Relic and Hana immediately began digging for truffles. Even Jiro, much to his dismay, was forced to help in the extraction.

Their extraction speed was quick and it seemed like truffles were popping out from the ground at lightning speed.

It would only be a matter of moments before their two large bags were completely filled!

As they were digging, Hana turned to look at her brother. Relic still had that solemn look he had ever since they were at the town. She was beginning to worry about him.

Suddenly, the sound of a branch snapping was heard behind them.

They all stopped and turned their heads to a familiar figure.

“I had imagined it would have been quite hard to kill you children seeing as you were protected in that town. I had hoped to have those street urchins kill you and have them take all the blame. Who would’ve thought they couldn’t even defeat a bunch of children and a broken spirit beast!” A fat burly man was grinning ear to ear in front of them. It was the same man as the one who hired those thugs who had attacked them, Jack Cornwell! “But who would have thought you kids would choose to come down the mountain yourselves!” Merchant Cornwell laughed heartily.

Relic countenance turned increasingly dark. He was already in a bad mood and now that this jerk was here made Relic feel even worse.

Relic made his way to Jiro and retrieved a spear which was tied to Jiro’s back.

“Oh, you want to fight? Sure, but it won’t be with me.”

Suddenly, a robed man stepped out behind a tree and showed his face. An aura of danger could be felt coming from this man.

“I’ll admit, you are quite an extraordinary boy. Not only were you able to down a divine spirit beast, you were also able to survive the attacks of two middle ranked foundation realm cultivators. You also killed all of those thugs! Although Isaac wasn’t anyone worth anything, he was still someone regular mortals could never dream of defeating. That’s why I’ve used my extensive connections and brought a disciple from the immortal sword sect here to kill you!”

The robed man sighed. “Mister Cornwell, you are talking too much, I would like to finish up my assignment and return to my sect.”

“Right, right, excuse me. I have a slight grudge against this child.” He gave an awkward laugh. “Anyways, cultivator Tang Wu, please dispose of the children but keep the spirit beast alive.”

Tang Wu walked towards the little children when his gaze happened to meet with Jiro’s piercing cold eyes. “Mister Cornwell, you are sure this spirit beast is injured, correct?” a single sweat droplet ran down his face.

Tang Wu could recognize a divine spirit beast when he saw one. Spirit beasts were generally several times stronger than cultivators of the same level and divine spirit beasts were even more so.

“Yes, please do not worry. Originally, I had assumed its neck was broken but it seems I had misjudged the extent of its injury as it looks fine now. However, I’m 100% sure it will not be able to bring you any harm as a middle ranked foundation realm cultivator. The beast showed no signs of being able to use any of its innate techniques.” Merchant Cornwell was also somewhat knowledgeable on the spirit beast trade and knew somethings about spirit beasts.

Tang Wu gave a sigh of relief and waved his hand. An elegant white sword appeared in his hands and a beautifully crafted broad sword appeared below his feet. He looked at Relic with a casual expression.

“I have no qualms with you, but you have made a powerful enemy. Perhaps in your next life, you should try not to be so outstanding.” Tang Wu flew through the air on his flying sword at incredible speed.

He really did not put Relic in his eye and so he slashed down in an uncaring manner. The only one he was a little bit afraid of was Jiro but as Jiro couldn’t use any of his innate beast techniques, he really wasn’t really bothered by him either. In fact, he had heard of the story of Relic downing this spirit beast. If a mortal kid could take care of this spirit beast what fear should he have?

He quickly appeared in front of Relic and slashed down his sword at Relic’s head. He expected to easily slice Relic’s body in half like mud. However, what he didn’t expect was for Relic to be able to dodge his attack.

Relic immediately ducked and swung his long spear horizontally, smashing the side of the spear against the Tang Wu’s legs.

Tang Wu was flung off his flying sword and smashed against a black Oakwood tree. He laid on the floor in a daze. “H-how…”

“Three prong cascading strike!”

The spear pierced out, aiming towards Tang Wu’s head.

Tang Wu quickly went pale and summoned out a jade tortoise shell. A green barrier with an image of a tortoise shell appeared, blocking the spear’s attacks.

Relic immediately distanced himself from him and took up a battle stance.

Tang Wu was completely shaken. He had just used up his most precious lifesaving treasure in order to block Relic’s attack. That lifesaving treasure was capable of blocking any attack under the spirit realm and yet he had just used it against a regular mortal!

He slowly got up and clenched his teeth, unable to accept what just happened.

“Die!” He charged towards Relic.

Relic remained unchanged and was even less worried about this man than before.

“Try this! Rising Dragon Slash!” Teng Wu infused tremendous Qi into his weapon and slashed upwards in a tyrannical fashion.

Relic quickly struck down his long reaching spear at Tang Wu's foot.

Puchi!

The spear penetrated the Teng Wu’s foot, immediately disrupting his attack and causing him to miss Relic entirely.

Seeing this, Merchant Cornwell looked in disbelief and fright. “A-are you o-okay?” he yelled out.

“I’m fine!” The man’s face contorted from the pain. He took out a medicinal pill and swallowed it.

“How…HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!” He screamed while pointing at Relic.

“Is this your first battle?” Relic asked in a monotone voice.

“Of course not! How would I have reached the mid rank of the foundation realm without having fought any battles?!!! ” Rage was seething through his teeth, thinking Relic was mocking him.

“Is that so…. Then as a mid-rank foundation realm cultivator you lack any semblance of formal training. You leave yourself opened to counter attacks every time you raise your blade. When you focus on your target you ignore any attacks that may come from places besides where you focus at. ”

Relic spoke like an instructor teaching his students.

“The current you is vastly weaker than others in the same realm. In fact, you are even less powerful than the man I battled before who was merely at the cusp of the soulless warrior realm.” Relic shook his head.

In the eyes of mortals, those in the foundation realm were gods among men. They were capable of miraculous things not capable by man or woman. On the other hand, powerful cultivators considered the foundation realm as the true starting point of a cultivator’s journey. It was a transitioning point for all true cultivators.

However, to Relic, it was a realm he could still handle!

“Are you looking down on me…” the man’s expression turned ugly.

“No, I’m just stating a fact. You should leave now. Your cultivation journey does not have to end here.” Relic said. “I only have grievances with that man.” He glared at the fat burly merchant.

Merchant Cornwell felt a shiver down his spine.

A vein bulged on top Tang Wu’s head when he heard Relic’s answer.

Tang Wu’s character was that of a typical young master. He was born within the venerable Tang family. His family spent great amounts of money in order to buy him cultivation resources as well as using their connections to get him into the immortal sword sect. Having everything handed to him, his cultivation rose to a point many cultivators could only salivate for. If his arrogance could be measured it would surely reach to the skies.

“Those who look down on me… Will die! ”

Sparks of purple lightning suddenly radiated from his body and an electrifying popping sound could be heard.

His sword, which was shrouded in Qi, began to change. A streak of lightning shot from the white sword and onto the ground, leaving a blacking mark.

“Essence endowment!” he shouted.

Immediately, a bright light encompassed the entire sword. As the light faded, an aura of lightning now encompassed the white sword.

Tang Wu looked at his weapon and broke into a large smile. “Ha…hahaha…” He laughed wildly. “I should thank you. Up until this point, I had never been able to transmute the essence of lightning on to my weapon. Who would have thought a mortal boy would be the key to my power up!”

He casually brushed his sword against the nearest tree. The trunk of the tree was immediately destroyed and chunks of burnt wood crashed on to the floor.

Tang Wu just couldn’t stop smiling at his new found ability.

Merchant Cornwell also had a large smile on his face. “Congratulations Tang Wu, you are definitely a genius not seen within a hundred years!”

“Indeed!” He accepted the praise without blinking an eye.

He lifted his sword and pointed towards Relic.

“Although it seems wrong to kill my benefactor, for you, I will make an exception!”

Tang Wu charged towards Relic once more, carrying a sinister smile. His body invigorated with new power.

The destructive sword flashed in the air and sliced down on Relic.

At the same time, Relic’s spear pierced through the air towards Tang Wu’s throat.

In a battle of lengths, it looked as if the spear would reach first.

Yet, Tang Wu looked even more excited as a smirk crept up on his face. “You told I leave myself opened when I attack? That I lack the ability to see things outside where I focus? How’s this then?!”

He immediately grabbed on to relic’s spear with his hand and swung his sword at the spear, chopping it in half.

“How’s that?! Anything to say now?!”

Tang Wu’s senses had heightened, making Relic’s attack look like it was moving extremely slowly.

He saw Relic’s frightened expression and immediately felt great pleasure wash over his body. He didn’t want it to end; he wanted to take things slow.

Tang Wu walked slowly towards Relic. With every step He took, Relic took a shaken step back.

Suddenly, Relic’s foot tripped over a black lump on the ground and he fell on his butt.

“Hmph, in the end a mortal is a mortal!” He stood over Relic like a giant over an ant. He lifted his sword over his head, preparing to end Relic’s life in one strike.

As his sword began to descend he suddenly saw Relic’s expression return to him calm demeanor.

“Mr. Tang, Look out!” Jack Cornwell suddenly shouted.

Puchi!

Tang Wu’s sword abruptly stopped mid-air and started to shake. He looked down to find there was now a bloody hole in his chest. He then turned his head behind and saw the spirit beast he had ignored, now covered in his blood.

Relic grabbed a branch near him and causally stood up.

“No... You have not learned anything.” Relic said.

Puchi!

The branch in Relic’s hand penetrated Tang Wu’s neck and he immediately dropped dead.

Relic then turned his head to where the fat burly merchant was; but that figure was already gone.

….

Merchant Cornwell immediately ran for his life as soon as he saw Tang Wu’s body fell on to the ground.

“Dammit, Dammit, Dammit! Why did I mess with this kid?!” He was regretting his decision to try to kill Relic. “Why are you so stupid! He was able to down a divine arcane spirit beast; of course he wouldn’t be easy to deal with!” He berated himself. If only he could go back in time, he would have never involved himself with this kid!

However, there was no cure for regret, and soon, a large shadow overtook him.

“No! Please, I’ll do anything!” He pleaded on his knees.

But the large figure in the sky ignored him and swooped down at Merchant Cornwell. The figure extended its claws out and ripped him to shreds!

….

“(It’s done).” Jiro said as he flew back down to the two little kids.