"W-why would I miss you? I'm a bit surprised to see you return... so early." Jasmine glared at him as if telling him to behave.
Max looked around and saw other Elders and a few disciples present still looking at them. Especially one male Elder was glaring at him with hostility.
"Cough! I'm here to exchange some beast cores." Max coughed and stated why he was there.
"Okay. Take them out." Jasmine nodded in satisfaction. At least this guy knew how to behave.
Max tapped his spatial bag, pretending that he was taking them out of his spatial bag when in reality, almost all of his things were stored in inventory.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the counter in front was filled with many cores of different colors and sizes.
"Woah! Is this guy for real? Did he kill this many beasts by himself?" A disciple on the counter a few meters away from him was stunned.
Not only he, but even the Elders also looked at the cores and then Max with surprise. However, their thoughts were different from the disciples. How much time must he have taken to kill so many beasts? And how much time has it been since an inner disciple like him went on a mission?
"Did you kill them all by yourself?" Jasmine asked suspiciously.
"Haha, Elder Jasmine. Do you have to ask this? He obviously had the help of others, or how could an inner disciple do this alone." A peal of arrogant laughter sounded from the entrance of the hall.
"Hm?" Max frowned; he could feel the hostility in this voice which puzzled him. He didn't have many enemies in the academy.
When he turned to look and saw who it was, he nodded to himself in understanding. It was the black-clothed man that Karon, who was pestering Anna, had brought to Max's door to cause trouble, who was then told off by Eliana. So, it was expected that he was hostile toward him.
Jasmine also looked at him and frowned but didn't say anything.
The black-clothed guy, followed by two others, came up to them and sneered, "Why aren't you telling the truth? Could it be that you want us to believe that you killed so many beasts in just a week and that too without any help?"
Max looked at him as if he was looking at a clown, "Who said I wanted anyone to believe it?"
The black-clothed man was immediately enraged by the look Max gave him but didn't say anything about it and looked at Jasmine and the other Elders. "Elders, as I said, there is nothing to be surprised about."
Ever since that day when he was humiliated by Eliana and Max, he had vowed to get his revenge. However, he knew that Eliana wasn't someone he could afford to offend, so Max was the only one he could trouble.
But this possibility would also thin out if he managed to impress some Elder and become their personal disciple. Therefore, he was trying to prove that Max wasn't as talented as they might have thought after seeing his collection of beast cores.
Elders seemed a bit disappointed and didn't pay any more attention to Max, which caused the black-clothed man to let out a breath of relief.
Max shrugged and looked at Jasmine, "Elder, please tell me how many Mana stones I would get in exchange for them."
Jasmine saw his carefree attitude and asked in a low voice, "You did it alone, right?" Unlike others, Jasmine knew he went on a solo mission, and given the location where most disciples avoid going, she was pretty sure he didn't have anyone's help.
"Yeah." Max nodded nonchalantly. In his eyes, this wasn't a big deal.
Jasmine, although she had guessed that he did it alone, was shocked by his confirmation, and once again, she thought, 'This guy isn't simple indeed.' After which, she started checking the ranks of the cores and determining their prices.
The black-clothed man gave Max a venomous glance and then went to another counter to report his mission.
...
After a while, Jasmine was done scanning all the core and said, "There is a total of 34 Mana stones, and all of them are from middle-stage or high-stage two-star elemental beasts. Since you want them to exchange them for Mana stones, you will be given 8000 stones in total."
Because Jasmine hadn't lowered her voice when saying this, the people present heard it clearly and looked at Max with interest.
'Tch, what a lucky bastard!" The black-clothed man gnashed his teeth in hatred. Even for an old and experienced disciple like him, 8000 stones were a significant amount. But now, a newbie earned them so quickly.
Suddenly his eyes twinkled as he thought of something and looked at Max greedily. It was obvious that he was planning to rob him.
"Okay." Max nodded. This amount was way more than what he got from the 30 cores he exchanged after the outing. He then added, "Please, six bottles of high-tier foundation strengthening liquid."
Although his core was in a much better situation than when he enhanced his Mana in the sun feather city, there was still slight pain.
After all, the collective pressure of 4300 units of three-star Mana wasn't something his core, even though strengthened considerably, could easily handle.
Jasmine looked at him and thought, 'It seems there is a problem in his core. That's why he keeps buying this foundation strengthening liquid.'
She stood up, went deeper into the hall, and came out with six small bottles. She then handed them to him along with his remaining Mana stones and whispered, "If you can please me, I'll reward you with one or two more bottles."
Understanding what she meant, Max chuckled and nodded, "Sure." After that, he headed to his dorm.
...
Max was sitting crossed-legged on the floor, his forehead glistening with droplets of sweat.
After returning to his dorm, he found a letter on the bed. It was from Anna. She said that she had passed the test for becoming an inner sector disciple and therefore took a mission for one. According to the description of her mission, it might take her a little more than two weeks before she returned. Therefore, he shouldn't worry for her.
After that, he went to check if Belen and others had returned or not and found out that they haven't yet.
Therefore, he decided to cultivate and strengthen his core to make it sturdy enough to bear the pressure of his current enhanced Mana and prepare for the next time he enhanced more of it.
Phew!
'It's really not easy.' Max grumbled. Although he had become familiar with the process by now, he still found it challenging. Moreover, he would get bored just after an hour of cultivation, and continuing any longer would be too difficult for him.
He marveled at the thought that in this world, people would cultivate for weeks and months in one session. How could they?
However, he already knew the answer to this question: to become strong. To become strong, they had no choice but to do it even when they could no longer continue.
He then remembered the horrifying power that being in the forest showed. His mere glance had caused his soul to shake. What if the people who kept it busy didn't arrive on time and it attacked him? Just as the system said, his death would have been inevitable.
"Fuck it. I have to work hard if I want to ensure my survival and the safety of my loved ones and avenge my mother. Moreover, I need to be strong enough to roam freely and enjoy everything this world has to offer." He said to himself, trying to boost his morale.
After that, he drank one bottle of the foundation-strengthening liquid and continued his cultivation session.
...
When it was night, Max finally opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Using the high-tier foundation strengthening liquid, he was able to merge two more units in his core in just a day, and the slight pain and discomfort he felt were now gone.
However, Max knew that it was only temporary since he was going to enhance more which would cause the pressure to intensify.
"Although it's a bit early, I should go to Jasmine's residence." Max licked his lips and stood up, ready to go out and earn some LPs.
Knock! Knock!
However, just at this moment, he heard someone knock on his door. 'Hmm? Who could it be?' He frowned.
"Hey, it's me. Come out." A sweet and slightly arrogant voice called out.
