17 A Real Man

The data of the first day was fairly standard. Bought a few stocks of a few small companies working on big projects. The returns would've been up to ten times the investment. Of course it sounded great for someone like Anne who didn't have any experience, so she bought some.

She lost a million that first day.

On the second day, she lost half a million.

Only a few tens of thousands on the third day, and it was on the fourth day that she made profit.

While Ling Yun was reading page after page of the detailed report Anne sent him, he couldn't help but find out something incredible.

The results of the investments were too good, too clean. On very few occasions did Anne made a purposeless purchase and, more often than not, the ones that appeared sold for multiple times their prize just a few days after. It looked like she knew almost everything that was going through the heads of the businessmen.

"Anne, if you were to sell everything, how much it be?" He asked trying to keep a nonchalant attitude.

"Right now, it would net around ninety million dollars. If they were sold in two days, it would be a hundred and fifteen million." Anne answered. As excited as Ling Yun was, he needed to know how she could be so certain of the future price, as it might be something illegal.

"Anne, how are you getting the data that makes you decide when to sell and buy specific stocks towards the best outcome?" Ling Yun asked.

"I get the information based on the activities of people related to the sell I am working on at any given moment and rumors circulated in the financial sphere. Those activities are found based on public photographs, videos, and social media. The only instance I hacked into accounts was to approve of my own account's request in order to get the information quicker and get a better outcome." Anne completely predicted Ling Yun's next question in her answer and quelled most of his reluctance.

'Rumors and photos to make guesses in order to get the best possible investment. Man, this is great.'

"Ok. Anne, if you had thirty million dollars as capital, how much money do you think you could make in a month?" Ling Yun asked.

"Based on the current estimations, with a thirty million capital I would be able to make between six hundred million and 1.2 billion." Shera dutifully asked.

"What do you need to start investing?" Ling Yun had made up his mind by this point. He needed money more than anything right now, and this was looking up to be a very efficient way to get it.

"Just the money. I already set the bank account. I only need your authorization to convert the system points into levo dollars and directly transfer them."

"Perfect. Convert thirty million points to levo dollars and go live. Make sure to link the account activity to the app on my comlink." Ling Yun gave the order.

The rest of the night went by without any unusual happening except for the slightly better food that was being served. Since Ling Yun had already been in the sanctuary for more than a month, he decided to start chipping in. He told his mother he was hired by a gang and he was being paid ten thousand dollars a month.

Of course, that was complete crap, but he still gave his mom the money.

After entering the sanctuary, the first thing Ling Yun did was summon Ban the griffon.

This was something he started to do about a month after he entered the sanctuary, when the loneliness was taking a toll on him.

He was completely friendless on his past life, but even then, he always had his loyal companion. He didn't miss him that much before he entered the sanctuary because he had his training, mother and sister always there to keep him company, but in the dangerous wilderness of the sanctuary he began craving someone to talk to.

It was then that he summoned Ban'er.

As a dog, he always was smarter than expected. He could bark yes and no responses and had memorized over a hundred words related to commands. It was something unprecedented at the time.

Still, it amazed him how smart he had become now that he was a griffon.

He might've been a beast soul, but not-doctor-Cheng made it very clear it would have a certain degree of consciousness. And apparently a griffon's brain is better developed than a dog's, because he could understand everything Ling Yun said.

Granted, Ban'er couldn't answer, but it was something that amazed him anyway.

"There's a month left before the martial arts competition starts, and we still only have sacred-blood armor. The rest are mutant or primitive. What do you say, do we leave now? Or wait until tomorrow when the bloody bee finishes upgrading?" He asked the little griffon and, after a few seconds, Ban'er trilled twice.

"Leave now, huh? Yeah, I thin that's the best idea." Ling Yun then nodded and started walking towards the gates of the shelter.

"Anne, how many shelters can I reach in a month taking into account the lizard's speed?" He asked very quietly pretending to talk to Ban'er.

"Master, there are three shelters close enough for you to reach in a month. The first one is the Glory Shelter. It's located east from here and it would take an estimate of two weeks to reach it if you don't run into any serious trouble. The next one is located south and is called the Silver Mountain Shelter. It would take between three and three and a half weeks to get there. The closest one is the Jade Shelter, and it would take only a week and a half to reach it."

"Great, Jade Shelter it is, then. Please mark it on the map and trace the most optimal route." By this point Ling Yun was already outside of the limits of the shelter, so he quickly summoned the jet lizard and his armor. He got on its back and opened map.

Although he could use the sanctuary vision and the minimap, he wanted to see the complete route. And it was a good thing he did, since the path Anne suggested took him straight through the Jade Dragon Mountains. That place was infected with powerful creatures, and most were mutant or above.

'That was where Han Sen saw a bunch of sacred-blood creatures, and even met his first super creature.' Ling Yun was suddenly very glad he wasn't impulsive.

"Shera, if I don't take the route through the Jade Dragon mountains to reach the Jade Shelter, how long would it take me to get there?" He asked.

"A little over two months." She emotionlessly answered.

"Well, mark a route for the Glory Shelter, and make sure the route doesn't cross paths with sacred-blood and above creatures."

"Understood."

With those words, Ling Yun started riding towards the sunset. On the back of a lizard.

At the foot of a mountain, not very far away from the Glory Shelter, there were three people surrounding a young man. He looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, so he was probably new or at least inexperienced in the First God's Sanctuary.

The other three, however, looked menacing.

They were all wearing beast soul armor, even if the grade was glaringly not high. One of them was wielding a very big warhammer beast soul. The other two were wielding a dagger and sword respectively.

While the sword was too a beast soul, the dagger was a man-made alloy one. If it could be compared to those beast souls, which were mutant ones, by the looks of it, it had to had been an excellent quality Z-steel dagger. Also, quite expensive.

"Fen Xin, you know how this is. You can't just chicken out of the hunt, you know. This are mutant creatures we are talking about! We need you in the team, or we will have to return to the shelter to gather more people, you understand." The man with the dagger said in a pleasant tone, but the malicious glint in his eyes betrayed his true intentions.

"Boss Lang is right, Fen Xin! How dare you go back on your word when boss kindly took you in our gang when you were but a newbie!" The man with the sword added.

"Yes, yes. How dare you, Fen Xin. Boss even magnanimously gave you a primitive weapon so you could hunt some creatures, and this is how you repay him. Shameless!" The man with the hammer couldn't keep quiet and added his two cents.

"Listen, boss Lang, I am not ungrateful. But I just can't hunt mutant creatures! I barely have half of my ordinary geno points filled and a dozen primitive ones. If I were to even be stared at by a mutant powerhouse, I would die on the spot! I can't risk it, I have a sister that I need to look after." The young man, Fen Xin, tried to explain, but if the look on Ye Lang was any indicator, he wasn't doing much progress.

"You know what, Fen Xin? I won't be petty. If you want to leave you can just leave, but you must compensate me. After all, I did invest quite an amount on you. How much do you think primitive weapons cost?" He said.

Fen Xin knew he didn't have any other choice, so he gave the primitive dagger Ye Lang gave him months ago when he entered the sanctuary. Fortunately, he was lucky and had another two primitive beast souls. A sword and the armor he was wearing. He got both of them hunting and was very lucky in that regard.

"Fine, take the dagger. But I'm leaving right now." Just as Fen Xin turned around and was preparing to leave, a hammer blocked his path.

"What are you doing? I already gave you the beast soul. I am not going to hunt a primitive creature, and that's final." He said resolutely.

"Oh, Fen Xin, you see, this beast soul was a loan, an investment. And what happens when a bank gives you a loan? They don't just take what you borrowed, right? They take interest. Just as that, I can't accept just the original beast soul, that was an investment, and I want to make profit."

"What do you want?" Fen Xin asked through gritted teeth. Although he was quite poor and didn't have a great fitness index, he wasn't untalented in martial arts. He actually considered himself well above average, so he wasn't scared of a fight. Those three, however, were from private schools and had better beast souls. It was even possible they had practiced Hyper Geno Arts. How was he supposed to win against that?

"Simple. I know you have two additional primitive beast souls. Give them to me, and you can leave." He said arrogantly.

"Impossible! Those were the beast souls I gained from my own effort, you have no right to ask me for them. And if I gave them to you, how am I supposed to get back to the shelter?" He asked indignantly.

"Not my problem. Now give me your beast souls, or else…"

Fen Xin squared his teeth and summoned his soul. He couldn't afford to lose the armor and sword. They were his livelihood!

"I'm not giving them to you." He said resolutely and prepared himself for a fight.

What followed next, though, was more like a beating.

Fen Xin was indeed quite good at martial arts, but against three opponents with better fitness, beast souls, and techniques he was at a great disadvantage.

"Tsk. Another thrash who doesn't know his place. Even beating you would be pointless." Ye Lang look towards his two goons and then coldly spoke. "Kill him. Nobody will miss him."

By this point, Fen Xin's sword was so damaged it couldn't be used anymore and had to be recalled to the sea of soul. His armor wasn't doing any better, but he wore it anyway. After all, little protection was best than no protection.

When he heard Ye Lang's words, he felt his blood run cold. And when he saw the dagger getting closer to his neck, he just closed his eyes and prayed for swift death.

"I'm sorry, Ke'er. I couldn't keep my promise." He mumbled guiltily and steeled himself.

But instead of the cold feeling of metal meeting his flesh, he heard a metallic clash followed by a surprised yelp from his attacker. When he was wondering what had happened, he heard a new voice close to him.

"Well, that wasn't very nice, was it?" The new voice asked in a cold tone. He next summoned a very imposing purple spear. He spun it in his hand and stabbed it in the ground in front of him. Then, he spoke.

"What would you feel if I killed you when you were helpless, huh?" Ling Yun asked in a cold tone.

He had listened to the conversation, but never thought they would kill him. His plan was to take him to the shelter once the other three left. He had summoned his mutant bow and arrow just to be sure, although he didn't anticipate using it. But once they moved to kill him, he fired his arrow to the dagger as fast as he could.

Fortunately, he didn't miss, and the dagger flew out of the aggressor's hand.

For Fen Xi, that was a tone that spoke of death. But once he opened his eyes and saw something he would never forget as long as he lived. Standing at about 1.8 meters, the newcomer was clad in luster black armor that had muscle designs. The way he stood proud, with one hand on the spear and the other hanging loosely by his side, he was probably the most imposing figure he had ever seen.

Unnoticed by him, a phrase made its way into his mind. A phrase that had never felt so fitting before.

'He's a real man.'