36 Trading, Training, Killing

General Li went away to investigate the materials on Deon's list. Deon didn't think that any of the materials were too valuable…but it depended on whether or not the resources could actually be found in this area. If not, it could be impossible to obtain something that should be quite cheap.

Whilst waiting for General Li to finish his business, Deon continued to practise with the steel bones spirit and caught up to his previous level of progression with 4 days of hard work.

On a side note, he also re-purchased the bed bug spirit. It was a cheap spirit that could be easily discarded if needed, but this spirit provided him with the ability to work even harder when he had it in his possession.

The steel bones spirit took twice as long to use as the dense muscle spirit. Now though, his situation was different. Deon's total origin energy supply was higher than before, as was his recovery rate, as was his mental resilience and fortitude. The steel bones spirit was just as taxing to use as the dense muscle spirit, but Deon now found it far less difficult.

He could activate the spirit for 30 minutes, then spend 10 minutes recovering. Even with his rank, others wouldn't be able to sustain this sort of training as it was too taxing on the mind, but Deon's mind was now thoroughly tempered beyond normal limits.

Not only that, but he found by chance that the bed bug spirit was actually quite handy when it came to increasing his mental energy, alertness, and mental and physical recovery. Because of this, Deon had no problem with using the steel bones spirit for 30 minutes, resting for 10, then repeating this, 12 times each day.

That added up to 8 hours of practice each day…but this practice was more efficient than his practice with the dense muscle spirit in the past, where he was forced to rest just as much as he actively trained.

This time, he was training for 6 hours but only resting for 2 hours! If he continued like this indefinitely, the steel bones enhancement would be complete within under 2 months!

However, Deon was only engaging in this all-out training regiment to pass the time as he waited for General Li. The general was busy, dealing with the inter-kingdom monthly meeting, as well as finding Deon's required ingredients. Eventually, after 3 weeks, he returned to Deon with good news.

"I can obtain 103 of the 182 ingredients…even though the cost of these things is a bit high, but I suppose it's worth it for the moon river reed spirit." He smiled.

Just like that, the exchange was complete. The general of course didn't have crates upon crates of materials on his person, but he agreed to have them all dropped off at the 1st unit camp over the following 2 weeks. Deon intended to venture in and out of the upper region a few times, so having everything in the 1st unit camp would simplify matters. Thinking about how much he had earned already, Deon couldn't help but smile to himself as he returned to the upper region.

He returned to that dangerous battleground from before and searched for the girl whom he saw in the dead of night, the girl who strongly resembled someone he knew from earth. Naturally, she wasn't there any longer.

"It was probably a coincidence. I was tired and it was dark, seeing Rian's face on a stranger who sort of looked like her isn't too unusual, I suppose." This was the answer that could provide him with comfort at least. Anyway, Deon had no idea where he could find that person, so for now, there wasn't anything else he could do.

Anyway, his mood couldn't be ruined by just this…after all, General Li actually agreed to bring him 103 of the ingredients…truthfully, this was the absolute most that he had hoped for. The other materials were the core ingredients used in each of the gold class evolutions, he didn't really expect the kingdom to have these things on hand and ready to give away.

Having everything needed for the bronze and silver class evolutions was more than enough.

"Aside from the bronze muscle spirit, I haven't seen or heard of anyone in the kingdom possessing or using any other bronze class body tempering spirits." Deon mused as he walked along the cliff side. Four bodies fell from the steep cliff behind him, dropping down lifelessly into the mist hundreds of feet below. Deon played with their badges between his fingers for a moment, before placing the badges away in his spatial ring.

Whilst out and about on his own, he used the spatial ring to store pretty much everything aside from spirits, which could not be stored within. When he returned to the 1st unit camp, he placed the badges in a leather satchel, since spatial rings didn't exist in this kingdom.

Over the following 2 weeks, Deon continued his bloody quest through the upper region. He was more cautious compared to before. He actually preferred to travel and 'battle' at night now, since he had a clear advantage with his eagle eye spirit.

During the day, he explored stealthily, avoiding being discovered by any people he encountered where possible. He found his targets for the night and used the steel bones spirit each day. He didn't have the luxury to spend half of every day using the steel bones spirit, but training for 4 hours each day including rest was entirely doable, even in the upper region.

Deon felt a bit like a nocturnal hunter when he slept for 2 hours each day at peak sunlight and stayed active all through the night. His daily half hour of empty meditation to replace a portion of his need for sleep also took place in highly secluded locations during the day, as did his steel bones spirit training.

He didn't bring the bed bug spirit along with him into the wilderness. Now that he had regained the steel bones spirit and was also using the moon river reed spirit, he already had 9 spirits in his soul space. Deon found that after improving his mental endurance through countless hours of arduous training, he could sleep for just 2 hours each night with half an hour of meditation. This minimal period of rest allowed him to remain alert enough during his waking hours.

The half hour of meditation relaxed his being and calmed his soul, allowing him to drift directly into a deep sleep for 2 hours. Combined with his mental resilience, this was plenty to sustain Deon during his excursions into the upper region.

It may seem dangerous that he was making himself vulnerable during the day when others would be exploring and moving around, but Deon was quite confident in his hiding methods. He didn't use any spirit to hide himself, but simply used the methods that mortal tribesmen and hunters had relied on for eons.

Burying himself underground and covering the space, sleeping in the midst of a thick tree, covering cave entrances after placing primitive traps and alarms around the outside. It was plenty to assure his safety as he trained and slept.

The harsh outdoor conditions really didn't bother Deon at all. Compared to the underworld, this mountain was still a luxury.

One thing that was troubling him now and then, were the demonic beasts. He didn't encounter these beasts the first time he entered the upper region, but after a few more trips, he realised that this was just pure luck.

Demonic beasts weren't exactly common on Jing Mountain, but they were certainly present, and every single one of them posed any 1-Star shaman a serious threat. Most 1-Star demonic beasts possessed strength akin to that of peak stage 1-Star shamans, simply because most lower stage 1-Star shamans tended to be lacking in multiple areas compared to higher ranked shamans.

Higher ranked demonic beasts were more inline with the shamans' ranks in terms of power. A powerful 1-Star demonic beast could kill most peak stage 1-Star shamans, but the same couldn't be said for 2-Star demonic beasts against 2-Star shamans. Higher ranked shamans tended to be more well rounded and less susceptible to demonic beasts' attacks.

Anyway, the first demonic beast that Deon killed was the 1-Star berserker toucan. It looked cute and harmless from a distance, but the moment it sensed danger, its body would swell up to thrice its original size and its multi-coloured beak created streams of seven coloured energy that it used to attack.

Deon was taken by surprise by this toucan and suffered a serious slash to his wrist and upper arm. Despite being caught off guard and injured before the battle had even begun, he still managed to summon the ancient demon spirit, finally killing the beast with a single hand after some difficulty.

That was certainly his most bloody return to the 1st unit camp. He was covered in a mixture of his own blood, as well as the toucan's blood at that time. Apparently this toucan corpse was pretty valuable though, because he earned 1,000 merit points for donating it to the kingdom.

It had now been 2 months since Deon first arrived at the 1st unit. The war was escalating rapidly and he knew it wouldn't be long before he was called back to his own unit. Once the battle reached its peak, the tentative treaty that prevented either side from storming the upper region would become obsolete as no side would care about holding anything back.

And so, Deon returned from his final trip to the upper region. After 10 trips of varying durations and results, he still hadn't killed nearly enough shamans to satisfy the ancient demon spirit.

Deon could feel it. He had fed it well, but it wanted more.