After collecting the vital energy crystals, Austin and Violet searched around the circular cave again but
found nothing. There seemed to be no more crystals left.
Using his fists, Austin punched the wall and soon, a hole of two meters deep appeared in front of them,
yet nothing was found. It seemed that all the crystals had been collected by them.
So, they decided to return to their cave.
"Well, I'll try these superior vital energy crystals that can be refined next!"
It was perfect timing. He had just lost most of his vital energy, but now, he had gotten so many superior
vital energy crystals that could be used directly for cultivation.
Out of those, 5, 000 vital energy crystals would be enough for his cultivation.
He gave Violet 1, 000 crystals for her cultivation and told her that she could ask him for more after she
used them up.
As soon as Violet received the crystals, she returned to the Illusion Bead to focus on her cultivation.
When she had first met Austin, Austin was just a warrior at the sixth or seventh level of Energy
Gathering Realm, but now, he had already reached the premium stage of Earth Realm, which made
Violet feel a little upset and jealous.
She wanted to spend all her time practicing so that she could catch up with him.
Meanwhile, Austin sat cross-legged, holding a crystal in each of his hands. As he directed his strength
to his hands through concentration, he felt two streams of extremely pure vital energy being directly
absorbed by his body.
"The vital energy of heaven and earth is so pure," Austin exclaimed out loud.
Then, he relaxed and began to absorb the energy of the two crystals attentively.
The crystals were only the size of his fist, but they contained a lot of vital energy of heaven and earth.
About two and a half hours later, Austin had absorbed all the energy of the crystals in his hands.
He had regained about 80% of the vital energy in the energy meridians in his body.
Then, he took out another two crystals from the Space Ring, held them in his hands, and began to
absorb their energy.
After absorbing the energy of six fist-sized crystals, he felt that the vital energy in his body had returned
to its peak state. Vital energy could warm and nourish the body, so after it returned to its peak state,
Austin felt energetic and refreshed.
When he lightly clenched his fist, he felt the strength of his body rise.
His bones hummed like the light beat of a drum.
Even though Austin had replenished the vital energy in his energy meridians, he continued to take out
crystals from the Space Ring and absorb their energy one by one. The energy he absorbed now would
be stored in the vital energy stone in the elixir field.
Back in Sun Mountain, he had almost exhausted the energy stored in the vital energy stone in order to
shake off Dwayne and Abbott.
Now, it was time to supplement it.
The vital energy stone in the elixir field could store a great deal of vital energy. Three days later, Austin
had stored the vital energy of about 60 crystals in the stone.
He believed that this much vital energy was enough for him to spend at will for the foreseeable future.
With this vast reserve of vital energy, Austin would be much more confident when facing the Flaming
Sun Valley and the Blood Wolf Team.
Moreover, there were thousands of crystals in his Space Ring, so he could supplement vital energy
whenever he liked.
Time flew. Austin had been staying in the cave for nearly four days.
Since his body and vital energy had returned to their peak state, he didn't want to stay here any longer.
But where should he go next?
Austin turned this question over and over in his mind.
He didn't want to go back to the Sun Sect again.
The Sun Sect had been his base since the time he began to practice martial arts.
Now that he had left the Sun Sect, he had no idea where to go in this big world.
All of a sudden, something occurred to him.
Previously, in Peace Town, he had met a middle-aged man and a teenager with an imposing
appearance. The teenager had promised to give him a million vital energy crystals and a batch of elixirs
every month for his cultivation if he went to the imperial capital city six months later to help him fight for
the throne.
Austin had agreed at that time.
Originally, he had planned to go to the imperial capital city after half a year, but now, he had nowhere to
go and no home to live in.
The imperial capital city was under the jurisdiction of the emperor. The Violet Orchid Empire and the
five major sects all had their own spheres of influence. For example, the power of the Sun Sect was
limited to a little more than 100, 000 miles around Sun Mountain.
The imperial capital city was not within the compass of the Flaming Sun Valley and the Blood Wolf
Team.
It was the place where the royal family was located. As the center of the country, it boasted a large
population, a vast area, lively and busy markets, and bustling traffic.
As the saying went, the greatest hermit retreated into the noisiest fair. If Austin went to the imperial
capital city, the Flaming Sun Valley and the Blood Wolf Team wouldn't be able to find him easily.
Moreover, he was used to staying in places near Sun Mountain. The liveliest place he had ever been to
was Peace Town.
It could be said that he was a countryman who had never been to a metropolis.
So, he decided to go to the imperial capital city to gain experience.
Six months later, he could help the teenager win the throne.
After arriving at this decision, he told Violet about it.
Violet was a playful girl and liked busy and prosperous places, so she immediately agreed to the idea
of traveling to the imperial capital city.
Since Violet had no objections, Austin stood up to leave the cave.
Suddenly, a little beast appeared with a flash of grey light. It stood in front of Austin, blocking his way to
the entrance of the cave.
The beast had grey fur all over its body. It had the head of a rabbit but the body of a dog.
Its size was only one-third of a dog's size.
Its big ears pricked up as it stared at Austin with a pair of inquisitive eyes. To be precise, it was staring
at Austin's chest. A look of longing clouded over its eyes.
What kind of beast was this?
Looking at the little fellow that had suddenly appeared in front of him, Austin racked his mind for some
information about it but he couldn't remember anything. What kind of beast was this cute fellow?
The beast seemed anxious and had its eyes fixated on Austin's chest. It raised its front paws and
pointed at Austin's chest, squeaking.
Austin looked at the beast in confusion.
"There's something you want in my chest?"
Austin asked hesitantly.
The beast nodded its head enthusiastically. It seemed that it could understand what Austin was saying.
Austin reached into his chest and took out the Space Ring, which was the only thing in it.
Ever since getting the Space Ring, he had hidden it in his chest so as not to make other people
jealous.
He took out the Space Ring and showed it to the beast.
"You like this?"
The beast shook its head and pointed once more at the Space Ring.
Austin realized what the beast was saying. It wanted something that was inside the Space Ring.
'That's strange. What does it want?' Austin wondered.
After thinking for a moment, he took out several bottles of elixirs, but the beast shook his head.
Then, Austin took out all the things in his Space Ring and showed them to the beast one by one.
As soon as Austin showed the beast one of the fist-sized crystals he had found in the circular cave,
there was a flash of grey light. The next moment, Austin found that his hand was empty. The beast had
grabbed the crystal before he even realized what it was doing!
Austin was taken aback. The beast was so fast that he had barely even seen it move. It had taken the
crystal away with a flash of grey light. In fact, the beast was too fast to be perceived even by spiritual
sense.
If the beast attacked him at this speed, he definitely wouldn't be able to escape.
At this thought, Austin's face stiffened. He regarded the beast thoughtfully.
The beast held the crystal in its paws, intoxicated by its success like a libertine stealthily entering the
room of a girl or a hungry man seeing a table full of dishes.
After sniffing the crystal dramatically, the beast opened its mouth and swallowed the crystal as a whole,
much to Austin's astonishment.
Then, it licked the corners of its mouth with its tongue, as if recollecting the pleasant flavor of the
crystal.
After it was done, it looked up at Austin with pitiful eyes and alternated between pointing at Austin's
Space Ring and its mouth.
Austin was speechless.
He took out another crystal and threw it to the beast. Again, the beast sniffed the crystal dramatically
before swallowing it.
It begged for one more crystal before finally stopping.
Austin was pained to see the beast gulp down three of these crystals so easily. After all, these crystals
were rich in vital energy and were very valuable.
Fortunately, after eating three crystals, the beast touched its belly with satisfaction and stopped asking
for more.
Suddenly, something occurred to Austin.
He usually used his mind to perceive what was stored in the Space Ring.
But strangely, the beast had known that there were crystals in his Space Ring at just a glance.
"Violet, do you know what kind of beast this is?"
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