Bedrock Iron Body Skill

"Mm."

"How are your injuries recovering?"

Qin Shuang looked at Nangong Wan'er and asked.

"They should be fully healed in about two days."

Nangong Wan'er nodded, glanced at Qin Shuang, and cautioned him. "If you go, be extra careful. The people who go to the Black Market are all ruthless."

"Thank you for the reminder, Miss Nangong."

Qin Shuang clasped his hands toward Nangong Wan'er.

After reminding Qin Shuang, Nangong Wan'er went up to the third floor to continue healing.

Qin Shuang inspected the twenty Tiger Blood Pills he had received from Liang Chang, then took and absorbed them. At the same time, he studied the Tiger Roar Painting, practiced Step on Grass, and imitated a tiger's roar to simplify his martial arts.

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

Dressed in gray and carrying a bundle, Qin Shuang locked the doors of Fusheng Restaurant and headed for Qingzhou City.

A hundred and fifty miles east of Qingzhou City lay Gathering Moon Lake.

Gathering Moon Lake stretched ten miles across and was surrounded by mountains on three sides. Beside the lake stood a white-stone platform more than three hundred zhang wide. It looked like a moon, which was how the lake had earned its name.

Five o'clock in the afternoon. The setting sun was red as blood.

Qin Shuang reached a spot three miles from Gathering Moon Lake and hid in a maple grove.

He saw figures hurrying toward Gathering Moon Lake one after another. They sat on the white-stone platform, waiting.

Those who had arrived early either wore masks depicting tigers, sheep, oxen, monkeys, and other animals; black hoods that exposed only their eyes; or opera masks.

Not wanting to stand out, Qin Shuang took a piece of black cloth from his bundle, covered his head with it, and cut two holes so only his eyes showed. He then took out the Black Market token he had received from Liang Chang and waited silently.

The sky gradually darkened.

More and more martial artists arrived at the Black Market from every direction. Five or six hundred people had gathered on the white-stone platform. Seeing that the time was about right, Qin Shuang popped a date into his mouth, took the wooden token in hand, and walked toward the platform beneath the night sky.

At the entrance to the platform stood a horse-masked man with a long saber at his waist and powerful Qi and Blood. He checked the token in Qin Shuang's hand, asked nothing further, and let him onto the platform.

Those without a token had to pay ten taels of silver to buy one.

As Qin Shuang stepped onto the platform, he saw stallholders crouching or sitting before pieces of cloth or animal hide spread on the ground. They had pills, manuals, antiques, sabers, swords, herbs, alchemy furnaces, and all manner of goods laid out for sale.

Qin Shuang went from stall to stall, first watching how the others haggled.

"Hmm? Tiger Blood Pills!"

Qin Shuang stopped at a stall. The thin stallholder wore a goat mask. Spread out before him was a black-and-yellow tiger hide, on which sat a pile of White Porcelain Bottles. Beside them was a board with the prices written on it.

Tiger Blood Pill: 12 taels of silver each.

Dragon Blood Pill: 120 taels of silver each.

"No wonder they call this the Black Market!"

Seeing the price of the Tiger Blood Pills, Qin Shuang couldn't help clicking his tongue. The medicine halls sold them for ten taels each, making these two taels more expensive!

The Dragon Blood Pills were even more outrageous, costing over a hundred taels apiece.

"Brother, could you give me a discount if I buy more of these Tiger Blood Pills?"

After the customers in front of him had left, Qin Shuang stepped up and asked.

With a date stuffed in his mouth, Qin Shuang's voice came out muffled.

"How many do you want?"

The goat-masked stallholder looked up at Qin Shuang. His voice was deep; he sounded to be around forty.

"I want fifty."

Qin Shuang gave it a moment's thought before answering.

He wanted to buy more, but worried that buying too many at once would draw unwanted attention. He would get some Tiger Blood Pills first and raise his Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill to proficient. He could always come back tomorrow.

It never hurt to be cautious.

This was a world of martial arts, where there was always someone stronger. The slightest misstep could leave you sunk.

"For fifty, give me five hundred and ninety taels."

The goat stallholder thought it over before answering.

"I'll take them for five hundred and fifty."

Qin Shuang lowered his voice.

"Brother, these are in very short supply. You can't even buy them at the medicine halls outside. And the quality of my Tiger Blood Pills is excellent—worth every penny. Five hundred and eighty-five. Not a tael less."

The goat stallholder sounded helpless.

Seeing this, Qin Shuang took out five banknotes and eighty taels in silver and handed them to the old man. "Five hundred and eighty. I'll buy from you again next time!"

"Deal."

The goat stallholder considered it briefly, nodded, and passed five White Porcelain Bottles to Qin Shuang. "Take a look."

"Mm, not bad!"

Qin Shuang opened the red cloth wrapping and pulled out the stopper. A rich medicinal fragrance filled his nose. They were indeed Tiger Blood Pills, no worse than the ones Jin Qiao'er's grandfather had made. Each bottle held ten pills.

Qin Shuang immediately tucked the five White Porcelain Bottles into his robes and continued browsing.

He wanted to see if he could find any body-tempering techniques. With the Simplification System, he could reach perfection quickly, and the stronger his body became, the better.

Just as Qin Shuang left—

Two men in black, one fat and one thin, both wearing tiger masks, arrived at the pill stall. The fat Tiger Mask Man looked at the goat stallholder and asked in a low voice, "How many did that man buy?"

"Fifty. He's still browsing. He's a fat sheep. He's at the Bone Forging Realm, with a Qi and Blood Gauze Robe."

The goat stallholder replied in a low voice.

"Good. We'll take the Spirit Sniffing Rat and wait outside for him to come out." The fat Tiger Mask Man nodded, then gestured to the thin Tiger Mask Man beside him. From a distance, they kept an eye on Qin Shuang.

Yun Shenhai, the goat stallholder, straightened the White Porcelain Bottles before him, a glint flashing in his eyes.

For years, he had sold the pills his big brother refined at the Black Market. Whenever he encountered a fat sheep he could handle, he robbed them. He had grown filthy rich from these robberies, and his strength had reached the Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke stage.

He had left his scent on the White Porcelain Bottles. The Spirit Sniffing Rat could pinpoint their location, so there was no worry about the fat sheep getting away.

Qin Shuang wandered from stall to stall until he reached one selling manuals.

The stallholder was a lean man in gray, wearing an ox-head mask.

The stall was laid out with manuals: Grass on Flying, Mandarin Duck Saber Art, Cane Sword, Lizard Wall-Crawling Skill, Copper Sand Palm, Stone Lock Skill, Bedrock Iron Body Skill, and many others.

The writing in the manuals was fresh. They had clearly been copied recently.

Four or five martial artists studied the manuals at the stall, haggling over the price.

"Brother, what sort of martial art are you looking for? Lightness skills, saber arts, sword arts, external martial arts—I've got them all!"

Once the four or five martial artists had bought their manuals and left, the ox-headed stallholder turned to Qin Shuang and greeted him warmly.

"I'm just looking."

Qin Shuang crouched beside the stall. His gaze fell on the Bedrock Iron Body Skill. He picked it up, flipped through it, and asked, "How much for this one?"

Qin Shuang already had the Blood Rage Saber Art, Fierce Tiger Fist, and Tablet Splitting Hand. For lightness skills, he had Grass on Flying and Swimming Dragon Steps; for a cultivation technique, he had the Tiger Roar Divine Intent Skill. If he could cultivate the Bedrock Iron Body Skill and make his body impervious to blades and spears, that would be even better.

He had the Simplification System.

As long as it was simplified, he could quickly reach perfection.

"You want an external martial art?"

The ox-headed stallholder looked surprised to see Qin Shuang pick up the Bedrock Iron Body Skill.

You see—

External martial arts were the hardest to train in. Most people gave up after practicing for a while because they couldn't endure the hardship of body tempering, then went back to faster-learning martial arts like saber arts, sword arts, and palm techniques.

"Mm."

Qin Shuang nodded.

"If you want it, give me one tael of silver." The ox-headed stallholder pointed at the Bedrock Iron Body Skill, then added, "But I'd recommend buying a sword art or saber art too."

"Thanks. Just give me this one!"

Qin Shuang took out a tael of silver, tucked the Bedrock Iron Body Skill into his robes, and continued browsing. His Blood Rage Saber Art needed only ten more pigs killed to meet the requirements and advance to proficient. He wanted to buy a better saber.