Shuriken

Ordinary concealed-weapon techniques focused first and foremost on surprise attacks. Their force was far inferior to a blade or sword wielded by hand.

But seventh-grade martial artists had keen senses. The moment a concealed weapon shot toward them, they would sense it.

And dodge with ease.

Let alone pierce their skin and injure them.

Li Beichen's Locust Stone, which had only reached Slight Mastery at the time, could be easily intercepted even by Hu San, a martial artist who hadn't yet achieved great mastery in Flesh Tempering.

So after Li Beichen began studying proper martial arts, he had barely practiced the Locust Stone technique.

As his martial arts grew more advanced, the skill had become increasingly useless.

It might still work against Ninth Grade martial artists, but Li Beichen reckoned it would be hard to threaten anyone above that.

The Featherless Arrow was only comparable to a one-stone soft bow. Only a genuine strong bow or heavy crossbow could injure a seventh-grade martial artist.

But those were strictly controlled military weapons. Even with Great Liang's court so thoroughly corrupt, it still guarded that line.

No one dared bring such weapons out in public.

But this Shuriken was supposedly comparable to a strong bow or heavy crossbow, with the power to threaten seventh-grade martial artists. Li Beichen immediately grew interested.

Still, he remained calm.

A concealed-weapon technique capable of threatening seventh-grade martial artists was bound to be precious. If it had been put up for auction so early, it might well have some other flaw.

Li Beichen rose to his feet. Through his Tiger-Head Mask, his keen gaze settled on the booklet in Lady Li's hands.

"Lady Li, a technique like this isn't even one of the finale items. Are there any restrictions?"

A veil covered Lady Li's face, making her expression impossible to read. After hearing Li Beichen's question, she paused for a breath.

Then she replied,

"That's an excellent question, my friend. The Shuriken does have one small requirement."

"The practitioner needs exceptional wrist strength, beyond that of an ordinary person, to achieve the best results."

"Pah..."

A wave of jeers swept through the crowd.

More than half of those who had been interested lost their enthusiasm.

But beneath his mask, Li Beichen was delighted.

After his Locust Stone reached Slight Mastery, it had granted him a trait called Iron Wrist. The last line of the trait's description on his status panel said that it reduced the difficulty of learning concealed-weapon techniques.

Li Beichen hadn't expected it to come in handy here.

He kept his expression still, quietly sat back down, and waited for Lady Li to announce the price.

Seeing that the crowd had lost interest, Lady Li hurriedly added,

"Even without the talent for wrist strength, the Shuriken is still a rare and valuable technique. Besides, it comes with these specially made weapons."

"The Shuriken starts at three hundred taels. Each bid must be at least ten taels higher."

At that price, the few people who had still been somewhat interested immediately fell silent.

Only a handful hesitated over whether to raise their bidding boards.

Lady Li shot Li Beichen a resentful stare.

Even through the Tiger-Head Mask, it seemed as if she were engraving his appearance into her mind.

If Li Beichen hadn't butted in, the Shuriken wouldn't have fallen so flat.

Just then, Li Beichen raised his bamboo board.

"Number thirty-three, three hundred taels!"

"One, two, three... Sold!"

Beside Li Beichen, Zhang Meng nudged him with an elbow.

"Old Seven, don't let Lady Li bewitch you."

"She's way out of your league, kid."

"Don't worry, Senior Brother. I really need it."

"Fine. You've got money anyway, and you just made yourself a windfall."

By this point, the auction had entered its second half.

The items on offer were growing rarer and rarer.

But throughout the whole affair, Li Beichen hadn't seen Zhang Meng raise his board even once. The man was as steady as Mount Tai.

Then a black-clad attendant carefully carried an item covered in red cloth onto the large wooden table.

A faint, sweet aroma of meat drifted into Li Beichen's nose.

He also noticed that as soon as the item appeared, Zhang Meng—who had seemed so nonchalant until then—sat up straight.

Beside the red cloth, a flush spread over Lady Li's skin.

The appearance of this item seemed to have stirred her excitement as well.

"Friends, we've now reached the finale items."

She lifted the red cloth.

A large slab of meat lay before them. Its skin was black, its grain clearly defined, and its surface glistened with a crystalline sheen.

"Finale item: ten jin of seventh-grade Exotic Beast Meat!"

"Hiss..."

Everyone present sucked in a sharp breath.

"A seventh-grade Exotic Beast? Which sixth-grade Bone Refining martial artist went into the Lingnan Mountains and hunted it down personally?!"

Hearing the whispers around him, Li Beichen couldn't help asking in a low voice,

"Senior Brother, is seventh-grade Exotic Beast Meat really that rare?"

At that moment, Zhang Meng was staring at the slab of seventh-grade Exotic Beast Meat, reluctant to look away.

"Seventh-grade Exotic Beasts roam dozens of li deep in the Lingnan Mountains. Anyone who can venture that far is undoubtedly an expert."

"And usually, only a sixth-grade expert can kill a seventh-grade Exotic Beast one-on-one."

"Someone like me can defeat an ordinary seventh-grade Exotic Beast, but I can't keep it from escaping."

"A sixth-grade expert in Ram City could earn at least eight or nine thousand taels a year just by collecting offerings without doing a thing. So tell me, how much would something like this be worth to make people like them risk hunting such a beast?"

"Old Seven, understand this: a medium-sized seventh-grade Exotic Beast usually weighs three or four hundred jin, but only a little over a hundred jin of it is usable meat."

Li Beichen understood.

"Senior Brother, I've got nearly four hundred taels left. You can borrow all of it to help cover the cost!"

"Good, Old Seven. Thank you!"

"With these ten jin of seventh-grade Exotic Beast Meat, and by rationing the other meat I eat alongside it, I'll have enough for three months!"

Onstage, Lady Li's complexion grew ever more flushed. Her eyes seemed misty with moisture, and she was clearly pleased by the crowd's reaction.

She announced the seventh-grade Exotic Beast Meat's starting price.

"Starting bid: two thousand taels. Each bid must be at least one hundred taels higher!"

At that price, ninety-nine percent of the Ninth Grade martial artists present were immediately shut out.

Two thousand taels was beyond the reach of an ordinary Ninth Grade martial artist, unless they had a side business like Li Beichen.

But Ninth Grade martial artists weren't the target buyers anyway.

"Number thirty-two, two thousand one hundred taels!"

Zhang Meng was the first to raise his bamboo board and begin bidding.

Right after him, the Red-Skinned Ascetic whom Li Beichen had noticed earlier raised his wooden board.

"Number fifty-three, two thousand two hundred taels!"

The other seventh-grade experts quickly joined the bidding.

The price climbed steadily, soon reaching three thousand taels.

That was the bid just called out by the ascetic.

Zhang Meng and the other bidders fell silent when they heard it.

"Senior Brother, why did you stop bidding? Have you run out of silver?"

Zhang Meng shook his head, lowering his gaze.

"I have two thousand seven hundred taels. With yours, Old Seven, I could still make another bid."

"But three thousand taels for three months of cultivation is madness."

"If I bought eighth-grade Exotic Beast Meat instead, the effects wouldn't be as good, but I'd have enough to eat for a year..."

Li Beichen didn't know how to respond.

He could only say that everyone saw things differently.

If it were him, he would definitely fight for this rare piece of seventh-grade Exotic Beast Meat.

The path of cultivation demanded that you fight bravely to get ahead!