Talented Martial Hero
Chapter 178 Get The Primitive Stone

"Miss Gu, in the auction house, whoever offers the highest price will get the auction item. Even the most powerful and high-status people are required to follow the rules. I'm sure that nothing untoward will happen. Besides, I'm not afraid to fight anyone if the need arises," Darren confidently assured the lady. His mind was set on taking home the Primitive Stone.

"Fine. Now that you've made up your mind, I'll request for Uncle Harvey to provide you with some guards. They'll leave with you from the back door of the auction house once the auction is over. It's better to avoid unnecessary trouble,” Eva replied.

Darren nodded his head in agreement.

Now in the auction house, the young man was sweating a lot, blue veins prominent on his forehead. He couldn't afford to outbid twenty million. Of course his family might have that big sum of money, but his personal belongings were not that much.

"Twenty million going once, going twice," the auctioneer announced as she glanced around the venue, checking to see if there were any last minute bidders. "Sold!"

Darren got the Primitive Stone as expected, but his behavior offended quite a few people. From the first floor, several streaks of powerful spiritual senses were released from the old man in grey robes, the young man cursing, and some other unknown persons, all trying to figure out Darren's cultivation base.

Darren paid them no mind and didn't take their checking to heart. When the Primitive Stone was sent into his private room, he took out thirteen million ink stones and set them onto the table. Eva lent him seven million ink stones and he gave all of them to the clerk.

When the clerk left, he turned to look at Eva to express his gratitude, "I'm so grateful for your help, Miss Gu. I truly appreciate it. I'll return the seven million ink stones that you lent me in three months. I'll take my leave now." Eva accompanied him towards the back door

and let out a small chuckle. "There's no need to return my money in such a hurry. We're friends now," she said with a friendly smile.

Darren nodded and returned her smile with a tender smile of his own, then cupped his hands politely before he left.

He walked towards the inn. He intended to go back to the Lotus Holy Land with Bruce.

"Shit. Someone's following me.” Only when he got to a remote place did he sense that someone was following him.

"Young man, give me the Primitive Stone."

The voice was not from the young man who had been angry and kept cursing in the auction house. Instead it was the old man in grey robes who shouted at Darren. The powerful aura from a rule cultivator surrounded him.

"What makes you think that I will give you the stone?" Darren asked in a cold voice, his upper lip curling in disdain.

The old man icily chuckled. "I can kill you easily, so I advise you to just do as I say," he warned as he stared at Darren unblinkingly.

"Oh..." Darren offhandedly quipped. He abruptly waved his blade, prepared to attack the old man at any minute.

"Humph," the old man sighed in displeasure. "You are trying to get yourself killed!" The old man in grey wasn't expecting that Darren would be this hostile and attack him so suddenly. However, he soon adjusted himself and made strange hand gesticulation. In an instant, the surroundings changed. The old man disappeared and Darren found himself enveloped in a sea of fire.

The Fire Rule that the old man used was quite strong. Darren estimated that his Spirit Power was at level nine, at least.

Ordinary cultivators of the Mysterious Realm might probably die under his attack.

A great fire blazed and countless wind blades flew at him from all directions. Each blade was lethal enough to be able to kill even a well-versed cultivator at the seventh or eighth stage of the Mysterious Realm.

Darren swung the blade in his hand and easily broke the wind blades into nothing using his blade intent.

"What the heck?" the old man cried out in surprise. "I didn't anticipate that this young man would be able to see my wind blades. Is it possible that he has already awakened his Spirit Power? Oh no!" He was still stunned by his discovery when a strong sense of blade intent came towards him.

"He found me? This is impossible!" The old man went deathly pale.

His severed head then fell to the ground with the eyes wide open.

Darren approached the old man's body and huffed, "If I didn't have Spirit Power, I wouldn't have found your vague figure and might have been in big trouble.”

He found the old man's figure only thanks to the Spirit Power. Ordinary cultivators wouldn't be able to do anything if they were in the same situation.

"Assimilate.” The old man's Spirit Power wasn't weak at all. He wouldn't want to waste it.

There was a hissing sound that was followed by a cool sensation as he began to assimilate the old man's Spirit Power. Tremendous Spirit Power rushed into Darren's head. "My Spirit Power probably has reached up to level nine," he said to himself after the assimilation.

The old man’s Spirit Power was at a higher level than Darren initially thought. After he absorbed it, his level increased by three levels.

He then rummaged through the old man's personal effects and found quite a lot of useful things: a card with several million ink stones in it, a rune paper, and some fairly expensive pills. Among the pills were more than a hundred that could increase one's Spirit Power. I definitely have scored a good fortune from the fight, * he thought.

In order to avoid more trouble, he used his Spirit Power to send out a big fire ball to burn the dead body on the ground into ashes before he went back to the inn.

After several minutes’ walk, he finally arrived at the inn.

"Bruce, I'm back," Darren said as he opened the door, only to find that Bruce was standing in the corner.

Then he remembered that Bruce was standing there before he left. Before he went out, he told him, "Wait for me here.” He was surprised that Bruce waited for him in that same place for such a long time.

Darren grimaced in wry amusement and said, "Bruce, I asked you to wait for me here. What I meant was “don't leave.’ I didn't mean “stay on that spot the whole time." He sighed, "Sit down."

Bruce lowered his head and seated himself on a stool.

"By the way, here's a pill. Take it." Darren took out an Appearance-changing Pill he got from the auction house. If Bruce didn't use his bloodline force, he could travel anywhere in the world without being found by the Wei Clan.

Hearing that there was a pill for him made Bruce shake. He tried to control himself and reached out for the pill with a trembling hand. He put it to his mouth and swallowed it.

It was a very effective pill. Within a few moments, Bruce's height and appearance had changed completely. He looked so different that no one would be able to recognize him.

"These pills contain spiritual energy and these are superior spiritual herbs. You can refine them according to your needs," Darren said as he handed them one by one to Bruce. There weren't many pills and spiritual herbs left, but when Darren found that Bruce still hadn't recovered from the injury, he gave all of them to him.

"No, I-I can't,” Bruce nervously stated. He lowered his head as he talked to Darren. He even knelt down to the ground to show his gratitude and refused to take the precious gifts.

He had never gotten any pills and spiritual herbs from his family because those things were too expensive and his family wouldn't waste them on him.

"Take them. It's an order!" Darren raised his voice because it was the simplest way to persuade Bruce.

It worked.

Bruce accepted the pills and the spiritual herbs.

In the following ten days, Darren visited most parts of the Lotus City with Bruce. It was a good way to help him get familiar with the world again. The effect became more apparent with each day that passed. Bruce was now able to talk more fluently.

"Bruce, I think you've almost adjusted to this world. We'll head back to the Lotus Holy Land soon Only on your own free will, of course. I'm not forcing you. I won't stop you if you want to leave.” Darren was talking about the future plan with Bruce while they ate in a small restaurant.

"No, I won't leave. I will follow you, Master,” Bruce muttered. His attention was focused on gnawing on the roasted beast leg in his hand. It was so delicious that he was biting into it without holding his head up.

"I thought I already told you a million times—we are equal friends. If you call me Master again, I will hit you!" Darren jokingly said.

"Ha-ha!" Bruce held his head up, grinned, and then went on eating.

Over the course of ten days, Bruce had changed a lot. At least in front of Darren, he seemed to be like a normal person.

"Bruce, why are you so afraid of that aura I sometimes release?" There were several times in the past few days when Darren tried to release his demonic internal force secretly. Bruce appeared visibly frightened every time.

Bruce froze at the question. After a moment's consideration, he shook his head and finally replied, "I don't really know. I'm just afraid of it."

There were a few seconds of silence, then Bruce spoke out, "Da... Darren, why did you save me?" His voice was a bit hesitant as it was the first time that he called Darren by his name after having been lectured so many times for calling him "Master." Hearing it brought a small smile to Darren's lips.

"I don't really have any specific reason. I just thought that we both suffered a lot, especially you," Darren replied shortly after.

Bruce was overwhelmed with emotions that he was only able to utter a short "Oh." There was grief and anger in his eyes. Bad experiences and memories crept up in his thoughts.

"Bruce, you're eager to find your mother, aren't you?" Darren remembered the day when Clive threatened Bruce with his mother's news.

The expression on Bruce's face was unreadable. A few moments later, he sorrowfully nodded. His hair partially covered his eyes, but Darren saw that they were gleaming with tears.

"Okay. Let's stop talking about the past. Don't worry, Bruce. If we'll have the chance, we'll go to the border and look for your mother.” Darren knew the words had little effect on relieving Bruce's sadness, but he just still tried his best.

"But first, we'll go back to the Lotus Holy Land," Darren reassured Bruce, then stood up and headed for the checkout counter. They had been away for many days so it was about time for Darren to go back and see his sister. More importantly, he wanted to see whether Elsa had already finished the closed-door cultivation.

"Okay," Bruce called out. He took a few more big bites from the beast leg and reluctantly caught up with Darren. He really enjoyed that delicious beast leg.