Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Of course, to avoid attracting attention, he still left with the three Secret Manuals.

He went to several more stalls in succession. The Secret Manuals they sold were indeed authentic, but they were all True Qi Techniques.

"Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger, a Gang Qi Martial Arts technique, selling for six hundred taels!"

Xu Yang stopped in front of a stall.

The stall owner smiled. "All the Cultivation Techniques here are guaranteed authentic, but you have to pay before you can look."

The stall owner had clearly noticed his earlier activities and explained with a smile.

"One hundred taels. If that’s acceptable, I’ll take a look," Xu Yang said, pointing at the Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger.

The stall owner shook his head. "This is my family’s heirloom Martial Arts. I won’t sell it for a single coin less. Besides, friend, you must also swear an oath to the heavens that you won’t pass the technique on to a second person. Only then will I sell it to you."

"How powerful is this technique?" Xu Yang asked.

The stall owner didn’t speak, but simply pointed a finger into the air.

With a PFFT, a bolt of red Finger Force shot out. The Gang Qi only dissipated after traveling ten zhang.

Xu Yang was a little surprised. The Gang Qi projected by a typical Martial Technique would usually dissipate after seven or eight zhang.

For the Finger Force of this Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger to only disperse beyond ten zhang meant its level of refinement was far superior to that of an ordinary Gang Qi Martial Technique.

"Among the many Finger Techniques in the Gang Qi Realm, Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger may not be the absolute best, but it’s certainly upper-tier. If my family hadn’t fallen on hard times and I weren’t in desperate need of money, you couldn’t buy it for even a thousand taels, let alone six hundred.

But its strongest aspect isn’t its ranged attack. Watch closely, friend."

As he spoke, the stall owner pointed a finger at a rock at his feet. With a BANG, the head-sized rock exploded into tiny fragments.

"I only have two hundred taels. If you’re willing to sell, friend, I’ll take a look," Xu Yang said.

Naturally, he didn’t believe the stall owner’s load of nonsense. A Martial Technique of the same caliber as Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger wouldn’t cost more than one hundred contribution points in the Purple Sun Sect’s Hidden Skills Hall.

In a place like the black market, it was just a matter of copying it again. This wasn’t an auction house, where you could buy something and pass it down as a secret family Martial Arts.

Besides, if he really spent six hundred taels on a Gang Qi Martial Arts manual here, he was afraid he wouldn’t make it back to the Purple Sun Sect.

"I can see you’re sincere about buying, friend, so I’ll sell it to you. But you have to swear an oath first." Hearing the resolve in his tone, the stall owner agreed, but still insisted that Xu Yang swear an oath.

Xu Yang uttered an oath, then immediately paid and took the Secret Manual.

While reading, he also kept an eye on the stall owner. The Martial Technique was extensive, and there was no way to read through it all in a short time.

’If this thing is a fake and he slips away while I’m not looking, my money will be gone for nothing.’

But to buy a Secret Manual on the cheap, there was no choice but to come to a place like the black market.

At a place like the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, a Gang Qi Martial Technique would cost two or three thousand taels at the very least.

"I’ll take this Wild Ginseng!"

Suddenly, a somewhat familiar voice reached him. Xu Yang glanced over and saw a man in a tiger-face mask paying at a medicinal herb stall.

He couldn’t tell who the man was by his appearance, but the voice was very familiar.

’Wu Nanshan!’

The Outer Disciple from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion auction who had looked down on him and Lu Ren.

Memorizing Wu Nanshan’s attire, Xu Yang continued reading the Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger manual.

[Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger - Entry Level (0/150)]

After a full thirty minutes, he finally finished reading the entire Secret Manual. Judging by the system panel, its level of refinement seemed to be even higher than the Phantom Star Gang Fist.

’Wasn’t the stall owner just making things up?’

Xu Yang closed the Secret Manual. The stall owner asked, "Is there a problem?"

Xu Yang shook his head. "It’s the real deal."

After putting away the Secret Manual, he noticed that the crowd in the black market had thinned out considerably. Most people had probably already left.

’I should leave first.’

He glanced into the distance and saw that Wu Nanshan hadn’t left yet. He was browsing at a stall.

"Friend, how are you selling these raw ores?"

Wu Nanshan was secretly thrilled. He had discovered a piece of Spirit Iron mixed in with a pile of ordinary materials.

This Spirit Iron looked very similar to Profound Iron, and most people would have a hard time telling them apart. He had only learned how to distinguish between the two after receiving guidance from an Inner Sect Disciple on Li Fire Peak.

Although this piece of Spirit Iron was only slightly larger than an egg and wouldn’t yield much after refinement, if he managed to snag this bargain, he could resell it and make at least three or four hundred taels.

Of course, few people would be willing to sell such an item. Most would keep it to forge their own Weapons.

You could sell it for a few hundred silver, but when you needed it again, you couldn’t just buy it back for the same price.

"Which piece would you like to buy, friend?" the stall owner asked.

"This one!" Wu Nanshan casually pointed to a piece next to the Spirit Iron, not asking about the Spirit Iron directly.

"That one’s thirty taels!"

Wu Nanshan pointed to another piece, and the stall owner quoted ten taels.

He finally pointed to the Spirit Iron, and the stall owner quoted twenty taels.

’This stall owner really doesn’t know his goods, mistaking Spirit Iron for Mortal Iron.’

Suppressing his excitement, he picked up the three raw ores, confirmed he hadn’t been mistaken, and immediately paid.

’Time to go!’

Having found a treasure, he didn’t want to linger. He hadn’t come here to buy anything important, just to try his luck at finding a bargain.

Ever since he was young, he had browsed all sorts of miscellaneous books, and his father, an appraiser, had taught him personally. For years, he had earned most of his Cultivation Resources by finding bargains in the black market.

After leaving the black market, he immediately used his Lightweight Skill. He soared into the air like a great bird, his rippling Gang Qi propelling him toward the Purple Sun Sect.

"Haha... I struck gold!"

At that moment, Wu Nanshan could no longer hold back his ecstatic smile.

The main reason was that he had always wanted a good saber, but he could never find any Spirit Iron to mix in and enhance his weapon’s performance. Now, he had finally gotten some.

’No, I can’t get carried away.’

He reined in his excitement and checked behind him, finding that no one was following.

’I’ve displayed a Minor Achievement in Gang Qi Cultivation. Ordinary thieves wouldn’t dare to make a move, and another with Gang Qi Minor Achievement wouldn’t risk their life fighting me over a mere eighty or a hundred taels.’

With this in mind, he didn’t slow down. After landing, he quickly leaped up again, turning into a red streak that shot across the night sky.

’As long as I reach the Purple Sun Sect, I’ll be safe.’

BOOM!

A roar suddenly echoed in his ears as a blast of white light shot up from behind a large tree, illuminating the dark mountain forest as if a sun were rising from the ground.

"Not good!" Wu Nanshan’s face paled in horror.

’There was no one behind me, but someone was ambushing me from the front!’

The trees trembled as a wave of searing heat washed over him. All Wu Nanshan could see was a Sword Gang descending upon his head like a bolt of lightning. Its sharp, domineering aura made it difficult for him to breathe.

’The Blazing Blade?’

The Protective Gang Qi he had just raised was instantly split apart by the Sword Gang, as fragile as paper mache.

He only had time to tilt his head to avoid a fatal blow. The terrifying Sword Gang sliced down along his shoulder, unstoppable. Under the scorching heat, puffs of green smoke rose.

"Ahhh—"

A bloodcurdling scream tore through the night sky as Wu Nanshan’s body, split in two, fell from the sky, showering down a spray of blood.

’Why is the Blazing Blade killing me?’

As this thought arose, his consciousness gradually faded into darkness.

THUD!

Xu Yang descended from the sky, landing beside Wu Nanshan’s corpse, whose organs were spilled all over the ground. The Sword Gang he had condensed from his Gang Qi dissipated from his hand.

He quickly bent down and first found Wu Nanshan’s money pouch and an Old Ginseng, then felt a few stones.

Two of them had clearly been shattered by his Gang Qi, but one piece was completely intact.

’Could this be the Spirit Iron?’

Ignoring the pieces shattered by his Gang Qi, he snatched the intact raw ore and rushed toward the Purple Sun Sect.

SWISH SWISH...

Several figures sped through the forest, arriving moments later at the spot where Wu Nanshan was killed. Looking at the body on the ground, which had been cleaved in two, they couldn’t help but gasp.

"Why do I smell cooked meat?" someone said with a frown.

The next moment, as if remembering something, he rushed over, turned the two halves of the corpse over, and removed the mask, revealing a young face.

"It’s Wu Nanshan, with a Minor Achievement in Gang Qi Cultivation. I can’t believe he’s the one who died." He had recognized Wu Nanshan’s identity.

Forcing himself to look past his discomfort, he saw that the edges of the wound on the corpse were charred, as if burned by a blazing fire.

"Killed in a single strike, a blade like a blazing fire... It’s the Blazing Blade! He’s appeared again!" he couldn’t help but exclaim.

At these words, the faces of the others with him changed drastically.

"Let’s go, quickly! The Blazing Blade is ruthless. He might still be nearby." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

In an instant, the group fled in terror.