"Okay," He Ao nodded, then glanced at the counter, "Do you have exotic beast jerky? Get me some." "Yes, of course," the Boss looked He Ao up and down, "You look smaller, haven’t been training lately?" Loren indeed hadn’t trained for a while. After He Ao was promoted to E-level, his body became more compact, making him look a bit smaller. This is a change in muscle, and ’restoration’ isn’t very limited. Of course, the vendor wasn’t really concerned about He Ao; he was just subtly hinting to He Ao. To make He Ao feel he needed more exercise, so he would buy some strong meat to replenish his body. The Boss glanced at He Ao’s old clothes, "How about this? Just got some fresh premium real meat, price is reasonable..." "Just the exotic beast jerky." He Ao glanced back at the elevator and said quickly. "Alright, alright, exotic beast jerky isn’t cheap, looks like you’ve hit the jackpot." The vendor bent down, getting ready to reach under the counter. As He Ao looked back at the elevator, he shifted his gaze, "I don’t want what’s under your counter." Under the counter was also jerky, but not exotic beast jerky. The Boss would disguise synthetic jerky and rat jerky as exotic beast jerky to sell. He took a glance at the Boss standing up, his gaze swept over a flash of green behind the previously bent-over Boss, seeming to be a small tree growing in an eco-glass tank. His eyes narrowed slightly, quickly saying, "We’ve been long-time customers, let’s skip the formalities, just give me the real stuff, I know you have it." "Looks like you’ve really struck it rich," the Boss shook his head, picked up his bracelet, and dialed a number, "Get me some jerky over here." Then he lifted his head, looked at He Ao, and smiled, "Alright, my guy will bring it over later, you go on with your business." "I’ll come back later." He Ao lifted his hand and left the meat shop. He turned directly towards an elevator in the corner, entered it, and pressed the button for the 15th floor. Soon, he arrived at the fifteenth floor, stopping in front of room 1571. The fingerprint lock on this door was an old model, and the doorbell was broken. He didn’t hesitate to knock on the door thrice, "Coach, it’s me, Loren, are you there?" He waited for a moment, but there was no response from inside. He raised his bracelet and made another call. After a busy tone, the call didn’t go through. He Ao frowned slightly and placed his hand on the fingerprint lock. With a crisp sound, the fingerprint lock naturally opened; he turned the lock and pushed open the door, walking in. As the door opened, the lights automatically turned on, and the electric curtains also opened. The room was filled with a musty smell. It was a one-bedroom single apartment, no kitchen, only a bathroom, a cheap rental apartment. Much worse than where Loren currently lived. Though Loren’s rent was almost half cheaper than this room, considering there was a roommate. The living room had a window, but it faced the wall of the apartment building opposite, the gap between the two buildings was so narrow that barely any light came through. He Ao glanced at the already a bit faded old sofa in the living room. Loren had grown up sleeping on this sofa for a long period. He Ao walked to the bedroom door and pushed it open. The slightly messy bedding was casually piled on the iron-frame bed; there was no wardrobe in the bedroom, only a simple clothes rack with a string of clothes hanging on it. The comfort of this bed was actually worse than the sofa. There was no one on the bed. He Ao returned to the living room and opened the refrigerator. Inside the fridge were two cans of beer, a sandwich, and a box of microwave-ready fried chicken in the frozen section. The production date on the sandwich was yesterday morning. This meant that at least yesterday morning, someone was still in this room. He closed the refrigerator. There were no signs of a fight in the house. The room was left voluntarily. At this moment, He Ao heard two crisp sounds. He turned his gaze towards the door. On the wall behind the door, there was a small screen embedded; it was the room’s smart control. At this moment, the control displayed several ’reminder messages’. He Ao glanced at them; they were this week’s rent arrears notice and a low balance notice for utilities. He turned around once more, looking at the empty room. On his bracelet, the previous message still hadn’t received a reply. Finally, He Ao’s eyes tightened slightly as he left the room. In front of the first-floor meat shop "Loren, here’s your stuff." The meat shop Boss watched He Ao step out of the elevator, placing a cloth bag on the counter and opening it, revealing strips of meat about one to two centimeters in diameter and about ten centimeters long. He looked up at He Ao, "500 federal coins for 500 grams, how much do you want?" "1 federal coin per gram, a whole synthetic steak in the supermarket only costs 2.5 federal coins; why don’t you just rob?" He Ao’s face turned cold as he placed his hand on the counter, "300, no bargaining, or I won’t take it." "Don’t compare it to the Nolanka Group stuff, a normal steak at least costs 3, 4 federal coins," the vendor quickly retorted, looking at He Ao, "400, can’t go any lower." "300." He Ao stepped back half a step, feigning a turning-away gesture. He could feel that the Boss’s psychological bottom line was just 300. "Damn, why do you have to act just like Gemu," the Boss cursed, "300 it is, kid, you’ve got money now, but you don’t want to treat yourself better?" "Treating myself better means letting you earn more, right?" He Ao laughed and cursed. He reached out, quickly sorting through the strips of meat. He was using his Divine Sense to feel the ’Earth Qi’ in these meat strips; it’s a technique from the Martial Arts World, originally meant to sense exotic beast energy but works for jerky too. Then he found that half of the meat strips were synthetic jerky. He looked up at the Boss, then quickly picked out the portion with the most power. "Damn, you’re only buying this much?" the Boss grumbled, putting the other pieces of jerky away. But he didn’t say much, the look He Ao had given him just now had made his heart skip a beat, realizing that He Ao had noticed something. But since He Ao didn’t mention it, neither did he have to. He quickly weighed the jerky He Ao had picked out, "Right at 500 grams," He reached out and grabbed a few more pieces of dried meat from the original bag, throwing them up, "This is for you, a total of 300 federal coins, credit card or cash transfer?" He Ao raised his bracelet and glanced at his assets. Among them, 157.37 belonged to Loren’s assets, and 2000 was the deposit from yesterday’s boxing match. The organizers changed their mind and wanted to kill Loren, which amounted to a breach of contract, so this 2000 was essentially a penalty fee. Seeing these numbers, He Ao was silent for a moment. He looked up and gazed behind the Boss. "That behind you, is it an ecological plant?" He Ao pointed to the small tree in a glass tank on the shelf behind the Boss. "That is my treasure," the Boss glanced at the small tree behind him and smiled, "You don’t know how hard it is to get such a tree in Xiluo City, especially in winter. But if you sincerely want it..." "Give me a leaf." He Ao said directly. The Boss was slightly stunned. "You have so many leaves on that tree. I bought something for 300 federal coins, just give me a leaf, that’s not too much, right?" He Ao looked at him, smiling. "You brat, always squeezing out every little thing." The Boss grumbled as he walked towards the small tree behind him. He Ao raised his bracelet and made the payment. The Boss had already taken off two leaves and packaged them with a pound of dried meat, "Two leaves, a gift for you." "Alright, I’ll come again to take care of your business next time." He Ao accepted the bag. "No, no," the Boss waved his hand, "I can’t make money off you, you’re too slick. By the way," He glanced at the elevator behind He Ao and then looked at He Ao, "Did you find Gemu?" "He’s not home." He Ao put away the bag. "I tell you, there’s no need to worry about him," the Boss put away the remaining dried meat, "Gemu is sharper than a mouse, and more resilient than a cockroach. If you die, he might not." But he received no response. When he raised his head, there were only crowds coming and going and the shabby first-floor lobby. The burly young man from before was nowhere to be found. "Did he leave that quickly?" He put away the dried meat, shook his head, sighed softly, and locked the dried meat in a hidden safe on the side. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽 In an alley near the building, accompanied by the street’s blaring horns, He Ao opened the bag and took out the green leaf. He glanced back at the sun behind him, raised his bracelet to calibrate the compass, and placed the leaf to the due east. He placed a ball of ice to the due north. He Ao pulled out a folding knife, which he had just bought for 2 federal coins at the convenience store at the building’s entrance. He peeled off the band-aid from his finger, where the blood had already clotted, and the wound had shrunk considerably. The power of ’restoration’ was still in effect. His Divine Sense attached to the blade and lightly sliced. The healed wound was once again cut open, and a drop of fresh blood trickled down, landing in the due south position. According to the martial elder, ’Red Fire’ is the best ’fire’ attribute material, but in the Martial Arts World, Red Fire isn’t fire, but the blood of a martial artist. He Ao reapplied the band-aid and placed the folding knife in the due west direction, "West is metal." After placing the four items, He Ao reached into his pocket and took out the necklace with the letter K, placing it in the center of the four items. A strand of Divine Sense detached from He Ao’s fingertip, splitting into five, landing on the five items, and then forming an intricate web connecting the five items. The surrounding illusory energy trembled, but no additional effects manifested. By this time, He Ao was already standing up, glancing at the ’K’ necklace in the center. Central is earth, but this so-called central earth, one is the ground. He slowly took a step back. As he moved his body, the shadow covering the area also slowly moved back. The bright sunlight shone upon the five items below. The second is sunlight. Almost the instant the sunlight shone down, a whistling gale rose on the ground, causing pedestrians on the street to press down their clothes and hats. An invisible radiance instantly emerged on the intricate Divine Sense pattern, then like water merging into a river, it flowed into the ’K’ pendant in the center, etching into almost imperceptible fine lines. The iceball shattered in an instant, turning into a puddle of water, and the fresh blood rose like burning flames, evaporating swiftly. But the verdant leaf appeared even more vibrant, and the cold folding knife glimmered with a faint gleam. Intense energy pooled from all directions toward the alley, concentrating around the ’K’ necklace. He Ao picked up the leaf and folding knife from the ground. It seemed that a sprout had faintly emerged on the leaf, while the folding knife appeared sharper than before. He placed the two items into the bag. Finally, he picked up the ’K’ necklace. A faint gleam was flickering on the necklace, and intricate patterns subtly appeared among the necklace’s artificial crystal. Feeling the palpable energy flowing into his body, He Ao breathed a sigh of relief. This formation is called the ’Five Elements Gathering Spirit Array,’ of course, that’s what it’s called in the Martial Arts World. Compared to the Spirit Gathering Array He Ao had set up with Divine Sense earlier, this one is more complex and less effective than the one in the morning. However, it can be solidified onto items and carried around, automatically absorbing energy to operate, with a validity period of up to half a month. Of course, the better the materials for this Spirit Gathering Array, the better the effect. He Ao couldn’t find top-notch materials right now, so he modified it slightly, using the drawn elements of Divine Sense to replace the array map, incorporating some structures from the Spirit Gathering Array to make a simplified version. He hadn’t expected that the meat store actually had trees teeming with life, which saved him a lot of trouble. Now, this simplified version He produced can increase the energy concentration around him to just over twice as much, which is still not his absorption limit. He Ao pocketed the necklace, feeling the strength surging around him. That means within the coverage of this Spirit Gathering Array, his cultivation speed can increase by more than twice. In half an hour, he could gain more than two points in physical fitness. He took out a piece of dried meat and took a bite. As the dried meat entered his throat, Earth Qi gathered in his chest, intertwining with the energy already in his chest, flooding into his five viscera, strengthening his body. The combination of the dried meat effect and the Spirit Gathering Array effect should enhance his physical fitness gain to three points in half an hour. He Ao glanced at the physical fitness in his field of view, 73, 27 points away from breaking through. He needed about four and a half more hours. Just then, his bracelet vibrated, and Eve’s gentle voice resonated in his ear, "The basic search for major information in the 26 cities of Northeast has been completed. The reports related to the ’Black Wolf Gang’ and ’Sharp Claw Koro’ have also been sent to the mobile device. If you intend to act against the gang, there’s an additional piece of information recommended for you." Additional information? He Ao raised his bracelet and first opened the extra information sent by Eve. As the contents unfolded, he was slightly taken aback, "Bounty Hunters?"