Chapter 98 98 – Recuperating



"Let's retreat back to the sect. Our two weeks goal was already achieved, and their sect will send much larger forces to take us down next time."

Ken instructed his group who nodded in response. His status as the group's leader was inevitable; the strongest people in the group were his bodyguards and entitled to follow his every command. As for the two young ladies, they couldn't do much when Ken's side was the majority and after witnessing his means and talent.

The group took healing pills and left the cave. They needed rest, but it wasn't the right place for that. After putting some distance from their former ambush spot, the five of them found a burrow of a hare and borrowed it for the night. Unluckily for the beast, they didn't chase it away, but let it pass the night with them.

Ken created concealing formations and the group could finally breathe calmly without having to be on their guard nervously. If they got attacked on the same scale as before, they'd have a hard time winning it in their exhausted state.

They took turns in guarding and spent the night recuperating from their wounds by using healing pills and resting from the fatigue of the fight.

The next day they headed to the sect and made it back by nightfall, making it 15 days inside. Elder Benjamin didn't make an appearance, but they figured he lost interest once they stopped fighting, or his schedule was just busy.

They had to find a good way to distribute the tokens among themselves since the two bodyguards couldn't hand over tokens belonging to Core Formation disciples, and Ken came up with something that satisfied everyone.

"Hello, Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters. May I see your discipleship tokens?"

A female disciple wearing gray robes bowed and asked politely when the group came inside. Seeing their yellow robes, she acted respectfully.

"Sure."

They handed her their tokens and after scanning them, she relaxed considerably and threw them the tokens back without much courtesy. Her eyes flashed with a hint of affection toward the adorable pups, but she didn't hold much respect for the humans in the group.

"Oh, you're part of our… newest members. You can go to the Exchange Office to get rewards for anything valuable you've picked up."

In a way, the Divine Sword Sect hoped those outsiders would die. They consumed their resources and were brought here to get killed. Both sects didn't want a blown-out war, and once they could show enough casualties on the other side, they'd be able to stop their war. 

It was all about appearances and face; it was the role of the outsiders to be those casualties the two top sects needed to declare a cease-fire without losing face.

"Sure, thank you."

Miles said happily as they entered the sect's territory and walked to their lodging area. They didn't plan on going together to the Exchange Office, and Ken planned on resting until his shoulder will be perfectly healed.

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Ken moved his shoulder in circles, enjoying the pain-free movements. It took his injury 3 days to be healed and bring him to top condition, but he felt refreshed after living in a house again.

He didn't meet Tiara ever since he came back, so he assumed the girl planned on remaining in the Outer Ring for a month straight or she simply died already. He could check with the Divine Sword Sect, but he didn't care enough.

For every discipleship token, there was a matching token that was kept in the sect. If the holder died while carrying the token near, the matching token would notify the sect of the disciple's death.

"Hey Ken, seems like you're healed today. Are you going to the Exchange Office?"

"Yes, I was planning to."

Jane and Diana entered their house, each embracing a female wolf pup close to her chest.

"We were thinking about it, it seems like the pups don't like the pills they make here in the sect and want yours. Do you think we can buy them from you?"

Jane asked hesitantly with an embarrassed tone. When they returned to the sect and found out Ken didn't agree to lower his price from 500 medium Qi Stones for a first-grade pill, they told him to shove his pills down one of his intimate parts.

·ƈθm Ken wasn't the one to invent the concept of nurturing beasts, and every sect had pills devised for purifying beasts' bloodlines and making them grow stronger. They could buy tens of those pills with a single medium Qi Stone, so it was understandable why they were enraged by Ken's pricing.

However, to their dismay, their pups refused to eat those pills and only ate them on the verge of starvation while whimpering and crying, making their stance regarding those new pills clearer than the sun on a sunny day.

Now, after 3 days of going through endless whimpers and protests from the pups, the two girls bowed their heads begrudgingly and asked for Ken's pills.

"Sure, 500 medium Qi Stones per pill."

"But that's a lot! It's only a first-grade pill and we are friends, can't you make it lower? Let's say… 1 medium Qi Stone per pill?"

Diana clenched her teeth, holding her anger back forcibly while making a counteroffer.

"No, I only sell them to you because you're my friends. I wouldn't make them for strangers."

"Fine, but will you leave the price the same when they need second-grade pills?"

Diana gave up and voiced her greater fear. She finally had a lot of resources to cultivate, and she already went on a shopping spree in the Divine Sword Sect despite the high prices, but she didn't want to get ransacked by Ken for her pet. 

"Don't be funny. Second-grade pills will cost 2,000 medium Qi Stones, and third-grade pills will cost 5,000 Qi Stones. Do you want the prices for the next phase?"

Every three stages were considered a phase since the next stage had an extreme rise in power.