Instant Wealth Increase!

Somewhere in the eastern part of town, standing atop a futuristic building decorated in neon signs, was Nylon. From this vantage point over six stories off the ground, he could view most of Stormrock Town. There were no skyscrapers, and most drove wheeled cars—not hover cars—but the 2nd Major Technological Revolution had undoubtedly hit the place hard.

*Honk! Honk!*

*Whirrr—!*

It was the sounds produced by random automobiles and sailing drones that woke Nylon up to the reality of this world. This was the Era of Technology, headed by world-level cultivators who controlled everything like one big machine.

And he, Nylon Ashborne, the Unrivaled Supreme Sword Saint, was just another cog in that machine.

"To escape the machine—to discard my status as but one of countless cogs spinning to the will of those above me—I have to become the strongest," Nylon declared, his nails digging into the skin of his palms. "So strong that no earthen cultivator can rival me. So strong that even the most advanced of technology is rendered as little more than an ant bite."

Looking up, Nylon could see faint silhouettes of giant flying ships of metal. Even higher up, beyond the exosphere, was a massive eyeball.

This eyeball, looming over all human life and spanning tens of thousands of miles in diameter, was larger than the Moon. It was known as the Ender of Life, the Planet Annihilator, or more commonly—

The Eye of Helios.

Named after the God of the Sun himself, this technologically and magically created abomination was rumored to harness the power of the sun itself. To Nylon, this was the greatest obstacle he had to overcome.

"Even nukes are said to be child's play in comparison to a single beam attack of the Eye of Helios," he commented whimsically, before returning his gaze back to the ground surface. "If it were the version of myself in New Dawn, I'd have no trouble dealing with something of that scale. But… this is not New Dawn."

Oftentimes, Nylon would fondly reminisce on his time in New Dawn. His power. His status. His fame.

However… not everything was all sunshine and safety about New Dawn…

Remembering something he really didn't want to remember right now, Nylon distracted himself with his gains. There was a lot to count, which meant a lot of distractions.

— Ten odd minutes later —

Altogether, Nylon looted 80,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones of Inferior Quality from the shop owner, his brothers, and the safe. Additionally, he snatched up another 54,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones from a secret bunker that the shop owner failed to prevent Nylon from finding.

There were also hundreds of Mid-grade Spirit Stones, three High-grade Spirit Stones, tens of thousands of the nation's commoner bills, and a wide array of valuable Treasures.

After multiplication, in just monetary currency alone, Nylon had amassed a wealth worth over… 5,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones of the Genuine Quality…

Insanity!

This level of wealth was something even those in the 9th Plane, Unmaker, would envy. But for Nylon, it was simply the beginning of an endless journey of loot acquisition.

A couple of hours after calculating and storing his loot and selling any useless treasures, Nylon stopped by a special flower shop and a high-class bakery. He used his own money to buy his gifts for Tessa, thinking of this as a kind of compensation gift for her indirect assistance in completing a Side Quest.

Nylon also went into an alchemist's shop, located in a covert area underneath a multi-story liquor store. In this shop, many gave him funny looks, for it was usually impossible for any ordinary 18-year-old to afford even the worst of pills and potions.

However, with a seemingly unstoppable and illogical purchasing power, Nylon bought tens of |Spiritual Condensation Pills|, twenty-two |Low-rank Body Tempering Potions|, as well as several extremely expensive |Six-striped Enlightenment Pills| in preparation for the Mystery Plane.

A loss of 700,000 Inferior Low-grade Spirit Stones was incurred, and many targets were placed on his back, but he dealt with everything in a manner befitting a man. He even made a profit of over 100,000 Inferior Low-grade Spirit Stones from all the Invincible Plane and below Experts that tried to rob and kill him.

Mystery Plane Masters were a rarity in the small town of Stormrock. Nylon only encountered two, and though both gave him a run for his money (literally), they were now lying six feet under.

Finally, after a long, eventful day, Nylon returned home some hours before duskfall. And there, waiting for him on the manor's front porch, was an obviously annoyed Tessa.

However, that was merely what she was willing to show, for on the inside, she couldn't be any happier that he had returned. Nylon didn't usually go out for so long, which wound up filling Tessa with paranoia. "What if he got tired of me?", "What if he hates me??", "Did he actually run away!? No, he can't!"—stuff like that.

And though Nylon did, in fact, consider running away on numerous occasions, the influence of the North Sea Family was simply too much for him to handle. They had cultivators above the Awakening Realm, each capable of destroying entire buildings and leveling city streets in a single attack. If a monster like that were to begin hunting him, a runaway slave and servant, there was no way he was escaping alive.

Not even running to the ends of the earth would save him…

For primarily that reason, and his recent debt to the 4th Young Miss, Nylon decided to stick around for the time being—at least until his power improved to a sufficient degree.