Chapter 7: Jackpot

Eric approached the kids once more.

"Say, where exactly did you find these herbs? Was there only one or was it a patch of multiple herbs?"

Since lower level herbs were usually found in groups or patches, it would be weird if they only found one.

This time, another kid answered the question.

"We were playing in the forest and came across a patch of these plants. They looked different from the normal shrubs that we have seen a lot so we brought one back with us."

Eric internally grinned, his predictions were correct and he had struck the jackpot.

"Now that I think about it, I want more of those plants. How about you go and bring me all the herbs in the patch; I'm giving you a cultivation method in return after all."

"Yeah, we will go bring them all for you, sir."

The children started running but Eric stopped them right before they left.

Since the kids didn't know that the plant was a Qi Gathering herb, they would gladly bring him all of them in exchange for a cultivation method; but the thing that bothered him wasn't the kids, it was the other residents of the city.

Almost all adults and even teenage children would be able to sense the presence of a bundle of Qi Gathering herbs if they passed through this area. Even if they weren't paying much attention and ignored the high density of Qi, they would definitely notice it if they saw a couple kids carrying handfuls of herbs out of the mountain.

If someone decides to intimidate the kids or steal the herbs from them, he wouldn't be able to successfully scam them and all this effort would be for nothing.

Even worse, if someone revealed them the actual value of the herbs, the kids would find out that Eric was trying to rip them off. If rumors started to spread in the city about the son of Blake Tyler basically stealing from a group of poor kids, it would be a serious hit to his and more importantly, his father and the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group's reputation.

At this stage, Eric didn't want to take that kind of a risk and he wanted to keep this incident as private and secret as possible.

"Wait here for a while; I will be back in a couple minutes. Also, don't talk about this incident to anyone; keep it a secret if you want the cultivation method."

The kids nodded happily and after confirming their reactions, Eric hastily ran towards his house. Once he got back, he quickly took a bag and the Cultivation Method with him.

As he prepared to run back into the outskirts of the forest, a system window appeared in front of him.

[Would you like to store the items in your inventory?

Yes / No]

He selected yes and in front of him a system window made of a large grid of squares appeared.

With a thought, the two items in his hand were instantly transported into the inventory. Pleased with this space ring like feature of the Scam System, he headed out immediately. With this, it would be easier to walk around without looking suspicious.

Eric ran towards the direction where he told the kids to wait and right before he got into their line of sight, he went behind a tree and took out both items, after which he continued running in their direction.

"Here, put the herbs in this bag and bring them to me. Try to be discreet. Also, I have the cultivation method with me so you all don't have to worry about being swindled. I will give it to you after I get the bag of herbs."

Eric rushed through all this, tossed them the bag and told them to go. He didn't want to go deep inside the forest as there were dangerous magical beasts inside and for someone like him who had never ventured inside, getting lost was as easy as ever.

He also didn't know if it would be counted as a scam if he went to get the herbs himself, so it was overall the safer option to let the three kids do all the work for him.

While waiting, Eric tried to make sure that nobody came near the area as he kept on running along the boundary.

He was exercising and keeping watch at the same time. After about 5 minutes of doing so, Eric heard some ruffling from the forest and the kids returned, one leading the way, another keeping watch from the back and the one in the middle hauling the bag full of herbs.

Even they were poor and didn't have any strength in terms of cultivation, through their lifestyle they had learnt basic survival tactics such as staying in formations while traveling dangerous territory at such a young age.

Eric waited for them and when they handed him over the bag, he opened it and checked. The jute bag was about halfway full of the herbs, which put a huge smile of Eric's face. He had won the jackpot.

As soon as he tried to count them for the actual number, a system window popped up.

[Name: Qi Gathering Herb (24)

Tier: 1st Tier

Effect: Upon consumption, doubles the speed of accumulation of Qi inside the dantian for an hour.

Estimated Value: 50 silver coins per herb]

'24! I cultivate for about 8 hours a day, so with this amount I have gained 3 days' worth of cultivation for basically free; as the cultivation method I am trading them has been useless for me after the first day when I comprehended the method's teachings!' before he was unable to hide the excitement from his face, Eric handed the Cultivation Method to the kids and quickly left.

As soon as he was out of the rejoicing kids' sight, he put the bag in his inventory and a smile grew on his mouth as he saw the Scam System window appear.