After reaching Sarhjin castle city camp, Jin picked a random room in a random house that was available and made it his own. From there on out, he stayed inside and cultivated. Sometimes going out to eat or drink with the merc quartet. Otherwise, he would eat alone.

He had earned some money from the exchange of plates but it wasn't much. It was enough to buy some candles for his cultivation though and that was what mattered. Food and housing were free here, like in the Empire camp, which was good. Well, the basic food was free. If he wanted to go drink or have a more elaborate meal, he needed to cough up some of his hard-earned cash. He didn't plan to.

While should he pay for something he could have for free?

Sure, from time to time, he would do it. Mostly when he went with the quartet. Those guys spent their money on happiness and he couldn't just have them pay his part. Also, he couldn't just reject them either as they were his pass and proof of identity in this camp.

Time went by and as he went out, he learnt of some news.

The first news that came back were about the Western mountains side where the Princess of Sarhjin was with her army. They were hunting ants and making a lot from finding rare ores and sometimes, even spiritual ores. It attracted a lot of warriors to leave the city and join them. Jin wasn't interested nor was the quartet strangely. They said that the ants were too much of a pain to deal with.

It wasn't wrong in a way. They were quite weak themselves and those were rock ants. They had seriously tough defenses for refinement stage spiritual beasts. As such, they remained in the city and kept having fun. Sometimes drinking, sometimes gambling and sometimes even whoring. Jin didn't join on the last activity. Not that he didn't want to or found it beneath him but rather that his body wasn't up for it. He was still stuck with a kid's body. Going at it so early wasn't quite right... And might even lead to development problems. No need to risk his little buddy's growth.

As such, his life remained simple. Just like in the sect. Eat, Sleep, Cultivate, Repeat.

A few more days later, there was news about the other army led by the two prince. They had captured the Empire's catle city and trapped the exit/entrance over there. They didn't have the crystal but with this move, they officially secured their victory. There was a huge celebration for a few days.

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A week after that event, more news about that army came in. They were raiding the forest nest on the Eastern side and welcomed warriors to join them. This time, the quartet left. Settlement-Sphex were tougher than the Rock Ants. However the benefits were more attractive.

The Rock Ants could bring about high-grade minerals but it was mostly in their nest. That nest that had been flooded. Everyone knew that which is why the interest in them was lowered. But the Settlement-Sphex? It was their nest that was being raided. And the treasures there were the entire flora. Even if they couldn't fight the beasts, couldn't they find a few plants to harvest? That's what most people who left the castle city thought.

Jin remained. Cultivating peacefully and seriously.

As for those who went there, they found out soon enough that their choice wasn't as bright as they thought. They weren't so smart when they faced the colony of Sphex, being bombarded by giant stones falling from the skies. And even when they managed to break the defense of those beasts, they couldn't kill them. Because those wasps just flew away deeper into the nest.

Those spiritual beasts dug the ground but left it open. Like an open-air mine of sorts. Which created a big abyss in the middle of the forest. The further down one went, the greater the treasures he could find. That was obvious. But who dared to go down there? No one. They would have to find a way to go down first and ropes seemed the only way. However, could they endure the attacks of the Sphex colony while dangling on ropes?

No.

Which brought about this very shitty situation. They wanted to go down but could not. They wanted to dwindle the population of the nest but failed to inflict much damage. On the other hand, many of their own ended up turned into pizzas.

At the thought of it, Min-Seon, Prince and leader of the Sarhjin side, could only curse at the heavens. He was unable to think of a solution. Burn down the forest? Then how were they supposed to harvest the treasures? Those treasures were the trees and plants!

In the end, he was stuck. It had been close to a month since he came here with the whole army. They were surrounding the nest tightly and camping around the hole that served as the inner nest. As he was walking in circles trying to find a solution, his brother entered with a big smile: "We got it brother! We got it!"

After that, he was jumping happily too. They managed to hunt down the Sphex who had eaten the crystal and retrieve it. Now they could pack up and end the war. At first, he wanted to conquer both nests but now that he saw the situation...He couldn't remain greedy.

Resources belonged to those who could get them and he could only admit that this nest was too difficult to raid with their abilities. They couldn't even go down to explore it! As such, it was best to give up and go back. Not wasting their time.

Knowing when to give up and your limits were also a part of one's strengh. It was time.

Time to end this war.