Endless Refiner

Max, who had been laughing, was stunned by Neel's answer.

More than that, Neel was the one who had bought the broken dagger yet now, a new dagger had appeared.

That could only mean one thing.

Originator.

Max excitedly pointed at Neel.

"You're the originator!"

Neel coldly nodded.

He didn't explain further.

How could he tell strangers that he had the Origin Cube?

He wasn't a fool.

Besides, Neel's original plan was to label himself as the originator anyway.

Max looked at him, then slowly nodded.

He lowered his hand and showed respect.

Without hesitation, Max opened the animal skin.

After reading it, he was surprised that it contained a method to refine a bone dagger.

But, his excitement immediately cooled down by half.

While this refining method was something he didn't have and it had some value.

It still wasn't better than simply buying already refined bone daggers from blacksmiths, which were much cheaper.

"Mr.Neel,100 star stones for the bone dagger and 300 for the refining method. What do you say?" Max offered the price with less enthusiasm.

Neel calculated that the offer was close to the market rate.

He could accept that.

He also noticed Max's drop in enthusiasm and he understood, it was because Max realized how low quality the goods were.

Neel wasn't angry.

The real reason he had sold bone dagger first was to test how honest Max was.

And he wasn't disappointed. In fact, he was more satisfied than he expected.

After learning Neel was the originator, Max didn't ask unnecessary questions and went straight to business.

Which showed how professional he was.

Without saying a word, Neel took out another animal skin and placed it on the table.

That animal skin had a low grade Elemental Copper Sword refining method written on it.

Max raised his brows and became more serious than before.

This time, he felt a real treasure was in front of him.

The more he read, the faster he breathed.

"Ten thousand star stones. I want this." Max slammed the table and shouted.

Neel was stunned and frowned slightly.

The market price for low grade Elemental weapon refining methods was 8,000 star stones and Max was offering twice that.

Just as Neel was getting suspicious.

Max explained truthfully.

Neel's Elemental Copper Sword refining method used very simple materials and was very easy to refine.

That's why he wanted it, even if it meant paying extra.

"Deal" Neel extended his hand to Max.

Max smiled and shook it.

After receiving the star stones.

Neel walked down from the second floor.

Behind him, Lily gloomily followed.

Ever since Lily had misspoken to Neel, they hadn't talked. She had even stopped looking at him.

Even when Neel was talking with Max, Lily remained silent.

He took a deep breath, he knew, it had all been a misunderstanding. He also understood why she might've thought he was gay.

So, he turned to Lily and said calmly.

"Let's just forget about what happened. Just… don't do it again."

"Really?" Lily's eyes lit up.

She nodded eagerly, then suddenly jumped up and clung to Neel's arm again.

…

After a bit of struggle, Neel finally managed to separate himself from Lily and made his way back home.

He then looked at about ten broken weapons lying in front of him.

They were the ones he had bought from Lily, which had cost him around 1,000 star stones.

After that, Neel spent another 1,000 star stones to fix all of them.

Sadly, there was nothing particularly valuable in this group, but he did gain their refining methods.

The moment the last weapon was fixed, the origin cube trembled and began to rotating madly, it began throwing out all the fixed weapons in all directions.

"What the hell?"

Without a second thought, he rush out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

He stood there for a few seconds, waiting for the chaotic noise inside finally died down.

Carefully, he peeked through the door crack.

Inside the room, the Origin Cube was still spinning wildly, while weapons lay scattered across the floor.

Neel entered slowly, he was confused.

It was the first time the origin cube had ever acted this way.

With no choice, Neel could only wait.

Although, he didn't know what was happening, he felt the origin cube was changing, possibly evolving.

After rotating for over an hour, it finally stopped.

Blue light spread through the room, nearly blinding Neel.

Thankfully, he shut his eyes just in time.

When he opened them, the cube was still floating in the air.

But, it looked the same or so he thought.

Neel quickly noticed the difference, Before, only two of the six sides of the origin cube glowed.

Now, three sides were glowing.

As he examined it, a blue light shot from the origin cube to Neel and merged with him.

As the light faded, information poured into Neel's mind.

The Origin Cube had evolved.

Now, in addition to fixing broken things, it could help Neel design new refining methods based on the information he had.

For example, by combining multiple low grade refining methods, he could deduce better ones or even add elemental functions.

But there was a problem.

Neel lacked information on higher level methods, so for now, he could only create normal middle grade weapons.

And the cost was huge 10,000 star stones for a middle grade method, which Neel didn't have.

The second new function of the origin cube was even crazier.

It could refine star stones into star liquid, which was extremely useful for cultivation.

But the cost was painful.

just a single drop of star liquid cost 2,000 star stones.

Neel's lips twitched. This origin cube was indeed money devouring beast.

Still, he threw 8,000 star stones into the origin cube.

Instead of blue, white light shone as the cube expanded to absorb them.

The star stones began melting one by one and they merged with each other.

Ten minutes later, only four drops of star liquid remained.

Neel's heart ached as 8,000 star stones disappeared in just ten minutes.

Each one felt like a piece of his flesh being sliced away.

Each one gone felt like his flesh was being sliced with a knife.

"I hope these Four drops are worth more than 8,000 star stones…"

Neel took them out.

The moment he did, the star energy in the room increased tenfold.

This…

Neel was shocked.

He had assumed star liquid was just concentrated star stone energy.

One drop seemed to contain more energy than all 8,000 star stones combined.

His soul urged him to consume it immediately.

Without hesitation, Neel recalled the origin cube and swallowed the first drop.

Boom!

As the liquid passed through his throat, his body filled with star energy.

He felt like a balloon about to burst.

"Damn it."

Hurriedly, Neel began cultivating Element Bloom Technique, trying to channel the energy into his dantian and store it in his star core.

It did work to control the excess star energy.

The element seed helped him absorb and refine the fire element from those energy.

Gradually, the star energy rush was stabilized.

Eventually, his first star core filled completely.

Boom!

His inner dantian space exploded and a new star core began to form.

Neel had successfully broken through to Second Star Core Realm.

As the breakthrough completed, the leftover energy was quickly refined.

"Fuuu…"

Neel slowly exhaled foul star energy and opened his eyes in surprise.

"Breakthrough to Second Star Core Realm… so fast?"

It felt like a dream.

Thankfully, he had used the Element Bloom Technique. Without it, he might've died.

Just yesterday, he was a First Star Core Realm.

Now, one day later, he had reached Second Star Core Realm.

He must be the only one in the Green Bamboo Continent to do this.

Especially in a resource lacked death land.

Now, as the only Two-Star Refiner, he could become the village's pride.

No

Neel quickly shook off those thoughts.

He wasn't the only one.

There was Max.

And although Lily acted playful, Neel still sensed danger from her.

He knew how deep the water ran in fantasy worlds.

After calming down, Neel greedily looked at the three remaining drops of star liquid.

He hurriedly consumed one.

As before, energy surged through him and the Element Bloom Technique helped stabilize and purify it.

But this time, he didn't feel full.

It just 30 seconds to absorb the liquid and his second star core barely filled 1%.

Neel narrowed his eyes and examined his body.

What he discovered left him speechless.

He had hoped that just like before, another drop would push him to Third Star Core Realm.

But reality slap him.

After a breakthrough, the body evolves and needs more energy to maintain the new level.

Almost 90% of the star liquid's energy was consumed by his body, only a small portion reached his star core.

His body wasn't even fully filled yet.

Neel calculated that he'd need 10 more drops just to meet the energy requirements of his new level.

"This money pit… I already had one with the Origin Cube. And now another!"

He felt like smashing something.

Neel calmed down when he saw his element seed had bloomed, it had become a red fire lotus, floating beside his two star cores.

To his surprise, the fire lotus was connected to both cores, and purified fire energy flowed between them.

Neel was amazed by how god level the Element Bloom Technique was.

Then, he devoured the remaining two drops.

After only one minute, Neel opened his eyes. He had not even filled 2% of his second star core.

With no other choices, he began cultivating using the surrounding star energy.

Even without the star liquid, he noticed that his cultivation speed was now much faster than before.

....

The next morning.

Neel called Aarvan and instructed him to sell the low grade weapons he had fixed.

He didn't go himself for two reasons.

First, even though he liked beautiful girls, due to his cursed face, he couldn't smile at them. And Lily, in particular, drained him mentally.

Second, Aarvan had informed him that all the star refiners of Gurkha Village had gone to the village wall to defend against the incoming star beast tide.

Time was short, so he wanted to be ready for his first real fight.

While Aarvan went to the Treasure Palace, Neel kept cultivating.

He cultivated until almost 11 a.m.

Suddenly, door was knocked

"Come in."

Aarvan entered and handed back the star ring Neel had given him.

Neel spread his spiritual sense and found about 20,000 star stones inside.

After calculating, Neel was satisfied, the amount he received was correct.

Now, he trusted the Treasure Palace enough to send Aarvan alone without any worries.

"Dad… a beautiful lady was asking about you" Aarvan said, with strange look on his face.

He knew they had been kicked out by his birth mother and his father was handsome enough to attract attention other woman's.

In just two days, Aarvan had felt a change in Neel.

He felt someone was scratching his heart and he wanted to know the relationship between Neel and Lily.

Could she be… my new mother?

It wasn't that Aarvan had forgotten his birth mother.

It was just… he didn't even remember her face or name.

So how could he feel anything for a mother he didn't know?

"Hey, don't say stuff like that" Neel said, giving Aarvan a gentle flick on the forehead.

"We're just doing business. And whatever you do, don't say things like that in front of anyone, especially Max."

Neel was genuinely worried. If Aarvan said the wrong thing around Max, it could be dangerous.

Aarvan nodded, still confused, but he knew Neel was serious and didn't question it further.

Even so, one question popped in his mind.

Why is Father scared of Uncle Max?