Chapter 161: Chapter 161

As expected, the moment the Younger Brother saw the giant pangolin collapse, he got overly excited and shattered the wooden bottle with a loud crack. Exposing his massive body, he was about to charge towards the mountain top.

Elder Brother let out a disdainful hum, which reminded him.

Little Loach quickly coiled back, wrapping his body around Elder Brother, protecting him at the center and glaring fiercely at their surroundings.

Owen Bertram finally experienced a comforting feeling: Younger Brother had grown up, had become sensible, and knew how to care for Elder Brother.

Owen Bertram was soaked by a bucket of water, puzzled: where did all this water come from?

Another splash followed, and Owen Bertram cursed under his breath. He forced his head up and saw Younger Brother looking up with an open mouth, drooling and gazing longingly at the dark red boulder on the mountain top.

Saliva was being secreted in large amounts, dripping down one drop at a time...

Owen Bertram was unable to move at all, but set his resolve: for over three years, Elder Brother had never beaten you. Just you wait, you won’t escape this vicious beating today!

The mountain area was filled with tranquility, and although the stench of the giant pangolin’s blood should have attracted beasts, not even a single insect appeared. Perhaps it was because Little Loach had released his own scent.

Owen Bertram lay paralyzed on the ground, realizing for the first time that: if he had concocted some spiritual pills, it wouldn’t be bad to replenish himself at this moment. Most of the previous spiritual pills were consumed by Little Loach, and the few high-level spiritual pills left were for breaking through realms and detoxification, and couldn’t replenish spiritual energy.

Owen Bertram felt that there were always some "minor deviations" between his cultivation development and his plans.

Being influenced by his past life, he wanted to become a carefree sword immortal, and if that didn’t work, even a silver-speared white robed general would be alright, as long as it was stylish.

But why did he start by forging weapons and is now making alchemy?

"Sigh ..." Elder Brother sighed: "Most things are not as one desires, oh life."

Little Loach had no reaction to Elder Brother’s "sentimental" talk, drooling persistently, and finally realizing that he accidentally got Elder Brother wet...

Then he hurriedly closed his mouth, feeling like it wasn’t that big of a deal, but why did Elder Brother’s face look so terrible?

He carefully released the fire pill, drying Elder Brother off in an instant.

There shouldn’t be any problem now, right?

At this point, Owen Bertram’s clothes were crumpled and wrinkled, part of his hair was burnt, and the remaining curly, puffy parts were an absolute mess.

Just you wait, you won’t escape this vicious beating!

Little Loach still believed he’d done quite well, poking Elder Brother with his whiskers, urging him: are you okay now? Hurry up, I’m starving.

In just half a shichen (1 hour), Owen Bertram finally gathered some spiritual energy and regained his strength.

He got up from the ground, took off his shoes, and flew up, then started smacking Younger Brother’s head.

Younger Brother was a bit dazed: what is Elder Brother doing? It doesn’t hurt, is he teasing me? But now’s not the time, it’s your duty to protect me when I’m hungry.

Little Loach swam towards the mountaintop, having learned this move from the snakes in the mountain; it was much faster than his regular propelling speed.

Owen Bertram beat him for a while, then sighed with regret, as he couldn’t bear to hit him for real.

Little Loach quickly opened his mouth as he approached the dark red boulder, becoming larger instantaneously. As he neared the mountain top, he swallowed the boulder whole.

Then Little Loach shrank back down and glanced at Elder Brother with round innocent eyes. When Elder Brother was not paying attention, he opened his mouth wide, and "ah wu, ah wu" - the corpse of the giant pangolin was eaten.

He didn’t bother scolding him, knowing that a dog’s den won’t store leftovers for long.Just watch, it’ll definitely burst.

Little Loach showed an extremely satisfied expression on his face, and then his body slowly began to shrink. However, this time, probably because he ate too much, he couldn’t shrink to his previous size. He was still about three feet long, like a big snake.

Then, it lazily snorted at its elder brother and squinted its eyes, lying motionless on the ground.

Owen Bertram shook his head, recalled the other magical instruments, and then wrapped his brother around his neck and went down the mountain.

In the evening, the Bamboo Hat Woman appeared outside Extinct Village. She had already inspected the area around the village and was very familiar with the terrain.

She still didn’t enter the village, still wary of the cold poison inside.

"I’ve brought a few treasures that can isolate evil energy. With a little modification, they should be able to defend against the cold poison in the village." She temporarily settled in a cave and, when night fell, she saw a huge beast passing through the village into Burning Hillock. Under her bamboo hat, her face showed a cautious expression.

But suddenly, she listened closely, seeming to have discovered something.

Then her figure flickered, and there was no one left in the cave.

In the night breeze, her figure appeared by the riverside.

Not far in front of her, several tree spirits were hurrying along a small mountain road. They could not fully transform yet and still had obvious characteristics.

Each of them carried a bag. One of the tree spirits looked worried and said, "Can these Lingzhi mushrooms and old ginseng we dug up be sold at the Ghost Market?"

"There are ghosts and cultivators like us in there, none of them are good people. Even if our items are stolen, with our strength, we can only accept it. The worst part is that we may be captured and refined into pills as well..."

The leading spirit waved his hand and said, "Don’t worry. The market has rules and order is maintained by the patrolling officers. Such things won’t happen."

"The several Venerables of the Ghost Zone are all at the Fifth Great Domain and above. I heard that a very fair Judgment Officer has arrived recently."

"We practice in the territory of the human race, and it’s not easy. If we don’t find a way to exchange some treasures, how can we ever get ahead?"

They were walking along the mountain path towards the Ghost Zone, which was not far away. From here, they could see the lights of the Ghost Zone.

The Bamboo Hat Woman looked at the Ghost Zone from a distance and showed obvious joy: "Fifth Great Domain and above? Ghost Market? Judgment Officer? I originally came here for Vanessa Garden, but I didn’t expect to have such an unexpected surprise!"

With a flicker, she appeared outside the Ghost Zone, watching the spirits pass the inspection of the Ghost Knight and enter the Ghost Account, hiding herself in the shadows and observing carefully, greed in her eyes...

Owen Bertram left Little Loach in the river—that fellow looked like it wouldn’t finish digesting until tomorrow morning.

Owen Bertram returned to the outpost alone, but his soul continued to watch over Little Loach. Then he prepared to research alchemy.

Using the Immortal Binding Rope and the Five-toothed Flying Sword was indeed exhilarating, but after a satisfying blow, he felt weak and needed to prepare some spiritual pills.

There was someone he could consult in the outpost: Alvin Morgan.

But if he went to discuss alchemy with Alvin Morgan and Matthew found out, it would damage his "gentleman" persona. Owen Bertram thought about it and decided to follow the "Divine Seal Pill Manufacturing Guide" and try refining a pill by himself first.

He had the spiritual flame readily available, but he lacked an alchemy furnace and spiritual medicine.

He would have to buy these things at the Prefecture City. Jaafar County was too small and didn’t have a store for cultivators.

It was even more unlikely to find a high-end treasure like an alchemy furnace.

However, Owen Bertram had a thought and remembered a place: the Ghost Market.