Alchemy

He stored the Purple Streak Pills in his pocket.

"It takes quite a while to make those, but they will undoubtedly make my rate of cultivation skyrocket. I expected to reach the Origin Rank just as the Senior Schooling Grade began, but it seems I'll reach it a good bit before then. Not to mention, these will be sold for quite the pretty penny."

Sol was excited by this. He had some doubts that he had lucked out this much in finding these Purple Streak Roots, but his hard work had paid off.

"They could have been the lowest grade, Measly, or one step higher, Normal, but instead they turned out to be Decent Grades. I did not expect that, but I won't complain."

On a scale of--Measly->Normal->Decent->Potent->Vital->Vigorous--a Decent Grade pill would usually sell for 250 spirit stones a pop!

Measly Grades would usually be used for beginner Mercenaries, pets, and sometimes even for children. They would sell for 10-20 spirit stones per 1.

Normal Grades would be used for basic missions for Mercenaries and could aid in cultivation slightly. They went for 20-50 spirit stones.

Decent Grades were quite a step higher. Potent really kicked it up though, which kind of stung since Sol only got one below the big leap in terms of strength within the different Grades.

Potent Grades would sell for closer to 500 spirit stones. Vital Grades, 2500-5000 spirit stones, and finally, Vigorous Grades would go for over 20000 spirit stones at the very least.

However, Sol was happy that these pills didn't turn out to be the unique Grade: Unstable.

He wasn't using an Alchemy Cauldron, so there was a chance that his pill could have come out Unstable Grade.

It was separate from the rest of the grades and could alternate in terms of strength from the weakest all the way to the most powerful Grade.

However, as its name suggested, it wouldn't be safe for use as it could have not been formed correctly.

It could even prove to be potentially fatal. But, the ingredients Sol used were super common and low profile for the most part, so he thankfully didn't get any Unstable pills.

Sol faced the pond, "I should wash this stone off. This isn't where I want to be doing my business."

He didn't know where he wanted to start his Purple Streak Pill-producing factory yet, but it definitely wasn't out here in the open.

As he took a step toward the river, the surface of the water billowed up.

Something was quickly swimming toward the edge of the pond where Sol's spirit stones bags were.

The surface of the water broke, revealing a large crocodile that emerged from the depths.

Its fangs were sharp and its eyes were fierce. As it got onto land, it used its hands to quickly run over to Sol's bags of spirit stones.

"No way in any fucking hell!" Sol yelled, immediately understanding what was going on and dashing toward the croc with his Flame Sword in hand.

The crocodile chomped down on Sol's bags of spirit stones with the tip of its maw.

It revealed its large, iron tail with razor-sharp spikes on it as it swung it 180 degrees and used that momentum to instantly turn.

The tail swipe nearly caught Sol's torso, so he had to back up slightly to not get gashed in the chest.

This movement, however, was detrimental, as it allowed the Iron Tailed Crocodile to quickly retreat back into the pond.

"Damned demon beast! Don't think you can steal my money like that so easily!" Sol ran toward the pond at full speed.

"Many have tried it, but none have succeeded!" He shouted, leaping far out into the middle of the lake and diving down.

He somehow managed to land right on top of the crocodile's back, allowing him to grab onto it.

Noticing this, the demon beast tried to violently shake its Iron Tail to throw the boy off, but Sol grabbed on as if his life was at stake.

He dug his nails into the thick hide of the beast, gritting his teeth inside of his closed mouth.

He was holding his breath as the crocodile was swimming straight toward the bottom of the center of the pond.

Sol attempted to gouge the bastard crocodile's eyes, and then stuffed his fingers into the reptile's nose, but to no avail.

'Tsk! No demon beast would have dared to mess with me if I still had my original Cursed Energy.' Sol mused in slight irritation.

The crocodile was swimming very fast, making it difficult for Sol to hold on much longer.

It was nearing the depths of the pond, where light had almost completely disappeared.

In the pitch darkness, Sol began to contract his lungs, finding it hard to hold his breath.

Still, he wasn't going to give up. He wasn't going to let a Basic Demon Beast of all things steal his money.

Although this was true, no matter how determined his resolve was, it didn't change the fact that his lungs were about to give out right about now.

He began to feel lightheaded at that moment. If everything around him wasn't already pitch black, his vision would have started to get a bit blacked out.

His grip became loose out of nowhere, his consciousness quickly fading.

'Oh... shit.' He thought, as his grip almost fully gave out at that moment.

*Splash*

A loud splashing noise filled his ears, as his face suddenly poked through the surface of the water into what seemed to be a pocket full of air.

He sucked in a deep gasp of breath at that moment, regaining his consciousness and tightening his grip on the crocodile once more.

Just then, he realized where he was. Lightened up by several brilliant amber crystals of blue and purple complexion, Sol had entered a fairly large underground cavern.