Neel had asked about the village lord because he heard village lord was attempting to breakthrough to the next minor stage.
Every realm of Star Refiner was divided into two stages.
The early stage meant someone had just broken through.
The peak stage meant the person had filled their Star Core.
Neel waved his hand and he send Aarvan back to his room.
Then, he walked to the water bucket and washed his face with cold water.
He looked the reflection in the water. He felt proud about this life's face.
He was indeed handsome, Neel had pure black hair and black eyes as deep as a black hole, which gave off a noble aura.
With a face like this, I probably would've turned arrogant too, if I hadn't seen how the real world works.
That's how good looking he was.
Even Neel wanted to live just by showing off his face.
Neel quickly shook his head and push the distracting thoughts at the back of his head.
But as he stared into the water again, he noticed something strange, his face wasn't moving.
"What… what's going on?"
No matter how hard he tried, his face wouldn't move. Not even a smile.
He touched his cheeks again and again.
His face had gone completely stiff.
Neel felt confused.
How did this even happen?
He thought it over for a while, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure it out.
Well, whatever.
There's still an advantage that people will not easily read my expression.
Then he thought what to do for the upcoming beast tide that would arrive in three days.
Neel wrapped a cloth around his face to avoid being recognized.
After a while, he stepped out of his house.
Looking back, all he saw was a stone house with a wooden roof.
Around him were about a hundred such houses.
Villagers were moving in and out.
In the distance, he saw a two story tall wall surrounding Gorkha Village.
After walking a bit, he entered a tall building that clearly looked wealthier than anything else in the area.
Neel couldn't help glancing at the broken wooden houses surrounding the fancy building.
Remembering its owner, he shook his head and walked inside.
"Welcome, customer" a blonde girl greeted Neel with a bow.
Beautiful.
Neel couldn't help but freeze, staring at her for long time.
"Customer?"
"Cough" Neel blushed and coughed to hide his embarrassment.
"Take me to the second floor"
Thankfully, his face was covered.
Otherwise, he'd be looking for a hole to crawl into.
The blonde girl nodded, then giggled softly behind her hand.
Her breathtaking laugh mesmerized Neel, who followed her upstairs in a daze.
Neel had come to this place called Treasure Palace to try his luck.
The Treasure Palace was famous for gathering artifacts from ancient ruins and selling broken treasures.
The wasteland might have lacked resources, but it was overflowing with relics from the past.
Of course, most were useless, but some held real value.
Neel wanted to use his remaining Star Stones to buy broken treasures and resell them.
He didn't come with just ten Star Stones.
He had nearly five hundred.
How?
While washing his face earlier, Neel had noticed the ring he was wearing was actually a storage ring.
Inside it, he found five hundred Star Stones!
Neel also planned to pretend that he could restore treasures to their original state.
Why?
Because in this world, there exists a rare profession called Originators.
They were experts who could repair damaged artifacts.
A Rank 1 Originator was more valuable than even a Second Star Core Realm Star Refiner.
Neel would be a fool not to use the Origin Cube its full potential.
Once they reached the second floor, the blonde girl turned to Neel with a sweet smile.
"What do you need, dear customer?"
Her voice was so soft and sweet to Neel.
Although his expressionless face was cover in cloth, he was drooling inside.
He pinched his hand very hard.
Only after the skin turned red did he manage to calm down.
"Miss, I need low rank broken treasures."
Lily gave Neel a playful look.
However inside, she could not help doubt herself.
Am I not beautiful?
Every man falls for me...
but this guy...
could it be…?
he's… that way?
Lily's cheeks turned hot at the thought.
She quickly turned away and waved her hand.
Whoosh
Several rusty weapons appeared on the table in front of Neel.
There were three broken swords, one damaged dagger, and a small green vase, no bigger than a thumb.
The moment Neel laid eyes on the green vase, the Origin Cube inside his consciousness shook violently.
Huh?
Why is the Origin Cube reacting?
Is it because of this vase?
Neel's heart jump with excitement.
Still, he kept a calm expression and stared straight ahead.
He didn't want to draw any attention.
"How much for all of these?" he asked, his voice flat.
Lily was surprised.
She had thought Neel came here just to flirt.
But he was serious.
She nodded and responded in a more professional tone.
"Ten Star Stones for each sword, thirty for the dagger and fifty for the green vase."
This is daylight robbery!
Neel almost cursed out loud.
Just that trash costs 10 Star Stones?!
He frowned and he was about to argue when Lily continued.
"Customer, Look closely" Lily pointed at the sword.
"These swords are almost complete. They still have about 10% Star Energy left. The dagger still holds 30% of star energy. And this vase, look at the color, the carvings and the texture. It's clearly valuable."
Neel could feel a bit of Star Energy in the weapons and he knew the vase was special.
But he still felt like Lily was scamming him.
He couldn't prove it, though.
As he hesitated.
"Hmph! Do you think I'm lying?" Lily crossed her arms, pouting playfully.
Neel was speechless at her childish act.
He clenched his teeth and finally picked two swords, the dagger and the green vase.
Heh.
Lily laughed inside.
She had made a big profit.
Those swords and the dagger?
She bought them for just one Star Stone each.
And the vase? She found it lying on the roadside!
.....
"Happy doing business with you!" Lily waved cheerfully as Neel walked away with a depressed back.
She looked at Neel from head to toe again and she confirmed her earlier guess.
He didn't react to her beauty at all.
Not even when she shook his hand.
Poor guy.
Meanwhile, Neel suddenly felt a cold chill in his lower region.
It felt like someone wanted to chop something off.
"What the hell?!"
Run, Neel, run!
He quickened his pace.
If Neel knew what Lily was thinking, he might have cough up blood on the spot.
At treasure place gate.
A man voice echoed.
"Who made my sister this happy?"
Lily turned and she saw a man with blond hair, whose handsome face was 90% similar to hers.
Her eyes lit up.
"Big Brother!" she cried and ran into his arms.
"You're here! Thank the gods you're safe!"
Max smiled and patted her head.
"little sister, who made you this happy?"
Max knew very well that his sister hated living in this barren place.
She had been raised like a princess in the past.
However, due to a certain incident, both brother and sister had to hide in this backward region.
Lily had never been happy here.
She just faked smiles in front of customers.
In truth, he knew Lily felt disgusted by them.
So this time, when he returned from a treasure hunting expedition in some ruins.
He saw his sister genuinely happy this time.
Still burying her head in Max's chest.
Lily began explaining.
She told him how Neel had come to their shop, how calm and expressionless he was.
Even when she teased him, he didn't react and in the end, he bought some broken treasures.
"Oh! And I totally scammed him!" she said gleefully.
When she mentioned the money, her eyes sparkled like stars.
It was clear that Lily loved money a lot.
When Lily explain that Neel might have "issues" with his lower parts.
Max couldn't help but burst into laughter.
But soon, his expression became thoughtful.
Why would someone like Neel buy broken treasures?
He clearly had enough Star Stones to buy new ones instead.
Could it be…
he's an Originator?
No way! Impossible.
How could an Originator be in this wasteland?!
"Brother, what are you thinking about?" Lily tugged gently on Max's sleeve.
"Cough."
Max gave an awkward smile and cleared his throat.
He felt embarrassed that he'd even considered the possibility of Neel being an Originator.
He didn't believe it at all.
But if Neel ever came back to sell restored treasures, then he had to be an Originator.
"In that case, it might be wise idea to build a good relationship with him."
"It's nothing," Max said, then continued.
"But if that guy comes back to sell anything, treat him with respect."
"And more importantly, don't be too playful, okay?"
He had a headache from her mischievous behavior.
sometime he worry that something serious might happen if she didn't change.
Max's tone turned serious as he lectured Lily.
"Hmph!"
Lily pouted then she gave Max a playful look and stuck out her tongue, then she ran off laughing.
"This girl…" Max smiled helplessly.
He loved Lily too much to truly scold her.
....
Meanwhile, back in room, Neel pulled out the Origin Cube and threw the two swords into it.
The cube informed him that it would take 100 Star Stones each to fully restore the swords.
"Damn it! This thing is a bottomless pit!"
Neel felt frustrated.
He had started with 520 Star Stones
10 had gone to breaking through to first core realm
90 were used to buy the broken treasures
And now 200 more would be needed just to restore the swords
That left him with only 220 Star Stones.
The more Neel thought about it, the more his lips twitched.
He didn't even have a proper job!
If this plan failed, he would be completely broke.
Still, gritting his teeth, he threw 200 Star Stones into the Origin Cube.
Boom
The cube emitted a soft blue light and its internal space expanded to fit the two swords.
Inside the origin cube, two swords floated.
As time passes two swords broken parts began to repair.
Neel watched as the broken swords slowly restored themselves.
Sword's fragments reappeared and merged, rust peeled away and the swords began to glow.
He could feel law working to reverse the two sword condition to it initial state.
Is the Origin Cube using Time and Space Laws to restore them?!
It was unbelievable.
Even in his past life, he had read plenty of novels and he knew Time and Space were among the most among the rarest and most difficult laws to control.
And yet, even though he could now witness them firsthand, he couldn't comprehend any of it.
"Damn… I can't even eat the food right in front of me"
Neel stared at the glowing cube with frustration.
Then he shook his head quickly.
Forget it. Even if I smashed my head into this thing, I'd only get pain.
.....
Two hours later, the origin cube stopped glowing.
Inside the origin cube two perfect swords were floating.
Neel's eyes widened.
Before, they were old and broken.
Now, one shined red, the other blue and both in perfect condition.
The origin cube hadn't deceived him.
After all, he had just arrived in a new world and he was nearly broke.
How could anyone easily trust something like the Origin Cube without seeing proof?
Neel felt excited, so much that he wanted to scream.
But he suppressed the urge.
He couldn't risk attracting attention.
This was a dangerous area and Neel's life goal was to remain low key.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Neel reached toward the red glowing sword.
The moment his fingers touched the Origin Cube.
Zzzzap!
A shock running through his body.
"Ahhh!"