Black Market (Fourth Update)

Quiet Celebration Ward.

There were few people here as well.

They arrived at a very simple little house and pushed the door open. An old woman was tending to a youth lying on the bed.

"Mother, let me do it." Zhou Dayuan hurried forward and told his elderly mother to rest.

"Living here, we usually won't be targeted by the Azure Dragon Gang. They pick their victims too."

Zhou Dayuan explained briefly, helped the youth sit up, and introduced Li Mu to him.

Li Mu saw that the youth's face was pale and that he did indeed resemble Meng Ling somewhat. It had to be him.

"Sis." Meng Qi accepted the letter Li Mu handed him. Before he had read more than two lines, tears streamed down his face.

After finishing the letter, he wiped away his tears hard, his gaze resolute. "Brother Li Mu, please tell my sister that I'm doing well. I just chose a different path and am no longer at the academy. Before long, I'll definitely go to Hidden Sword Manor and redeem her."

"Brother Li Mu, you saved my sister, and you're also Brother Zhou's good brother. I can never repay the kindness you two have shown me. If there's ever anything you need, just tell me."

Meng Qi was deeply grateful to both Li Mu and Zhou Dayuan, but he possessed nothing at the moment.

Moreover, after resisting the spoiled young masters who had bullied him at the academy, his limbs had been broken and he had been thrown into the river. He was still recovering and had no way to repay them at all.

Li Mu recalled how Meng Ling had gone to great lengths to learn that he needed a map, then spent the entire night drawing an excellent one and delivering it to him in time. Knowing that Meng Qi was the same kind of person—one who repaid debts and returned kindness—Li Mu admired him greatly.

"We can talk about that when the chance comes. For now, work well with Brother Zhou," Li Mu said. He had only delivered a letter as a favor and had never expected anything in return.

Meng Qi hesitated, then suddenly said, "I know of a place where superior medicinal treasures may grow, but it's extremely dangerous."

The time it would take to repay them was too long; otherwise, his words would sound empty. He decided to share this precious information with his two benefactors.

He had discovered it by accident when he was young, while following his father on a hunt. It was deep within a dense forest, rarely visited by anyone. They had only stumbled into it after getting lost, where they saw brilliant flowers blooming and bees and butterflies fluttering about.

At the time, Father Meng had exclaimed that they were precious medicinal treasures. Unfortunately, terrifying mutant beasts were clearly guarding the area. He had immediately left with Meng Qi, drawn out the route, and ordered Meng Qi to memorize it. Perhaps one day, it could be exchanged for a chance at fortune.

But as soon as Meng Qi entered the outer-city academy, he suffered brutal bullying and nearly lost his life. He felt that everyone around him was cold and callous, leaving him no opportunity at all.

"Medicinal treasures?" Li Mu and Zhou Dayuan both perked up.

Medicinal treasures were hard currency for martial artists. They could be exchanged for far too many things, and even if one had no use for them personally, there was no such thing as having too many.

When Meng Qi named the place, Zhou Dayuan frowned. "Poison Dragon Pool? That area is Firewood Gang territory. The Hunter Gang can't reach that far."

"Li Mu, don't rush over there either. The mutants there are countless times stronger than the Black Mountain Wolf King. At the very least, wait until you've broken through three gates before considering it."

"Since Meng Qi shared this information with you and me, I absolutely won't leak it."

Li Mu was at Hidden Sword Manor and had talent. Zhou Dayuan held great expectations for him. When Li Mu reached the crucial point of breaking through, Zhou Dayuan would not even mind lending him a hand.

Once Li Mu broke through three gates and brought them along, their chances would surely be much greater.

Li Mu agreed. After saying his farewells, he made a few more turns through two market wards before arriving at Celebration Ink Ward.

The black market was here.

Two tall, stern-faced martial artists in black stood at the entrance. One held a spear and the other a saber, and they looked like they worked together exceptionally well.

"Qi and blood just past the second gate... Martial artists of the second gate guarding the entrance. This black market has standards." Li Mu stepped forward and handed each of them one tael of silver. Even though he now carried a huge sum of ninety taels, it still pained him a little, but these were the rules. The two men would not keep all the money either; half of it had to be handed over.

Only after paying could one trade within the black market without encountering any trouble.

The black market had started bleeding people dry right from the entrance.

Celebration Ink Ward's black market.

Two rows of stalls displayed a dazzling variety of goods, while the surrounding crowd bustled with life and excitement.

"Now this is what a proper human marketplace looks like." For the first time, Li Mu felt that Azure River City was lively, filled with the warmth of people.

Men, women, old people, and children of every kind of dress and appearance passed by him constantly.

No one who dared enter the black market was ordinary.

Li Mu wandered from stall to stall and saw many strange items, but he did not ask about their prices.

He only had eighty-eight taels left. That was not much in the black market, so he had to spend his money where it mattered.

"Top-grade golden-thread soft armor, one hundred taels. Fixed price."

"Silkworm-silk soft armor, thirty taels."

"Bronze bracers, five taels..."

Li Mu glanced over them and restrained his urge to buy, because he had yet to see any sword manuals.

All the manuals he had encountered along the way were either incomplete copies or fakes. With Clear Sword Eyes, he could easily tell whether a sword manual was genuine, complete, and suitable for cultivation.

Even a copied version would do, so long as it was complete. Li Mu could grasp its fundamentals and cultivate it to the pinnacle.

But those merchants were too unscrupulous. There would always be missing pages at crucial points, clearly withheld on purpose to cheat buyers.

Li Mu walked for a long time and had nearly lost hope...

After making a full circuit of the black market, he found manuals for great sabers, twin sabers, horse-chopping sabers, broad sabers... There were countless saber manuals.

Next came fist and palm techniques, leg and foot techniques, and then other martial arts.

Only sword manuals were scarce, and nearly all of them were incomplete.

It was said that the Sword Canon Tower of Hidden Sword Manor held eight thousand sword manuals. Li Mu suspected that all the complete original sword manuals had been gathered there, leaving none even in the black market.

Setting up a stall and buying them in bulk was another option, but it was not nearly as convenient and would bring plenty of trouble. First, he would need to submit a request to Leng Shuangyu for leave, then travel here, then hawk his offer and wait in the black market. Just thinking about it was exhausting...

It seemed he still needed to become a formal disciple as soon as possible and obtain permission to borrow the sword manuals from the Sword Canon Tower.

Suddenly, Li Mu stopped before the stall of a white-haired old man.

The old man looked forlorn, as though he had weathered countless hardships and grown weary with age. He merely lifted his eyelids at Li Mu.

"Look around."

The old man waved a hand. Every item on the stall was marked with a price.

"These are all secret collections I've gathered, cultivated, and appraised throughout my life."

"None are expensive. I only want to find my son a wife, trade for a new house, and save a little for my coffin. Take a look, young sir..."

The old man rambled on, but it did not affect Li Mu's mood in the slightest.

That was because two dazzling glows had appeared on the stall—one green and one white. They were two complete, genuine sword manuals!

He had finally found the real thing.

Li Mu looked first at the green-grade sword manual.

[Flowing Shadow, Pursuing Wind Sword, talent requirement for entry: 70.0 (green)]

[Talent requirement met. Reading it will reveal the essentials of entry.]

The old man said, "This is a secret manual passed down through my family. Its sword techniques are not very powerful, but it is exceptionally effective at tempering movement techniques. Even if you've already opened the acupoints in both legs, it can still further increase your speed."

"This sword technique can temper movement techniques." Li Mu's eyes brightened slightly. Naturally, the faster his movement technique, the better.

Others might consider such a sword technique too weak and not worth spending their effort on, but he possessed the Great Expansion Sword Register. As long as he kept increasing his talent, his cultivation speed would continue to rise. The more techniques he cultivated, the faster he would cultivate!

The more sword techniques of this sort he could get, the better.

He had originally only wanted to find some ordinary sword manuals, master and record them quickly, extract sword qi, and speed up his qi and blood's breakthrough. He had not expected such an unexpected gain.

"Forty taels..." Seeing the price, Li Mu felt it was expensive.

Its entry requirement was as high as seventy talent points. Even formal disciples of Hidden Sword Manor, such as Leng Shuangyu and Ye Wanqing, might not be able to comprehend it. Its power was not even as strong as the Water-Questioning Sword Manual, so they would only cast it aside like worn-out shoes.

No wonder it had remained here unsold.

If the old man had not treasured this manual so much and refused to let people browse it carefully, Li Mu could have finished reading it on the spot and left.

"A copied version without my notes and insights, four taels." Seeing Li Mu hesitate, the old man pulled out a copied manual from a black burlap sack behind him. "Young man, let me remind you: my sword technique is extremely difficult to master. Without my insights, you may spend half your life pondering it and still fail to understand it..."

"The copied version will do." Seeing green light emerge from the copied manual, Li Mu ignored the old man's rambling and sighs. With the aid of Clear Sword Eyes, he needed no guidance whatsoever.

Yet the other nameless sword manual emitted a white glow tinged with yellow, but no information appeared.