Lin Er looked over together with everyone else and saw a pair of women and children and two young men. They were crying while holding the corpse on the ground.

The dead man was the villager who had just been bitten to death by the earth-armored bear. His name was Jett and they were Jett’s family.

When many villagers saw how brutally their fellow villager had died, the joy on their faces faded by a few degrees and only deep sympathy remained in their hearts.

Some villagers had other thoughts. Someone had died in their village, so maybe they could use this death to obtain some benefits.

Lin Er’s senses were extremely sharp now and he immediately noticed several unfriendly gazes falling on him.

At first he found it strange, but when he saw that these unfriendly villagers kept glancing at the bear corpse nearby with greedy expressions, he understood.

At this moment, Burns suddenly spoke.

“Who reported this bear trouble? This clearly isn’t an ordinary brown bear, someone has to take responsibility for this.”

Lin Er nodded in agreement. When he took this task, he had thought it was just ordinary bear trouble.

If not for him being a cut above, it was hard to say what the outcome of this bear trouble would have been.

It wasn’t only Lin Er. Many villagers also agreed with Burns’s point. If they had known it wasn’t an ordinary brown bear, they never would have willingly gone out of the village.

If Lin Er hadn’t acted just now, many more would have died. Having survived a catastrophe, the villagers were furious and wanted an explanation.

At this moment, a villager spoke up, “Isn’t it always the village chief who reports bear trouble?”

As soon as those words came out, the villagers looked at each other.

It wasn’t that they feared the village chief. A few days ago, the village chief had entrusted quite a few villagers to investigate the bear trouble, but most of them had done it perfunctorily.

They had sworn it was just ordinary bear trouble. The village chief was old and didn’t have the energy to confirm the situation, so he had reported it like that.

Now the villagers wanted to shove the blame onto the village chief. The village chief’s family had a good relationship with the lord. If they pushed too far, they might bring the lord’s guard down on them.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “The day before yesterday, when we came back from checking the oak forest, I asked Jett and he confirmed to me it was just an ordinary brown bear.”

At once, others chimed in as well, confirming what the villager said.

Everyone understood without saying it, they all threw the blame onto the dead man.

Jett’s family was full of resentment when they heard these words, but seeing so many fellow villagers pressuring them, they could only shut their mouths for the time being.

In the end, the village chief came out and agreed to report that Jett had died in battle for the village, requesting the lord to reduce taxes for Jett’s family for three years. Only then did Jett’s family’s expressions ease.

Lin Er watched the drama unfold. At the same time, he noticed those unfriendly gazes disappear.

Speaking of it, he had to thank Uncle Burns for speaking up. If Burns hadn’t shifted the villagers’ momentum, Lin Er wouldn’t have avoided trouble.

* * *

After that round of commotion, once the villagers had finished looking at the bear corpse and had tasted fresh meat, they didn’t linger any longer.

After all, there was still a lot of farm work to do. Who had time to rest? They grabbed their farm tools and went back to work.

Only some villagers remained to help Jett’s family handle the aftermath.

Lin Er took out the bounty sheet and had the village chief stamp the village seal on it. That meant the task was completed.

At this moment, Burns walked over and asked, “Kid, are you leaving now?”

Lin Er answered, “Yeah, it’s just that this bear corpse is a bit hard to deal with.”

He couldn’t help thinking of Flora’s magical cloth bag. If only he had one too.

Burns said, “Perfect timing. I’m done with my business and I’m heading back to Blackstone City too. Why don’t we go together? You can just put the bear corpse on my carriage.”

Lin Er brightened and said, “Then thank you so much, uncle.”

Burns called over his two hired hands, brought the carriage over, then loaded the bear corpse onto it.

Once everything was ready, they headed straight toward Blackstone City.

On the way back this time, Burns only brought some local specialties from the village, not very heavy. He also bought a plodding horse, so the carriage traveled much faster now.

Lin Er thanked Burns again and said, “Uncle Burns, thanks for helping speak up earlier.”

Burns waved his hand and said, “No need to thank me. I actually have my own selfish reasons. Kid, can you sell me a bit of bear meat?”

Lin Er didn’t really care who he sold the spoils to. It was better to do someone a favor, so he answered, “Uncle Burns, if you want it, I can sell it all to you.”

Burns smiled and said, “I don’t have the money to buy the whole bear. Just give me one bear leg. I’ve never tasted earth-armored bear meat before.”

Lin Er agreed immediately.

* * *

Half a day passed.

The group finally returned to Blackstone City. Since they had goods, they paid the entry fee and only then entered the city.

Lin Er headed straight to the same place where he had sold the black bear last time.

This time, because it was a First-Tier earth-armored bear, the buyback price was higher. Of course, the buyback price was far lower than selling it himself, but the advantage was that he didn’t need to pay tax and could sell it quickly.

He also learned the qualities of this kind of extraordinary bear meat. Compared to ordinary meat, it was far more delicious and wealthy merchants and nobles were very willing to buy it.

Unfortunately, the most valuable part, the hide, wasn’t very intact. Otherwise, it could have been sold for even more.

Even with the bear corpse’s value reduced, Lin Er still obtained 20 Workshop Coins. Adding Burns’s 3 Workshop Coins, the bounty reward plus the money from selling the bear corpse came to a total of 24 Workshop Coins.

He could be considered modestly rich now.

But compared to money, Lin Er cared more about cultivation methods.

After dealing with the bear corpse, Lin Er said goodbye to Burns, then headed straight for the Adventurers’ Guild.

He went to Ellie’s counter and briefly reported what happened on this task.

Ellie was somewhat surprised and said, “Then doesn’t that mean, Lord Lin Er, you ran into a First-Tier earth-armored bear? Those hateful villagers, they lied about the information.”

She was furious, clenching her feather pen.

Lin Er asked, “Is this kind of incorrect intel common?”

Ellie shook her head and answered, “Our Adventurers’ Guild has dedicated intel sources. Basically, we won’t make mistakes.”

Lin Er didn’t fully believe Ellie’s pretty words. After all, she was also a guild staff member and couldn’t exactly badmouth the guild in public or she’d lose her job.

Fortunately, within her authority, Ellie actively compensated Lin Er, letting him get an extra 1 Workshop Coin.

With the bounty submitted and with Ellie vouching for him, Lin Er had met the promotion requirements.

He took out his black iron badge and handed it over. Very soon, he received a new badge.

The new badge was forged from brass. Its texture and refinement were far better than the black iron badge.

Now he was finally a bronze-tier adventurer.

At this moment, the system prompt popped up.

[You successfully raised your standing within the sect and have been promoted to an outer sect disciple. Main quest completed.]

[You have obtained your own first true cultivation method.]

[Because you are a demonic cultivator, your cultivation does not follow the righteous path and you are despised by this world. Cultivation will be difficult.]

[The demonic cultivation route is now unlocked. Please choose one.]

[One: Blood-Soul Demonic Path. All things are cultivation resources. Refine qi, refine people and refine spirits.]

[Two: Great Dao of Longevity. In this world, all things are ranked with strict hierarchy. Longevity is the authority of false gods. Cultivation is inherently an act of defying the heavens.]

[Three: Yin-Spirit Demonic Path. Refine corpses and seize souls. Use skill to break force. Yin spirit merges as one, gradually becoming less than human.]