide as he processed the sheer scale of the request. To a commoner, a Nine Fangs core was a concentrated sun of power, a treasure that could bankrupt a minor merchant house.
"!!" A flicker of genuine irritation crossed Feng Luotian's face, his patience thinning like a fraying wire. "You don't even have those?!"
"We do, but our stock is limited," the attendant explained with a nervous smile. "Trades involving monster cores above Seven Fangs must be handled by the owner. Before I fetch him, however, we need proof that you can cover the exchange."
The shop needed that assurance before bringing out its high-grade monster cores. Such valuable stock was kept out of the public showroom, and the attendant had to establish that the customer could afford the proposed trade.
"I see. Will this do?" Feng Luotian reached into his travel bag and withdrew a single, pulsing object.
The moment the item cleared the leather satchel, the air in the shop grew heavy, as if the atmospheric pressure had suddenly doubled.
At the sight of the stone, the attendant's knees buckled, and he fell butt-first to the floor. For several seconds, he stared at the core, pale and breathless. Then he scrambled up and bolted toward the back of the shop, his boots thudding against the floorboards as he went to fetch the owner.
Meanwhile, the silence in the showroom shattered.
The other customers stared at the glowing core in Feng Luotian's palm. Their surprise soon gave way to greed. Whispers spread through the aisles, and several gazes remained fixed on the stone.
"That's… a Talon monster core, isn't it?"
"A One Talon core! Just one of those could change someone's entire life—their entire lineage!"
"What's a 'Cripple' like him doing with something that valuable?"
The monster core Feng Luotian held was indeed a tier-shattering rarity, its metaphysical value far beyond the comprehension of the mediocre practitioners in the room. This was the One Talon monster core harvested from the Wight Wolf. Feng Luotian might have lacked a purse full of gold coins, but with this single crystalline core, he could outright purchase the entire shop.
True to his urgency, the attendant returned in less than a minute, accompanied by an elderly man whose robes billowed as he practically ran into the showroom. The shop owner bypassed his trembling subordinate, stepping forward to offer a bow so deep his forehead nearly brushed his knees.
"Young Master Feng, I am honored to receive you," the owner greeted, his voice steadying after the initial shock. "Please, allow me to escort you to our private chamber where we may discuss this transaction in the privacy it deserves."
The old man was no novice; he could feel the heavy, thrumming resonance of the Monster core still pulsing through the room. In a city where strength was the only law, a One Talon artifact was a beacon for trouble, and the owner had no intention of letting such a prize remain in the open.
With a brief, composed nod, Feng Luotian followed him through a reinforced side door. The thick oak swung shut, instantly muffling the frantic whispers of the showroom into a dull, distant hum.
The air inside the vault was cool, carrying the faint, dry scent of aged parchment and preservative salts. The owner gestured toward a plush, silk-lined chair and cupped his hands in a respectful salute. "Young Master Feng, please, make yourself comfortable. I must apologize for the delay; my attendant was simply overwhelmed by the quality of your—"
"It's fine," Luotian interrupted. He settled into the silk-lined chair, resting his hands on the armrests. His tone left little room for further flattery. "Just bring out your best monster cores."
The merchant's flattery caught in his throat. He nodded with a refined, professional smile. "A man of action—I understand perfectly. One moment, Young Master. I shall bring our finest inventory personally."
Hurrying to comply, the shop owner reached for a key concealed atop a high, dust-free shelf. He used it to unlock a heavily reinforced treasure chest anchored against the wall. From its velvet-lined depths, he retrieved a much smaller, far more exquisite box. The intricate, gold-etched designs adorning its surface shimmered, suggesting this was no ordinary container.
The old man placed the box on the table with practiced precision, his movements reverent. He then activated a unique flow of Theríon to dispel the protective seal. A faint, low-frequency hum vibrated through the air as the ward broke, and the lid creaked open to reveal the harvest within.
Inside lay dozens of gleaming Seven Fangs Monster cores, a handful of Eight Fangs cores, and a single, dazzling Nine Fangs core that pulsed with a starlight glow. The concentrated energy radiating from the collection was enough to make even the most seasoned Cultivator's heart race.
Feng Luotian began inspecting the tiny silver plaques placed before each core. Thanks to the celestial knowledge stored within the Coeus library, he could identify the specific elemental types simply by reading their names. This was precisely why he had decided to trade the Wight Wolf core, despite its prestigious Talon rank.
The Wight Wolf's core was a Stealth-type monster core that could improve proficiency in Stealth-related skills. Luotian had no such skill. Refining it now would grant raw energy, but its specialized benefit would be wasted. Learning a Stealth skill later would not help; a core could only improve skills the cultivator possessed at the time of refinement.
The realization brought a brief, sharp sting to his heart as he recalled the countless cores his younger self had consumed prior to his awakening. Without a single Skill to anchor them, a fortune in hidden benefits had simply evaporated. He was determined not to repeat that wasteful mistake. He was here to trade that singular Talon prize for a hoard of lower-level Monster cores possessing Lightning and Speed attributes, fully capitalizing on their synergy with his current path.
As Luotian casually scanned the names, a faint, smug expression traced his lips. He felt a deep sense of satisfaction, reveling in the vast, forgotten wisdom he had carried back from his previous life.
But his Ability, CRONOS, wasn't about to let him remain smug for long.