Who is the sucker?

Even within the vast Five Elements Sect, the number of top-tier cultivation techniques, combat skills, and secret arts is extremely limited. If not for the fact that the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist and Diamond Skin Refining Fist are merely first and second-realm martial arts, Qin Dongcheng and his peers would have no access to them at all.

If techniques, combat skills, and secret arts of this caliber were taken outside to be sold, they could easily fetch millions of taels of silver, and even then, they would be priceless treasures with no market supply.

Therefore, the value of a top-tier secret art is self-evident. Yet, it is currently being sold for a mere thousand taels of silver, which shows just how cheap it is.

Even knowing there was something fishy about it, Qin Dongcheng couldn't help but lean in, wanting to see what kind of good stuff it actually was.

The person selling the top-tier secret art, Heaven Concealment Art, was a middle-aged man. He was thin and small, with a sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked appearance. He didn't look like much, and in front of him lay several volumes of books, all uniformly inscribed with the three archaic seal characters for "Heaven Concealment Art." Clearly, these were all hand-copied versions, not the originals.

Qin Dongcheng frowned, a bit uncertain whether this thing was real or fake, but the surrounding crowd's discussion soon gave him the answer.

"The Heaven Concealment Art is indeed real, and it is a top-tier secret art. That guy Shi Xing obtained it from some ancient tomb. It's a pity that the difficulty of comprehending and practicing it is beyond imagination. For years, no one has been able to grasp it, let alone successfully cultivate it. Aside from leaving it there to look at, what other use could it possibly have?"

"The Five Elements Library actually holds a copy of this top-tier secret art. It is said that back then, in order to obtain a copy of the Heaven Concealment Art from Shi Xing, the sect spent a significant amount of money. But after buying it, they found that no one could cultivate it. Gradually, no one bothered to exchange for it anymore; they didn't even earn back their initial investment. This is probably the only money-losing deal the Five Elements Library has ever made."

"Haha, that's true. The Heaven Concealment Art is real, and the price is real, but it's just a top-tier secret art that no one can cultivate. Even if its rank is high, what use is it? Shi Xing is out here scamming people again. He doesn't focus on grave robbing and has switched to scamming. If it weren't for his elders having made great contributions to the sect, he would have been expelled from the Five Elements Sect long ago and wouldn't be allowed to remain an Inner Sect Disciple."

"How many people have been scammed by him over the years? As an Inner Sect Disciple, to cheat everyone like this is truly disgraceful. Surely no one will fall for it again; how many people have suffered losses over all these years?"

After listening to the surrounding discussion, Qin Dongcheng finally understood what was going on.

The Heaven Concealment Art was not fake; it was indeed a top-tier secret art, and its power was truly astonishing. However, it was difficult to comprehend, difficult to initiate, and difficult to practice... To this day, no one had been able to successfully cultivate it, so people gradually stopped paying attention to it. In everyone's eyes, it had become a scam of a secret art.

Shi Xing used this uncultivatable secret art to scam a bit of silver from time to time. Clearly, even he didn't think anyone could cultivate it, otherwise, the price wouldn't be so cheap.

Even in the Myriad Phenomena Library, the contribution points required to exchange for the Heaven Concealment Art were very low, not much more than the silver price.

Moreover, this was only an auxiliary secret art. Spending a huge price on it just to see if one could cultivate it was truly not worth the loss.

But Qin Dongcheng was different. He had the Heaven Rewards Diligence System. As long as he comprehended it, he would definitely gain something. Once he grasped it and began to practice, he would likewise see results.

For others, the Heaven Concealment Art was impossible to comprehend or practice, but for him, it was merely a matter of spending a little more time and energy.

This kind of opportunity to buy a top-tier secret art at a dirt-cheap price didn't come often, so he naturally had to seize it.

Therefore, Qin Dongcheng stepped forward directly and picked up a copy of the Heaven Concealment Art: "One thousand taels is too expensive. If it's one hundred taels, I'll buy a copy to take a look. I won't feel bad even if I can't practice it."

"Alright, this copy of the Heaven Concealment Art is yours, hero." Just when Qin Dongcheng thought Shi Xing would haggle with him, Shi Xing actually took a copy of the Heaven Concealment Art and placed it in his hand immediately. He was extremely straightforward and all smiles.

Qin Dongcheng was stunned. He had bargained down to ten percent of the price, and the deal was actually closed just like that.

His originally excited mood inexplicably felt a bit deflated.

Seeing Qin Dongcheng stunned, Shi Xing became even happier. It was just a hand-copied Heaven Concealment Art that cost only a few dozen copper coins to make, and he had sold it for one hundred taels of silver—that was one hundred thousand copper coins. It was a massive profit, wasn't it?

A top-tier secret art that couldn't be cultivated—was it still a top-tier secret art? He wasn't an idiot.

He hurriedly smiled and comforted him: "Maybe you'll succeed in practicing it, hero. You'll definitely make a huge profit then. Even if you can't, it's not a loss to keep it at home as a rare curiosity."

"Fine." Qin Dongcheng nodded speechlessly and turned to leave, followed by a burst of laughter behind him.

"Another sucker fell for it. How much did that previous sucker pay for the Heaven Concealment Art? It seems like fifty taels of silver, right?"

"Exactly fifty taels. I was watching at the time. I didn't expect this one to be even stupider; he actually bargained up to one hundred taels. I think one tael of silver would have been enough."

"Shi Xing made a killing today. One hundred and fifty taels of silver! We can't even earn that in a year."

"It's a pity we don't have his thick skin, otherwise we'd find a way to buy a copy and sell it everywhere. But doing that would easily get us beaten to death, unless we had a backer like Shi Xing."

Qin Dongcheng felt increasingly depressed. Fortunately, he had the Heaven Rewards Diligence System. Unlike the other suckers, he wasn't a sucker; he was someone who could actually cultivate the Heaven Concealment Art.

After returning home, Qin Dongcheng immediately began to try and comprehend the Heaven Concealment Art. Although he didn't understand what it meant, with the help of the Heaven Rewards Diligence System, he soon gained some insights.

"You have perused the Heaven Concealment Art, and you have gained insight into the Heaven Concealment Art!"

"You have perused the Heaven Concealment Art, and you have gained a deeper insight into the Heaven Concealment Art!"

Sure enough, the system was very powerful. The Heaven Concealment Art that others couldn't grasp was easily penetrated by him. Various realizations surged into his heart one after another, quickly immersing Qin Dongcheng in the process.

The more he immersed himself, the more he felt the profoundness of the Heaven Concealment Art. No wonder others couldn't comprehend it; the mysteries contained within far exceeded the advanced mathematics of his previous life.

Not to mention the difficulty of practicing it, which was ten or a hundred times greater than the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist. Even the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist was that difficult, let alone something ten or a hundred times more demanding on top of that.

For an auxiliary secret art, it really wasn't worth spending so much time and energy.

Even if someone could comprehend it, I'm afraid no one would actually practice it.

If not for the Heaven Rewards Diligence System, Qin Dongcheng wouldn't have bought it either.

However, this also provided him with a new line of thought. He could specifically look for cultivation techniques, combat skills, and secret arts similar to the Heaven Concealment Art in the future.

Others couldn't cultivate them, but with the help of his system, he could. He could buy them at low prices, and such techniques, combat skills, and secret arts often possessed astonishing power. It could be said to be killing many birds with one stone.