**Sky Sword Sect, Inner Hall**

“It’s only been a few months; I can’t believe they grew this fast,” an elder commented. 

“It’s all thanks to the sixth elder’s efforts,” another elder praised. 

“I wonder what kind of monstrous training the sixth elder gives those two.” 

The hall was filled with chatter and laughter. 

They were talking about the two new disciples, Lin Mo and Wu Di. 

The two had joined the sect three months ago. It was their first sect task, and they completed it flawlessly. For newcomers, hunting a spiritual beast should have been hard, yet they managed to slay a late-stage spiritual beast. 

The elders were impressed with their performance. 

While human cultivation had its ranking system, beasts too had their system. 

If one compared human cultivation with beasts, it would be: 

- Common martial artist = Wild beast 

- Foundation establishment = Spiritual beast 

- Core formation = King beast 

- Nascent soul = Saint beast 

- Severance 

- Sage 

- Emperor = Sacred beast 

Beasts get stronger as they age. Depending on their age, a saint beast is said to be able to fight against a Sage realm expert. 

As they chatted, a sudden voice got their attention. 

“Elder!” a disciple shouted from the door and entered the hall with hurried steps. 

Reaching the inner hall, he bowed down. 

“What‘s the matter? Why did you barge into the inner hall?” an elder reprimanded. 

“It’s the sixth elder’s disciple…” 

The elders looked at one another, puzzled. 

“What about him?” an elder asked. 

“He—He’s been heavily injured.” 

“What? Who dared to injure a personal disciple?! Speak in detail,” the speaking elder appeared furious. 

“It’s like this…”

 

After Lin Mo and Wu Di registered their task completion at the mission hall, they separated. 

“Can you run an errand by yourself?”

“Why?” asked back "Lin Mo

"I am going to meet someone,”

“Meeting with someone… A lover?!” 

“No,” Wu Di replied with a serious face. 

“Joking, joking,” Lin Mo waved his hand. “I’m off, then.” 

“Don’t forget to buy master’s favorite wine,” Wu Di reminded. 

Lin Mo descended from the peak and headed towards the sword city ahead. 

If they gave the beast core to the mission hall, they would've received merit points, which could be used to exchange for martial skills. However, they already had a master teaching them personally, so those two didn't find it attractive. 

Merit points couldn’t buy them delicious food and wine. 

Therefore, he went to the city to sell the beast core. 

Half an hour later, he reached the city square. 

As always, merchants and carriages crowded the square. 

Pedestrians were everywhere, most of them with a sword hung on their waist or back. 

Those people were ordinary martial artists who lived off hunting beasts in the forest. 

After strolling around the city for a while, he found himself standing before a tall red pavilion. 

From his knowledge, this was the largest merchant shop in the city. All kinds of materials and items could be bought and sold here. 

Upon entering the pavilion, he saw many treasures and rare collections on the shelves. 

There were quite several buyers in the pavilion. 

On one of the shelves, Lin Mo saw a glimmering stone and realized it was a mid-ranked spiritual stone, an item formed from the condensation of spirit energy. 

When he looked below at the price of that stone, he was left astounded. 

[Ten thousand gold coins] 

A single gold coin could feed a family of five for a month. That’s a ridiculous sum for a single spiritual stone, thought Lin Mo. 

Lin Mo realized he was ten thousand gold coins richer every month. On the first of each month, their sect would hand out a single spiritual stone to all disciples. 

‘I’m a cultivator now; I cannot be swayed by riches,’ murmured Lin Mo, shaking his head. 

“Guest, what are you looking for?” asked the shopkeeper, who saw Lin Mo dazed. 

“I’m here to sell something,” replied Lin. 

“Can I see the item you’re selling?” 

Lin Mo brought out a shiny ball from his pouch. 

“Hmm,” the shopkeeper observed it. “A beast core?” 

Lin Mo nodded, “How much can I sell it for?” 

“I can give you fifty thousand gold for this core,” replied the shopkeeper. 

Lin Mo was dazed hearing the amount; this was far more than he expected. 

Seeing Lin Mo silent, the shopkeeper hurriedly raised the price, “I won’t go any higher than sixty thousand.” 

In the end, Lin Mo sold the beast core for sixty thousand gold coins. 

He didn’t know the value of beast cores, thus he didn’t haggle on the amount he received. 

But as he was leaving the pavilion, he saw the excitement on the shopkeeper’s face. Somehow, Lin Mo felt cheated. 

On the way, he entered a wine shop and bought two large pots of wine. These were his master’s favorite wines. 

He couldn’t store the wine in his spatial pouch with other items; doing so would ruin its taste.

Slowly swinging the wine pot, he strolled back. It was time to return. 

 All of a sudden, a person bumped into him. 

One of the wine pots slipped off the holder and cracked, spilling on the ground. 

Although his reaction was quick, he only managed to save one pot. 

“Oops, I didn’t see you coming,” a somewhat jeering voice entered Lin Mo’s ears. 

“It’s fine.” he raised himself. 

The person in front of him wore white attire and a sect badge hung on his waist. 

[Sun Sword Sect] 

One of the top sects in this region. 

Sighing, Lin Mo turned to leave. Suddenly, another person bumped into him. 

The remaining pot of wine also shattered upon touching the ground. 

“Oops, I couldn’t see properly,” a mocking voice sounded, and laughter could be heard. 

He saw this person also wore white attire like the previous person, with a similar badge hanging on the waist. 

Even a blind man would know this was intentional. 

Unlike his apprentice brother, who would let loose hands before words, he was a calm-tempered person. But he was not a monk.

With bystanders watching, he didn’t wish to escalate things any further, but… 

“Pay up,” said Lin Mo. “That will be a hundred gold coins.” 

“It was an accident, little brother. Furthermore, I know that didn’t cost a hundred gold coins,” said a disciple who first bumped into Lin Mo. 

“It was an accident, that’s why I’m only asking you to pay up,” replied Lin Mo. 

“What if we don’t?” another disciple chimed in. “What will you do?” 

“You might ‘accidentally’ break your bones bumping into someone,” said Lin Mo with a wordplay.

Understanding the hidden meaning, a disciple went ahead and grabbed Lin Mo’s collar, ready to punch. 

With that, a fight broke out between Lin Mo and this group of disciples from the Sun Sect. It was one against five. 

Despite having number advantage, those disciples could only defend passively, it was one sided.

With each punch from Lin Mo, those disciples fell and rolled on the ground, groaning in pain. 

“Now will you pay up?” asked Lin Mo.

Looking at his surroundings, there was a huge crowd gathered, watching the show. 

Lin Mo noticed a group of white-clad men heading his way and he cursed under his breath. “Why is the whole pack here?” 

Looking at their appearance, they were the seniors and elders of these beaten-up disciples. 

“Are you the one who did this?” asked a middle-aged man in a white attire. 

“I suppose I am the one—” 

Before he could finish a sentence, a strong spiritual pressure descended on his body, making it even harder to move and breathe. 

“Punish him, Elder,” a beaten-up disciple said. “He bullied us for no reason.” 

“You!” There was no point in Lin Mo explaining to these people. They would believe their own disciples anyway. 

“I’m an elder. So, I won’t meddle in junior’s affairs.” That elder turned to a senior disciple beside him. “Go settle it.” 

The senior disciple dashed towards Lin Mo and landed a heavy blow.

Although that elder said he wouldn’t meddle, the spiritual pressure was still there, making Lin Mo nearly immobile. 

Barrages of punches and kicks rained down on Lin Mo. Lin Mo could only passively block. 

Blood began flowing down his lips and arms. 

A while later, noticing the commotion, the city guards arrived. With their arrival, the fight stopped. 

Lin Mo finally fell unconscious. 

The guards warned the disciples of the Sun Sect, and after a brief asking to bystanders, those guards took Lin Mo’s unconscious body. 

Later, the city guards sent a message to the Sky Sword Sect about this fight, and Lin Mo was brought back to the sect.