Li Ziyu took the quotation from Tang Xuan, glanced at it, and nodded.
It was tens of thousands more than he had imagined—two hundred thousand in total.
The Shadow Cat's price accounted for the bulk of it.
One hundred and ten thousand.
It was probably Precious Martial Pavilion doing him a favor.
Tsk, he had earned two hundred thousand in only two days.
If this had been before, he probably wouldn't have been able to save that much in ten years.
Being a martial artist really was a profession that brought in money fast!
He chatted idly with Tang Xuan for a while.
It was obvious that Tang Xuan wanted to make friends with him ahead of time because of his age.
However, Li Ziyu also learned quite a bit of basic information about martial artists from Tang Xuan.
"Boss Tang, does your shop buy the corpses of Level 2 Fierce Beasts?"
Li Ziyu asked tentatively.
Although he did not know how much blood essence he currently had,
with the system at his side, he would probably soon be able to hunt Level 2 Fierce Beasts.
He had a good impression of Tang Xuan. By asking about the price in advance, Li Ziyu was also thinking of cooperating with him ahead of time.
When Tang Xuan heard Li Ziyu's words, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
He remained calm on the surface, but inwardly, stormy waves had already begun to surge.
He asked tentatively:
"Young friend, are you planning to hunt a Level 2 Fierce Beast?"
"Not right now. It should be in a few days."
"After all, I don't have a decent weapon or martial skill yet. I'll go after I change my weapon and martial skill."
Li Ziyu took a sip of tea and stood up from the sofa.
He opened the door and walked toward the hall's counter.
"Boss Tang, I plan to spend all that two hundred thousand on a weapon and martial skill. I'll go take a look at the counter."
"Oh, sure! I'll take you there!"
Tang Xuan seemed to snap back from his thoughts all at once. He shuddered and hurriedly spoke to Li Ziyu.
He naturally followed Li Ziyu out of the hall.
Looking at Li Ziyu's back, a trace of shock flashed through Tang Xuan's eyes.
Judging from Li Ziyu's tone just now, Tang Xuan could not tell for a moment whether he was boasting or simply stating a fact.
But could someone really hunt a Level 2 Fierce Beast before turning seventeen?
A Level 2 Fierce Beast was an existence capable of tearing armored vehicles and tanks apart with its bare hands.
Tang Xuan felt that it was impossible.
At the very least, there was no such genius in a small place like Xujiang City.
Tang Xuan shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
He only felt that what Li Ziyu had just said was something a young person had casually blurted out to show off.
Now that he had money, of course he had to spend it, especially when it was such a huge sum of two hundred thousand.
Li Ziyu had no idea what Tang Xuan was thinking. At that moment, he only felt high-spirited.
There was no other reason.
Once you had money, it was easy to get carried away.
It was like someone who earned only three thousand a month and had to scrimp and save on everything they bought.
Then suddenly discovering that their salary had risen to one hundred thousand a month.
All they would want to do was buy, buy, buy.
A moment later...
"Hiss! A Level 1 alloy war blade costs five hundred thousand Great Xia Coins?"
"A copy of the Gale Blade Battle Skill costs one million Great Xia Coins?"
"Damn, Boss Tang, are you sure this isn't a black shop!?"
Seeing the prices marked on the weapons and techniques inside the counter, Li Ziyu's eyes widened. He looked at Tang Xuan beside him in disbelief.
Tang Xuan endured Li Ziyu's stare and helplessly shrugged.
"Brother Li, this is simply the going market rate."
"This Level 1 war blade of mine is made from Level 1 Asma Alloy. One kilogram of Level 1 Asma Alloy costs nearly fifty thousand Great Xia Coins, and this blade uses four kilograms."
"Add in the forging costs and so on, and selling it for five hundred thousand is already considered cheap throughout Xujiang City."
"Being a martial artist is a money-burning profession to begin with. If it's a high-grade weapon, selling it for hundreds of millions or even billions is perfectly normal."
Li Ziyu's expression looked somewhat unpleasant.
He truly did not understand the market prices of martial artist weapons and martial skills very well.
After all, his original body was not even an official martial artist and had never had access to information about these prices.
So there was nothing about them in his memories.
However, he did vaguely remember the Asma Alloy Tang Xuan had mentioned.
He knew it was an alloy humanity had newly developed after the Fierce Beasts descended.
Its hardness was several times that of steel.
It was a popular weapon material among martial artists, and it was also divided into Levels 1 through 9.
Sigh, but still.
He had thought that with two hundred thousand in hand, he could at least exchange it for a decent weapon and perhaps some battle skill.
But in the end, it was not even enough to buy an ordinary Level 1 alloy war blade?
Tang Xuan saw Li Ziyu's embarrassment.
After saying a few words, he agreed to sell him the alloy war blade priced at five hundred thousand for two hundred thousand.
But Li Ziyu did not agree immediately.
Earning three hundred thousand was not difficult for him.
There was really no need to owe someone a favor for those three hundred thousand.
Li Ziyu wandered around the counter again.
He thought that if all else failed, he could look elsewhere, or simply not replace his weapon for now and make do with the steel war blade in his hand.
Just then.
At the corner of the counter.
A long, narrow war blade covered in mottled rust caught Li Ziyu's attention.
Although the weapon's shape looked like a blade, it also somewhat resembled a sword.
It was longer than an ordinary blade, reaching an astonishing length of one and a half meters.
It somewhat resembled the ancient pu dao used in his previous life.
Although the blade's exterior was mottled, Li Ziyu's gaze was drawn to it the instant he saw it.
Pointing at the rust-covered long blade, he asked Tang Xuan:
"Brother Tang, how much is this weapon?"
"Why has it been left here gathering dust? Is there some story behind it?"
"Oh, this long blade was brought here a few months ago by a scruffy, bearded man."
"He said it had been passed down from his ancestors."
"I originally didn't want to take it, but that scruffy, bearded man said one of his ancestors had been a Level 2 peak-realm martial artist."
"I figured the price he wanted wasn't high anyway, and I might as well take a chance on finding a hidden gem, so I accepted it."
"After studying it for several months, I confirmed that it was just an ordinary blade—not even Level 1."
"Tsk, I misjudged it. Brother Li, if you want it, just give me the cost price. One hundred thousand."
With the rust-covered long blade on his back, Li Ziyu left Precious Martial Pavilion.
His instincts told him that this blade was no ordinary weapon.
He could not say where that instinct came from. It simply felt unusual.
Moreover, Li Ziyu had just tested it.
The blade's hardness was countless times greater than that of his original one.
Since he could not afford a weapon made from Asma Alloy either, Li Ziyu simply bought the rust-covered iron blade.
Before leaving.
Tang Xuan still felt embarrassed, believing that Li Ziyu had suffered a loss at his hands.
So he gave him a martial skill manual for Basic Movement Technique as well.
"Although Basic Movement Technique can't be considered a true martial skill, buying it would still cost fifty thousand."
Techniques such as Basic Blade Technique, Basic Movement Technique, and Basic Sword Technique were known as basic martial techniques.
They actually could not truly be considered martial skills. Strictly speaking, they were merely introductions to force-exertion techniques.
Basically, everyone who planned to become a martial artist would master one or two of them, more or less.
They were not expensive either—outside, one copy cost fifty thousand.
That was only for the basic level. If one wanted to continue mastering the intermediate or even advanced levels, one could only comprehend and break through on one's own.
Apart from these basic martial techniques.
There were also things that could be called battle skills. Those were outrageously expensive.
And sometimes, they were priceless even when money was offered.
The lowest-level Level 1 blade-type battle skill Li Ziyu had just seen at Precious Martial Pavilion, the Gale Blade, cost one million Great Xia Coins.
And that was not all. The user also had to master Intermediate Blade Technique as a prerequisite before they could learn it.
"It's simply absurd. A Level 1 battle skill is already this expensive. If the Level 2 and Level 3 ones above it aren't astronomical in price, what are they?"
"Martial artists really are damn money-burning!"
Li Ziyu walked toward the city wall while sighing.
Still, it was not all bad news.
Tang Xuan had just told him some encouraging news.
This was also the first time Li Ziyu had heard of it.
If one passed the assessment to become a Level 1 Martial Artist, the Martial Arts Association would give them a Body Tempering Battle Skill!
After cultivating it, one's blood essence could become even more condensed!
"It seems Great Xia has truly gone to great lengths to nurture martial artists. Not only does it provide subsidies, it even gives away techniques."
"Looks like I have to go to the Martial Arts Association and get certified as a Level 1 Martial Artist!"
However, the Martial Arts Association had already closed for the day. If he wanted to go, he would have to wait until tomorrow morning.
With the system at his side, Li Ziyu planned to go outside the city and hunt a few Shadow Cats to sell for money.
After all, his blade technique had now reached the intermediate level. Once he encountered a Shadow Cat, he truly had nothing to fear.
He was extremely eager for that Gale Blade technique.
Before you continue