Manuals and Silver

Lin Feng suddenly remembered the day he had gone looking for Wang Shanxiong.

Wang Shanxiong had been in the courtyard.

Judging by the sound, he should have been sitting beside the stone table.

The stone table had a large round slab on top, supported underneath by a square stone pedestal.

This stone table counted as high-end furniture. On closer inspection, it seemed utterly out of place in this dilapidated courtyard.

Lin Feng lifted the large stone slab from the table and set it aside.

Then a smile appeared on Lin Feng's face.

There was a recess in the stone pedestal beneath the table.

Inside the recess lay a manual, with three large vertical characters written on its cover: "Golden Bell Shield."

Mr. Hong had told him that the Golden Bell Shield was an extremely formidable Hard Gong. It belonged to the force of pure yang, while also possessing the force to strengthen the body from within. It was considered one of the most important arts among the seventy-two hard skills.

This martial art was exceedingly difficult to practice, but once mastered, it could bring one to the realm of Iron Skin across the entire body. Not only would one fear no ordinary blades or spears, one would also be immune to water, fire, and poison.

The highest realm of skin refinement was the Copper Skin Realm.

To reach the Copper Skin Realm, one either had to be born with exceptional talent or master several Hard Gongs.

Hard Gongs were harder to practice than ordinary martial arts. Few people were willing to go through the trouble—not because they did not want to, but because it simply was not worth it.

Just think about it: by the time one had painstakingly mastered several Hard Gongs and reached the Copper Skin Realm—

Those whose talent was roughly equal to one's own might already have entered the Bone Refining Realm, their strength enough to crush one completely.

When Lin Feng had first met Wang Shanxiong, he had not yet known the Golden Bell Shield.

After Wang Shanxiong had vanished for more than half a month and returned, the martial skills section of his status panel had gained the Golden Bell Shield, though he had not yet gotten started with it.

He must have acquired the Golden Bell Shield after going out.

Lin Feng had no idea where Wang Shanxiong had obtained this manual. In the future, he would have to find some channels for buying Martial Arts Manuals as well.

Lin Feng picked up the Golden Bell Shield, revealing gleaming white silver beneath it.

Lin Feng felt it was a bit of a pity. Wang Shanxiong knew so many martial arts, yet he had only found this one Golden Bell Shield manual.

And it was even a martial art Wang Shanxiong had only recently begun learning.

Disciples of certain sects generally did not carry manuals on them.

Just as Mr. Hong had taught him swordsmanship, it was all passed down through word and deed.

These martial arts were all recorded in manuals, which were generally kept in the Scripture Pavilions of the various sects.

If only he could stay in some sect's Scripture Pavilion for two days. In two days, he could memorize quite a lot of Martial Arts Manuals.

Still, martial arts valued mastery over quantity.

He only had one Breakthrough Point per day. It looked as though they accumulated quickly, but the total was actually limited—only three hundred and sixty-five points in a year.

He could not waste Breakthrough Points on low-level martial arts.

He first flipped quickly through the Golden Bell Shield once.

After reading it, Lin Feng checked his status panel.

The martial skills section had gained the Golden Bell Shield.

Golden Bell Shield (Inferior) (Not Started)

Now he finally had a martial art to practice.

It might take several months to practice all the martial arts he knew to perfection. That felt like rather a long time.

But when Lin Feng thought about how others might spend an entire lifetime without necessarily bringing these martial arts to perfection, it no longer felt long.

Lin Feng tucked the Golden Bell Shield manual into his clothes and began counting the silver beneath it.

He found ten Silver Ingots in all, along with some loose silver.

One Silver Ingot was worth roughly fifty taels, so ten Silver Ingots came to five hundred taels.

The loose silver amounted to another thirty or fifty taels.

If exchanged for grain, this silver would be enough to feed the entire family for a lifetime.

But once people had money, their standard of spending would rise too. They could surely still spend it all.

Five hundred taels of silver could buy a small house in the County Town.

Many wealthy households in town spent several hundred taels to buy a small house in the County Town so their children could attend private schools there and learn to read.

A courtyard house in the County Town cost around two thousand taels, something ordinary wealthy households simply could not afford.

So these wealthy households could only grit their teeth and buy smaller homes.

There were also people in the County Town who rented out houses.

But the private schools in the county only admitted residents of the County Town. Renting a house was useless.

Lin Feng found a cloth bundle and wrapped up the silver.

He then pushed over the stone pedestal and inspected it carefully. He found nothing else of value.

He restored the stone table to its original state.

Wang Shanxiong really knew how to hide things. Who would have thought he would stash valuable items right in the courtyard?

And the stone table was heavy enough that ordinary people could not move it at all, making it impossible for them to take the silver and manual hidden inside.

With this experience of finding a manual, Lin Feng guessed that Wang Shanxiong's house might have other hidden compartments.

He tapped on every spot in Wang Shanxiong's house that he could tap.

Sure enough, he discovered a hidden compartment in the wall of the main room.

He pried open the wall and found a Steel Saber hidden inside.

The moment Lin Feng held the Steel Saber, he knew it was no ordinary weapon.

The Steel Saber was of ordinary size, but it was remarkably heavy in his hand. Its material was certainly extraordinary.

The surface of the Steel Saber was not bright. It bore dark, lustrous patterns left from its forging, while its edge shimmered with a cold gleam.

Lin Feng plucked out a strand of hair, placed it on the blade, and gave a gentle puff. The hair broke cleanly into two.

This was a Precious Saber.

Anything Wang Shanxiong had taken such care to hide was indeed extraordinary.

Unfortunately, he only knew swordsmanship at the moment, not saber techniques.

But that was fine. He would keep it for now. Sooner or later, he would learn saber techniques.

Lin Feng searched for a while longer, not leaving with these things until night had fallen.

He took advantage of his family's inattention to bundle them up and bury them in his own courtyard.

The injuries on his body had already healed.

Lin Feng planned to enter the city tomorrow and take Wang Shanxiong's head to collect the reward silver.

That night, as he slept, Lin Feng kept thinking about how he should spend so much silver.

He could not keep using a wooden sword to practice swordsmanship.

He definitely had to buy an iron sword to use first.

There was no need to buy an overly good sword.

Yue'e had said that when disciples took on a master, their master would give them a small gift as a first meeting present, usually a weapon that suited them.

Once he became Mr. Hong's disciple, Mr. Hong should give him a precious sword, right?

After entering the city tomorrow, he also needed to buy a better set of clothes. At the very least, he had to look like someone from the martial world.

If a poor hunter like him took Wang Shanxiong's head to claim the reward, would the yamen not make him hand it over for nothing?

That really was possible. They might just write him a little certificate of merit and send him away.

He definitely had to dress himself up properly.

He would buy a Strong Suit, wear a bamboo hat, and carry a long sword on his back.

Once he wore that outfit, he would look like a chivalrous wanderer roaming the martial world. Who would dare look down on him then?

That was settled.

Thinking and thinking, Lin Feng drifted into sleep.

In his dream, after receiving the reward silver, he was hunted down by a group of men in black. In the end, he lost not only the silver but his life as well.

The dream startled Lin Feng awake. When he opened his eyes, he discovered that dawn had already come.