445: Chapter 445 Holy Realm Chapter 11

"We're back. It's only been a few years, but why does it feel like decades have passed?" Mars arrived at the village entrance and sighed with some emotion.

"Yeah. But those guys, heh heh, I'm definitely going to sneak into their homes tonight and teach them a harsh lesson!" Xia Er laughed sinisterly. Although magic couldn't be used here, with their agile skills, they were still more than a match for ordinary people.

It was night time, and the people in the village had already turned in early.

"Let's just go back to our own homes tonight, stay for one night, and leave before dawn tomorrow."

"Alright, boss."

Gu Yuan returned to his own home. The already dilapidated little wooden hut was now covered in weeds, and one of the two wooden doors had long since collapsed onto the ground.

Gu Yuan walked inside. The small hut wasn't big. Being an orphan, what could he possibly have? Even a thief would be moved to tears upon seeing it.

Just like before he left, there was a bed made of wooden planks and a table propped up by stones.

It was just covered in dust.

Gu Yuan lay down directly on top of it. Looking through the leaky roof with his arms cradling his head, he stared at the sky.

His memories of his parents were already very, very blurry.

He heard that when he was three years old, his father went into the mountains to pick herbs and fell off a cliff.

Upon hearing the news, his mother fell gravely ill and passed away without holding on.

As for Xia Er, he had come to this village with his mother when he was just four years old. Later, when Xia Er was six, his mother went to town and never returned; it was said she had run away.

Then there was Mars. Mars's family used to be the best off, even in the whole village. His father was a blacksmith, and his mother was a maid for a wealthy family; both had stable sources of income.

But later, Mars's mother offended the young lady of that household. In reality, it was just because the young lady was in a bad mood that day, so she casually found an excuse to beat his mother severely. If it hadn't been for Mars's father arriving in time to offer an ancestral gemstone and most of their family fortune as an apology, she likely would have been beaten to death.

Afterwards, to save his wife, Mars's father spent all their savings and even sold the blacksmith shop in town.

In the end, she still died. Mars's father then returned to the village, drinking heavily every day, until one winter he collapsed while drunk and froze to death.

By that time, Mars was already seven years old.

Gu Yuan reached out his hand, looking through the gaps between his fingers at the hole in the broken roof tiles.

He knew that after leaving this time, he would likely never come back.

Seemingly thinking of something, he got up. Relying on his sharp skills and control over his own muscles, he embedded silver coins into the front doors of those villagers' houses.

Just consider it payment for the corn and peanuts over these years.

As for the village chief's house, he embedded a gold coin. Half of the gold coin was exposed, shimmering with an alluring luster.

The villagers all had courtyards, so the silver coins embedded in the front doors wouldn't be noticed by anyone outside.

After circling the village and returning, Gu Yuan lay down on the wooden planks and fell into a deep sleep.

That night, Xia Er didn't sleep. After beating up a few people, he felt it was pointless, so he returned to his dilapidated house and sat by the doorway, dazed for the whole night.

Just like his former self, he sat by the doorway, wondering if his mother had really abandoned him.

Mars's family used to have quite a few things, but because his alcoholic father drank, he kept selling everything off. In the end, aside from this old house which was still somewhat spacious, there was nothing left.

Of course, it wasn't that there was absolutely nothing left.

He walked to the backyard behind the house and began digging under a large rock.

He dug a full meter deep and pulled out an iron box from underneath.

He opened the iron box to find various little trinkets inside.

There were small iron hammers the size of a palm, small iron horses, small iron oxen, and small iron swords—all things his father had made for him when he was a child.

There were also things his mother had left behind: a few pearls bestowed by her employers, a silver wine cup, and a chubby doll of himself that his mother had sewn for him.

Looking at the items in the box, Mars, this 1.88-meter tall, 400-pound fatty, squatted there for the whole night.

The next day, before dawn.

The three of them stood at the village entrance, and then they left.

Leaving the village, and also leaving that town in the Magic Realm.

Three months later.

"Boss! I'm exhausted. Why are the towns in this Magic Realm so far apart!"

"It'll be soon. In another half a month, we'll reach the next town."

Gu Yuan held a map in his hand. The map showed over a dozen towns. After crossing a canyon, they would soon reach a town called White River Town.

Just as he was about to put away the map, Xia Er beside him suddenly became alert.

"Someone's there!"

The three of them nimbly hid in the jungle.

A group of adventurers passed by nearby.

"Captain, the Holy Flame Fruit guarded by that Lava Beast should attract other magical beasts, right?"

"Of course it will. That Gehuo Ridge contains quite a few powerful fire-type magical beasts; some are not even a bit weaker than that Level Five Lava Beast. Everyone, stay sharp for this Holy Flame Fruit collection. If we pull this off, everyone gets one hundred Magic Gold!"

The voices gradually faded away.

In the dim bushes, Mars's eyes lit up: "Boss, what they're talking about, it sounds like the Holy Flame Fruit! Could it be that Holy Flame Fruit that can increase fire element affinity!"

Inside the Yin family treasury, besides treasures, there were also many books recording rare natural treasures. The Holy Flame Fruit was one of the treasures described in detail among them.

Upon hearing "Holy Flame Fruit," Gu Yuan's heart began to beat violently.

His fire element affinity was only four stars. After reaching four stars, the meditation boost provided by elemental affinity had become negligible.

Now, the improvement of his strength relied almost entirely on the Magic Source.

He knew he had to find a way to increase his elemental affinity.

He couldn't miss that Holy Flame Fruit. Once a treasure like this was missed, he might never encounter it again in his lifetime.

"I want to go take a look."

"Boss! Need you even ask! Let's go, we'll follow them!"

"We must help Boss get our hands on this thing!"

The three of them followed behind the adventure team, heading towards Gehuo Ridge.

Gehuo Ridge was a place where lava rivers flowed. Lava from deep underground surged out of volcanoes, forming streams of lava.

Such a harsh environment was not a dead zone; on the contrary, many fire-type magical beasts lived there.

These magical beasts absorbed the intense fire elements here, growing into extremely powerful Lava Beasts.

Lava Rabbits, Lava Turtles, Lava Crocodiles—many groups occupied this place.

And the Lava Beast was a creature composed purely of magma and boulders; not only did it control extremely powerful lava magic, but it also possessed an immortal body.

Only by shattering the lava core inside its body could it be thoroughly killed.

"So this is Gehuo Ridge. The Magic Realm is truly incredible; even in a place like this, things can survive." Mars threw a stone into the lava river, and the stone quickly melted into magma.

And before their eyes, the ground was entirely made of a dark brown stone.

"Those people headed in that direction!"

"Let's go. Keep some distance from them. Xia Er, follow closely and just leave marks on the ground for us."

"Yeah!"