Chapter 42: The Elusive Figure

"Oh, so that’s what this is about." Jake’s slightly dark face broke into a wide, white-toothed grin as he thumped his chest confidently. "No problem. Leave it to me. I’ll handle it perfectly."

Jake had a decent reputation in the slum.

He knew plenty of people and had spent years navigating the area. With just a few words, he could easily gather a group of people willing to search the waste disposal site for him.

He couldn’t guarantee much else, but when it came to finding discarded pills and other waste treasures, he was extremely confident.

Ordinary waste pills were usually worth no more than fifty silver coins each.

Ryan, however, was offering two gold coins per pill.

That was four times the usual price.

Whether Jake searched for the waste pills himself or paid others a gold coin each to collect them for him, he would still have a considerable profit margin.

He could help his friend while earning a substantial amount of money himself.

And with that money, he could purchase plenty of survival necessities for himself and his mother.

Why wouldn’t he do it?

"Alright, then I’ll trouble you." Ryan nodded with a faint smile. "From now on, I’ll wait for you beneath this locust tree around dusk every day. We’ll settle the goods and payment here."

Seeing Jake agree so readily, Ryan was secretly relieved.

With the problem of obtaining waste pills and other discarded treasures resolved, he could finally put his mind at ease.

Having someone else organize a large-scale search for him might even be more efficient than searching the waste disposal site himself.

"Alright." Jake nodded firmly. "Then it’s settled. Remember to be careful. Don’t let anyone notice anything unusual."

Ryan patted Jake’s shoulder. "I’ll see you tomorrow."

With that, he waved and quickly turned to leave.

Jake stood beneath the locust tree, watching Ryan’s departing figure.

A strong sense of envy gradually surfaced in his eyes.

He was genuinely envious. Ryan had actually awakened his Bloodline at the age of twenty.

That was four years later than the generally accepted latest awakening age of sixteen.

Yet despite awakening so late, Ryan had somehow managed to turn his life around completely.

Still, Jake was sensible enough not to ask about the real reason Ryan wanted so many waste pills and discarded treasures.

Jake had grown up in a poor single-parent family, relying on his mother to survive.

From a young age, he had struggled at the bottom of the slum and learned how to navigate its complicated social circles.

He was street-smart and understood people well.

Most importantly, he knew that everyone had their own secrets.

If he wanted to maintain a good relationship with someone, he needed to know where to draw the line.

There was no need to pry into matters that didn’t concern him.

He was genuinely happy that Ryan had awakened his Bloodline.

Even so, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

The Ryan of today was no longer the weak, sickly youth everyone had once looked down upon.

With a single arrangement, he was willing to pay four times the normal price to acquire waste pills and discarded treasures.

Not only had his personal strength undergone a tremendous transformation, but his financial capabilities had clearly become extraordinary as well.

It was enough to make anyone envious.

Jake’s eyes flickered. ’It seems I really should stay close to this guy.’

If Ryan continued developing at this pace, becoming his friend might turn out to be one of the greatest opportunities of his life.

Jake chuckled bitterly and shook his head. "Different people really do have different fates..."

He glanced in the direction Ryan had disappeared. "Who would’ve thought that Ryan, the guy everyone called the greatest piece of trash in the slums, would actually get the chance to make a comeback?"

With a final sigh, Jake turned around and quickly headed toward the waste disposal site.

...

"Eh? Jake?"

Jake had only walked a short distance from the large locust tree when a burly figure hidden in the shadows suddenly noticed him.

The black-clad martial artist had an intimidating physique, with muscles bulging beneath his clothes as though they might tear through the fabric at any moment.

A terrifying scar ran across his forehead.

Whenever his expression changed, the scar seemed to writhe like a centipede crawling beneath his skin, making his already fierce appearance even more intimidating.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at Jake approaching from the distance.

"He’s one of Ryan’s few close friends..."

The scarred man was Captain Marlow Grant, one of the two elite guard captains under Owen Sterling.

He possessed the cultivation of Origin Sea Convergence Realm, Stage Nine Peak, and was only one step away from breaking through to the Origin Spirit Realm.

Marlow and one of his subordinates had been lurking around the waste disposal site for a long time, but they had yet to discover anything useful.

The Sterling Family’s elite guards had already studied Ryan’s dossier in detail.

They knew about his family, his background, his usual activities, and even the people he regularly interacted with.

Anyone with even the slightest connection to Ryan had therefore become a potential surveillance target.

Jake was naturally one of them.

"Eh?"

Marlow’s eyes suddenly narrowed.

"Hank, stop sleeping!"

He roughly shoved the black-clad man beside him.

"Who was that person who just left? The one not far behind Jake?"

Marlow pointed toward the distance, his expression changing slightly. "His figure looks somewhat like Ryan, but his appearance is extremely blurry. Hurry up and take a look. Is that him?"

As a Peak Stage Nine Origin Sea Convergence Realm cultivator, Marlow possessed exceptionally powerful senses.

Even when encountering high-level cultivators who used secret techniques to conceal their appearance and aura, he could usually still make out their general features.

Yet this time, something was different. The figure he had noticed was so blurred that even he couldn’t clearly see the person’s appearance.

It was extremely strange. Hank, who had been crouching there all night, was already half-asleep.

After being roughly shoved by Marlow, he stumbled forward and nearly fell.

He quickly steadied himself. Although his eyes were still heavy with exhaustion, he didn’t dare complain to his superior.

"Captain, which person are you talking about?"

He yawned and looked toward the direction Marlow had indicated.

The moment he saw the figure, however, his sleepiness vanished.

Hank’s eyes widened. He stared at the distant figure. Then he rubbed his eyes. He looked again.

He rubbed them several more times, still unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Captain... this is strange." His expression gradually became serious. "You can barely make out his figure, but I can’t see him at all."

Hank pointed toward the distant figure in disbelief.

"In my eyes, he’s nothing more than a blurry, human-shaped mass of black mist!"

Hank himself was an Origin Sea Convergence Realm, Stage Six cultivator.

Yet this was the first time he had encountered such a bizarre concealment technique.

He couldn’t even make out the other person’s figure.

Marlow’s expression changed drastically. He seemed to realize something.

"Damn it." His eyes became cold. "I suspect that’s Ryan."

He immediately clenched his fists. "I don’t know what secret technique he’s using to conceal himself, but this is our chance. Let’s capture him!"

With that, Marlow immediately rushed forward.

He had been forced to hide here throughout the entire night because of a newly awakened youth from the slums.

The constant surveillance had already made him extremely irritated.

Now that Ryan had practically appeared right in front of him, Marlow’s anger surged.

If he could capture the brat, he would certainly make him pay for the trouble he had caused.

"Captain, wait!" Hank suddenly noticed something from the corner of his eye.

His expression changed dramatically.

He immediately lunged forward, caught up with Marlow, and grabbed his muscular shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

Marlow’s temper flared.

He violently shook his shoulder, trying to break free. "Captain, wait!"

Hank’s expression had become extremely serious.

"Look over there, the City Watch!"

Marlow’s movements abruptly stopped.

He turned his head.

Sure enough, a team of City Watch officers was rapidly approaching from another direction.

More than a dozen armored figures marched through the streets.

Every one of them wore a stern expression, their tall and imposing figures resembling tigers and leopards.

Their footsteps were steady and powerful.

Wherever they passed, an invisible pressure seemed to spread through the surrounding area, causing pedestrians to instinctively move aside.

"It’s really the City Watch..." Marlow’s expression changed.

He immediately stopped moving. The Ashfall City Lord’s iron-fisted reputation was well known throughout the city.

Within Ashfall City, the Sterling Family had little fear of anyone besides the other four families of the Five Great Houses, the Eight Great Sects, and the City Lord’s Mansion.

Among them, the City Lord’s Mansion was particularly troublesome.

Its methods were notoriously ruthless. Even the direct descendants of the Sterling Family wouldn’t dare casually provoke them.

If the Sterling Family secretly dealt with someone while avoiding the eyes of the City Watch, that was one thing.

But if they openly caused trouble right beneath the City Watch’s noses, the consequences would be entirely different.

Marlow wasn’t foolish enough to take that risk. He could only watch helplessly as the City Watch approached and eventually passed by.

Only after the patrol had disappeared into the distance did Marlow finally relax.

He immediately circulated his Origin Energy.

A surge of white Origin Sea Bloodline gathered around his eyes, dramatically enhancing his vision.

Marlow carefully scanned the surrounding streets.

But the blurry figure he had noticed earlier was nowhere to be found.

The person had already disappeared into the endless stream of pedestrians.

"That lucky brat!" Marlow’s face darkened. He had missed his chance.

After scanning the area several more times without finding anything, he finally gave up.

"Hank." Marlow’s expression turned cold. "Don’t report this to Young Master Owen yet."

Hank looked surprised.

Marlow continued in a low voice. "Stay here. Keep your eyes on every entrance and exit of the waste disposal site."

"Most importantly, keep a close watch on Jake."

"I don’t believe they won’t meet again." Marlow’s eyes flashed coldly.

He absolutely did not want Owen to know about what had just happened.

If Owen learned that Ryan had appeared right under their noses and they had still failed to capture him, the two of them would undoubtedly receive severe punishment.

"Yes, Captain." Hank nodded. He was already exhausted beyond words.

He had been crouching here all night and had barely gotten any rest.

Now it was almost noon, and he still couldn’t leave.

He had finally spotted someone suspicious and thought they might finally be able to complete their task.

Yet that person had disappeared before they could even confirm his identity.

Hank clenched his teeth in frustration. His heart was filled with pent-up anger and helplessness.

He could only silently return to his hiding place and continue waiting.

....

Meanwhile, Ryan had no idea that his whereabouts had nearly been exposed.

By now, he had already traveled far from the waste disposal site and was rapidly heading toward the southwestern part of Ashfall City.

According to the map he had memorized, there was a large free trade market in that direction.

Aside from entrusting Jake with the task of acquiring waste pills and discarded treasures, Ryan had planned to visit the market today.

He wanted to see whether he could find other ways to obtain damaged treasures and discarded pills there, allowing him to establish additional sources for the materials he needed.

The more sources he had, the less he would have to rely on any single one.

If he couldn’t find a suitable source at the free trade market either, then he would have no choice but to take the risk of venturing into the wilderness outside Ashfall City to hunt Exotic Beasts.

After all, Beast Cores and Bloodline Essence Threads could also provide valuable materials for his cultivation and the Boundless Creation Furnace.