Purchase

"Qingfeng, it's been a month. How's your martial training going?"

Baili Tianxing and Baili Qingfeng chatted idly in the hospital.

"Pretty well."

"That's good. You mustn't rush your martial training. Take it step by step and build a solid foundation at every stage. Understand?"

"I know."

"A while ago, I spoke with your grandfather. I told him that if you spent some time writing songs, you could earn quite a bit each year. That's why he gave you the Nourishing Essence Soup formula. Don't waste the money you earn. Use it on the Nourishing Essence Soup. Your own strength is the foundation; everything else is empty. If you can become a War-level martial artist, let alone a minor deputy leader of the Stability Maintenance Group, even those princes will treat you as an honored guest."

"War-level? Are they really that strong?"

"Heh..."

Baili Tianxing chuckled. "Once someone cultivates their spirit and strengthens their soul, their sensitivity to danger becomes sharper. They might even dodge bullets in advance. But if they faced a dozen or dozens of people charging at them with guns, they'd still be shot dead. Even if they sensed the bullets coming, they'd be too slow to evade them amid a hail of gunfire. But War-level martial artists are different."

Baili Qingfeng listened solemnly.

"War-level martial artists achieve Three Essences United as One and cultivate Inner Breath. Inner Breath has two uses. One is to temper the body and strengthen the physique, allowing a human body's strength to reach its limit. They can carry hundreds of kilograms and run as though it weighed nothing. Can you imagine the power a War-level martial artist could unleash on a local battlefield after mastering Gun Kata and Mecha Art, wearing a full suit of specially made armor, carrying more than a hundred kilograms of ammunition, and wielding a Fire God Gatling Gun in one hand?"

At this point, Baili Tianxing paused. "Especially since their souls are powerful enough to sense incoming artillery fire and evade it in advance."

Baili Qingfeng thought about it...

A monster like that seemed impossible to kill without saturating the area with artillery fire. Fully armed and launching a night raid, one person could destroy an entire regular battalion.

Infrasound weapons?

High-powered microwave weapons?

Electromagnetic pulse weapons?

In the modern world, none of those technologies had matured.

"Besides strengthening the body, Inner Breath can also be stored inside the body, condensed and honed, then unleashed at a critical moment. Although it only lasts for a short time, when it erupts, a martial artist can do things completely beyond human imagination—moving at sixty meters per second, for example, or overturning a tank by sheer force. If a powerhouse like that were used for assassination... who could withstand it!?"

Baili Qingfeng nodded deeply, feeling that the words made perfect sense.

Such an existence...

Could, to some extent, disregard the rules.

No wonder the moment a War-level powerhouse emerged, the state would immediately come knocking to win them over, even granting them the rank of reserve major. Once they were willing to take up a position, their status could rise with the tide. With a few minor accomplishments, they could even advance toward general officer and become part of the upper echelons of the Xia Kingdom.

"Qingfeng, your uncle has already reached his peak. My Qi and Blood are gradually declining, and in the future, I'll have no hope of stimulating my Essence, Qi, and Spirit, achieving Three Essences United as One, condensing Inner Breath, and breaking through to War-level. But you're different... Your talent is extraordinarily high. War-level is by no means beyond your reach. So you needn't concern yourself with anything else. Train properly. Once you become War-level, all those demons and monsters will vanish like smoke in thin air!"

"Understood."

Baili Qingfeng nodded.

Baili Changkong didn't say these things to Baili Ruoshui, Baili Ruoxue, and the others because saying them would have been meaningless. But Baili Qingfeng...

Was different.

After finishing, Baili Tianxing took out a bankbook and handed it to him.

"Uncle?"

"Take it."

Baili Tianxing said, "Martial training costs a lot. Every time you practice the Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms, you're squeezing your body's energy to the limit. If you don't eat some highly nourishing food, over time your Qi and Blood will suffer. Take it and buy something good to eat. Don't ruin your body through training."

"Practicing the Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms squeezes the body's energy? If I don't eat nourishing food, my Qi and Blood will suffer?"

Baili Qingfeng was stunned.

He hadn't felt anything.

Could it be...

That he practiced too few repetitions every day? Was that why he didn't feel drained of Qi and Blood, with his body hollowed out?

In that case, he would extend his training time after returning home.

Forty or fifty repetitions a day was indeed a little too few. He should strive for a hundred.

Baili Qingfeng eventually accepted the bankbook.

There were sixty thousand yuan in it.

Baili Qingfeng thought he had seen wrong. He looked again and confirmed that it was indeed sixty thousand yuan.

His uncle had been away for several years and had saved sixty thousand yuan...

Martial training wasn't entirely without prospects after all.

Carrying the bankbook with its sixty thousand yuan, Baili Qingfeng returned home.

"Qingfeng, you're back?"

Baili Die was at home. She looked delighted to see Baili Qingfeng. "If you didn't come soon, I was going to look for you at your school."

"What is it?"

"Look."

Baili Die handed him an entertainment newspaper. "Half a month ago, An Yixun released an album and received unanimous praise. A lot of media outlets specifically mentioned this song you wrote. Wu Te called me a week ago to ask you to write a song for him. If the quality is good, he's willing to pay a high price."

"A high price?"

Remembering that he was still forty thousand short of being able to buy the ingredients for the Nourishing Essence Soup, Baili Qingfeng nodded immediately. "Sure. I'll write ten songs in a moment."

"Ten... ten songs?"

Baili Die was stunned. After a long while, she said hesitantly, "Qingfeng, quality comes from scarcity. Writing ten songs all at once isn't a good idea..."

"Are you worried about the quality?"

"He said he'd only be willing to buy them at a high price if the quality was good... If all ten songs are poor, they might buy them out of consideration for our reputation, but... they probably won't work with us again. If you want to pursue a career as a songwriter in the future... it'll be difficult..."

"Wait until I finish writing them and take a look."

Baili Qingfeng said this and went straight upstairs. He took a notebook from the drawer and began writing. Ten songs, completed in one breath.

When he finished, he handed them to Baili Die. "Take a look."

"That fast..."

Baili Die accepted the notebook Baili Qingfeng had brought over. She lowered it slightly and stared at him with a solemn expression, her heart heavy. "Little Qingfeng, you've gotten carried away."

"Say that after you've read them."

As he spoke, Baili Qingfeng went upstairs, opened his computer, and logged on.

Originally, he had wanted to search for where to buy those medicinal ingredients. A moment later, he entered Sword Rain World and posted a wanted-buying thread.

He was looking for the ingredients needed for the Nourishing Essence Soup.

After posting the thread, he thought of the power of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art after practicing it recently and posted another message.

"Seeking to purchase Evil Repelling Swordplay. Price negotiable."

"Ding-dong."

Less than half a minute after sending the message, he received an internal message. The sender was Jianghu Kid, whom he had chatted with before.

"Crossing River, you're buying medicinal ingredients?"

"Yes!"

"Then that's perfect. Come to me. My family runs a medicinal herb shop, and I happen to be short on pocket money. I can get all those ingredients. How much do you need?"

"How much?"

"One hundred thousand. But meeting in Sword Rain World means we're fated, so I'll give you ten percent off."

"One percent."

"..."

Jianghu Kid's side went silent for quite a while, seemingly stunned by such a domineering attempt at haggling. Only after some time did he continue. "That's slashing the price way too hard, isn't it? Since we're both in the same province, I can give you twenty percent off at most. I can't go any lower. If I do, there won't be any profit left."

"Two percent!"

"Thirty percent, thirty percent! That's already the cost price, and it's the absolute lowest I can offer. If I go even one yuan lower, my dad will beat me to death. Do you really think I'd risk getting beaten to death by my dad to sell you these medicinal ingredients at such a low price..."

"Three percent. I'll give you twenty thousand in kickbacks."

"Deal!"