8mi Chapter 9 The Path of Evil Cultivation
Chapter 9 The Path of Evil Cultivation
Lin Er followed the others and saw a woman and a child, along with two young men, weeping over the corpse on the ground.
The deceased was the villager named Jet who had just been killed by the earth bear, and they were Jet's family.
Many villagers, seeing the gruesome death of their fellow villager, felt their joy diminish and were replaced by deep sympathy.
Some villagers, however, had other ideas. Now that someone had died in their village, they might be able to profit from the death.
Lin Er's senses were now very sharp, and he immediately noticed several unfriendly gazes falling on him.
He was a little confused at first, but when he saw these unfriendly villagers staring at the bear carcass with greedy eyes, he understood.
At this moment, Burns suddenly spoke up:
"Who reported this bear infestation? It's clearly not an ordinary brown bear. Someone must be held accountable."
Lin Er nodded in agreement. When he accepted the task, he thought it was just a common bear problem.
If it weren't for his superior skills, the outcome of this bear infestation would have been uncertain.
Not only Lin Er, but many villagers also agreed with Burns's statement that they would not have left the village if they had known it was not an ordinary brown bear.
If Lin Er hadn't intervened, many more people would have died. The villagers, having survived the ordeal, are furious and demand an explanation.
At this point, a villager spoke up: "Isn't it always the village chief who reports bear infestations?"
Upon hearing this, the villagers looked at each other in bewilderment.
It's not that they're afraid of the village chief. A few days ago, the village chief asked many villagers to investigate the bear infestation, but most of them just went through the motions.
They insisted it was just a common bear infestation, and the village chief was too old to verify the situation, so they reported it as such.
The villagers now want to shift the blame to the village chief, whose family has a good relationship with the lord. If they are angered, they might attract the lord's guards.
Suddenly, someone shouted, "When I came back from investigating the oak forest the day before yesterday, I asked Jet, and he confirmed with me that it was just an ordinary brown bear."
At this point, others echoed this sentiment, confirming the villager's statement.
Everyone tacitly agreed to shift the blame to the dead.
Jeter's family felt resentful upon hearing these words, but seeing so many fellow countrymen putting pressure on them, they could only keep quiet for the time being.
Finally, the village chief stepped forward and promised to report Jet's death in battle for the village, requesting the lord to reduce Jet's family's taxes for three years. Only then did Jet's family's expressions soften.
Lin Er silently observed the scene unfold, and at the same time, he noticed that the unfriendly gazes had disappeared.
Speaking of which, we should thank Uncle Burns for speaking up. If he hadn't changed the villagers' minds, we would be in trouble now.
After some twists and turns, the villagers saw the bear carcass, tasted it, and then did not linger.
After all, there was still a lot of farm work to be done in the fields, so there was no time to rest. They all picked up their farm tools and went back to work.
Only a few villagers remained to help the Jet family with their funeral arrangements.
Lin Er took out the bounty notice, had the village chief stamp it with the village's seal, and the task was considered complete.
At this moment, Burns walked over and asked:
"Young man, are you leaving?"
Lin Er replied, "Yes, it's just that this bear carcass is a bit difficult to handle."
He couldn't help but think of Flora's magical bag; he wished he had one too.
Burns said, "I've just finished my business and am about to head back to Blackrock City. Why don't we travel together? You can put the bear carcass in my carriage."
Lin Er was delighted and said, "Then thank you so much, Uncle."
Burns immediately called over two of his employees, had them bring the wagon over, and then loaded the bear carcass onto the wagon.
With everything prepared, they headed straight for Blackrock City.
On this return trip, Burns only brought some local specialties from the village, which weren't very heavy. He also bought a nag horse, so the carriage could travel much faster now.
Lin Er thanked Burns again, saying:
"Uncle Burns, thank you for speaking up for me earlier."
Burns waved his hand and said, "No need to thank me. Actually, I have a selfish motive. Young man, could you sell me some bear meat?"
Lin Er didn't care who he sold the spoils to; he figured he might as well do someone a favor, so he replied, "Uncle Burns, if you want them, I'll sell them all to you."
Burns chuckled and said, "I don't have the money to buy this bear. Just give me a bear leg. I've never tasted the meat of an armored bear before."
Lin Er readily agreed.
……
Half a day has passed.
The group finally returned to Blackrock City. Because they had goods, they paid the city entrance fee and were allowed to enter.
Lin Er went straight to the place where he had sold the black bear last time.
This time, because it's a Tier 1 Earth Armor Bear, the price has doubled.
He also learned about the characteristics of this extraordinary bear meat, which was more delicious than ordinary meat, and wealthy merchants and nobles would be happy to buy it.
It's a pity that the most valuable part, the fur, wasn't intact; otherwise, it could have sold for even more.
Even though the value of the bear carcass was reduced, Lin Er still received 10 Workshop Coins. Combined with Burns' 2 Workshop Coins, the bounty plus the money from selling the bear carcass brought him a total of 13 Workshop Coins.
He could be said to have become quite wealthy overnight.
However, Lin Er cared more about cultivation techniques than money.
After dealing with the bear carcass, Lin Er bid farewell to Burns and headed straight for the Adventurers' Guild.
He went to the window Ellie was in charge of and gave a brief report on the mission.
Ellie was somewhat surprised and said, "Doesn't that mean that you encountered a Tier 1 Earth Armor Bear, Lord Lin'er? Those despicable villagers gave false information."
She was furious and gripped the quill pen tightly.
Lin Er asked, "Are these kinds of intelligence errors common?"
Ellie shook her head and replied, "Our Adventurers' Guild has dedicated intelligence sources, so we're basically infallible."
Lin Er didn't completely believe Ellie's sweet talk. After all, she was also a staff member of the Adventurers' Guild, and she couldn't just say bad things about her in public, or she would lose her job.
Fortunately, Ellie actively compensated Lin Er within the scope of her authority, allowing him to receive an additional workshop coin.
With the bounty submitted and Ellie vouching for him, Lin Er has met the promotion requirements.
He took out his black iron badge and handed it over, and quickly received a new badge.
The new badge is made of brass, and its texture and refinement are far superior to the black iron badge.
Now he is finally a bronze-level adventurer.
At this point, a system prompt pops up.
[You have successfully improved your status within the sect and been promoted to outer disciple. Main quest complete.]
You have obtained your first true cultivation technique.
[Because you are an evil cultivator, your cultivation does not follow the righteous path, and you are despised by this world, making your path to immortality extremely difficult.]
[Start your heretical cultivation path: Please select one.]
[Part One: The Blood Soul Heretical Path, where everything is a resource for cultivation, refining not only qi but also the spirit.]
[Second: The Path to Immortality. In this world, all things are strictly hierarchical. Immortality is the power of false gods, and cultivating immortality is inherently defying the heavens.]
[Three: The evil path of Yin spirits, refining corpses and binding souls, using skill to overcome force, merging with the Yin spirit, gradually becoming inhuman.]