This small town was known as Qingshan Town, yet because it was close to the Magic Beast Mountain Range, it was also famously known as Magic Beast Town. Within this small town, the majority of the people, to Yang Lei"s dismay, were naturally the muscular, sweaty mercenaries who spent their days bathing their blades with the blood of magic beasts.

These mercenaries would form squads that walked around the streets, swaggering and bragging while loudly discussing the hottest women, the strongest liquor, and the fiercest Magic Beasts…

As Yang Lei walked on the limestone street with Xiao Yan following him with the ruler that looked out of place on his back, people stared at the duo. However, they ignored the gazes as they dripped sweat constantly.

Seeing that sky was not completely dark yet, Yang Lei and Xiao Yan decided to visit some shops. They had no money, but since Yang Lei wanted to learn more about the Dou Qi Continent, they began to stroll.

[Hey, wanna *ahem* get some things for free?] The system asked Yang Lei as they walked into a store that sold herbs picked from the Magic Beast Mountain Range.

[Uh.. same thing] The system refuted, ["Stealing" doesn"t sound as pleasant as "free" does…]

After conversing with Xiao Yan and Yao Lao, Yang Lei decided that they would only steal from certain stores…

"Heh, you won"t even be able to afford this brat!" The store owner pulled out a moldy-looking shriveled root and sneered. These poor looking brats wanted to shop? Hah! He didn"t believe that they had money!

"How much?" Yang Lei asked calmly as he ignored the store owner"s bias. He decided that he would rob this store! He was doing *ahem* justice by stealing from the wicked!

"1000-year-old Blood Ginseng: 500 gold coins," the store owner shamelessly raised the price by many folds.

"He is lying. That is only a 5-year-old, malnourished ginseng! It"s not even a Blood Ginseng! It"s just ordinary ginseng! Not even worthy of 1 gold!" Yao Lao grunted in Yang Lei"s mind as he exposed the shameless storekeeper. He was dumbfounded. Even at his peak, he had never seen such a trash herb before. How did this storekeeper get herbs? He must be legendary!

"Wow! That is so cool!" Yang Lei put on a starstruck expression as Xiao Yan watched from outside.

"How does senior brother Yang stay so calm?" Xiao Yan was full of admiration. Just one look at the brown, shriveled, granny-like root had nearly made him dig his eyes out from the sight.

Yet, Yang Lei was even putting on a starstruck appearance! He was the best martial brother ever!

"Storekeeper, I think I"ll just look around for a bit…" Yang Lei recovered from "astonishment" and began to browse the store. When he turned his back to the shopkeeper, he covered his mouth and gagged.

"d.a.m.n! Was that his great-granny reincarnated as a starved ginseng?" He tried to delete the image from his mind…

"Continue walking around!" Yao Lao whispered into his mind. He wanted to check for any good stuff that was hidden in the store.

"Ok…" Yang Lei slowly walked around. He stopped at every box of herbs. The storekeeper was watching him carefully to make sure that he wouldn"t shoplift.

"Sir, I feel like my privacy has been invaded by your pervasive stares…" Yang Lei finally couldn"t take it anymore. He said, "How about this? You can pat me down later and check me for any "stolen" goods."

"Hmph! Fine!" The storekeeper returned to his seat at the counter. However, he would glance at them occasionally to make sure that they weren"t stealing.

"Over there! Pick it up!" Yao Lao shouted excitedly in Yang Lei"s ear.

Yang Lei felt annoyed at the shouting Yao Lao but did as he said. He picked up the herb and turned it over in his hands.

"Boy, you"ve struck gold! That"s a Firedrop Fruit! That r.e.t.a.r.d actually mistook it for a common Ember Fruit! Although it isn"t that good, it"s heavenly for someone at your level! Your luck is good, being able to find a Firedrop Fruit in such a rundown shop!" Yao Lao rubbed his hands excitedly.

[You have an inventory s.p.a.ce in your system… although it is quite small at the time being, you can store many herbs in it!] The system imparted divine knowledge upon him.

[Um, that would go against Yao Lao"s plans…]

[Enough! Think about moving the herb into the inventory s.p.a.ce! Don"t let the storekeeper see you!]

[…] The system was speechless and began to laugh.

[Get inside now!] The system mimicked. [Hahahaha!]

"Stop! There! That one. No, that one!" Yao Lao pointed Yang Lei to a specific purple seed lying in a large box of other large purple seeds.

"What the h.e.l.l is this?" Yang Lei whispered.

"Scratch the surface of the seed…" Yao Lao"s voice trembled in excitement.

Slowly but surely, Yang Lei scratched the large purple seed with his nail. When the skin of the seed was sc.r.a.ped away, the flesh underneath was dark purple with delicate veins of white.

"Holy sh*t!" Yao Lao jumped up and down in the ring like his a*s was on fire, while spitting curses like a rapper. His beard became messy as he gasped and said with jealousy, "Lucky brat! You"ve actually found a Purple Cloud Essence! It"s the rare occurrence where a Purple Cloud Flower manages to absorb the blood of a high-level magic beast! The probability of this happening is so low because there Purple Cloud Flowers are over-harvested and may also die in the process of absorbing the magic beast"s blood! Also…"

"Um, Yao Lao, can we move on? I"ve "borrowed" the Purple Cloud Essence for further study a long time ago. I have been standing here for the last 3 minutes…" Yang Lei interrupted his teacher"s mad rambling.

"Oh… hehe, yes, go on!" Yao Lao recovered from his daze and stroked his beard as he tried to recover the dignity of a teacher before his students.

After browsing through the entire store, which was small to begin with, Yang Lei discovered nothing else that was good enough to attract Yao Lao"s interest. Therefore, he just took as many high-quality goods as he could without the storekeeper noticing.

"Ah, sir, after going through your wonderful shop, I have discovered that there is nothing that I can afford…" Yang Lei scratched his head sheepishly.

"Hmph!" The storekeeper patted him down and discovered that Yang Lei was indeed just "browsing" through his store. He stared at Yang Lei suspiciously after discovering nothing.

"S-sir! Can I see that wonderful ginseng of yours one more time?" Yang Lei stuttered as he pointed at the shriveled piece of trash that the storekeeper had shown him when he first arrived.

"Hmph! Feel honored!" The storekeeper snorted proudly. Feeling flattered, he decided to gift the "1000-year-old Blood Ginseng" to the ignorant and stupid brat before him. "Keep it, since you"re so sincere!"

"F-for me?" Yang Lei"s eyes widened in wonder as he stared at the shrunken, moldy root in his hands.

"Hmph! Take it and leave before I take it back!" The storekeeper sneered as he crossed his arms.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Yang Lei thanked profusely as he stumbled out of the store in "excitement". The moment he had walked far enough from the store, he immediately tossed the piece of sh*t into the trash where it rightfully belonged.

He shivered as he fought the urge to throw up when he heard someone behind him.

"Urgh!" Xiao Yan was puking his guts out. He had come to meet up with his senior brother, yet the first thing his eyes were greeted with was that… ginseng!

[Hey, if the "ginseng" can make you and that Xiao boy feel nauseous, you should keep it!]

[It would be a great weapon!] The system persuaded as it struggled to hold its laughter. When it discovered that Yang Lei was unwilling, it joined forces with Yao Lao and nagged him continuously.

Finally, Yang Lei was convinced, no, forced to go to the trash and take it back out. He willed it to go into the corner of the inventory s.p.a.ce, far away from the Firedrop Fruit and the Purple Cloud Essence.

Xiao Yan watched it with his own eyes as his respected senior martial was cajoled to retrieve the Granny Ginseng, as it was now called, from the trash.

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Author"s Note: h.e.l.l yeah, hot doctor babe next chapter, I believe...

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