Inside the Jade Wine Inn, Mo Bai, Mo Fan, and the other three sat together in a modest, average-sized room—consisting of just a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small lounge. They were all gathered closely near the bed, where a large leather sack lay.
"So, it's time to split the loot." Mo Fan's eyes gleamed as he stared at the heavy sack before him, forgetting the injuries covering his entire body and the swollen left eye.
'These treasures are incredible! If I manage to get this many Nia stones every week, combined with my monthly allowance of 30 stones, I'll have over 90—three times as much! This plan really is brilliant despite all the pain we endured.'
"Yes, the split will be as we agreed before: 10% each for Mo Zun, Mo Ning, and Mo Liu. Mo Fan and I will take 35% each. I hope no one has any objections, right?" Mo Bai said calmly, though his body was badly bruised and battered all over his chest, his face remained composed.
"Y-yeah, no problem at all." Mo Zun's eyes glowed greedily as he stared at the sack. He held his right side, groaning quietly in pain, lost in thought.
'It was definitely worth all this beating—10% is about 20 Nia stones. I can immediately pay for treatment from a Master Doctor with two seals, and I'll still have 10 stones left for training. That way, I'll break into the top ten soon. Awesome.'
The two others beside Mo Zun nodded with the same hungry looks and wide grins on their faces.
After a brief calculation, Mo Bai began distributing the loot. "There are 206 Nia stones. Mo Fan and I will each take 70 stones, and the three of you will get 22 each." He handed a small sack to each of the three, then gave Mo Fan a medium sack filled with stones.
'This massive amount of resources will let me speed up my training drastically on all fronts. Father will definitely be surprised by my brilliant plan. Heh, now he'll know he's not the only smart one planning things—I'm clearly smarter than him.'
Though Mo Bai thought this, no emotion appeared on his face. After a few seconds, he said, "From now on, this will be our weekly allowance. But we must not slack off. You saw how much we suffered today just to defeat those 200 enemies with only our numbers. And that was because they were disorganized, attacking singly or in pairs. Next time will be much harder."
He continued in the same calm tone, though coldly laced, "Make sure you all invest your money in strengthening your bodies. Even though it's expensive and doesn't seem that useful at first, the losses will be quickly recovered within a few weeks. Understood?"
"Understood." The three nodded, fully aware that what Mo Bai said was true. Mo Liu, hearing Mo Bai's advice—both a warning and counsel—thought to himself:
'Mo Bai is right. We barely won this time, and next time will definitely be tougher. I'll go for training soon to strengthen my body. The cost is nothing compared to the accumulated profit.'
"Well, Mo Bai, no need to be so serious. As long as I'm with you guys, there's no worry about losing to them, haha." Mo Fan laughed cheerfully as usual, pointing at himself and raising his head slightly with pride.
"That's true, if you could actually use your power. But in physical strength battles... just look at your eye and talk next time." Mo Bai replied with a bored expression, making Mo Fan freeze in place.
"Pfft." Mo Ning burst into uncontrollable laughter. Mo Liu and Mo Zun, who had been barely holding back their own laughter, soon joined in, their chuckles echoing throughout the room.
"Damn you, Mo Bai. Why do you always talk to me like that?" Mo Fan said with a fake annoyed expression, then turned his face and said, "And you guys, just shut up already."
Mo Bai and the others stayed in the room for another thirty minutes, chatting before heading out. Each was about to go their separate ways, but their paths converged again—toward the Mo faction clinic.
After a few more minutes walking, with Mo Zun and the other two limping the entire way, they finally arrived at a large clinic with a sign that read "Mo Clinic," then entered without waiting.
Its walls and beds were entirely white; everything in the clinic shared a uniform color. Looking into most rooms, one could see patients with a doctor attending each of them.
"Hello, we want level-two treatment." Mo Zun said to a young woman in her twenties at the reception, still holding his side with a grimace.
"Alright, the price is 20 Nia stones each." The young woman replied routinely.
"We're from the Mo faction." Mo Zun showed her a small black badge with the Mo symbol, sounding impatient. Mo Bai and the others also showed their badges.
"Oh, okay then, half price—10 Nia stones each." The young woman said again, this time with a slight tone of respect, unlike her previous indifference—after all, this was the Mo faction's clinic.
"Take it." Mo Bai and the others handed over 10 Nia stones they had already prepared.
"Alright, thank you. Each of you can enter rooms 7, 8... and 12. You'll find a level-two Master Seal doctor there to treat you." She handed out small tags with room numbers as proof of payment. Each took one and went to their designated rooms.
Mo Bai entered room number 10, where a tall middle-aged woman with brown eyes was already sitting in a chair, looking bored.
"Hello." Mo Bai greeted neutrally as he approached, then opened his hand to show her the badge.
"Oh, hello. You're in really bad shape. What happened to you to be like this at your age?" The woman stood and asked curiously, motioning for Mo Bai to sit on the large bed with white sheets.
"Nothing." Mo Bai replied coldly.
"Oh, alright then. I'll start your treatment." The woman said briefly after noticing his lack of interest in small talk, then added, "Take off your shirt."
Mo Bai took off his shirt as she requested. Blue bruises spread all over his chest, but they couldn't hide his strong abdominal muscles. The doctor raised an eyebrow, surprised by the bruises, thinking, 'This is worse than I expected. How does this kid keep such a deadpan expression while suffering these injuries?'
"Okay, I'll begin." The doctor said, extending her hand and placing it over a bruise on Mo Bai's chest. Her hands glowed with a soft, radiant light green, and the injury started disappearing at a noticeably fast rate to the naked eye.
She continued healing Mo Bai completely the same way for two minutes, and by then, he had fully recovered.
'This is amazing no matter how many times I experience it. I must get a healing seal in the future,' Mo Bai thought as he grabbed his shoulder and moved his arm slightly, testing the sensation of his body after healing.
"Thanks." Mo Bai said shortly, then left the room immediately without waiting for a response. The doctor watched him leave, thinking, 'This kid has incredible endurance. I don't know his innate seal level, but if it's strong, his future will definitely be bright.'
As for Mo Bai, as soon as he stepped out of the room, he left the clinic without waiting for any of his companions, thinking, 'I must go train now to strengthen my body. This will be the key to continuing my strategy and accelerating my training speed exponentially for months.'
'I need lots of Nia stones— as many as possible. If I can continue with this plan, I'll be able to perform the experiment earlier than expected, and if the experiment succeeds...' A rare genuine smile appeared on Mo Bai's face. '...the success rate of a crucial part of the plan will rise to 90%. I can't fail. I will succeed, no doubt.'