County City Bookstore

That Manager Wang had been generous indeed. Not only did he buy all thirty-one remaining salted fish, he also bought the salted chickens, salted ducks, and geese in one bundle. In the end, Zhou Ye received another six taels of silver.

He had never expected "salted fish" to be in such demand. The town market had only just opened, yet all the goods he had brought had already sold out?

At that moment, a new idea suddenly sprang into Zhou Ye's mind—why not visit the county city? It was still early, and he could definitely make it there today. He could also make a trip to the county city's bookstore.

At the thought, Zhou Ye's heart grew hot. He looked around and found that quite a few people here also carried various weapons. It seemed his attire was not particularly conspicuous; there truly were many people here who ventured into the mountains.

Besides, he already had more than forty taels of silver on him, along with a fifty-tael banknote. No matter what, it would surely be enough to buy a few medical books.

Once he had made up his mind, Zhou Ye acted at once. He first went to the blacksmith's shop and sold off all the hatchets and chopping knives he had brought, gaining another three-odd taels of silver. Then he hurried toward the county city...

By the time Zhou Ye arrived at the county city, an hour had already passed. Gazing from afar at its towering walls, he was still shaken by the sight.

Yet when he drew closer, Zhou Ye discovered that a great many houses had also been built outside the city walls, with many residents living there as well.

However, those houses were ramshackle, and the people around them wore equally tattered clothes. Clearly, the residents outside the city walls were poor folk. Their circumstances could not have been very good.

Setting those residents aside for now, when Zhou Ye passed through the residential district beyond the walls and entered the city gate passage, the soldiers guarding the gate merely gave him a glance. Seeing that Zhou Ye carried no goods, they lazily paid him no further attention.

After entering the city, Zhou Ye asked a passerby and quickly found the largest bookstore nearby...

When Zhou Ye entered the bookstore, a clerk came forward to greet him. "Honored guest, what book would you like to buy? This humble one can recommend something for you."

"Do you have any medical books here?"

"Medical books?" The clerk was visibly taken aback, since such books were simply too obscure. "Honored guest, please wait a moment. This humble one will ask the shopkeeper."

Before long, a man dressed as a shopkeeper came over. "Honored guest, we do indeed have the medical books you mentioned. But which kind do you need? They are not displayed in the shop; they are all kept in the storeroom behind."

"Sorry to trouble you. Could you introduce them to me?"

"That is no trouble. The medical books we have include..."

"..."

After listening to the shopkeeper's introduction and asking a few more questions, Zhou Ye ultimately decided to buy a set of the Pharmacopoeia Compendium.

In truth, Zhou Ye had no interest in studying medicine at all. Those medical reference books meant to aid diagnosis and treatment were of no use to him. The Pharmacopoeia Compendium, on the other hand, would surely earn quite a bit of experience for his Basic Poison Technique.

The set of Pharmacopoeia Compendium consisted of four volumes, and its price was astonishingly high—twenty-four taels for one set. After much haggling, he finally paid twenty-two taels.

Zhou Ye could not help sighing. Any kind of knowledge here seemed particularly expensive; it truly was not something ordinary people could afford.

After carefully wrapping up the books, Zhou Ye was about to leave when the shopkeeper asked with a smile, "Honored guest, judging by your attire, you must be a lover of martial arts, yes? This little shop also has several martial skill books. Would you be interested?"

"Oh?"

"This way, please. Those relatively precious martial skill books are kept in the inner hall. Hehe."

To be honest, any martial skill books that could be bought in a bookstore were surely common goods. Besides, Zhou Ye had too many shortcomings, and there were many proper martial skills he could not cultivate anyway. Still, he intended to take a look; at the very least, it would broaden his horizons.

As he walked toward the inner hall, Zhou Ye asked the accompanying shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, do you sell cultivation methods here?"

"You jest. Cultivation methods are the closely guarded secrets of the imperial court, sects, aristocratic families, and martial halls. Not only does this little shop not have them, no bookstore in the entire city would."

"Then if one wishes to learn cultivation methods, one can only go to a martial hall?"

"Precisely. You can also enlist in the army. If you earn military merit, the imperial court will grant rewards as well. As for aristocratic families, you should know that they only pass such things down to members of their own clans. Sects have even stricter requirements for accepting disciples. Unless one is a heaven-blessed genius, it is difficult for others to obtain such an opportunity..."

From the shopkeeper's explanation, Zhou Ye learned that given his status, if he wanted to learn cultivation methods, his only possibilities were enlisting in the army or joining a martial hall.

Enlisting was out of the question—it was a nine-deaths-and-one-life path. The tuition fees at martial halls were especially expensive, requiring three to five taels of silver every month. Moreover, payment had to be made for six months upfront, meaning he would have to fork out twenty or thirty taels in one go.

There was also the classification of martial artists' realms—Force Entry, Bright Force, Dark Force, and Transformation Force. As for higher levels, this shopkeeper did not know.

Furthermore, after taking up martial arts, one needed large amounts of meat every month to replenish one's qi and blood, and even costly pills to aid cultivation. As the saying went, the poor studied literature while the rich practiced martial arts; the expense was even more staggering.

However, the Force Entry stage was merely the foundation of a martial artist. One had not truly stepped beyond the bounds of ordinary people. If one encountered an ordinary person with outstanding martial skills, the difference between them was not actually that great.

In contrast, once one entered the Bright Force stage, it was like shedding one's mortal body and exchanging one's bones. Ordinary people simply could not contend with them.

Thus, among the common folk, people could use titles loosely. Anyone who had entered Force could respectfully be called Martial Master. But within martial circles, the standards were far stricter. Only after stepping into Bright Force could one be called a Martial Master.

Perhaps everything this shopkeeper said was true. Or perhaps he was merely singing his own praises in hopes of selling a few more martial skill books.

Zhou Ye smiled faintly and gave no opinion. Soon, they arrived at the inner hall, where he found more than twenty martial skill books.

Interestingly, Zhou Ye spotted the Ten Military Saber Forms at a glance. It was also the cheapest, costing only twenty taels. The other martial skill books were basically priced between thirty and fifty taels.

"Shopkeeper, could these all be third-rate martial skills?" Zhou Ye asked tentatively.

"You jest. Second-rate ones can only be found at auctions. As for first-rate ones... this humble one is ignorant and poorly informed; I have never even heard of them."

All right! That was within Zhou Ye's expectations. He could not possibly stumble upon a bargain and buy first- or second-rate martial skills at a bookstore like this, could he?

Yet as he browsed through them one by one, Zhou Ye began to hesitate.

To be honest, cultivating martial skills truly cost a great deal. It was tens of taels of silver at the drop of a hat. But Zhou Ye did not care in the slightest; whether the mountains or the great river, both were places where he could pick up money for free.

Besides, having so much silver on him was of little use anyway. Even if he could not cultivate these martial skills for the time being, perhaps once he passed this village, there would be no such shop ahead?

He might as well exchange all his silver for martial skill books. At least his future cultivation would then be guaranteed!