After a day of traveling, a village presented itself in front of the trio. 

Buildings spanned to the horizon, covering their view. But despite their number, they were small. Even the highest had just three floors.

“This is the Tyris Village.” Jonhan pointed at the village. “We will stop here for today, then will go tomorrow to the Jungle Kemister. You can do what you want for the rest of the day.” After he said those words, he disappeared from the view of the two.

Just as Himo was wondering how to spend the day, Seji’s voice reached his ears.

“What do you think about doing a rematch?”

Himo blinked. “What are you talking about, we need to rest for tomorrow.” As much as he liked to fight, after several days filled in action he wanted to relax—he would not let Seji ruin such a chance. “Let’s go to see this village instead.”

Stunned by the refusal, Seji decided to follow him around.

Soon, they reached the entrance. 

Stony buildings at the sides, a cobblestone street, and a fountain came to their view. The flow of people rivaled that of the capital, with not only commoners but also countless cultivators coming and leaving the village continuously.

Himo was shocked. “Do you know why this village is this prosperous?” He turned toward Seji. “This wealth is comparable to the capital, unlike what I would expect from a village. This seems more like a town, if not a city.”

Seji gaped at Himo. How could he not know the situation of his own kingdom? Well, not knowing it either, he only replied, “I have no idea.”

Understanding that his ally was useless, Himo knew he had to find out the reason by himself—it would be a fun way to pass the rest of the day, after all. Considering it a chance to learn how detectives act, he came up with a plan.

If he wanted to find out the reason the village attracted so many cultivators, the best way would be following the crowd. Thus, he began to follow the flow of people. 

And got lost.

Just a few minutes later, the same fountain he had seen at the entrance came in his view a second time. He frowned. Not giving up, he tried once again. But the result was the same.

Fuming from his ears, he tried again. He wouldn’t give up for just this.

Seeing how he kept running randomly everywhere, Seji worried that Himo might be crazy. Reinforcing his belief was the annoyed look on Himo’s face. 

Did he get lost? What happened to the cunning adversary who had defeated him? Was the reason he had jumped around in the arena not for a strategy but because he was lost?

With those thoughts in mind, Seji kept following Himo.

A few more minutes passed before Himo finally stopped. “So this should be why so many come here! But is it really enough to attract all those cultivators?”

He stared at the building in front of him. It seemed no different from a standard shop made with blocks of stones, but it had a clear difference. On top of its entrance, a huge sign towered over the onlookers.

The Miraculous Hot Springs.

“Oh, you were trying to find the hot springs!” Reji’s voice reached his ears. “But why you didn’t ask someone the right way?”

Speechless by the question, Himo retorted immediately. “What’s the point if I had to ask for the way?”

Those words only strengthened Seji’s belief of Himo being crazy.

Feeling stared from behind, Himo turned back to look at Seji. “Remember, this is training! If you are in a situation where you can’t get any information you will have to resort to other ways, and in this case, I’m trying to follow the flow of people to find out why this place is so prosperous!”

“I see!” Seji accepted the explanation. If Jonhan were there, he would be speechless by seeing how gullible his own disciple was.

“Well then, let’s check out these hot springs.”

Entering the building, they noticed that the interior was completely different from the outside. Wood planks acted as the floor, walls, and ceiling.

“Welcome.” Standing behind a wooden counter, an old man greeted them.

“Thank you.” Himo and Seji replied together.

Looking around, Himo saw that there were a number of cultivators at the sides of the room. Seated around tables with a wooden glass in hand, they talked to each other merrily.

Raising an eyebrow, Himo walked to the counter. “Hello, how much is to enter?” 

“Twenty-five gold coins.” The old man replied.

WHAT?! Why is everything in this world so pricey? While his parents had lent him some money since he might have to trade for treasures, it was just thirty-five gold coins. The amount required to enter wasn’t something he could use needlessly.

The old man laughed. “I guess that you’re here for the first time? As you may know, each cultivation phase holds a limit to the strength you can have, and most people won’t even come close to that limit before breaking through to the next level.

While it won’t impact their future achievements, it is undeniable that their current prowess will be less than it could potentially be. 

Imagine a bottle that you need to fill with water. The bottle is your current cultivation phase, and its capacity will increase along with your cultivation; while the water is your current strength, which is limited only by the capacity of the bottle.

Naturally, the problem is how to add water to the bottle—and these hot springs are the solution to that! Holding highly-concentrated Qi, the water of this spring is able to temper your body and enhance your prowess. By how much, however, depends on you.”

Is he talking about the stats? Himo raised an eyebrow. If it has such an effect it’s worth the money.

Considering it as a special occasion, he chose to try it out. “Here the gold coins.” After giving the coins to the old man, he walked inside. Seji also did the same, following behind him.

After walking through a long hallway, they found two doors. One was covered by a blue curtain, the other by a red one. I see, the male’s and the female‘s areas are divided.

He walked through the blue one and entered an empty room, where he prepared himself for entering the hot springs. Then, he walked through the next door.

Soon, he was greeted by the view of numerous half-naked men staying in shining hot water, all seated cross-legged on rocks, cultivating. His lips twitched at the sight.  

Ignoring their presence, Himo focused on the water. 

He could feel a refreshing feeling from it, even from afar. He narrowed his eyes. A place like this was bound to be someone’s aim, and yet, the place was peaceful as if no one would dare attack it. That could only mean that someone protected the place from the shadows.

Shaking his head to dispel those thoughts, Himo walked closer to the water and extended his finger to touch it. But he stopped abruptly. He stared at the man in front of him as a frown etched onto his face.

Wearing but a towel, the man’s slightly brawny appearance was exposed as he stood cross-legged in the water.

It was Seji’s master, Jonhan.

At that moment, Jonhan turned toward Himo and chuckled. “It’s an important ability being able to gain information, and it seems that you managed to find this place. Good job.” Ignoring Himo’s annoyed look, he then returned his focus to cultivating.

Himo was speechless. A few moments later, he sighed slightly and walked to an empty spot, his legs sinking in the water. He then sat cross-legged, water reaching his neck. As if he had just visited the best massages institute, he felt all the built-up fatigue from the previous days wash away.

He was relishing in the soothing feeling, when suddenly, a familiar voice sounded in his head.

[To make good use of the hot spring water, the User may purchase the Legendary Myriad of Ways body tempering technique. Otherwise, the improvement will be meager at best.]

Why does that stinks of scam? I don’t even have many BS points right now.

[The system is fair and just, there is no way it would ever scam anyone. The first part of the technique has only a single BS point as price.]

Himo frowned for a few seconds, but then let out a sigh. Fine, I’ll buy it.

[Detracting 1 BS point…]

[Thanks for your patronage!]

[You now have 0 BS points! How poor!]