Chapter Five: Sudden Enlightenment

  The longest and highest mountain range on the mainland is the Tarasha Mountains, which runs east-west for thousands of miles. The large mountains across the river belong to the remaining veins of the Tarasha Mountains. Since it's a remnant vein, it can be inferred that the mountains here are not high, the forests are not very lush, and only low-level magical beasts roam in the forest, and they are also very rare. According to Stierberg, if you cross over that big mountain, there will be more and more magical beasts inside, but after finishing his introduction, Stierberg immediately began to regret it, facing the spirited Han Jin, bitterly begging him not to take risks, he repeatedly emphasized that only experienced mercenaries and powerful professionals can come out alive from inside.

  Han Jin was very strange, where did Stillberg know these things? However, he asked and got stuck in his own words. All of this was heard from a young minstrel, and the so-called Raphael was also present at that time. In Stillberg's questioning, Han Jin reminded himself secretly while vaguely answering a few sentences. Fortunately, Stillberg adhered to the principle of master-slave relationship and did not ask anything else.

  Actually, if Stillberg had enough experience, he would have been suspicious of Han Jin long ago. Because Master Raphael has undergone tremendous changes in all aspects. For example, Master Raphael now knows how to care for people, often asking him if he's eaten or slept well, and even covering him with a few handfuls of dry grass at night, or taking off his clothes to cover him. In the past, Stillberg was responsible for the safety of both master and servant, so he slept very lightly, waking up from his dreams at the slightest movement, feeling Master Raphael's concern for him, and his eyes would become moist. He not only didn't suspect these abnormal changes but also felt grateful and tearful, thinking that everything he had done and insisted on for Master Raphael in the past was worth it!

  Moreover, the young master was also very particular after his downfall. Even if he was starving to death, he would never eat anything that looked unclean. Now, however, the young master has become completely different. He eats everything and dares to eat anything, even those ugly and terrifying hamsters and black snakes are not spared. Moreover, when the young master eats, his appearance is very pleasing to watch, slow and steady, with a focused and serious expression, bright and profound eyes, as if savoring the world's most exquisite cuisine. Stillberg remembered that even when the old master was alive, his demeanor couldn't compare to the current young master's.

  Of course, Han Jin did not know what was on Steilberg's mind, and besides, Steilberg was not by his side, having been sent to the town. Han Jin could tolerate the taste of food, but he couldn't bear the life of drinking blood and eating fur, and the fire had already been used up, so he could only let Steilberg go get some more. His master had warned him that although energy could be absorbed from flesh and blood, it was different from the energy naturally produced by smoke and fire, and it was difficult to convert it into innate yuanqi. Moreover, it was very close to the demonic cultivation method, and if taken to extremes, he might start to enjoy devouring people's yuanshen and yuanying.

  Han Jin casually picked up a burning branch, then tore off the hind leg of a roasted hamster and put it in his mouth to chew carefully. Just like Stilberg saw, Han Jin ate very seriously and completely, which means he would even crush the bones and swallow them because they were also energy. With each swallow, threads of energy flowed into Han Jin's dantian. Having lived in this forest for seven days, he had finally accumulated over a hundred yuan of energy and regained a bit of confidence.

  Apart from transforming his own body, Han Jin didn't dare to waste any energy. For example, releasing some energy could prevent mosquito bites, but he chose to endure it. He had no choice, in the initial stage of energy accumulation, he had to be strict and even cruel to himself.

  There are two problems that have been bothering him. One is the issue of magic crystals. He had originally planned to accumulate a certain amount of energy and then quickly enhance his strength by hunting magical beasts and consuming their magic crystals. However, he has now discovered that the cost-effectiveness is vastly different. For example, the magic crystal of a Long-eared Rabbit only contains a few dozen units of energy, but if sold, it can buy over a hundred pieces of bread, which provide far more energy than a single magic crystal.

  There is another problem, after several days of reform, his current digestion and absorption capacity has reached 70%, if the reform continues, the energy consumed will be much more than before, if the reform is interrupted, the 70% utilization rate will cause unnecessary waste, and the aftermath processing work is extremely headache, after all, he is eating desperately day and night, only by raising the digestion and absorption capacity to above 95% can we bid farewell to that embarrassment.

  Moreover, Han Jin vaguely felt that he was stuck somewhere, in other words, he had overlooked a key point, but what it was, he couldn't quite put his finger on.

  A rustling sound came from the woods and Stillberg emerged with a sack.

  "Back so soon?" Han Jin raised his head: "Did you get the fire starter?"

  "Got it." Stillberg replied as he set his bag down on the ground.

  "Didn't that old guy say anything unpleasant?" Han Jin smiled. The old guy he was referring to was the original housekeeper of the family, named Babato. After Raphael sold off all his land and houses, Babato also announced that he would cut ties with Raphael. Later, he bought a house for himself and even married a 25-year-old widow at the age of 60, living a very happy life. As for where his money came from, no one could say clearly.

  Although he announced that he had severed ties with them, Babato couldn't change his past and didn't want to be stabbed in the back. Rafael and Stilberg thought they could freeload off him forever, but that was definitely not going to happen. He would occasionally give Rafael some charity, like a couple of old clothes nobody wore or a few copper coins, only occasionally, of course.

  "No, that old man seems to be in a hurry to leave." Stillberg looked at Han Jin with some concern and said in a low voice: "Young master, I have something to tell you, don't rush!"

  "Hmm? What's up?"

  "Miss Kirei... seems to have gotten into big trouble."

  Han Jing was about to ask who Qili was, but suddenly remembered the lessons of the past few days and hastily changed his words to: "What's wrong?"

  "Master, do you still remember that dwarf blacksmith that Miss Kiri hired?" Stillberg said indignantly: "He actually proposed to Miss Kiri, damn it, what is he!"

  Han Jin thought carefully for a moment, although the memories he received were chaotic and incomplete, they must have had some connection with himself to make Stillberg so angry. He tentatively replied: "Then what?"

  "Can Miss Keren agree to it? As a result... that guy opened his own blacksmith shop right across from Miss Keren's store. Young master, isn't this just taking advantage of people?"

  Han Jin thought for a moment, but really couldn't remember who Miss Gui Li was, so he could only smile wryly and say: "Stilberg, tell me... about Miss Gui Li."

  "Master, have you even forgotten Miss Kui Li?" Stillberg asked in surprise.

  "I can remember some things, but they're not very clear." Han Jin's words were full of contradictions.

  "Master, didn't you often say to me that if you could marry Miss Kiri as your wife, you would be willing to live thirty years less? How can you forget her?" Stillberg shook his head and said: "Miss Kiri... she's a really big shot! I heard she's also very famous in Holy Crown City."

  Sacred Crown City?

  "It's Lord Disemark's territory, and it's also our main castle."

  "Oh, I remember now." Han Jin made an epiphanic expression: "However, since Miss Gui Li is a celebrity in Holy Crown City, what is she doing running to our Ladong Town?"

  "This... I don't know." Stillberg scratched his head.

  "What does Miss Gui Li do?" Han Jin asked again.

  "Doing business."

  "She must be very rich then." Han Jin pondered for a moment: "Can't she just hire another master blacksmith? She's so wealthy, what's the point of being afraid of a dwarf giving her trouble? And how much money can you make opening a shop in Ladong Town anyway? Is it worth fighting over?"

  "Master, you've got me stumped again..." Stillberg scratched his head and sighed.

  "Never mind, let's not mention her again." Han Jin's gaze fell on the pocket that Stilberg had returned: "What is this?" He already understood that Miss Qiuli was just an object of Raphael's idle infatuation, and he had nothing to do with it.

  "It's cassava, young master, dug along the way." Stillberg showed a strange expression again. In his opinion, the young master was deeply in love with Miss Gui, and upon hearing this, he should have jumped up to fight that dwarf to the death. Who knew the young master's reaction would completely exceed his imagination.

  "Just in time for a change of taste." Han Jin showed a joyful expression, even if ten beautiful and elegant ladies were added together, they wouldn't be as tempting as a piece of sweet potato, at least that's what he thought.

  Han Jin turned his pocket upside down, and dozens of wooden taros rolled to the ground. He suddenly remembered a similar scene when he first opened his eyes in this world, that string of red beads. The next moment, Han Jin suddenly jumped up and shouted: "You're really stupid!"

  Stillberg was frightened and stared blankly at Han Jin, not daring to make a sound.

  "I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about myself!" Han Jin let out a long sigh. He realized that his original idea was too naive, relying on himself to hunt and kill magical beasts, how many magical crystals could he get? Since magical crystals have value, since there are equivalent exchange objects in this world, wouldn't it be easier to take another route?! In short, just work hard to earn money, then use the money to buy magical crystals! This way, his previous headache-inducing problems were no longer a problem, energy? As long as he had enough money, he didn't need to worry about energy at all, and the cost-effectiveness could be ignored!