Chapter 10: New Technique
"Wow! What ability is that?"
Sia's eyes twinkled with admiration as she looked up at Alex with longing.
What kind of ability is this?
How can it be so strong?
"Oh, S-Rank Darkness Ability," he replied.
Seeing his calm and indifferent demeanor, Sia was momentarily rendered speechless.
That's an S-Rank Ability!
It was a power countless people dreamed of but could never obtain, yet he spoke of it so casually.
But thinking about it carefully, something felt off.
"Did you... did you just awaken this year?"
"What else?"
Hearing this answer, Sia felt as if the sky had collapsed, her entire being enveloped by immense shock.
Her father had told her that anyone who could cultivate to Tier 1, Rank 1 on the very first day of awakening was already exceptionally talented. Reaching Tier 1, Rank 2 made one a rare prodigy, one in ten thousand.
But this guy in front of her... Tier 1, Rank 3? What was going on?
To prevent herself from making a sensing error, she suppressed her internal shock and carefully sensed his aura again.
Sure enough! She had been wrong earlier!
He wasn't Tier 1, Rank 3... he was damn well Tier 1, Rank 4!!
He was clearly just Rank 3 a moment ago. In the blink of an eye, he had reached Rank 4?
"How can you be this ridiculous?! You're already Tier 1, Rank 4!!"
Comparing people really could drive one to death.
She had also just awakened today, but she was only at Tier 1, Rank 1!
"Luck. Just luck."
Alex brushed her off with a perfunctory reply, then squatted down to rummage through Kane Blackwood's corpse for resources.
His hand searched Kane's pockets until a glistening golden pill caught his eye.
[Top-Grade Bone Tempering Pill: Consuming significantly increases bone tempering speed.]
"Holy crap? Top-Grade Bone Tempering Pill!"
Pills, Origin Stones, and potions were strictly graded: Defective, Low-Grade, Mid-Grade, High-Grade, Top-Grade!
Currently, in the Riverdale market, only a handful of High-Grade Bone Tempering Pills were even for sale.
And a single High-Grade pill cost as much as 200,000 to 300,000 credits!
As for this Top-Grade pill, it was practically priceless—money couldn't buy it!
After all, the better the quality of the Bone Tempering Pill, the faster the speed of bone tempering.
Tier 1 was also known as the Bone Tempering Realm. It required the aid of cultivation methods or pills to temper one's bones.
With each round of tempering, the bones became harder, laying a solid foundation for future cultivation.
Currently, the strongest individuals in the Federation had only tempered up to the Ninth Round!
Of course, legends spoke of a Tenth Round of Bone Tempering, known as Perfect Tempering...
Those who underwent Perfect Tempering would have bones that emitted a dazzling golden light, hard as gold itself—hence the name "Golden Bone!"
However, that only existed in legends.
Thinking of this, a strong impulse surged in Alex's heart.
With the System, he wanted to attempt Perfect Tempering!
But right now, he hadn't even completed the first round...
Once he got back, he would start preparing for bone tempering.
Retracting his thoughts, he found two more Mid-Grade Bone Tempering Pills and a D-Rank combat dagger on Kane.
Combined, these items were worth several hundred thousand credits.
Adding the Top-Grade pill and the weapon, the total value was close to a million!
As expected of the saying, "Murder and arson earn the golden belt." Making money this way was truly fast.
"Hey? What's your name?" Sia asked from behind.
"Alex Whitefield."
"What? You're Alex?"
"You know me?"
"I don't know you, but I've heard of you. You seem to be making quite a stir with the Vance family."
"Something like that. What about you?"
Sia smiled mysteriously. "Not telling! Come find me tomorrow, and maybe I'll tell you!"
"Not going. I don't have that much time."
For Alex, hunting beasts was the most important business right now.
"Hmph. If you don't come, you can forget about getting the Darkness Cultivation Method and the Tier 3 Combat Skill book!"
Alex rolled his eyes at her. "Fine. What time and place?"
"Tomorrow morning before ten. The City Lord's Manor!"
Alex looked at her curiously. "You're so rich... are you the City Lord's kid?"
"No! I just live near the City Lord's Manor!"
She explained hurriedly, trying her best to hide her true identity.
"Fine. I'm going back to hunting beasts. You do whatever."
Alex picked up Kane's severed head, tossed it into his Storage Ring, and prepared to continue hunting.
"Hey! Let's go together!"
Sia followed him like a tail, tagging along happily.
Evening.
City Gate.
"James Whitefield, how many beasts did you catch?"
Lee, a minion from Kane's team, asked loudly with a scornful smile on his face.
James's expression instantly turned ugly. After Alex left, they had encountered a Tier 1 Rank 7 Gale Wolf King...
This forced them into hiding, giving them no chance to hunt any beasts.
He helplessly took out less than ten beast carcasses.
"Four Rotting Rats, worth less than 80,000 total. Plus a few Bloodthirsty Crows, worth about 60,000. That's only 140,000 total! Hahaha, that is utter trash!" Lee mocked ruthlessly, then raised his voice. "Boys, show them ours!"
Three team members pulled out their beast carcasses simultaneously. There were 15 in total, worth about 200,000 credits.
"James, getting old makes you useless. My boss isn't even back yet, and you've already lost to us minions. When the boss gets here, he's going to rub your face in the dirt!"
"What are you gloating about! Our Alex isn't back yet!"
"You're kidding, right? You're actually pinning your hopes on an Awakener who just got his ability? Stop joking around! Just wipe your foreheads and start kowtowing!"
Lee really couldn't understand. Were these four people senile? Pinning their hopes on a kid who just awakened?
It wasn't like he could bring back a mountain of prey and turn the tide, right?
"Yo. Who's talking so much trash?" Alex walked over with a calm expression.
"Hmph. Kid, I'm surprised you didn't piss your pants and actually dared to come back. That's rare."
"Piss my pants? If I did that, how could I come back to make you kowtow and apologize?"
Hearing this, Lee couldn't help but laugh maniacally at the sky. "Boys? Hahaha! He actually said he's going to make us kowtow?"
His laughter hadn't even faded when Alex waved his hand, dumping all the prey from his Storage Ring.
In an instant, dozens of beast carcasses piled up, forming a small mountain in front of everyone.
"This? This... How can there be so many!!"
Lee's laughter stopped abruptly, his face filled with shock and disbelief.
James was also stunned by the pile of corpses.
He thought it would be great if Alex brought back a few.
But he never expected dozens!!
And among them were quite a few Tier 1 Rank 5 beasts!
He looked at Alex incredulously. When did his nephew become so powerful that he could kill Rank 5 beasts??
"Laugh. Why don't you keep laughing?"
"This is impossible! You couldn't have killed these! You definitely bought them with money just to show off here!"
Lee refused to believe the facts before his eyes, screaming hysterically.
In his view, Alex was just a newly awakened rookie. How could he have such power?
Alex couldn't be bothered to argue. With a thought, the Death Scythe instantly appeared in his hand, resting directly against Lee's neck.
"What about now?"
Feeling the threat of death, Lee felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet, spreading instantly through his body.
He swallowed involuntarily. "You... you can't kill me! Boss Kane will be back any minute!"
(To be Continued)