3 First Encounter.

Drenched in his own sweat, panting heavily on the ground, Raymond felt like a dog. He had never felt pain that was even comparable to what he just went through. With a glance at his right arm, he noticed the bright red teeth marks. If he had bitten down a tiny bit more, he would've definitely drawn blood. Luckily for him, he didn't. He avoided the two worst-case scenarios. If he screamed out in pain, he could've easily attracted the attention of some kind of demonic beast, and if he did, he was 100% dead.

If he had bitten through the skin on his arm, and drawn blood, it could've also ended in catastrophe. The scent of blood, although very faint, could've also attracted the attention of something he had no way of dealing with. Looking up into the deep blue sky, Raymond sighed to himself. He finally seemed to realise what he had gotten himself into. If he wanted to go far in the future, he would inevitably have to suffer through hardships. For some reason, suffering through hardships didn't seem too bad to Raymond.

In his past life, he never felt any real purpose, he just bounced around from town to town. Calling whatever he experienced a "hardship" would be a lie, at least in Raymond's eyes. If suffering through hardships could help him find his purpose in life, Raymond would throw himself at them with pleasure. Whilst his mind wandered around, Raymond could feel the subtle changes in his body after the talent upgrade.

His strength, which had originally been average had been completely reforged. Although he had yet to test it out, he could feel that every fibre of his body was filled with a sort of strength that he had never experienced before. Although this strength was immense in comparison to what it had been before, Raymond was far from strong. Right now, he wasn't even as strong as someone in the first revolution of body-refining, and that was the first cultivation realm...

However, compared to a normal adult male, he was at least 50% stronger. With excitement in his heart, Raymond looked at the system panel in his mind, and noticed the difference in his talent. His [Meagre Wealth Mortal Body] had turned into [Moderate Wealth Mortal Body], and next to it, he could see the wealth needed to level it up again: (0/1000).

"Really?"

He exclaimed in irritation. Although he had expected it to get more expensive, a 10x increase in price seemed pretty harsh. Maybe he was just being paranoid; maybe the value of money was lower than he had originally presumed? Raymond knew that he was only fooling himself, and he shortly stopped thinking about it. He would worry about money later, that wasn't his issue right now. Through the system, he once again checked the information about his newfound talent.

[The physique of the god of wealth. Grants moderate talent in immortal cultivation. Slight increase in perception. Slight increase in comprehension. Can be enhanced through obtaining wealth.]

[Remark: Money makes the world go around.]

The new talent seemed pretty good, and Raymond's mood became a little better. After reading that his perception had increased, Raymond started looking at his surroundings. He had been preoccupied with his thoughts earlier so he didn't notice it, but his perception had truly been increased a little. Although the increase was ever so slight, it was noticeable at least. Considering the changes that he had seen from just a talent increase, Raymond was looking forward to cultivating more and more.

Just imagining what it would do to his body made him ecstatic. With a stronger body and a sharper mind, Raymond was ready to set off on his journey. Picking a random direction, Raymond dusted himself off before he started walking at a moderate pace. Basically dressed in nothing but rags, Raymond was at least glad that he had transmigrated with a pair of shoes. Although they were worn out, they were better than walking around barefoot.

...

In another part of the forest, a small group of 5 was trekking forward slowly. This group consisted of 2 women, an old man, as well as two middle-aged men. The two middle-aged men wore grey martial arts uniforms, adorned by badges with a green dragon on them. One of the young women was dressed like a servant and was following shortly behind the other woman. Compared to the others, the old man was dressed a little strangely.

The old man was just dressed in loose-fitting grey robes, which in itself isn't too weird, but considering his position, it could certainly be seen as weird. It was obvious from the looks of reverence and respect that the middle-aged men would cast his way every now and then that this old man was extraordinary in one way or another.

"Talia, do you want to stop by the nearest city for a rest before going back?"

All of a sudden, the old man politely asked a bright-eyed young lady walking in the middle of the group.

"Uncle, I know you're just looking out for Leon. I'm not some bratty young lady anymore, so you can be more direct."

Seeing the young lady pout, the old man chuckled a little. This young lady of his had been a real piece of work when she had been younger, and he hadn't seen her in years. He was glad that she had grown up a bit in the time that he hadn't seen her. He had originally been a little worried that his young lady would be inconsiderate, and refuse to rest in a nearby town before leaving. One of her guards, the guy named Leon, was in bad shape.

He had sustained a pretty serious injury protecting the young lady, Talia, and although they had given him great medication, he would need at least a day's rest before they could set out on the long journey back home. They had originally only come all the way here to get a spiritual plant that would only mature every hundred years. But the beast guarding the plant, which the old man was supposed to take care of, had given birth a few years prior. This young beast proved quite the challenge for the two guards guarding the young lady, and one of them almost lost his life.

Luckily, they had managed to acquire the spiritual plant, and could now go home again. The old man did think that it was a bit reckless to bring the young lady with them, but after his leader told him that she needed experience, he couldn't refuse him. All of a sudden, the old man stopped in his tracks. No one was really surprised by his sudden stop, they were used to it at this point. Instead, everyone drew their weapons and got ready to fight.

"Don't bother."

No one could really understand what he meant until they could hear the soft sound of footsteps getting closer and closer. As they cast their gazes towards their right, they could see a young man slowly approach them. After he got a little closer to them, he suddenly stopped in his tracks; he had noticed them. It was at this time that two pairs of eyes curiously peered into each other, not knowing what kind of future was in store for them.