After 3 days in the desert, Alex returned back to the city, along with a disheveled Rona and the 3 warriors who looked like they had seen things.
Alex left them the moment they arrived back in the city, knowing full well that Rona would do nothing to antagonize him. If defeating the desert beasts hadn’t done it, then eating the glowing beast cores had certainly done the trick.
The guest house that had been destroyed before had been rebuilt again, with the furniture inside fully restocked. Along with that, Alex found a large metal pot inside the room, full to the brim with blood.
Just like he had asked.
‘Finally, some blood to improve my blood aura.’
Alex felt excitement upon seeing the large pot and quickly sat by it before starting his absorption. He spent some time with the blood before recognizing it as being superior to what it should be.
The blood aura within the pot full of blood was enough to be a contender for early Saint realm cultivation base. At first, Alex thought he was sensing it all wrong, but the blood aura was clearly stronger than what it should be.
Or perhaps, it should be this strong since all the beasts in the desert were exactly this strong.
‘So these warriors who fight these beasts have to have body cultivation around the Saint realm too,’ Alex thought. That was surprising, as these people had to do nothing but just eat the beasts they killed in the desert.
Alex wondered if he really should start eating it. The thought had crossed his mind a few days ago, and it had settled itself within him since then. However, he kept rejecting the idea since, in his thoughts, the fastest way to body cultivate would be to get rid of the seal around his Soul Space and use the Mountain Crushing artifact.
But maybe, this would help too. He would have to ask for some meat later on.
He absorbed the blood for some time before someone arrived at his house. The old man Tala walked in and found Alex sitting before the pot. “I heard you had returned. And oh, you found the blood already. This is what you asked for, right?”
“Yes,” Alex answered. “This is exactly what I asked for. Could I have more of this by any chance? You did say you didn’t need the blood for much, right?”
“Not really,” the old man said. “The blood ends up being used in some dishes, but we don’t really need it. I’ll see if I can get some more once you use this for whatever it is that you need it for.”
“I am done with this,” Alex said. “You can take it back, but I don’t think you can gain much from this. We should just throw this away later.”
The old man frowned. “Just what did you even do with it? It looks like how I left it here this morning.”
Alex shook his head. “Trust me. It’s useless to me now. I’ll need new ones.”
Tala didn’t argue. “Oh right, I heard you were stronger than we thought. You hid that very well.”
“Did I?” Alex asked. “I thought I did a terrible job since you found out in 2 days of me coming here.”
The old man laughed. “Your lack of understanding of the things in the desert was what gave it away, really. Not that you really tried to hide it either. You apparently showed off your skills to the warriors.”
“I wouldn’t say saving them from a Sun Wraith counts as me showing off what I can do,” Alex said. “Are they spreading around rumors of what happened in the desert?”
“Yes, but only among the other warriors for now. My son-in-law only mentioned it to me because he thought I would like to know,” the old man said.
Alex nodded.
“Oh! That reminds me. The chief is done with gathering all the women who are willing to give your battle formation a go. Will you be teaching them tomorrow, or are you leaving that task to my son-in-law?”
“Oh, is that so? Thanks for letting me know. I’ll head on over tomorrow morning.”
Tala brought out a storage bag from his sash. “That’s really all I came to talk to you about. Here are the ingredients you asked for this turn’s pastes. The payment has been delivered already, so make the pastes when you have the time.”
The payment was the blood Alex had just received.
Alex took the storage bag and let his Spiritual sense look through it quickly. “Thank you. I’ll be done with it by tomorrow morning. I’ll come by your place before heading over to the warriors’ training.”
“That works for me. I’ll leave for now. You can let me know tomorrow what you want the next set of ingredients to be, and what you want in return for that.”
“I will,” Alex said. “Also, wait. I wanted to ask you something.”
The old man stopped as he turned. “Regarding?”
“Food. I want to eat some meat that gets cooked here. Would it be possible to get me some?” Alex asked.
“You… want to eat the grains?” the old man asked.
“No, not the grains. Just the meat from the beasts in the desert,” Alex said.
The old man’s eyes narrowed. “For what?” he asked.
Alex narrowed his eyes. “So I can get stronger.”
“You’re already strong. Eating the beasts in the desert won’t help you at all.”
Alex frowned upon hearing that. “Was I mistaken? I thought everyone improved if they ate these beasts.”
“No, they do. But you’re so strong that the effects would be unnoticeable unless you ate them for years on end,” the old man said. “With your strength, it would be better to go deeper into the desert and consume the stronger beasts you kill. You have that capability after all.”
Alex thought for a moment and nodded. “You’re right. I should do that,” he said. “I had thought I would be staying here for a long time, but it seems my stay here won’t be that long after all.”