One Man Alone

On the third floor of Stellar Tower, in a room to one side.

"Sir, here are the weapons you requested." The young man in black robes sat low to one side, pointing at the several weapons on the table with a smile. "This close-fitting soft armor is made with Fine Steel Silver Thread as its core material, woven together ring by ring by specialized craftsmen. Even a Proficient Expert would struggle to tear it apart in one blow. It's in perfect condition, and Stellar Tower rates it as Sixth-Rank. It costs one hundred taels of silver."

"The Fine Steel Long Saber is three feet and two inches long... It's rated Sixth-Rank and costs sixty taels of silver." The young man in black robes looked at Wu Yuan.

"Mm. I'll take the armor and the saber. Pack them up," Wu Yuan said, appearing as a tall, lean young man.

In the Central Land World, weapons were divided into grades, much like the nine ranks of martial artists.

There was little difference between Ninth-Rank, Eighth-Rank, and Seventh-Rank weapons. They were all ordinary weapons and sold very cheaply. Most weapons made by ordinary blacksmiths fell into these grades.

Sixth-Rank, Fifth-Rank, and Fourth-Rank weapons were mostly made from extraordinary materials. Collectively known as "fine weapons," they could withstand the terrifying force unleashed when powerful martial artists fought. Their prices were more than a hundred times those of ordinary weapons.

As for Upper Three Grades weapons? They were also called "divine weapons." Crafting even one was exceedingly rare. They cost anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, and certain legendary divine weapons could not be bought with silver at all.

Many artifact refiners spent their entire lives without ever managing to craft a single divine weapon.

For Wu Yuan, fine weapons were more than enough for the time being.

"Besides these, I'd also like to learn more about the North Mountain Gang," Wu Yuan asked, as if offhand.

The North Mountain Gang was a major gang on par with the Fierce Tiger Gang, perhaps even stronger, with deeper foundations.

"Information on the North Mountain Gang?" The young man in black robes' pupils contracted slightly. After a moment's thought, he said, "Stellar Tower divides its intelligence into three levels: detailed, rough, and brief. Which would you like, sir?"

"The price," Wu Yuan said.

That was the crucial question.

"One hundred and eighty taels, ten taels, and one tael, respectively," the young man in black robes replied. "But I should mention that detailed intelligence cannot be taken out of Stellar Tower. You can only read it here. Once purchased, it can be consulted free of charge for fifteen days, and you'll also be able to view updates as we continue to gather information."

Wu Yuan gave a slight nod. There was a huge gap between the prices of the three levels of intelligence.

It was easy to surmise that Stellar Tower wasn't particularly worried about its rough and brief intelligence getting leaked.

Still.

Wu Yuan also understood that even the cheapest "brief intelligence," which cost just one tael of silver, was enough to feed a family of three for quite a while.

"It's fine. I was just asking," Wu Yuan said calmly.

"Just asking?" The young man in black robes was taken aback.

Wu Yuan smiled. Before long, he left Stellar Tower with the saber and armor he'd bought.

...After returning the weapons to the Martial Academy, Wu Yuan used Bone Shifting to transform into a burly man and entered Stellar Tower once more, climbing the stairs to the third floor again.

He entered another private room.

Soon, guards carried a large pile of weapons into the room.

"Twenty throwing knives, with short handles, compact and sharp... They're rated Fifth-Rank, and each one costs twenty taels of silver."

"The Flowing Light Silver Snow Spear has a spearhead made mainly of fine iron, mixed with some Flowing Light Cold Iron. It was crafted by a master artifact refiner and is exceptionally sharp. The shaft is made of the finest Star Willow Wood. Together, the two parts are rated Fifth-Rank, and the spear costs four hundred and twenty taels of silver."

The silver spear came apart in two sections, so it could fit into a weapon case and be carried on one's back.

"The total comes to eight hundred and twenty taels of silver," the Middle-aged Man in Black Robe said respectfully.

"Eight hundred and twenty taels?" Wu Yuan, who had bulked up his muscles to disguise himself, frowned slightly. He had left more than eight hundred taels at the ancestral home. After subtracting the cost of the two weapons he'd bought earlier, he had only just enough silver left to cover this purchase.

"Make it ten throwing knives instead," Wu Yuan said after a moment's thought. Then he added, "Also, I need detailed intelligence on the Fierce Tiger Gang."

Inside the private training room that belonged to Wu Yuan at the Prefectural Sect Martial Academy.

"Judging from this world's weapons alone, the methods used to craft so-called fine weapons are incredibly crude, yet they're this powerful." Wu Yuan's gaze swept across the fine weapons laid out in front of him.

Soft armor, saber, throwing knives, spear!

The most expensive was the Flowing Light Silver Snow Spear.

Flowing Light Cold Iron? Star Willow Wood? Those were materials Wu Yuan had never encountered in his previous life. He wasn't a scientist, and had no way to judge them.

But he had tested the spearhead's hardness, and it was indeed extraordinary. As for the shaft, its flexibility was astonishing. Even a brief test showed it could withstand the force of his triple Force Extreme burst.

"For group battles in open terrain, an axe or a spear is best," Wu Yuan thought. "What a pity that even a Sixth-Rank fine weapon like a battle-axe costs over a thousand taels of silver."

The price of a weapon depended greatly on its materials and how much metal it used.

As for the Flowing Light Silver Snow Spear, its most expensive part was the spearhead, and that was tiny.

"For close combat, a saber." Wu Yuan picked up the saber. It was a very ordinary fine steel blade, but it was sharp.

As for the throwing knives?

They were for ranged attacks. They could prove effective whether he was launching a surprise attack or pursuing an enemy. Each knife was small, so they were correspondingly cheap.

"I wonder if Stellar Tower saw through my disguise when I deliberately split the purchases in two." Wu Yuan thought.

Bone Shifting was essentially a disguise technique. Ordinary people could hardly see through it, but flesh and form could be changed while sinews and bones were harder to alter, and one's marrow and essence could not be changed at all.

A person's inner core was difficult to disguise, no matter how hard they tried.

Besides, the gap between his two purchases had been very short.

And he had already used Bone Shifting to enter Stellar Tower several times before to buy Low-grade Body Tempering Pills.

If Wu Yuan had been acting as he normally would, he'd have disguised himself in three different identities this time, taking care not to draw anyone's attention.

But time waited for no one.

Wu Yuan feared that if he delayed too long, the clan leader, Wu Qiming, would die.

Since the Fierce Tiger Gang had dared to act, it meant they weren't afraid of the Wu Clan.

Every year, plenty of martial artists in Li City were killed by the Fierce Tiger Gang, including members of major clans and powerful martial artists.

So he had split his purchases into just two trips.

"The Fierce Tiger Gang intelligence cost one hundred and sixty taels. It's quite thorough." Information about the gang surfaced in Wu Yuan's mind.

He had spent half an hour reading it at Stellar Tower earlier, and had memorized most of it.

"The gang leader, 'Fierce Tiger' Yang Long, is a Fourth-Rank Martial Artist. He's extremely vicious and is usually stationed at..."

"The hall master, 'Evil Tiger' Li Ye, is a Fifth-Rank Martial Artist and the gang leader's right-hand man..."

Wu Yuan had committed the appearances of all six Proficient Experts in the Fierce Tiger Gang to memory.

As for the dozens of Martial Masters and thousands of ordinary gang members? They were too insignificant for Stellar Tower to describe in much detail. It had only given their approximate numbers.

Though Stellar Tower had eyes and ears everywhere, it could only keep tabs on Proficient Experts.

Wu Yuan also knew the locations of the Fierce Tiger Gang's main headquarters and its two branch headquarters mentioned in the intelligence.

This was information Stellar Tower had updated ten days ago.

For a major gang like this, ten days probably wasn't long enough for much to change.

"Money can make the gods heed you. The ancients weren't wrong," Wu Yuan thought.

Some major clans could gather this sort of information by organizing people and exercising patience. The Luo Family almost certainly had it.

Unfortunately, a small clan like the Wu Clan lacked the manpower and resources.

One hundred and sixty taels of silver?

Was it expensive? It was!

But Wu Yuan thought it was worth it. At the very least, he now had a rough idea of the strength of the opponents he was about to face.

"The clan leader is headed to the Fierce Tiger Gang's main headquarters, about a hundred and thirty li from the prefectural city, deep in Nine Cloud Mountain." Wu Yuan knew the entire map of Li City by heart.

But he had never actually left the prefectural city.

Li City lay in a plain, with only a few rolling hills. Nine Cloud Mountain was a famous mountain range that stretched for hundreds of li.

Bandits fell into two kinds: land bandits and river pirates.

Throughout Li City and even Nanmeng Prefecture, the bandits who roamed the land were mostly river pirates. Land bandits were rare.

The Fierce Tiger Gang was a land bandit gang, and the largest one in Li City.

"It's time to go."

Wu Yuan rose, put on the soft armor, and carefully wrapped the weapon case before strapping it to his back, doing his best to keep it from attracting attention. He placed the throwing knives in convenient spots, took the saber in hand, and left the Martial Academy through a side gate.

The Central Land World did not forbid weapons, but ordinary prefectural and provincial cities still inspected them.

However, Wu Yuan carried a Martial Academy token, so he encountered little resistance.

Before long,

he vanished into the vast wilderness.

This was the first time Wu Yuan had left the prefectural city since crossing over.

To kill.