Chapter 48: Investment

It went without saying that Jackson had relied on corruption cores to raise his stats so quickly.

However, that wasn’t the only factor contributing to his rapid growth.

There was also his talent, Aura of Slaughter.

Through his experiments over the past few days, Jackson had discovered that whenever his aura grew to a certain extent, his stats would increase by a small amount. For example, after reaching fifty kills, his overall strength had received another boost.

The increase wasn’t particularly large, especially compared to what he could gain from corruption cores, but it still counted.

And when every bit of strength mattered, Jackson wasn’t going to complain.

As he was thinking about this, a notification suddenly chimed.

[Ding! All listed items have been sold.]

"Alright!"

Jackson’s eyes immediately lit up.

The store had gradually become his most reliable source of income. During the past few days, he had been earning roughly one thousand mana stones every day from it.

And that was pure profit.

All costs had already been deducted.

If nothing unexpected happened, Jackson could earn nearly thirty thousand mana stones by the end of the month.

For someone who had only recently been struggling to afford a decent place for his family to live, this was an extremely impressive rate of income.

Aside from his store, Jackson had also been diligently practicing the Rank Two skill, Twin Moon Escape Skill, every day.

Although he had yet to fully master it, he had already developed an initial understanding of the technique. His progress had greatly improved his ability to survive dangerous situations, something Jackson valued far more than its offensive potential.

As Jackson mentally reviewed everything he had accomplished over the past few days, another notification suddenly appeared.

He glanced at the message.

At first, he was about to ignore it completely.

Then he noticed the sender.

Veronica.

Jackson’s brows rose slightly.

If this had been a few days ago, he probably wouldn’t have even bothered opening the message.

However, after what had happened at the dojo, his opinion of both Green Soul Corporation and Veronica had risen by quite a bit.

If it hadn’t been for Green Soul Corporation’s prompt response during the portal incident, Aella’s fate might have been...

Jackson’s expression slowly became serious.

He didn’t dare imagine what might have happened otherwise.

After a brief pause, he finally opened Veronica’s message.

With all these thoughts running through his mind, Jackson finally decided to open the message.

Compared to what he had been expecting, the contents were surprisingly simple.

There was only a single sentence.

"I agree!"

Jackson stared at the message for a moment.

Then his expression slowly froze.

Veronica had challenged him again and again over the past few days, yet he had refused every single time. Eventually, just to get rid of her once and for all, he had casually thrown out an absurd condition.

One million mana stones.

He had assumed that such a ridiculous price would be enough to make her give up.

Clearly, he had underestimated just how wealthy the young tycoon was.

For someone like Veronica, one million mana stones was apparently nothing worth hesitating over.

Jackson’s entire being was suddenly filled with regret.

Maybe he should have asked for ten million.

Or even one hundred million!!.

Unfortunately, regret was one of the few things in this world that money couldn’t buy a cure for.

Jackson could only sigh inwardly and accept his fate.

...

Inside a premium suite of the Green Soul Inn, Veronica sat behind a large table covered with dozens of reports.

Her brows were slightly furrowed as she carefully flipped through the documents one after another. The room was unusually quiet, with only the faint rustling of paper breaking the silence.

After placing the final report on the counter, Veronica leaned back slightly.

A sharp glint flashed through her eyes.

"This portal is too difficult to close..."

Her voice carried a hint of heaviness.

Three days of exploration had given Green Soul Corporation a much clearer understanding of the situation on the other side.

Unfortunately, what they had discovered was far worse than they had initially expected.

If they wanted to close the portal permanently, they would have to expend an enormous amount of resources.

Even for a corporation as powerful as Green Soul Corporation, this wasn’t a decision that could be made casually.

To some extent, a plan had already begun forming in Veronica’s mind.

However, she still hesitated.

Her fingers lightly tapped against the table as her gaze fell upon the reports before her.

If possible...

She didn’t want to close the portal at all.

Just as Veronica was lost in thought, her hunter license suddenly vibrated.

She glanced down.

[Bitter Rain has accepted your duel request.]

"Finally!"

A broad smile immediately spread across Veronica’s face.

She had recently learned a Rank Two defensive technique, and after thoroughly testing it, she was confident in its defensive power. No matter how powerful Bitter Rain’s talent was, she was certain he wouldn’t be able to break through her defenses so easily this time.

At last, she had a way to deal with that irritating guy.

The moment she accepted the challenge, the surroundings around her abruptly changed.

The luxurious suite disappeared.

In its place was an endless icy plain stretching toward the horizon. A biting chill swept across the frozen landscape, carrying countless flakes of snow through the air.

A lone figure was already sitting in the middle of the icy plain.

His posture was relaxed, his expression indifferent, as though he hadn’t come here for a duel at all.

Looking at Bitter Rain’s calm posture, Veronica couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

Look at this guy...

Let’s see if you can still remain this arrogant after this battle.

The thought had barely appeared in her mind when her vision suddenly went dark.

There was no warning.

No attack she could see.

No opportunity to react.

The next moment, Veronica’s entire body suddenly combusted into countless red particles.

The icy plain fell silent.

The figure sitting in the distance hadn’t even moved.

Back in the dark expanse, Jackson’s figure slowly emerged.

An amused smile lingered on his face.

He could tell that Veronica had come prepared this time. Judging from her aura, she had clearly obtained a new defensive technique specifically to deal with him.

Unfortunately, preparation alone wasn’t enough.

No matter how much they prepared, no one at the same realm could defeat Jackson.

I’ve kept the core progression intact, while making Jackson’s spending decision feel more deliberate and emphasizing why he only spends half the money on "trash."

Back in the real world, Jackson stared at his hunter license with an expression filled with doubt.

I hope she actually sends the money...

He couldn’t help but worry that Veronica might go back on her word after losing the duel.

After all, one million mana stones wasn’t exactly a small amount.

But it seemed he had been overthinking things.

The hunter license vibrated again a moment later.

Jackson quickly checked it.

His eyes widened slightly.

The entire one million mana stones had already been transferred.

He entered the storage space and confirmed the amount himself. A small mountain of mana stones now rested inside, their dense energy causing the surrounding air to faintly fluctuate.

Along with the payment, Veronica had also sent him a message.

"Don’t think this is over just because you have defeated me once. Just wait..."

Jackson read the message before shaking his head with an amused smile.

He didn’t take her threat seriously at all.

As far as he was concerned, the duel had already ended.

More importantly, he now had one million mana stones.

With this much money in his possession, he wouldn’t have to worry about his finances for quite some time.

Countless thoughts immediately flashed through Jackson’s mind as he began considering how best to spend his newfound wealth.

His first instinct was simple.

Gear.

He had almost immediately wanted to purchase a high-quality ranked weapon along with a powerful defensive treasure. Having better equipment would undoubtedly increase his combat ability.

However, after thinking about it carefully, Jackson realized that spending the entire fortune on equipment would be far too hasty.

There was something else he could do.

Something that would potentially give him far greater returns.

After calming himself down, Jackson spent a considerable amount of time searching through the internet.

Instead of looking for expensive treasures, he began searching for something far less glamorous.

Failed pills.

Damaged weapons.

Broken treasures.

Items that hunters had discarded because they were useless or had suffered severe damage.

To ordinary hunters, these things were little more than trash.

To Jackson, however, they were potential opportunities.

He searched far and wide through various marketplaces and hunter forums, carefully comparing prices and looking for anything that could potentially be useful to him.

By the time evening arrived, Jackson had finally finished spending his newly acquired fortune.

Half of the one million mana stones had been used to purchase what most hunters would have casually dismissed as trash.

At first, Jackson had wanted to spend all the money immediately.

However, after thinking about it more carefully, he realized an important limitation.

His spiritual force.

No matter how many damaged weapons, failed pills, or broken treasures he purchased, his ability to process them was still limited by the strength of his spiritual force.

Even if he bought every single useful-looking item he could find, it would be extremely difficult to turn all of them into something valuable at once.

There was no point in accumulating a mountain of materials that he couldn’t properly utilize.

With that in mind, Jackson decided to keep the remaining five hundred thousand mana stones.

He would use them later to purchase proper equipment and suitable treasures once he had a clearer idea of what he actually needed.

For now, half a million mana stones remained safely in his possession.

And the other half had been converted into a mountain of discarded treasures.

Jackson couldn’t help but smile.

To others, it was trash.

To him...

It was an investment.