The old man placed three bags containing 1,000 mortal grade coins each on the counter and nodded. "Although it’s quite rare, I do have one. The thing you ask for is called a slumbering arc and can be used to store pet beasts inside."

Leon’s eyes lit up and he asked, "How much is the price?"

The old man took out a white leather belt with five purple crystals attached to it and placed it on the table. "It’s a mortal grade slumbering arc in the shape of a waist belt. It has five slots, meaning you will be able to store five mortal level beasts inside. As for the price, it will be 10,000 mortal grade coins per slot, a total of 50,000."

Leon examined the belt and asked with a frown, "I am buying it for a little girl, around the age of ten. Do you have one of smaller size?"

The old man chuckled. "There is no need for that. It will automatically adjust to the wearer’s size after it absorbs her qi."

Leon nodded in understanding. He had heard about some battle armors having such self adjustment formations enchanted on them, so he did not doubt the old man’s words and took out 50,000 mortal grade coins from his storage ring.

The old man’s eyes widened when he saw the large bag of mortal grade coins in front of him. He hurriedly scanned the bag with his spirit qi and nodded in satisfaction. "Honestly, I did not expect you to carry so much money around. Anyway, happy doing business with you."

Leon just nodded casually and left after storing the belt in his storage ring. After that, he also sold the cultivation manuals he got from the soldiers for a total of 5,034 mortal grade coins.

As Leon was preparing to go back, he noticed a small crowd at the end of the stalls on the west side. Curious to know what was going on, he walked towards the crowd and saw a bulky man with a lion mask on his face standing calmly inside a stall filled with various weapons.

When Leon sensed the fluctuations coming from the weapons, he was surprised. All of these weapons were iron grade. One had to know that the strongest powerhouses in the 36th stronghold were only at the iron realm, and weapons of such grade were considered quite rare. Even most of the cultivators at the iron rank relied on mortal grade weapons.

"Sir, do you have a pair of sabers with identical weight and length suitable for dual wielding?" Leon asked after he looked around at the weapons displayed on the shelves.

The bulky young man glanced at Leon and said indifferently, "I only sell iron grade weapons."

Leon nodded. "I am also looking for iron grade weapons, possibly of the best quality you can offer."

The bulky young man remained silent for a moment, then took out two silver swords with purple handles and placed them on the counter.

Leon took the two swords in his hand and nodded in satisfaction. The two swords were 100 cm in length, and the grip on the handle felt quite comfortable with proper distribution of the sword’s weight.

"How much?" Leon asked directly.

"400 for each, including the scabbards," the bulky young man said sternly as though he would not tolerate any bargaining.

Leon did not hesitate and directly paid the money. After that, the young man placed the two swords with their scabbards in a brocade box and gave it to Leon.

Leon nodded as a gesture of thanks and left the black market. On his way back, Leon did not dare stop as he sensed several people following after him.

Sprinting at his top speed, he reached outside the main city gate of Rose Valley Town. He swiftly removed his mask and black hood and blended into the group of adventurers gathered outside for nighttime hunts in the forest.

Only about five hours later, when the sky started to brighten, did he resume his journey back home.

.......

Seven days later,

Rose Valley Town, army division building.

Ans Frostwell frowned as he looked at his subordinate who was covered in bandages. "You are telling me that you were beaten up by a mere kid at the peak of the mortal realm and you were not even able to fight back?"

The middle aged soldier who had been beaten up by Leon earlier lowered his head. "That kid is a body cultivator and he seems to practice a decent vital qi cultivation method. I am no match for him."

Ans tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Forget about this matter for now. We will teach him the consequences of laying hands on a soldier when we take his dear sister away from him. But right now, all I want to hear is the news regarding the 35,000 iron grade coins I entrusted to you for the purchase of iron grade weapons."

The middle aged soldier clenched his fist hatefully and said, "All the money was in the hands of the two iron realm soldiers the head soldier from Stone Fort Village took with him. The three of them entered the forest following that boy Leon, while I stayed back at the village. By late evening the boy returned to the village, but there was no sign of the head soldier or the other two."

"That is why I went to his house to investigate, but that bastard broke my leg and threatened to kill me if I dare step inside his house."

Ans squinted his eyes and asked, "So you are saying that boy was behind the disappearance of our soldiers and the missing money?"

The soldier nodded. "Absolutely. If he was able to beat me up, those three are just easy prey in front of him. And from his actions that day, I am sure he would not hesitate to kill even if it is a soldier."

Ans remained silent for a moment and nodded. "You are right. No matter whether your conclusion is true or false, we cannot let this go unchecked. Ask some capable body cultivation geniuses from our team to prepare. We will visit Stone Fort Village by tomorrow."

The middle aged soldier nodded and turned around to walk out, but Ans stopped him. "Oh, don’t forget to clean up the altar. We will also capture his sister on our way back, and I have to use the altar by tomorrow night itself. Understood?"

The soldier shuddered when he thought about the fate of the little girls who ended up in this monster’s hand, and nodded hurriedly before he left the office.

.......

Inside the deep forest, a makeshift tent was guarded by bulky guards in heavy armor wielding long spears in their hands.

Ethan sat inside the tent in meditation, while the leader of the guards stood before him respectfully.

"Ancestor, our family head sent news that they are not able to find anyone with Eclipse Veil Physique so far," the guard said with a bow.

Ethan opened his eyes and asked, "That girl from the Moon Palace also did not come to the agreed place, right?"

The guard nodded.

Ethan sighed. "It is just that my stupid disciple is still inside the Asura Forest. Unless I am sure that he has left this place, I will not be able to activate the immortal suppression formation. Otherwise, I would have already captured that girl and done what I wanted with her tender body to break her arrogance."

When he heard this, the guard thought that his ancestor was itching to blow off some steam and suggested out of goodwill, "If ancestor wants some girls to serve you, I will send one of my men to look for some fine ones from the town."

Ethan smiled. "It is not as simple as you think. The Eclipse Veil Physique has some hidden benefits that make them the best partners for dual cultivation. Once they are bonded with a person from the opposite sex, mysterious changes will take place inside their body, making their flesh, qi, and essence some kind of addictive aphrodisiac for the partner bonded with them."

"It is a characteristic of the Eclipse Sovereign Demon to make sure that the host they are parasitizing does not resist them. Although I will devour her soul, I will not harm her body as it can be turned into a puppet that will provide me heavenly pleasure no one else could." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The guard nodded in understanding. "So what should we do? Should we go and capture that girl by force?"

Ethan shook his head. "Don’t act for now. Once my dear disciple leaves the boundary of the immortal suppression formation plates, I will be able to sense it. We will only start our plan after that. For now just send one of our men to follow her secretly and make sure she does not leave the 36th stronghold."

The guard bowed and left the tent.

Ethan closed his eyes once more and resumed his cultivation. Three different types of elemental qi entered his body from all around him, strengthening and stabilizing his aura at a visible rate.