Fate-altering Copper Coin
Chapter 4: Beast Crystals
AI Model: gemini-3.1-flash-lite
"How many beast crystals have we saved? Take out all those low-level beast crystals, and take out half of the medium and advanced beast crystals to purchase more advanced spirit tools and potions," his father decided, gritting his teeth.
"Alright, there is no other way," his mother said, feeling somewhat reluctant. One had to know that beast crystals were spirit coins; beast crystals were energy. All the spirit tools and daily necessities at home used them as energy, and spirit tool weapons also needed them for energy and ammunition. Although advanced beast crystals were slightly inferior to standard crystal stones, the key was that beast crystals were crystallized from within the bodies of savage beasts, so there was no cost to speak of.
However, the reason why beast crystals were precious was because of their uncertainty. Not every savage beast had them in its body; some powerful savage beasts had no beast crystals, while some weak savage beasts did. You might kill one hundred advanced savage beasts and not get a single beast crystal, or you might kill ten weak savage beasts and harvest one from every single one.
Every household, as long as it was a warrior family that relied on hunting savage beasts for a living, would store a large number of beast crystals as a reserve resource, just like hard currency. In case the pillar of the family fell one day, at least there would be this reserve fund to cope with the needs of life.
Now that they had received news that savage beasts were gathering in large numbers and that a beast horde might attack the city, all the warrior families unanimously chose to take out their reserve funds to purchase more advanced spirit tools and expensive potions.
Early the next morning, the family had breakfast. Just as Yang Tong was about to go practice his punches, his father called out to him, "You aren't going to school today. How about coming with me to the Mercenary Guild to take a look?"
Upon hearing this, he immediately nodded and replied, "Okay!" In fact, he had wanted to go for a long time; these years of living a repetitive life between home, school, and training had become incredibly boring.
He got on his father's disc motorcycle and left home.
The location of the Mercenary Guild was at the common junction of the eight major urban districts; to put it plainly, it was in the city center, adjacent to the City Hall.
On the vehicle, his father said while driving, "Son, after arriving at the Mercenary Guild, watch more, think more, and speak less, understand? This Mercenary Guild has a massive background; even the City Hall dares not provoke it, and it is spread throughout every city and county in the Huangyu Kingdom."
"I know, Dad. I won't cause any trouble," the boy replied sensibly.
The Mercenary Guild was indeed far more magnificent than other places. Just the wide main entrance had five access points, and the ten-story building could be considered the tallest building in the county.
One had to know that the Fengxuan Continent was sparsely populated. Take Luoyu County, for example; the entire county covered a vast area, and every household lived in small villa-style houses, so there was no need to live in high-rise buildings. Therefore, the ten-story building where the Mercenary Guild was located was one of the few in the entire county. Of course, high-rise residential buildings existed, but they were where the relatively impoverished people lived.
As soon as he entered the main gate, he felt a refreshing coolness. The entire hall covered a huge area, and the most eye-catching thing was the giant screen facing the main entrance, on which various mission information kept flowing. People were coming and going, and it looked very busy.
"Let's go, I see some friends over there, let's head over." His father was quite familiar with this place and pulled him towards the small bar on the right. "The first floor is the mission hall, the second floor is for special missions, and the third floor and above are the trading halls, where you can buy many good things."
On a platform on the left side of the hall sat seven men of different sizes, gathered together chatting and drinking.
One of them saw his father's arrival and greeted him, "Hey, Boss Yang is here."
"Boss Yang, is this your son?"
"I remember your son is at most twelve years old this year; he looks really sturdy."
"Not bad, he has the bearing of his father when he was young."
His father walked over, smiled, and introduced them to Yang Tong one by one. "This guy who looks like a monkey, you call him Uncle Chen." He was the thinnest and smallest of the seven, and he did indeed look a bit like a monkey.
"Hello, Uncle Chen," the boy greeted politely.
"Yo, how sensible, I like it." After saying that, the man flipped his hand to take out an irregular crystal the size of a ping-pong ball and handed it over, saying, "This is a greeting gift, take it."
Yang Tong looked at his father, hesitating slightly.
"Boss Yang, it's just a low-level, low-grade beast crystal, just treat it as pocket money for your nephew to buy snacks," Monkey explained with a grin.
"Alright, accept it," his father nodded and said.
"Him, Uncle Li." This Uncle Li had an obvious scar on his face, and his nickname was Scar.
"Since Monkey has shown his gesture, I can't fall behind either. Take this." Scar Li revealed a smile that was uglier than a ghost and also gave a beast crystal of the same level.
The others all took out a low-level, low-grade beast crystal and gave it to Yang Tong.
His father ordered a basin of roasted meat at the counter and told his son to take it and go eat on the side, while the adults gathered together to discuss something.
"I believe everyone already knows," his father said in a deep voice.
"It is basically confirmed; otherwise we wouldn't have stayed in the city all these days without going out."
"Let's discuss how to deal with this crisis. Our strength is not the strongest in the entire county, but we belong to the backbone class, and the task of defending the city is probably unavoidable," his father concluded.
"The old rules, but this time a few of us are probably not enough; we must contact more battle teams to advance and retreat together."
"Fatty, this is my beast crystal, and this is the list of what I want to buy. You have the connections." After his father finished speaking, he took out a bulging sack from his ring and handed it to the fattest guy. The others followed suit, taking out their own beast crystals.
"Rest assured, leave it to me." After taking each person's list and looking at it, the fat man was greatly shocked, "Are you guys planning a major splurge?!"
The few looked at each other and smiled bitterly, "We don't want to either, but if our lives are gone, we have no choice but to splurge."
Yang Tong was eating and listening on the side, and he managed to figure out some of the situation. He couldn't help but be shocked in his heart. He carefully observed the warriors around him; almost everyone had a worried look and a hurried expression, giving the feeling that a storm was about to arrive. It seemed that something major was really about to happen.
Just at this moment, a middle-aged man wearing a long robe stepped into the first-floor hall, and the crowd of martial masters at the entrance respectfully made way.
"Greetings, Lord Yan Huo." Some Apprentice Level Nine Martial Masters greeted him; martial masters below Apprentice Level Nine did not even have the qualifications to greet him.
As this voice spread, all the experts at the Apprentice Level Nine Martial Master level in the hall stopped what they were doing and talking, and one after another, they cupped their hands and greeted, "Greetings, Lord Yan Huo." This included his father and the other seven, who also stood up one after another and cupped their hands in greeting.