"Someone's up ahead."
After traveling half a li through the desolate mountains, Su Mu, whose senses were exceptionally keen, quickly detected someone ahead. In the forest beneath the night sky, several people-powered carts stood parked, with figures milling about beside them as faint whispers drifted through the air. The cart drivers waiting to pull them wore black clothes and masks. The scene was eerie and unsettling.
Su Mu continued forward for another dozen meters before anyone noticed him.
"Do you have a token?"
Noticing Su Mu's approach, a cart driver wearing a Red Ghost Mask spoke in a hoarse voice.
Su Mu said nothing. He reached into his robes, took out a token, and held it up before the driver.
"Get on."
The driver glanced at it and waved Su Mu aboard. Without hesitation, Su Mu climbed onto the cart, and the driver pulled it deeper into the desolate mountains.
Along the way, Su Mu also saw wooden carts carrying other passengers. The people in the other carts glanced over at him. Clearly, they too were guests planning to visit the Black Market that night. Like Su Mu, they had disguised themselves in advance, concealing their true faces and identities.
"Guest, we've arrived."
Before long, the driver's hoarse voice sounded again. Su Mu looked closely and saw that there was a village in the desolate mountains, though it appeared long abandoned. It likely had no residents in ordinary times and had now become the site of the Black Market.
Following the firelight, Su Mu went onward as the din reached his ears. A few scattered stalls lined the village road, and masked guests moved among them. To anyone who didn't know better, it might have looked like a hundred ghosts roaming the night.
Su Mu entered cautiously, avoiding contact and conversation with the other people at the Black Market. His gaze wandered over the stalls. The goods on display were all sorts of strange things, items difficult to buy elsewhere. There were even prohibited goods like armor.
Perhaps I could forge some weapons and sell them in the future.
Su Mu thought to himself.
Aside from selling goods, some people had set up stalls to buy them. Su Mu saw a wooden sign at one stall with these words written on it: "Buying Demonic Beast Blood."
Demonic beasts.
Su Mu's eyes narrowed. He had seen the term in the Tiger Subduing Fist manual. In this world, there were martial artists who could cultivate the martial way, and there was also a race of demonic beasts capable of cultivation. Demonic beasts were powerful, generally far stronger than martial artists at the same realm.
Tiger Subduing Fist was a style of boxing that imitated the way fierce tigers fought. The tiger in question wasn't an ordinary forest tiger, but a Demonic Tiger.
The manual had only mentioned demonic beasts in passing, so Su Mu knew little about them. But he knew full well that anyone openly buying Demonic Beast Blood was not to be trifled with.
Su Mu immediately turned his gaze away and continued forward.
"Toxin refined from the poison sac of a Crimson Blood Snake. Coat a weapon with it, and anyone cut by it will bleed without stopping; the wound will be difficult to heal. Fifty taels of silver per jar."
"Armor forged by blending refined iron with cold iron. Impervious to water and fire, swords and spears can't pierce it. Three hundred taels of silver per suit."
"Blood Burning Bone Forging Pill. After taking it, a Qi Refining Martial Artist can break through to the Eighth Rank Bone Forging Realm, but it has certain side effects. Two hundred taels per pill."
Everything in the Black Market was shockingly expensive. Su Mu quietly felt the fifteen taels of silver inside his robes and knew that buying a martial arts manual with money was probably out of the question.
But he had come prepared. He had also brought the Tiger Subduing Fist manual. If he didn't have enough silver, he could trade goods instead, swapping one manual for another.
I'll need to keep my eyes peeled.
Su Mu wasn't foolish enough to believe everything at these stalls was genuine. Take the so-called Blood Burning Bone Forging Pill, for instance. Its description claimed that after taking it, a Ninth Rank Martial Artist could forcibly break through to the Eighth Rank.
Whether it actually worked aside, Su Mu knew that the "certain side effects" were probably no small matter. Take it, and you might well drop dead on the spot.
Otherwise, how could a pill that could create an Eighth Rank Bone Forging Realm martial artist sell for just two hundred taels? The Ninth Rank Qi Refining Martial Artists in all of Qingshui Town could be counted on one hand.
There was only one Eighth Rank Bone Forging Realm martial artist, Zhao Xuan, the leader of the Black Tiger Gang. Word was that he had broken through the year before last.
That was one reason the Black Tiger Gang could throw its weight around in Qingshui Town, and why even the local authorities turned a blind eye.
In short, everything in the Black Market was sold as-is, with no refunds. The goods came with no guarantees either; if you got cheated, you could only blame your own poor judgment.
Before long, Su Mu stopped in front of a stall at the end of the village. Several martial arts manuals were laid out on the counter. The stall owner had put them on display like cabbages.
This man's aura is much like Wu Heng's that day. He should be a Ninth Rank Qi Refining Martial Artist.
Su Mu sized up the stall owner, who wore an Egret Mask.
"Guest, every martial art at my stall is top-quality, and the prices are fair. I'd never cheat a child or an old man."
"If you're interested, you can read the first three pages for free."
Noticing Su Mu's gaze, the stall owner chuckled and spoke.
Read the first three pages for free?
Su Mu's interest was piqued. He casually picked up a manual from the stall. The title read Rock Shattering Fist; it was clearly a boxing style. He appeared to choose at random, but in truth, he had deliberately picked a boxing manual.
So far, he had only practiced Tiger Subduing Fist and only understood boxing styles. Su Mu opened the manual and read the first three pages.
This Rock Shattering Fist should be genuine!
After a moment, Su Mu reached a preliminary judgment. He had already mastered Tiger Subduing Fist and had some understanding of force, the body's acupoints, and the circulation of qi and blood. The circulation diagrams and methods of exerting force outlined in this style were somewhat similar to those of Tiger Subduing Fist.
This is a Ninth Rank boxing style, but it should... be inferior to Tiger Subduing Fist.
Su Mu thought to himself.
Just then, the stall owner's voice sounded, interrupting his thoughts. "Guest, you've been reading for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense. If you want to keep looking, you might as well buy it."
The stall owner placed a hand on the manual in Su Mu's hands. A surge of force came with it, and he took the boxing manual back from Su Mu.
"How much are the manuals at your stall?"
Su Mu calmly withdrew his hand and asked casually. After reading Rock Shattering Fist, he had gained a general sense of the quality of the manuals at this stall. Most of them were probably inferior to Tiger Subduing Fist.
So he gave up on looking for another boxing style and decided to find a Movement Technique or Lightness Skill instead.
The scene of his encounter with the Scarred Man that day resurfaced in his mind. Beneath his mask, Su Mu narrowed his eyes. With a Movement Technique, if he ever encountered an enemy he couldn't defeat, he could escape with his life instead of being forced to fight to the death as he had that day.
"One hundred taels of silver per manual. No bargaining."
The stall owner replied as he took back the manual.
"One hundred taels of silver..."
Su Mu clicked his tongue. He knew manuals were expensive, but he hadn't expected the price to be so steep. The dozen or so taels of silver he'd brought were a mere drop in the bucket. His brows furrowed slightly.
Seeing Su Mu hesitate, the stall owner was clearly displeased. This fellow had read for the time it took to burn a stick of incense, then didn't buy anything. He was getting in the way of business.
At that moment, Su Mu lowered his voice and said quietly, "I have a manual too. Could I trade it for something?"
Su Mu had long since memorized the Tiger Subduing Fist manual. To be safe, he had even made a copy and left it at home over the past few days. With the mindset of a modern person, Su Mu wasn't going to keep it to himself. In his view, martial arts manuals could simply be copied and traded.
In the end, he would still have plenty of martial arts manuals in his hands. Either way, he wouldn't lose out.
The stall owner considered it briefly. He knew the person before him was probably a Ranked Martial Artist; otherwise, Su Mu couldn't have so easily withstood his force. Someone like that was likely influential in the area. Perhaps it was worth a try?
"Fine, but I'll need to check whether the manual is genuine."
"Of course."
Su Mu readily agreed and immediately took the Tiger Subduing Fist manual from his robes and handed it over.
When the stall owner in the Egret Mask saw the words Tiger Subduing Fist on the cover, his whole body suddenly trembled slightly. Then he quickly lowered the manual, hiding its cover in the darkness.
With his keen senses, Su Mu naturally noticed the small movement. He grew suspicious. Could Tiger Subduing Fist be more important than I thought?
The stall owner quickly leafed through a few pages, then closed the manual. "The manual you have is genuine. You can choose any one manual at my stall, but you have to promise not to sell it again anywhere in this Black Market."
Su Mu didn't reply. Instead, he calmly placed one hand on the Tiger Subduing Fist manual.
"I can agree to your condition, but one manual isn't enough. All you're actually giving up is a copied manual, and afterward you can even sell the manuals you get from me. This deal is far too unfair to me."
"What do you want?"
"Three. I want three manuals."
The stall owner immediately shook his head. "No. Two at most."
Two was what Su Mu had expected. Asking for three was merely a bargaining tactic.
Su Mu feigned hesitation, then agreed. "Fine, two it is. But there's one small question I hope you can answer for me."
Before you continue