Martial Art Manual for Cultivating Mental Power

While his sister hadn't yet returned, Lu Xuan washed off the impurities expelled from his body after swallowing the Qi and Blood Golden Elixir.

He changed into a fresh set of clothes and hurried out the door.

The Black Market mentioned in the Future Mail was in the eastern district of Jinling City.

From the western district to the eastern district, the bus took thirty minutes.

Stepping off the bus, Lu Xuan put on a simple disguise and, following the mail's intel, found the Black Market entrance.

"Entry fee: 1,000 Federal Coins."

After paying, he entered the Black Market.

The so-called Black Market was essentially an underground city.

Rumor had it that it was a bomb shelter left over from the old era, with tunnels branching in all directions.

Lu Xuan didn't pause for a moment; he headed straight for the stall mentioned in the intel—the only stall in the entire Black Market that sold Martial Art Manuals.

As for why the other stalls didn't sell them?

Official regulations stated that selling Martial Art Manuals would land you in prison for life.

Martial art manuals were the painstaking research achievements of generations of martial artists—national treasures absolutely forbidden from public sale.

Some might argue that this easily buried talent.

But true talent was already singled out upon first contact with basic manuals.

Ordinary people in society were generally of poor innate aptitude.

Of course, some gave up due to unforeseen circumstances.

Like Lu Xuan.

But now, reality forced him to become a martial artist.

Moreover, Lu Xuan felt his mind was now incredibly clear, as if he could grasp anything at a glance.

It was like a boost in talent.

He couldn't waste such a gift.

Soon.

Lu Xuan found the manual seller in a corner of the Black Market.

It was a stooped old man, bald, with a handlebar mustache and sunglasses... somewhat reminiscent of Master Roshi from Dragon Ball.

The old man mentioned in the future intel was him.

The letter said a broker bought the manual from him, then resold it online for 500 million.

"Something you need, young man?"

The old man wiped his mustache and spoke hoarsely.

Lu Xuan lowered his voice: "A Martial Art Manual."

"Oh?" The old man looked up at the words, and an invisible force pressed down on Lu Xuan.

It wasn't a physical force, more like a ripple crashing against Lu Xuan's mind.

Lu Xuan furrowed his brow and instinctively released the power he'd gained from swallowing the Qi and Blood Golden Elixir to resist, which only made the old man chuckle softly.

"Well, well, didn't expect a bonus catch."

The old man held up two fingers: "20,000 Federal Coins."

"Deal!"

Lu Xuan paid without a second thought, grabbed the manual, and ran.

The old man was stunned.

How could someone not haggle?

But by the time he tried to find Lu Xuan, he was long gone.

"Hey—that little brat's a reincarnated ghost, slipping away that fast?"

The old man licked his finger and started counting the money.

"Grandpa!" Just then, a graceful figure appeared beside the old man. Seeing the cash in his hands, the woman's eyes went wide:

"Are you sick again, selling manuals to people?"

"What do you mean? Is my manual no good?"

The woman sighed: "That manual of yours was picked up from the Starry Sky Battlefield. It drove you crazy practicing it—do you really think it's good?"

"Huh, I'm crazy?"

"Hahaha, so I've gone mad!"

The woman lightly pressed her forehead and shook her head with a sigh. "And you sold it for twenty thousand Federal Coins. Last time, I spent twenty million to get that Martial Art Manual back!"

She gazed out at the vast sea of people and murmured, "I hope whoever bought the manual knows when to back off. Don't be stubborn..."

"It worked!"

Lu Xuan opened his eyes, elated.

With a single thought.

Everything in the room floated into the air, suspended by nothing.

And as he directed his will, these objects twisted into all sorts of shapes.

"Who would've thought—this manual isn't about training blood and qi at all."

That's right.

After buying the manual, Lu Xuan found he couldn't train his blood and qi no matter what.

He'd planned to return it.

But the Future Mail mentioned it was worth 500 million.

That was proof enough it was real, so Lu Xuan switched gears and tried training something else instead.

Mental Power.

Sure enough, the manual was for training Mental Power.

A blessing in disguise.

"Even if I can't become a martial artist for now, having this power is enough."

Lu Xuan focused his will.

Mental Power pulled the fruit knife off the wall. With a push of intent, the blade spun through the air at breakneck speed. With a shwing, it cut through the iron bars on the window, then whizzed back to his side.

Controlling objects with Mental Power meant he could attack from any angle.

Catch the enemy off guard and strike where they least expect it.

That was more than enough.

"Phew~"

Lu Xuan ended his training.

"With this ability, making money is easy."

Money!

That was Lu Xuan's top priority right now.

His parents' medical bills couldn't stop.

And his little sister couldn't just drift through life.

"Taking out a loan is out of the question."

Even with this power, loans still came with risks.

That left only one option: leave the city, head into the wild.

"Two emails mentioned that Building 3 in Ruins City has a strange item that can turn someone into a martial artist directly. I have to get my hands on it."

But only martial artists could leave the city alone.

Lu Xuan had Mental Power, but he wasn't a martial artist.

And this power was his trump card—he absolutely couldn't reveal it.

"Then I'll have to follow a martial artist out of the city."

With that thought, Lu Xuan turned on his computer and started searching online for martial arts companies. Usually, when company martial artists went out, they'd post announcements online—either to invite other martial artists to team up, or to hire gutsy ordinary people as support crew.

"Satellite City 3..."

"It has to be a big company. Small martial artist teams die easily or get hunted as prey..."

He typed in keywords, and the info he needed popped up right away.

#Zero Martial Arts Company, Fifth-order martial artist leading a team to Satellite City 3#

#Monster Potion Company, heading to the wilderness of Satellite City 3, Fifth-order martial artist leading, safety guaranteed!#

#Jiangnan Martial University freshman training, urgently seeking support staff#

"Monster Potion Company?" Lu Xuan's brow furrowed at the familiar name. "That company's going to Satellite City 3's wilderness too. They've got shady ethics—twice they've nearly gotten me killed."

He couldn't let his guard down.

As for the other companies...

"Zero Martial Arts Company is the strongest private enterprise aside from the Human Federation. Companies like that usually don't skim much profit, and their martial artists are arrogant—one wrong move and you'll make enemies."

"Jiangnan Martial University—one of Xia Nation's four top-tier academies. Safety guaranteed, official backing. Only downside is strict oversight, but it's also the easiest team to skim benefits from... after all, they're just training. The monster corpses they collect aren't high-ranked, so there's profit to be made."

After a moment's thought, Lu Xuan sent messages to both Zero Martial Arts Company and Jiangnan Martial University to inquire.

Always shop around.

[Lu Xuan: What are the requirements for joining the logistics team?]

Soon, both replied.

[Zero Martial Arts Company: Age 18–50, sufficient corpse collection experience, preferably some knowledge of monsters. Corpse Collection Certificate optional.]

[Jiangnan Martial University: Age 18–45, Corpse Collection Certificate, over two years of experience cleaning monster corpses.]

The Corpse Collection Certificate was a certification for monster disposal.

Lu Xuan had gotten his hands on it when he was fifteen.

Even though he'd never set foot in the wilderness or truly faced swarms of monsters, he knew the basics of all kinds of monsters well enough.

[Lu Xuan: What's the pay?]

[Jiangnan Martial University: Freshman training lasts five days. Base salary is 20,000 Federal Coins, plus commission based on corpse collection. Each corpse collected adds 15% commission...]

"Oh? A commission model?"

Lu Xuan sat up straight, immediately ignoring the offer from Zero Martial Arts Company.

Commission-based cuts were the most profitable.

For example, a Third-order monster worth 300,000 Federal Coins would net him 45,000 Federal Coins. If he could get his hands on a Fourth- or Fifth-order corpse, he'd make hundreds of thousands in one trip!

"Jiangnan Martial University it is!"

Lu Xuan promptly sent over his resume.

He wasn't worried about being rejected. Logistics for wilderness martial adventurers usually took anyone—after all, when you joined the team, your life was already on the line.

Fortune favors the bold!