"Young man, how much are you selling this Icebound Art for?"
Just then, an old man picked up the Icebound Art, looked it over, and asked.
"This one..."
"Huh! It's actually a group-control type. Young man, I'll give you 500,000 for it. Sell it to me!"
Qin Hao had just been about to name a price when another old man called out.
"What are you doing? Surely there's such a thing as first come, first served!"
The first old man spoke in displeasure.
"Tch, what's wrong? It goes to the highest bidder, right, young man?"
Qin Hao had been about to ask for 200,000, but he hadn't expected someone to offer 500,000 outright.
That showed how distinctive and useful this group-control type art was.
So Qin Hao, eager to make more money, quickly said, "That's right. If both of you want it, you'll have to compete on price."
"Fine, then 550,000!"
"700,000!"
"750,000!"
"900,000!"
"You, y-y-you, is that really necessary? It's just an E-rank art, and you're offering 900,000?"
"Tch, what's wrong? I'm happy to pay it. Young man, I don't think he'll bid again. Sell it to me!"
"Hmph, who said I wouldn't bid? I'll offer 1 million. I'm determined to get this group-control ice skill."
In the end, the Icebound Art sold to the first old man for the high price of 1.5 million.
The E-rank Metal-Type Ability art and E-rank wind art were both fairly standard in what they did, and the two books sold for only 400,000 in total.
After earning enough for the medical expenses, Qin Hao packed up his stall and left the cultivation art market.
On his way home, as he passed a secluded alley, two middle-aged men suddenly sprang out of the darkness.
That was only natural. After all, he had managed to sell three E-rank arts in one go that evening.
Anyone paying attention would think he probably had many more E-rank arts, and would naturally come to murder and rob him.
It was just that Qin Hao had too little experience of the world, so he hadn't paid much attention.
"Hmph, kid, hand over all the arts you have on you, and we can spare your life!"
Qin Hao was no fool. Once the two got their hands on the arts, they would certainly kill him to silence him.
"Um, you've got the wrong person. I don't have any arts on me at all. I just sold every last one."
"Hmph! Kid, do you take us for fools? Who sets up a street stall and sells so many E-rank arts at once? If you can produce three, you can produce four."
"That's right. You'd at least keep one for yourself to cultivate, wouldn't you? Hand it over, and we promise we won't hurt you!"
"Uncles, I really don't have any arts left. I awakened a trash physique with no talent rank. Even if I had an art, I couldn't cultivate it!"
"Hmph! Since you refuse the toast only to drink the forfeit, don't blame us for getting rough."
With that, the two instantly attacked Qin Hao.
The man on the left had a fire-type ability, and his attack was an intensely hot fireball.
The man on the right was an earth type, and his attack was a sharp spike that shot straight up from the ground.
Qin Hao quickly used his thoughts to take the fireball and spike into his space, then placed the space gates behind the two men's heads.
The two were martial artists, after all, far beyond what someone at the apprentice stage who had just awakened an ability could compare with. They reacted quickly and managed to dodge a little.
"Bang!"
After the loud crash, both men suffered minor injuries. After all, they hadn't been prepared.
"Hmph, who would've thought? The ability you awakened is actually a Spatial Ability!"
Qin Hao panicked. Not only had he failed to kill the two, but he had also exposed his Spatial Ability. He hadn't expected them to recognize it at a glance.
"Hehe! Well, well, it's actually Spatial Type. We've hit the jackpot! If we hand him over to that organization, he'll be worth far more than E-rank arts!"
Immediately afterward, the two middle-aged men attacked Qin Hao with all their strength.
Qin Hao could only use his space to redirect their attacks back at them.
"This won't work. We can't keep attacking from a distance. We have to get close and take him down, or we'll just be worn to death."
The other middle-aged man spoke, then moved in on Qin Hao in tacit coordination with his companion.
After all this time spent fighting, Qin Hao gradually calmed down.
At the same time, when he saw the two rushing toward him, the corner of his mouth tilted slightly.
Just as the two middle-aged men closed to within half a meter of Qin Hao, he moved. His hands instantly formed seals, and he unleashed Icebound Ten Thousand Miles.
In just an instant, both men turned into ice sculptures, standing where they were.
That wasn't all. Qin Hao used Spatial Slash next.
Just as the freeze on the two men ended, a streak of white light slowly slashed across them.
With a swish, both were instantly cut in half at the waist like tofu, dead beyond dead.
Looking at their corpses, Qin Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
There was indeed nothing Spatial Slash couldn't cut, but its drawback was that it was too slow.
"Phew! Good thing I know a control-type skill!"
Qin Hao finally understood why, although they were all E-rank arts,
the Icebound Art had fetched the high price of 1.5 million, while the others had sold for roughly the market price.
After all, once the Icebound Art was cultivated to major completion, it could instantly freeze ten thousand miles.
He had only just started learning it, yet he could already instantly freeze an area within half a meter of himself.
If he had already cultivated it to major completion just now, he probably would have killed the two in an instant.
After searching the two men, Qin Hao found an E-rank fire art, the Fireball Art, and an E-rank earth art, the Earth Control Art.
Qin Hao spent thirty minutes learning the Fireball Art and gained a fire-type ability. Its quality was still Legendary Rank, and he also gained a fireball attack skill.
He used the fireball skill on the corpses, instantly setting a fierce fire. In just a moment, both corpses were reduced to ashes.
Only after tidying up the scene did Qin Hao leave.
Thirty minutes after Qin Hao left, a black-clad man suddenly arrived.
"Strange. Their location was right here. Where are they?"
He sniffed with his nose and suddenly spotted two piles of black ash on the ground.
"Second Brother, Third Brother, who was it? Who killed you? Damn it! I'll avenge you, I swear!"
The black-clad man underwent Beastification, turning into a large black dog, then quickly sniffed along the ground for a scent.
Sure enough, he found a third person's scent and followed it.
Early the next morning, after paying the 1 million to buy the spirit liquid, Qin Hao returned to the hospital room.
He ate a takeout meal of fish with pickled greens, then said goodbye to his parents and prepared to return to school.
He had only just walked out of the hospital when he happened to brush past the black-clad man.
The black-clad man sniffed out of habit, and the smell of pickled greens mixed with a stink entered his nose.
"Fuck, who the hell farted? No sense of public decency at all."
The black-clad man frowned and cursed.
Hearing this, Qin Hao's expression didn't change and his heart didn't skip a beat. He quickened his pace and swiftly left.
The black-clad man sniffed carefully again and suddenly noticed something. This was the scent of the person suspected of killing his brothers.
He looked in the direction the scent led and saw Qin Hao.
"Hmph, found you!"
As he spoke, the black-clad man followed close behind Qin Hao...