Above The Sky
Chapter 395 - 395 366 Sights of Gold Leaf Town 23

395: Chapter 366: Sights of Gold Leaf Town (2/3) 395: Chapter 366: Sights of Gold Leaf Town (2/3) Ian arrived at Gold Leaf Town on the morning of May 25th, taking the main road at a leisurely pace, collecting biological information along the way and ticking off his current financial status and capabilities.

As a Sublimator, he was at the First Energy Level on both fronts.

His Sand Armor Apprentice had reached its peak, with his three Sublimation Organs—the Pure Rock Crystal Bone, Heart of Fertile Soil, and Sand Armor Rock Core—all very stable.

Furthermore, the Prime Material of Magic Medicine needed to reach the Second Energy Level, the brain marrow crystal essence of the Swamp Crocodragon, had been refined and stored within his body.

As for the Wave Singer with the Fairy Bloodline, he had taken a step further and already had four Sublimation Organs.

The Microtide Pearl, Chanting Throat, Fairy Wings, and the Ghostly Regeneration Core should have converged to form a ‘Domain of Extremes,’ but perhaps because this Origin Structure was inscribed on a Silver Chip and not a real physical change, the phenomenon had not occurred.

Another possibility was that Ian wasn’t yet a complete being of the Fairy Bloodline; only after taking the Fairy Potion at the Second Energy Level and truly reorganizing it would he build a sufficiently robust structure.

In addition, he had two advanced Sublimation Structures: the ‘Awakened Ancient Dragon Heart Core’ and the ‘Aether Crystal.’

When facing the Sharp Claw Tiger, he started barehanded, wanting to test just how powerful his left hand, transformed by the Aether Crystal, really was—a failure.

The tiger’s attack power could not test this aspect; the Earth Origin Quality defense augmented by the Aether Crystal even reached a strength comparable to the Second Energy Level, so much so that the ferocious tiger claws couldn’t even breach it.

As for finances and equipment, they did not match his strength.

This trip, Ian didn’t bring much money…

mainly because he actually didn’t have much.

The salaries given by Elder Prude and Viscount Grant were mostly spent on Alchemy and Inscription Art.

Had he not been burning money on practice these past years, he would not have had the skills to astonish Master Gossay.

The Silver Chip wasn’t omnipotent; only through the user’s own efforts could it make the user stronger.

Apart from the eighty Talle given by the Viscount, Ian brought sixty Talle of his own, amounting to a total of one hundred forty Talle—a considerable fortune.

The remaining savings had been entrusted to Elder Prude, for Elan to exercise, purchase high-quality food ingredients, and aromatic medicinal herbs.

With the Foresight View, Ian wouldn’t truly be short of money, and in any case, he carried simple Alchemy equipment; even selling inexpensive medicinal potions would suffice for his adventuring needs.

As for the luggage on the Camel Beast, apart from some outdoor camping equipment, there was also a set of Alchemy and Inscription tools, including some refined equipment gifted by Yisen Gard, which was worth several times more than the cash he carried, and that’s where the real bulk of his assets lay.

“Yesterday in Mole Town, I received the notification from Yisen Gard’s eagle that my Magical Medicine Ingredients have already been delivered to Leyan Territory…

quite fast indeed.”

Since the Magical Medicine Ingredients for the Second Energy Level had already arrived, Ian naturally stopped pretending to be on a normal journey and sped up, reaching Gold Leaf Town, the first major town within Leyan Territory.

There was a special plant called the Golden Leaf Tree, whose leaves could be refined into a potion with pain-relief and accelerated healing effects, one of the natural medicinal herbs that Mountain People used to use frequently.

After the Empire incorporated the area into its territory, it began to cultivate it on a large scale.

It is said that Leyan Territory was originally a medicinal herb cultivation base for Mountain People at the foothills, which was included in the territory by the expansion of the Empire, and had now become a Barony.

However, when Ian arrived at Gold Leaf Town, he noticed that most of the townsfolk were anxious and fearful, and there were quite a few travelers trapped in the town.

When Ian wanted to ask why, he was approached by the town mayor with a frightened face, inquiring how he had escaped the pursuit of that Sharp Claw Tiger.

What followed was quite the traditional sequence of events—Ian was certainly curious why the Sharp Claw Tiger, generally only found in deep forest regions, would appear in the plain forest region, and both the mayor and some travelers stranded in the town hoped he, as a Knight, would help them solve this problem.

So, Ian settled his Camel Beast and luggage and set out.

And returned victorious.

“My lord, you…

you’ve dealt with that beast just like that?”

The mayor, while opening the town’s gates to welcome Ian with the body of the Sharp Claw Tiger, was still somewhat in disbelief, “It’s just been an afternoon, even the best Hunter wouldn’t necessarily have found its trail by now…

Ah, I don’t mean to doubt you, it’s just that your strength is truly beyond imagination…”

This mayor was a well-read gentleman with half-gold, half-white hair.

He was said to have been a steward in Leyan Territory, and due to his excellent performance, was assigned to Gold Leaf Town as the mayor.

“We owe it all to you, my lord.

This beast came at the beginning of the month; we initially thought it was just passing through, but by mid-month, it started to go berserk.

It’s already killed four people, seven sheep, and even two of our town’s messengers.”

He called the local Hunters to drag the Sharp Claw Tiger’s body aside and then earnestly invited Ian to rest at his home.

The young man readily agreed but used his helmet to disguise his voice, sounding muffled as he said, “This place of yours is quite important; why wait for me to come?

What about the local Sublimators?”

“”Doesn’t Baron Leyan care about this place anymore?”

This was, in fact, quite a serious accusation, which elsewhere could be considered an insult and might be met with a demand for a duel.

The mayor immediately wiped his sweat and stuttered, “It must be difficult for the Baron…

Recently, I heard that a group of thieves invaded the manor and stole a batch of processed Radiance Grass, which enraged the lord.

They’re still searching for them…

That’s the situation.

It’s fortunate that you, the knight, arrived.”

Being a subordinate of Baron Leyan, he naturally didn’t dare to speak ill of his lord, especially since Baron Leyan was quite fair to them, with low taxes and farming subsidies.

However, the knight before him didn’t seem like someone to be trifled with either.

Although he wore an alchemist’s armor and rode a camel beast instead of a steed…

It was these unusual knights who required extra caution.

What alchemist walking alone wasn’t tricky to deal with?

Just like that, he easily took care of the Sharp Claw Tiger that had been plaguing the town for a month and was incredibly difficult to handle!

“The Sharp Claw Tiger was infected with fungi, causing its claws and teeth to itch unbearably, and its vision to blur, which made it violently attack people.”

The mayor’s family prepared quite a wealthy meal for Ian, with deer meat, pork ribs, roasted lamb, and local sweet beet wine.

The cooking skill was ordinary, but the dressing was made from finely crushed young shoots of the golden leaf tree mixed with sugar, creating a quite delicious sweet and sour taste, with a notably high vitamin C content, which combined with the ribs, gave an uncanny feeling of eating sweet and sour pork.

While eating, Ian inquired about the details, “I suspect it’s the work of people from Fiery Flame Land; recently the wild beasts nearby could become more aggressive.

I was only able to deal with this Sharp Claw Tiger I happened to encounter.

You should be careful yourselves and ask for Sublimator protection from Baron Leyan soon.”

“Besides that, is there anything unusual?” he asked.

“Nothing, sir.”

The mayor thought seriously for a while and slowly answered, “A few years ago, a wave of refugees passed through from the Western Plains, and on the eastern side of the village, there’s been an increase in the number of bandits and squatter settlements.

But after a few military purges, their numbers have decreased quite a bit.

There might still be some vagrants living there now, but I haven’t heard any recent news.”

“Other than this beast, it seems a few children from the neighboring village have gone missing?

But it’s likely the work of agitated wild beasts.

The children’s mother cried until she fainted, but what could be done?

Everyone had no choice but to keep their children locked inside…”

“I see.

I understand,” Ian nodded slightly, taking note of all this information.

He had a vague premonition that this journey to Leyan Territory might not go as smoothly as he had envisioned…

The Sharp Claw Tiger was proof of that, whether deliberate or not, it had blocked the surrounding passages for nearly ten days.

Having eaten his fill, Ian took his leave from the mayor, ready to set off.

Though it was already night, and ordinary travelers would absolutely not choose this time to travel, with his strength, Ian did not need to heed the common sense of ordinary people.

The mayor presented thirty-five talles as a reward, and the town’s tannery would also send the finished tiger hide to Leyan Town after processing it—if Ian was not there, then back to Harrison Port.

They wouldn’t dare to covet a knight’s money even if they had ten times the courage.

As for the Sharp Claw Tiger’s blade-like claws, Ian carried them with him.

They were probably the most valuable thing on the creature, made of natural Affinity Quality Alloy Steel, also a Sublimation Organ, but unfortunately, not suitable for magic potion.

Not every Sublimation Organ could be used for magic potions, such as the Sharp Claw Tiger’s claws or the Fire Beetle’s lava pouch, for reasons that are self-evident.

However, they could still be substituted with other methods, so it wasn’t too big a problem.

As for the corrosive fungi on the tiger’s body, he had already disinfected them.

Otherwise, even if the beast couldn’t infect humans, it’s likely the cattle and sheep in Gold Leaf Town would have gone mad.

To be honest, so little money definitely wouldn’t hire a knight capable of killing a Sharp Claw Tiger, but Ian wasn’t too concerned about it.

Moreover, the mayor gave him some local golden leaf tree wound medicine, which was indeed effective and could be used when he didn’t want to waste Origin Quality.

However, just as he was about to leave, Ian encountered someone who claimed to want to thank him and offered gratitude.

It was an elf with long emerald green hair.”