Meeting With Elder Pultho

Kalum took small but delicious sips of his Seven Fruit Sensation wine as he listened to Elder Pultho.

"I am more than willing to purchase Demon Beast Cores from you as I stated previously. Any amount helps us in the end and demand far outstrips the supply, this is no great secret. Although many believe it a simple matter to send out teams to gather Demon Beast Cores it is not truly so. Any powerful force makes Demon Beasts run away and hide and any weaker force is subject to the risks of such a task." He explained.

This made sense, losing disciples for gaining Demon Beast Cores must be quite the detriment to a sect, even if it got them more resources. Without anything to say Kalum continued to listen to the Elder's words.

"Many sects are currently recruiting wandering cultivators with hunting talents for this reason. Resources are king in the cultivation world."

Kalum nodded to show he understood.

"With this in mind, I would like to ask you to do me a favour." The Elder asked.

Kalum leaned forward in interest.

"What do you need? I make no promises but if it's in my power I can consider it deeply." Kalum proposed.

The Elder smiled.

"When you next speak to the ally of yours that obtained the Frost Serpent Core, please pass over this letter to him. It has an enchantment that allows us to know when it has been read, but nothing more that I promise." The Elder requested.

This could be bad. Depending on what the Moon Beam Sect wanted from him it could be a boon or a curse. Fortunately he had used the ruse of a middleman before, allowing him to escape direct questioning.

"This was a much tamer request than I was expecting, Elder Pultho, you can be assured that I will get it to its intended recipient as soon as possible." Kalum promised.

The Elder smiled in gratitude.

"Thank you that is a great weight off my shoulders, now would you like to show me the Demon Beast Cores you currently have? I will purchase them all." Elder Pultho said kindly.

Kalum took out all the Demon Beast Cores he had, the ones from the Beast Hunting System and the ones he had killed himself.

"My my, this is such a wonderful selection. Although they are very low realm, they will be very useful for my sect. Did you acquire all of these yourself?" The Elder asked.

Kalum had already decided to claim these as his spoils, the Qi Soaring realm cores would be a bit of a stretch but if he was a young prodigy it would be possible. The Core Creation Realm was frankly impossible so he had no choice but to claim a mysterious senior had gifted it to him to sell on his behalf.

"I gained all of these myself, my senior is not the only one who is adept at hunting, I learnt a thing or two." Kalum said proudly, no falsehood in his voice as it was his own blood sweat and tears that he gained most of these from.

The Elder seemed to see him in a new light at this news.

"The Purple Tailed Panther is rather rare in the northern continent, I had to take a second to dig through my old memories to even recognise it. Do you mind if I ask where you found it?" The Elder asked.

"Sorry but I don't want to give out that information." Kalum firmly stated. Not wanting to seem ignorant in front of the Elder.

"Very well that is your prerogative. You are quite a talented individual indeed young Kalum. It makes me wonder why you haven't joined a sect yet." He asked.

This gave Kalum pause, the real reason he hadn't gone to a sect was simply because he was weak and would only be an outer disciple, this changed after he gained the power of the System as he would be able to make valuable contributions to a sect. Joining one would provide him with more resources such as techniques to read from or personal tutelage. Far more cheaper in a sect to gain these things than to buy them outright.

"I have simply not been given a satisfactory offer." Kalum said, trying to play up a more mercenary outlook.

His blunt remark made the Elder chuckle.

"Well, I would be happy to accept you into our outer disciples if you so wished but I doubt that is what you are looking for. So instead, I will say that if you reach the Qi Soaring realm within five years then I will accept you as my personal disciple within the sect, granting you more privilege and prestige than many." The Elder offered

This was quite an attractive offer to Kalum and only served to bolster his urge to improve and soar into the heavens.

"I may take you up on such an offer in the future, Elder Pultho." Kalum said respectfully.

"However, back on topic, how much will you purchase all these Demon Beast Cores for?" Kalum asked.

The Elder rubbed his chin in thought for a second before responding.

"I can do forty thousand low-tier spirit stones for the lot, there are quite a few of them and even two alpha's cores, however they are very low cultivation so I can't give any more." The Elder said.

Kalum accepted his price and gave over the cores, he knew he was lucky with the Core Creation Realm core previously.

After that they spoke about some minor things until their wine and treats had depleted. They went their own ways with Kalum promising to contact him when he had more cores to sell.

Kalum made his way out of the city, he had been cooped up in here for far too long. Although he wasn't able to make use of the Cultivation System Maker yet as he had no one he trusted that he could give a system to, he could use the Beast Hunting System to gain the resources he needed for that end.

"It's time to hunt." Kalum roared as he left the city, instantly heading back to his trust frozen forest of death.