Divine Firmament Palace

After Lin Yan and the others left, Ye Cang went to the audiovisual room on the second floor.

"My martial artist credentials should be ready by now, right?"

Murmuring to himself, Ye Cang looked at the enormous two-hundred-inch screen on the wall, then entered the website address: "Divine Firmament Palace."

"Beep."

After verifying his fingerprint, his personal page appeared the next moment.

It displayed his photo and some information.

Name: Ye Cang

Gender: Male

Address: Vermilion Bird King City—Crimson Cloud City

Martial Artist ID Number:

Rank: Martial Artist (Intermediate)

Contribution Points: 0

Currency Balance: Huaxia Coins

The startup funds Wang Xu had promised had already arrived.

Two new emails were also waiting for him.

Whoosh!

Ye Cang tapped the touchscreen and opened his inbox.

He browsed through them casually. One was from Wang Xu's assistant, explaining how to use the funds he'd received and choose manuals, among other things.

The other was an instructional video about using Divine Firmament Palace.

After carefully watching both videos, Ye Cang began exploring the various functions mentioned in them.

He figured he'd first familiarize himself with Divine Firmament Palace's internal website.

After finishing the emails, Ye Cang opened the interface and saw that the website was designed like an antique nine-story pavilion, with each floor serving a different purpose.

After glancing over it, Ye Cang opened the first floor at the bottom, the "Martial Artist Forum," and began filling in the gaps in his knowledge.

Time passed minute by minute. By the time Ye Cang had learned a wealth of basic information from the forum, three hours had gone by.

"This place really does have everything."

With a sigh, Ye Cang opened the shopping pavilion.

It had an astonishing range of goods: all kinds of combat technique manuals, modern and traditional weapons, Gene Potions, rare natural treasures, and more. There was nothing it didn't have.

However...

Looking at the staggering prices displayed below, Ye Cang felt that even with fifty million Huaxia Coins in startup funds, he probably couldn't make so much as a ripple here.

After browsing for a while, Ye Cang opened the combat techniques section.

"Now it's time to see what combat technique manuals this world has to offer."

He could choose manuals worth up to three hundred million Huaxia Coins.

As he scrolled through the interface, he found that Divine Firmament Martial Arts Hall had an exceptionally rich collection.

Broadly speaking, they fell into two categories.

The first was cultivation manuals, techniques used by Martial Artist-level cultivators and above to train and increase their strength.

But he could increase his strength by adding points, so after giving the manuals a few glances, he swiped right past them.

The second category was combat techniques. There were even more of these, and they were broadly divided into attack, defense, and speed.

The focus of each was self-evident.

However, very few people could cultivate all three.

Their aptitude was limited.

It was impossible to bring all three disciplines to a high level.

Anyone who could do that was an exceptionally rare genius martial artist.

As Ye Cang read through the descriptions of the various combat techniques, he began considering which ones suited him.

The only things that mattered most to him were a Movement Technique and an attack method.

A Movement Technique could help him escape with his life.

An attack method could help him fight and kill.

Those were the two priorities.

Looking at the huge screen filled with detailed categories of all kinds, Ye Cang began filtering the results.

Before long, he found the section selling attack manuals and related items.

Naturally, the highest-ranked manual was the spear technique Sky-Qilin Art, created by Li Yunxiao, the master of Divine Firmament Martial Arts Hall and the strongest person in Huaxia Nation.

Sky-Qilin Art, category: spear technique. Rating: King rank. Price: 1 trillion Huaxia Coins (full price), 500 billion Huaxia Coins (half price; requires four-star contribution points).

In second place was a combat technique called Purple Flame Gold Blade.

It was also a King-rank combat technique, and its price was comparable to Sky-Qilin Art.

In third place was a Movement Technique called Phantom Empty Moon.

Ye Cang continued down the list. It wasn't until sixth place that he found a sword technique.

Aurora Sword Wings, category: sword technique. Rating: King rank. Price: 1 trillion Huaxia Coins (full price), 500 billion Huaxia Coins (half price; requires four-star contribution points).

This manual ranked sixth.

Ye Cang tapped the touchscreen, and more details appeared.

"This sword art originates from Ancient Civilization Ruins No. 8. Its grade is King rank. It is extremely difficult to cultivate and exceptionally difficult to master. Martial artists should choose with caution..."

After reading the description, Ye Cang smiled slightly.

"According to my contract with Divine Firmament Martial Arts Hall, my first purchase is exempt from the contribution point requirement, and I can buy at the best price."

"Besides, if I'm going to cultivate something, I might as well cultivate the strongest. I have the system to back me up. No matter how difficult a manual is, I'll be able to master it with ease."

Without the slightest hesitation, Ye Cang settled on the combat technique he would cultivate.

Once he'd made up his mind, he opened the purchase page to check the price.

Aurora Sword Wings, first stage—10 million Huaxia Coins (full price), 5 million Huaxia Coins (half price; requires one-star contribution points).

Aurora Sword Wings, first four stages—600 million Huaxia Coins (full price), 300 million Huaxia Coins (half price; requires two-star contribution points).

After checking the price, Ye Cang tapped the screen.

"Please confirm: Purchase the first four stages of Aurora Sword Wings for 300 million Huaxia Coins?"

A prompt appeared on the large screen.

He had a discount, so he naturally got it at half price. He was also exempt from the contribution point requirement.

"Confirm!"

Ye Cang tapped the screen.

A moment later, the transaction was complete, and a notification appeared.

"The first four stages of Aurora Sword Wings will be delivered to your home within 24 hours, Mr. Ye Cang."

After choosing his combat technique, Ye Cang opened the weapons pavilion.

The second-tier God Slaying Sword he'd used before no longer had enough stopping power.

Now that his strength had risen again and he had fifty million Huaxia Coins in startup funds, he wanted to replace it with a better sword.

Before long, he found the long swords in the Godslayer Series.

Godslayer Series, fifth-tier quality: 6 million Huaxia Coins (full price), 3 million Huaxia Coins (half price; requires one-star contribution points).

Godslayer Series, sixth-tier quality: 20 million Huaxia Coins (full price), 10 million Huaxia Coins (half price; requires one-star contribution points).

When he saw the weapon descriptions, Ye Cang frowned.

One-star contribution points meant one contribution point.

By Divine Firmament Martial Arts Hall's exchange rate of one contribution point for every 10,000 Huaxia Coins, that meant he'd need 100 million Huaxia Coins.

His startup funds only amounted to fifty million. He was nowhere near having enough.

Besides, the contribution point requirement was waived only for manuals, not weapons and other equipment.

After thinking for a moment, Ye Cang began looking at the other equipment.

"Shields?"

A list appeared. Ye Cang glanced at the prices and immediately moved on.

"The best defense is offense. A shield is useless to me."

He continued browsing. Before long, he opened the "Combat Suit" page.

Combat suits were extremely important when fighting monsters.

They not only offered excellent protection but were also comfortable to wear and didn't hinder a martial artist's swift dodges and movements.

Though martial artists' physical defenses improved considerably as their cultivation advanced,

they still fell far short of a professionally made combat suit.

A Beginner Martial Artist wearing a fourth-tier combat suit could withstand two or three attacks from a Junior General.

But without a combat suit, a General's punch would likely reduce a Beginner Martial Artist to pulp.

Even with such an enormous gap in cultivation, the combat suit's effect was astonishing.

Between opponents of the same rank, anyone without a combat suit would be utterly dominated.

As he read the combat suit description, shock flashed through Ye Cang's eyes.

"A fifth-tier combat suit that can withstand attacks from an Intermediate Beast General, complete with a helmet, arm guards, boots, and everything else, costs a whopping 20 million Huaxia Coins at full price. The sixth-tier version costs a full 100 million."