The arena was buzzing with excitement after the bombshell of a news that had just been dropped by the first elder.
"You may go and rest for today, the tournament continues tomorrow." the first elder ordered as he turned and walked back of the group of elders behind him.
Logan had a plan in his mind, but he needed some resources to execute it. He turned to Jason and asked, "Jason, can I borrow some essence stones from you?"
"Yeah, sure," answered Jason without thinking,
"But what are you going to do with them?" Jason inquired, curious about Logan's intentions.
"Nothing much, I just realized there's something I need to buy urgently," Logan answered.
'something I can't tell you about!' Logan thought wryly.
"Okay, well, do you want me to escort you?" Jason asked as though concerned for Logan's safety. The market was not a safe place, especially for those who carried valuable items. He quickly recalled that Logan wasn't powerless and was actually a cultivator like him, he was about to refute his request but Logan had already answered.
"No, I'll be fine going alone," Logan replied as he stood up to go.
"Alright, if you say so," Jason sighed in relief as Logan declined his request, he too had to visit home to at least get some resources to be prepared for the expedition.
He took out multiple essence stones from his spatial ring and gave them to Logan, as he watched Logan's back fade into the crowd he hoped that Logan would not get into any trouble.
Logan had collected the essence stones from Jason, who had given him more than he had asked for. Logan was grateful to him as he left the arena, heading towards the market.
'I really need to think of a way to make some money, should I harvest my gold? I haven't thought of how to get it out of there and realising the strength of the humans here they are probably going to know I sto- took it' Logan sighed in thought.
He strolled around and asked for directions from some vendors and pedestrians. After a while, he finally arrived at the market...
Ready to... Execute his plan!
The market was very busy and lively, with gossip spilling everywhere.
There were many people here to buy and sell different goods, ranging from beast cores to armors, weapons, artifacts, treasures, and so on. Logan could feel the greed and excitement in the air.
Logan looked around and he finally saw what he wanted to buy: a rank four beast core. He needed to improve his cultivation rapidly, and this was the only possible way he could think of doing so quickly, although he knew of the dangers of doing so, he felt it was worth the risk.
'I just hope I don't lose control of myself like before, no, back then I wasn't a cultivator but now I am one so I'll definitely be able to control myself.'
He walked up to an average-looking man who was sitting behind a stall with a sign that read "Beast Cores for Sale". The man was dressed in clothes that were in between rags and proper wear. He had a thick grey mustache and sharp black eyebrows.
"Hey, kid, what do you want?" he asked, seemingly not pleased by Logan's demeanour. He could tell that Logan was not a regular customer.
"I want to buy some rank four beast cores," Logan replied, as he composed himself and brought out the multiple rank one and two essence stones he had. He hoped that the man would accept them as payment.
"I only collect rank two essense stones, so go somewhere else with those rank one essense stones of yours," the shop owner said, giving Logan a look of disdain. He seemingly did not want to waste his time with such low-quality essence stones.
"Please, I need the rank four cores," Logan pleaded.
"Then you could go buy them somewhere else," the man retorted.
'F**k, I wish I could shove those beast cores up your... ' Logan thought as he shook his head and decided to leave.
Logan left and decided to go to another store he saw a few minutes after walking away.
He entered and saw another young man who was standing behind a counter with a display of various beast cores. He greeted him and told him what he came to buy, bringing out his mixture of rank one and two essence stones.
"I only collect rank two essence stones," the young man replied, echoing the previous shop owner.
Logan tried pleading with the store owner, but he was adamant in his decision.
He told Logan that rank four cores were in high demand, and he could not afford to sell them for less than their worth.
Logan gave up and decided to go to a third shop, hoping that he would have better luck there. He greeted and told the young middle-aged man he saw in this third store what he came to buy, but similar to the two previous store owners, he only wanted rank two essence stones.
Logan was distressed by this and asked, "Sir, if I may, what are you all doing with the rank two beast essence stones that you seem to only want them?"
"Well, we heard the news of the expedition and we want to make the best profit out of this," the middle-aged man replied, as he smiled from ear to ear.
He explained that rank two essence stones were the most suitable for the majority of the cultivators who wanted to create weapons and artifacts at the first rank.
Rank one essence stones were too weak, and rank three and four essence stones were too rare and expensive. Therefore, rank two essence stones were the most sought-after items in the market.
"Well, now you can go if you don't have any more rank two essence stones to bring," the middle-aged man told Logan, shooing him away.
'F**k, why did these marketers have to hear the news before I could get my hands on one of the cores!' Logan felt frustrated and hopeless. He felt unlucky that this just had to happen when he decided to increase his strength. He had spent the whole day looking for a rank four beast core, but he could not find any shop that would sell him one.
He realized it was getting late and he did not know any other way to improve his cultivation quickly. He decided he would just stroll and ask around, perhaps there might be something useful to him.
As soon as he thought of this decision, he felt a pricking sensation in his heart, similar to the urge he felt to swallow the beast's core a few weeks ago.