“Let’s go!” Jack Bolton stood at the entrance of the grocery store and shouted loudly, then started walking toward the outskirts of the town.

……

“Heh, Jack, this is way too easy! They say the Sirius Mountains are dangerous, that even seventh or eighth level martial artists might fall here, but this is nothing!” In the outer Wolf Valley of the Sirius Mountains, a young man struck a scarred brown bear on the head with his blade, then spoke to another youth standing by, watching the show.

These people were the Zhang family youths. They had already been in Wolf Valley for a day and had killed quite a few wild beasts.

The violent brown bear was considered a high-level beast, but a beast was still just a beast. For them, all at least first-level martial artists, it posed no challenge at all.

“No rush, let’s warm up first!” Jack Bolton replied calmly, then looked into the depths of the forest, a hint of wariness on his face.

This wasn’t Jack Bolton’s first time in the Sirius Mountains. A year ago, he had come once before. In fact, Wolf Valley didn’t even count as the true outskirts of the Sirius Mountains. Last year, he entered the real outskirts, but as soon as he went in, he encountered a fierce beast—the “Green-Eyed Wolf.” He barely escaped with his life after a desperate struggle, and was seriously injured.

It was precisely because of that pressure that he managed to break through to the second level of martial artist.

After speaking, Jack Bolton led the way deeper into the valley.

After they had walked for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Michael Bolton arrived with the Flying Tiger Squad. Normally, the Flying Tiger Squad would go to the real outskirts of the Sirius Mountains to pick up materials others didn’t want, but this time their task was to help those young masters clean up the aftermath. As a result, the squad members were actually quite happy.

Following behind these young masters to clean up was much safer than going to the outskirts of the Sirius Mountains. At least they didn’t have to worry about their lives, and the rewards would be much higher than usual—why not do it? After all, what they were after was money.

Eric Bennett and his group had done this before, so they quickly finished butchering the violent brown bear. They kept the hide and gallbladder, and divided up the bear meat. They estimated they’d be here for ten days to half a month, so this would be their food.

“Let’s go!” Michael Bolton saw that they were almost done and called out, taking the lead into the depths of the dense forest.

“Eric Bennett, I heard your vital energy is dried up and you’ll never be able to cultivate again. Congratulations!” As they were heading deeper into Wolf Valley, Paul Carter suddenly turned around with a mocking smile.

“Buzz… buzz…”

“Really?”

“No way!”

“I heard a bit about it too, but wasn’t sure. Didn’t expect it to be true!”

As soon as Paul Carter finished speaking, all the Flying Tiger Squad members started discussing it.

Many were gloating, but a few felt a twinge of sadness. People like them rarely met a good end—either devoured by beasts or dying from depleted vital energy. Unless they quit this line of work, but who among them didn’t have their own reasons for doing this?

Chapter 6: Temptation

“Paul Carter, you’re the one with dried-up vital energy, you don’t have many days left…” Brian Cooper heard Paul Carter’s words and the surrounding chatter, and shouted angrily.

Brian Cooper truly admired Eric Bennett and would never allow anyone to slander him.

“Heh, Brian Cooper, it’s all because you like to show off… Watch yourself!” Paul Carter didn’t care about Brian Cooper. If the Flying Tiger Squad didn’t forbid infighting, he would have dealt with Brian Cooper long ago. A first-level Iron Body Technique weakling—he could finish him with one punch.

He hadn’t planned on letting Eric Bennett and his group return alive this time. With Eric Bennett and Brian Cooper in the team, he always had to be cautious. If the Flying Tiger Squad were all his people, he could embezzle those precious materials without anyone noticing. By now, he might have already reached the fourth level of Iron Body Technique.

He used to be wary of Eric Bennett, since Eric Bennett reached the second level of Iron Body Technique before him. But a few days ago, he overheard an apothecary using Eric Bennett as an example and learned that Eric Bennett’s vital energy was dried up. Besides, just last night, he himself broke through to the third level of Iron Body Technique. Now, he and Eric Bennett were worlds apart, so he no longer cared about him.

“Paul Carter, you’d better worry about yourself!” Eric Bennett didn’t know where Paul Carter’s confidence came from. The two of them had always been in separate factions, but never interfered with each other. Who knew Paul Carter would target him everywhere today? Did reaching the third level of Iron Body Technique really give him that much confidence?

Michael Bolton heard their conversation and just smiled slightly, but didn’t intervene. As the employer, they were happy to see this kind of situation. That’s also why Paul Carter was able to quickly gain a group of supporters.

……

Two days later, Jack Bolton led the Zhang family youths to the outskirts of the Sirius Mountains.

“Michael Bolton, get those Flying Tiger Squad members to scout ahead!”

Michael Bolton didn’t say anything, just nodded, and went to the Flying Tiger Squad who had been following behind.

“There’s a task now: clear the way ahead! Whoever volunteers will be rewarded with a Blood Replenishing Pill!”

Having them scout ahead was not something Michael Bolton had expected. The Flying Tiger Squad and the Zhang family had an employer-employee relationship. Although their status was low, it wasn’t right to knowingly send them to their deaths.

“Captain, I’ll go!”

“I’ll go!”

……