29: Chapter 29 You kid...you're a real freak.

The smoke of battle at the copper mine finally cleared.

As the third-tier Snake King fell, the remaining Money Pythons were left leaderless and quickly scattered in all directions.

The miners who had originally been hiding in the safe zone now gathered their courage to come out and began hauling the mountains of snake corpses.

Every Money Python corpse was, in their eyes, walking cash.

"Brother Lin..."

Li Zheng walked over, supported by two team members.

He was seriously injured, with several broken ribs, grimacing in pain with every step, but his eyes shone terrifyingly bright as he looked at Lin Fan.

"If it weren't for you during this mission, all hundred-plus of us would have been done for here."

Li Zheng took a deep breath, his tone resolute. "Everyone discussed it just now. We don't want a single cent of the total prize money for this mission, including the kill reward for that third-tier Snake King and the commission for discovering the Origin Qi ore vein; it all belongs to you!"

"That's right! Master Lin, this is what you deserve!"

Beside him, Zhao Gang, though bandaged like a mummy, loudly chimed in, "If it weren't for your desperate fight to the death, we would have already turned into snake dung; how would we still have our lives to spend money?"

The other Duan Fu Realm martial artists around them also nodded one after another; not a single person had any objections.

In the martial artist world, the strong are respected. Lin Fan saved their lives, and that was the greatest kindness.

Lin Fan was sitting on the ground resting, enduring the waves of intense pain coming from his bones.

It was the backlash from his forced breakthrough, and his entire body felt as if his bones were being gnawed on by ants.

Hearing this, he waved his hand and forced himself to stand up.

"Team Leader Li, brothers, that's being too much of a stranger."

Lin Fan grinned; although his face was pale, his composure was convincing. "We are on the same team. Since we came out together, there's no reason for me to hog it all. Everyone risked their lives, and there were casualties. If I took all this money, it would burn my hands."

"But..." Li Zheng still wanted to say something.

"How about this."

Lin Fan interrupted him. "I'll take half. You take the remaining half and split it, especially for the compensation for the fallen brothers; give them more."

Seeing Lin Fan's firm attitude, Li Zheng's eyes reddened, and he nodded heavily.

"Good! Brother Lin is righteous! We will remember this favor!"

...

The returning convoy sped along in the sunset.

Lin Fan sat in the passenger seat, and with the bumping of the vehicle, he felt like his entire skeletal frame was about to fall apart.

The stinging pain deep in his marrow made cold sweat bead on his forehead, but he stubbornly didn't make a sound.

"This Void Breathing Technique combined with Origin Qi ore to force bone refinement really has a massive kickback..."

Lin Fan secretly bemoaned in his heart. Although his strength had skyrocketed, the price was also very real.

Returning to Xuan Sheng City, it was already dark.

As soon as the convoy stopped, Lin Fan declined Li Zheng's offer to take him to the hospital and didn't even attend the victory banquet; he headed straight to the Martial Artist Guild with his bag on his back.

He had to settle the mission first and, by the way, see if he could find some medicine to alleviate the pain.

Just as he walked into the guild hall, before he could go to the counter to register.

"Follow me."

A low voice, carrying suppressed anger, rang in his ear.

Lin Fan looked up and saw Lan Feng standing not far away with a dark face. That look was as if he wanted to eat him alive.

"Su... Supervisor Lan?"

Lin Fan's heart skipped a beat.

Before he could react, Lan Feng strode over, grabbed his wrist without explanation, and hauled him into that exclusive luxury office like he was grabbing a chick.

"Bang!"

The door slammed shut.

Lan Feng turned around, his usual gentle and refined demeanor completely gone, and pointed at Lin Fan's nose as he scolded:

"Lin Fan! Are you crazy?! Huh?!"

"I know you want to get stronger and make money! But you cannot joke around with your own martial arts foundation!"

Lan Feng's chest heaved with anger. "I heard Li Zheng's report; you forcibly absorbed raw ore in the mine? And you directly pushed for the Duan Fu Realm? Do you know that is courting death?! The violent factors in the raw ore will shatter your bone marrow and keep you stuck at this level for the rest of your life!"

"I..." Lin Fan just wanted to explain.

"Shut up! Reach out your hand!"

Lan Feng didn't listen at all and clamped onto Lin Fan's pulse.

A gentle and mellow stream of Origin Qi probed into his body along Lin Fan's arm.

Lan Feng's brows were locked tight; he had already prepared for the worst—he felt that Lin Fan's bones must already be covered in tiny cracks, and his bone marrow might even be damaged.

If that were the case, this genius would be ruined.

However.

The moment his Origin Qi truly touched Lin Fan's bones.

The angry expression on Lan Feng's face froze.

Immediately after, his pupils contracted violently, as if he had seen something incredible, and the fingers that had been gripping Lin Fan's wrist trembled involuntarily.

"This... how is this possible?!"

Lan Feng's eyes widened, and he exclaimed in disbelief.

In his perception, not only did Lin Fan's bones lack any cracks, but they actually presented a flawless, jade-like texture!

Hard, dense, and translucent!

What made him feel even more horrified was that deep within Lin Fan's bones, there seemed to be some kind of high-frequency vibration occurring. That wasn't a tremor from injury, but... a resonance from extreme refinement!

"This is... Golden Bone?!"

Lan Feng looked up sharply, staring fixedly at Lin Fan; that look was as if he were watching a monster wearing human skin. "You... did you really purge all the impurities from the raw ore? And you even completed perfect bone refinement?!"

One must know, even for core disciples of those great families, using the top-tier medicinal liquids for assistance, they might not necessarily be able to cultivate a "Golden Bone"!

This kid actually managed to cultivate it by swallowing raw ore?!

Is he even human?!

"Cough cough... Lan Feng, lighter, it hurts." Lin Fan grimaced and pulled his hand back.

Lan Feng finally came back to his senses, took several deep breaths, and only then managed to suppress the stormy waves in his heart.

He looked at Lin Fan, his gaze shifting from the initial anger to deep shock, and finally transforming into a kind of helplessness as if looking at a pervert.

"You kid... you really are a freak."

Lan Feng shook his head; the anger from just moments ago had long since vanished. In its place was an even stronger appreciation.

He walked behind his desk, opened the safe, took out an exquisite crystal glass bottle, and tossed it to Lin Fan.

"Catch."

Lin Fan caught it in a fluster. The bottle contained half a bottle of emerald green liquid, and as it gently swayed, it seemed to flow as if it had life.

"This is 'Jade Marrow Fluid'."

Lan Feng put his gold-rimmed glasses back on, returning to his scholarly appearance. "Go back and drip a few drops into your bath, and soak for seven days. Although your bones are perfectly refined now, after all, your advancement was too fast, and your periosteum is still in a period of oscillation. This stuff can help you stabilize your foundation and alleviate the pain."

"Jade Marrow Fluid?!"

Lin Fan's eyes went straight instantly.

He had seen this item in the Martial Artist Guild shop; it was sold by the "drop"! A single drop cost 100,000 currency! There were at least several dozen milliliters in here; the value was definitely over ten million!