Sword Embryo

Lin Yi followed the flow of people through twist after turn and finally found the "Trading Cultivation Methods" stall in the southeast corner of the open ground.

One glance was enough for him to sense that something was wrong.

This stall was completely unlike the bustling trading atmosphere around it.

Quite a few people gathered beneath the wooden shelter, but rather than buyers, they were more like spectators enjoying the show. The few people behind the stall wore ragged beast-hide clothes and bore injuries of varying severity. Some had blood-seeping bandages wrapped around their forearms, while others still had unhealed scabs on their faces.

Several half-grown children crouched at the very back of the crowd, huddled together with timid eyes. Two elderly women leaned against the wooden posts of the shelter with their eyes closed, their faces waxy yellow.

There was nothing worthwhile on the entire stall. A few rolls of beast hide were piled in a corner, two chipped stone axes leaned crookedly against a wooden stake, and all that remained were several tattered beast-hide blankets spread across the ground. Rather than a stall, it looked more like a temporary resting place for refugees.

Lin Yi had already come to a conclusion. They had not come to the Trade Gathering to trade. They had come as refugees.

Seeing more and more onlookers gather before the stall, an elderly tribesman struggled to his feet, cleared his throat, and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"I believe everyone can see it... our tribe was attacked by a high-ranking Ferocious Beast that wandered out from the depths of the Great Wilderness. More than half of the entire tribe was destroyed. Only people like us managed to escape."

He coughed several times, pressed a hand to his chest, and only continued after catching his breath.

"The cultivation method is the Blood-Transfusion Method passed down through generations of our tribe. What we lack now is food and supplies. Whoever wants the cultivation method can exchange these things for it."

A low buzz of discussion rose from the crowd.

"A Blood-Transfusion Method? Is it complete, or just a fragment?"

"A complete inheritance," the elder answered, bitterness in his tone. "The tribe is gone anyway... there is no use keeping it."

Lin Yi soon learned the price they were asking.

No less than a thousand jin of Tidal Surge Realm Ferocious Beast meat, plus one hundred Ferocious Beast hides of decent quality.

He silently did the math. The demand was not high. A complete inherited Blood-Transfusion Method was already considered a household's most prized possession in the small tribes along the edge of the Great Wilderness. Even if they asked for ten thousand jin of meat, people would still scramble for it.

Yet they were only asking for one thousand jin. It was clear they wanted to sell several copies in exchange for more supplies.

The Blood-Transfusion Method itself held limited appeal for Lin Yi. He had the Savage Bull Art, and the path he had forged for himself suited him better than any inherited method.

However, something inconspicuous in the corner made his gaze linger for several extra breaths.

A Sword Embryo.

It had simply been tossed onto a pile of dry grass at the deepest end of the wooden shelter. The blade bore no decoration whatsoever. It was four chi and two cun long, its rough outline vaguely resembling a longsword, its entire body dull and lightless.

There was not even any cord wrapped around the hilt. It looked like nothing more than a crude iron rod. At first glance, it was just a rough iron blank that had not yet been polished into shape, the sort no one would even bend down to pick up if it were tossed by the roadside.

But what Lin Yi saw through his Spirit Eyes differed from what others saw.

Deep within the dull iron of the Sword Embryo, fragmented Divine Markings had been carved.

The patterns were fine and orderly, clearly the work of someone with exceptional craftsmanship. Yet what made Lin Yi frown was how severely those Divine Markings had been broken.

They were not traces of aging from natural wear. Rather, sections had been forcibly erased, one after another, leaving them broken and disconnected. It was as though someone had deliberately snapped a complete pattern in the middle, wiping away its vital connecting sections and leaving behind a pile of remnants that could no longer join together.

"This... was something deliberately crippled?" Lin Yi pondered inwardly.

Though those Divine Markings were incomplete, the remaining structure suggested that the original complete pattern must have been remarkably intricate.

Moreover, the method used to erase them was unusual. They had not all been wiped away at once. Most had deliberately been left intact, with only the crucial nodes severed.

It was like tearing dozens of holes through the middle of a complete painting. Though every fragment remained, it could never be pieced back together again.

Lin Yi did not dare stare for too long. He withdrew the lingering power of his Spirit Eyes, his expression remaining perfectly calm.

He did not rashly step forward to ask about the Sword Embryo. These people were clearly struggling to survive, not doing business. If he went up and asked, "What will you trade this piece of junk for?" they would either become far more guarded or jack up the price on the spot. Either way, it would ruin things.

The best way was to let them toss it in "incidentally" themselves.

With an idea in mind, Lin Yi turned and squeezed out of the crowd, hurrying toward the Bluestone Tribe's stall.

"Village Chief!" he called before he even arrived.

The village chief was standing behind the stall with Mang, counting the supplies they had received from selling several Bluemane Horses.

Five or six Bluemane Horses tied up nearby had already changed owners, while more than ten remained where they were, snorting through their noses. Lin Yi hurried over and quickly explained the situation.

"There's a tribe that was more than half wiped out by a Ferocious Beast. They're selling an inherited Blood-Transfusion Method for one thousand jin of Tidal Surge Realm Ferocious Beast meat and one hundred hides. What we got from selling horses should be enough."

The moment the village chief heard the words "inherited Blood-Transfusion Method," his eyes changed. "Come. Let's take a look."

Along the way, Lin Yi relayed the important parts of what he had observed: the tribe's miserable state, the elderly and children, their injuries, and the elder who was probably in charge.

At the end, he lowered his voice and added, "There's also a Sword Embryo in the corner of their stall. It should be something good. It looks like a crude iron blank on the outside, but I saw Divine Markings carved inside it."

The village chief's steps paused. He turned his head and glanced at him. "You're sure, boy?"

"Ninety percent," Lin Yi said, patting his chest. "If it were just an ordinary sword blank, no one would carve such delicate patterns into it."

The village chief did not ask further questions and merely nodded.

By the time the two reached that stall, more than half the onlookers had dispersed. Most had only come to watch the excitement, after all. There were not many tribes truly capable of producing a thousand jin of Tidal Surge Realm Ferocious Beast meat.

The elder was still standing there, his dim eyes watching the thinning crowd.

The village chief pushed aside several people and stepped forward. He cupped his hands in greeting, his tone steady as he first brought up the matter of the cultivation method.

After exchanging a few words, he smoothly guided the conversation toward the other party's plight. His concern sounded genuine but not deliberate, every measure perfectly judged.

When the elder spoke of the tribe's disaster and how only the old and young had escaped, the village chief sighed and said, "Making a living in the Great Wilderness is never easy."

The elder's eyes visibly reddened.

The village chief then had Mang bring out a batch of Ferocious Beast meat and hides from behind them.

The amount exceeded what the other side had requested. Seeing the supplies piled before him like a small mountain, the elder repeatedly waved his hands, saying it was too much, far too much, and that he could not accept it.

The village chief comforted him with a few words. "No one has it easy. If we can lend a hand, then we should lend one."

Unable to refuse any longer, the elder finally accepted the supplies with reddened eyes.

Only then did the village chief seem to recall something and casually mention it.

"By the way, I see you have some miscellaneous items on your stall. They'll only weigh you down on the road. If you don't mind, I'll use some of these supplies to trade for things you no longer need, so you won't have to waste effort carrying them."

Still immersed in gratitude and embarrassment, the elder had no mind to think further. He repeatedly said, "Please take whatever you see fit. That junk was never worth anything anyway."

The village chief picked up two pieces of Bone-Shard Ore from the pile of dry grass, then casually lifted the Sword Embryo as well and handed them to Lin Yi behind him.

The entire process flowed like drifting clouds and running water, taking no more than a quarter of an hour from beginning to end.

Lin Yi carried the heavy Sword Embryo as he followed the village chief back toward their own stall, and he still had not fully recovered his senses.

"Damn, Village Chief, you're incredible," he said in a low voice, his tone filled with admiration.

Without even turning his head, the village chief leisurely tossed back, "First, talk about trading for the cultivation method. Then show concern for their situation. Give them extra supplies until they feel embarrassed.

"Once people feel embarrassed, they become easier to talk to. They'll think I was giving them a way out, using the excuse of taking junk to give them more supplies."

Lin Yi gave him a thumbs-up. "The old man's tricks run deep."