Chapter 4: Beast Crystals

“We have saved some Beast Crystals. Bring out all the low-grade ones. We should use half of the mid-grade and high-grade ones to buy more advanced Spirit Tools and medicines,” Yang Tong decided, gritting his teeth.

“Alright, there’s no other way,” Luo Xiaojuan said reluctantly. After all, Beast Crystals were Spirit Coins. Beast Crystals were energy. All the Spirit Tools and household items at home used them as an energy source. Spirit Tool weapons also needed them for energy and ammunition. Although high-grade Beast Crystals were somewhat inferior to Standard Crystals, the key point was that Beast Crystals came from the crystallized cores inside Savage Beasts, so they had no real cost. However, the reason Beast Crystals were so precious was their uncertainty. They weren’t found in every Savage Beast. Some powerful Savage Beasts had no Beast Crystals inside, while some weak ones did. You might kill a hundred high-level Savage Beasts and not get a single Beast Crystal, or you might kill ten weak ones and get one from each kill.

Every family, especially those warrior families who made a living by hunting Savage Beasts outside, would stockpile a large number of Beast Crystals as a backup resource, like hard currency.

If, one day, the family’s main provider fell, at least this backup fund could cover living expenses.

Now, with the news that Savage Beasts were gathering in large numbers and a beast horde might attack the city, all warrior families unanimously chose to spend their backup funds to buy more advanced Spirit Tools and expensive medicines.

Early the next morning, after the Yang family finished breakfast and Yang Tong was about to go practice his boxing, Yang Tong called him over and said, “You’re not going to school today. How about you come with me to the Mercenary Guild for a look?”

Yang Tong immediately nodded and replied, “Okay!” Actually, he had wanted to go for a long time. These years, his life had been the same three-point routine every day, and he was utterly bored.

He got on his father’s motorcycle and left home.

The Mercenary Guild was located at the common border of the eight main city districts. Simply put, it was in the city center, right next to the City Hall.

On the way, Yang Tong drove and said, “Son, once we’re at the Mercenary Guild, watch more, think more, and talk less, understand? The Mercenary Guild has an extremely powerful background. Even the City Hall doesn’t dare to provoke it. It’s spread throughout every city and county in the entire Royal Feather Kingdom.”

“Got it, Dad. I won’t cause any trouble,” Yang Tong replied sensibly.

The Mercenary Guild was indeed much more magnificent than other places. Just the wide main entrances numbered five. The ten-story building was the tallest structure in the county town.

You have to understand, the Fengxuan Continent was quite sparsely populated. Take Luoyu County for example: the entire county town covered a vast area, and every household lived in small villa-type houses. There was simply no need for high-rise buildings. Therefore, the Mercenary

Guild’s ten-story building was one of very few in the entire Luoyu County. Of course, high-rise residential buildings weren’t nonexistent; those belonged to the poorer residents.

As soon as they entered through the main doors, they felt a pleasantly cool air. The main hall was enormous. The most eye-catching thing was the huge screen facing the entrance. Various mission information kept scrolling across it. People came and went, making the place look very busy.

“Let’s go. I see a few friends over there. We’ll head over,” Yang Tong said, quite familiar with the place. He took Yang Tong’s hand and walked towards the small bar counter on the right side. “This first floor is the mission hall. The second floor is for special missions. From the third floor up is the trading hall. You can buy a lot of good stuff up there.”

At a bar counter on the left side of the hall sat seven men of varying builds, gathered together chatting and drinking.

One of them saw Yang Tong arrive and called out, “Hey, Boss Yang is here.”

“Boss Yang, is this your son?”

“I remember your son is at most twelve this year? He looks really strong.”

“Not bad. He has the bearing of his father in his youth.”

Yang Tong 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 skinniest and smallest of the seven and did indeed look a bit like a monkey.

“Hello, Uncle Chen,” Yang Tong greeted politely.

“Wow, so well-mannered. I like that,” the man said. Then, with a flip of his hand, he took out an irregular crystal about the size of a ping-pong ball and handed it to Yang Tong. “A meeting gift. Take it.”

Yang Tong looked at his father, somewhat hesitant.

“Boss Yang, it’s just a low-grade, low-rank Beast Crystal. Consider it something for your nephew to buy snacks,” the monkey-like man explained with a grin.

“Alright, take it,” Yang Tong nodded.

“Him, Uncle Li.” This Uncle Li had a distinct scar on his face, and his nickname was Scarface.

“Even Monkey has given something, I can’t fall behind. Here, take it,” this Scarface Uncle Li said, showing a smile uglier than a ghost’s, and also gave a Beast Crystal of the same grade.

Each of the others also gave Yang Tong a low-grade, low-rank Beast Crystal.

Yang Tong ordered a platter of roast meat at the bar counter and told Yang Tong to take it and eat to the side. The adults gathered together to discuss something.

“I believe everyone already knows,” Yang Tong said gravely.

“It’s 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. We are not the strongest in the entire county, but we belong to the middle ranks. The task of defending the city probably can’t be avoided,” Yang Tong concluded.

“Same old rules. But this time, just the few of us probably isn’t enough. We must contact more squads to advance and retreat together.”

“Pangzi, here are my Beast Crystals. This is my shopping list. You have the connections.” After Yang Tong 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.

“Don’t worry, leave it to me,” the fat man said, taking everyone’s lists. He looked and exclaimed in surprise, “Are you guys planning to shed a lot of blood?!”

The men looked at each other and smiled bitterly. “We don’t want to either. Our lives are on the line. We have no choice but to shed a lot.”

Yang Tong listened while eating on the side and managed to grasp the gist of it. He couldn’t help but feel shocked. He carefully observed the warriors around him. Almost everyone wore worried expressions, hurried about, giving off a feeling of an impending storm. It seemed something big really was about to happen.

Just then, a middle-aged man in a long robe stepped into the first-floor hall. The Warriors at the entrance respectfully made way for him.

“Greetings, Lord Yan Huo,” some Novice Ninth-Level Warriors called out. Warriors below Novice Ninth-Level didn’t even have the qualification to greet him.

As this greeting echoed, all the experts at the Apprentice Ninth-Level Warrior level in the hall stopped what they were doing or saying. One by one, they cupped their hands and greeted, “Greetings, Lord Yan Huo.” This included Yang Tong and the other seven, who also stood up and cupped their hands in greeting.