Chapter 25: Fragment of a Cultivation Technique_1

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He appeared extremely patient, carefully reviewing each introduction.

Lacking sufficient silver money, he certainly needed to put in more effort to select, striving to get the job done with the least amount of silver money.

Barbarian Bull Technique: After cultivation, one could possess immense strength, having the force of a thousand catties.

A thousand catties of force was actually only equivalent to the Fivefold Mortal Realm.

No wonder this cultivation technique was only selling for two silver money.

However, for ordinary peasants, cultivating this technique could have certain benefits. When farming, one could directly use oneself as a beast of burden.

Iron Cloth Technique: A horizontal cultivation technique, after practice, one's defensive ability greatly increases, equivalent to wearing a suit of iron armor.

...

He looked them over one by one, but had not yet found a cultivation technique that met his expectations.

Indeed, you get what you pay for; it's impossible to get good quality for a cheap price.

When he reached the end of the bookshelf, an ancient scroll made of beast skin lay quietly under a glass dome.

His eyes instantly brightened.

The cultivation techniques on the bottom shelf were basically made of paper, with the occasional bamboo scroll being a rarity.

This beast skin scroll at first glance was clearly an antique.

He unconsciously looked at the price, only five silver money.

Cheap goods aren't good quality; that's the basic rule of the market.

This beast skin scroll appeared exceptional in quality, full of historical charm, but with such a low price tag, there must be a catch.

Qin Niu still decided to examine it closely.

Everlasting Spring Technique: A life-nurturing technique, after practice, it can nourish the vital energy, warm the spirit, and prolong one's life. This technique is not suitable for combat, incomplete scroll.

Damn!

No wonder it was so cheap.

Who doesn't practice with the goal of becoming a powerhouse, fighting against the heavens and earth, dominating in all directions? What use is a technique that doesn't allow you to fight or beat others?

While others practiced to strive for power and plunder, Qin Niu aimed only for longevity.

He didn't like fighting and killing.

He preferred a leisurely pastoral life more.

Farming, raising pets, cultivating—this was the life he aspired to.

This Everlasting Spring Technique was very much to his liking, and the price was quite suitable as well.

The only flaw was that it was only an incomplete scroll.

"Attendant Student, could you come over for a moment!"

Qin Niu was mimicking that young noble he had heard speak.

Being polite and courteous outside was quite necessary.

At least one wouldn't get beaten for saying the wrong thing.

"Are you looking to buy this Everlasting Spring Technique?"

The Attendant Student might just be a worker in the cultivation technique shop, but he wore a gray long gown and bore the emblem of Yan Ruohai on his chest; it was a prestigious job.

Much better than being a farming peasant.

The work was easy, nine to five, with an income probably around five silver money per year.

And there was some room for advancement.

Every time new stock came into the cultivation technique shop, the internal staff had the opportunity to get the best deals. Those cheap quality techniques were definitely scooped up by them first.

"This is just an incomplete scroll, can it be a little less?"

Qin Niu wanted to bargain a bit.

"Sorry, all of Yan Ruohai's cultivation techniques are fixed price. Just now, a young master bought an upper-grade technique for five thousand silver money, and not a penny less."

The Attendant Student's demeanor was neither humble nor arrogant.

"Could you take it out so I can look at the contents? Just a brief look at one or two pages would be fine."

Qin Niu feared buying a worthless cultivation technique, as five silver money was a huge sum for him.

The Attendant Student's face twitched for a moment.

"Sorry, all cultivation techniques and scrolls in our shop do not support opening and examining before purchase. Once you've paid, you can look at it however you want. Moreover, our Yan Ruohai's business has been a distinguished establishment in Black Tiger City's Cultivation Market for five hundred years, operating with integrity. The introduction states precisely what the technique is like."

After the Attendant Student finished explaining, he didn't hurry Qin Niu but waited patiently nearby for him to make a decision.

Yan Ruohai's business thrived so well that, apart from other strengths, just the customer service alone was commendable.

Even if a customer bought only the worst cultivation technique, they were still treated with great respect.

It had to be so.

Because no one knew to what heights a customer buying cultivation techniques or martial skills might grow.

There were not a few examples of people who started with the worst cultivation techniques and reached great success step by step.

It's said that the Black Tiger Gang had a vice Gang Leader called Bai Xuezhu, who started his practice with the lowest-grade Iron Cloth Technique and has now become the strongest expert in the Black Tiger Gang's horizontal cultivation techniques.

He made countless great achievements in expanding the territory for the Black Tiger Gang. Offending such a person would cost more than ten cultivation technique shops could cover.

After hesitating for a moment, Qin Niu decided to buy the scroll.

He didn't have high expectations to start with, prepared to buy some garbage cultivation technique suitable for himself to practice with.

Now, this Everlasting Spring Technique looked to be of a quality that deserved to be placed on the second tier of the shelf at the very least.

Its value was greatly reduced mainly because it was an incomplete scroll.

Then, coupled with the fact that it was a technique unsuitable for cultivation, its market appeal dropped even further.

"This one, take it out please!"

Qin Niu turned and headed straight to the counter.

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Many people were buying cultivation technique manuals and queuing to check out.

The territory controlled by the Black Tiger Gang was at least over 5,000 square kilometers, with a population exceeding one million. The actual number could well be over one and a half million.

There were too many wealthy and powerful people in this region.

There were also many young people like Qin Niu, who wanted to advance, worked to save some money, and came to buy cultivation technique manuals in hopes of becoming stronger.

Martial skills, beast taming, insect control, and planting techniques did not require registration, only cultivation techniques did.

Qin Niu was directed to counter number two to pay the fee.

"Please have your waist token ready."

The attendant student reminded him.

The waist token was akin to a modern-day identity card, made from a piece of bamboo and engraved with Qin Niu's household registration information. Citizens under the jurisdiction of the Black Tiger Gang would all have the image of a lifelike Black Tiger on the back of their waist tokens.

Don't think that it was just a Black Tiger design, but it was very hard to forge.

Moreover, those who were caught using a forged waist token faced at least being thrown into the dungeons of the Black Jail for trial. In serious cases, they could even be executed on the spot by the officials.

Ordinary citizens wore waist tokens. Even if someone like Yan Ruohai who owned vast tracts of land did not have another identity, he would also only receive a waist token made from a piece of bamboo.

But the tokens worn by officials were made from metal Fish Talismans.

Since iron was prone to rusting, they were mostly made of brass.

Higher-grade Fish Talismans were made from silver or gold. The lowest grade of Fish Talisman was made from a type of ironwood.

It looked like black iron, heavy and hard, but was actually made of wood, not iron.

People like prospective beast tamers, prospective insect masters, high-level farmers, and those who passed junior official exams had waist tokens that were made from ironwood Fish Talismans.

In this world, the status of merchants was very low.

Even if they made a fortune, they remained mere civilians.

Qin Niu took out his waist token with five taels of silver money and patiently queued.

Shortly after, it was his turn.

A specialized scribe took his waist token, verified its authenticity, and then began the registration. The time and the cultivation technique he bought were recorded clearly.

Only the price was not recorded.

This should be to avoid taxes.

Since the registry was to be submitted to the government for record-keeping, the cultivation technique store was undoubtedly afraid of being audited!

In the registration they played a little trick, not recording the sale prices of the cultivation techniques.

After Qin Niu paid, the Everlasting Spring Technique manual belonged to him.

"You can practice the cultivation technique on your own or loan it to others, but you must not copy it for sale. Otherwise, according to Black Tiger Gang's law, you will be subjected to severe punishment,"

the attendant student reminded him.

Copying it for personal use was not a problem. But selling it to others was against the law.

In fact, for safety reasons, no one was willing to lend their cultivation techniques to others.

Except in the case of father to son.

By sharing a cultivation technique with another, one might also inadvertently reveal its weaknesses to an enemy, which was an extremely foolish thing to do.

A father's love for his son is often selfless and great.

Rebellious children who would turn against their fathers were very rare, so it was quite common for fathers to pass techniques to sons.

Many families' cultivation techniques were passed down from generation to generation.

To prevent leakage of cultivation techniques, it was usual to pass them only to sons and not to daughters.

Because a daughter would marry and could eventually pass the technique to her husband or sons, resulting in the technique being leaked.

After buying the Everlasting Spring Technique, Qin Niu did not check it on the spot.

Instead, he put it away securely on his person.

With the cultivation technique matter settled, he now needed to focus on three things: insect control technique, weapons, and low-grade Contract Charms.

He wanted to buy a chopping knife made from Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel, which could be used both for battling enemies and hunting, as well as for chopping wood. The price of a piece of Hundred-Tempering Black Armor was as high as five hundred taels of silver money, so he guessed that a Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel weapon would require at least a hundred taels.

With only twenty taels left on him, buying a Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel weapon seemed difficult.

After a moment's thought, Qin Niu decided to buy what was most urgently needed and crucial first.

The Insect Control Technique was a must-buy.

Having obtained a nest of termites, he was still almost clueless about how to cultivate them.

For instance, after feeding them bear blood yesterday, some of the termites that consumed the bear blood evolved into powerful Worker Ants and Soldier Ants, indicating that bear blood could induce their evolution.

If he could learn systematically and master the knowledge of breeding insects, he would be able to evolve the termites faster and better.

Arriving at the bookshelf with Insect Control Books, Qin Niu began searching for the content he needed.

He searched everywhere but couldn't find any books on termite breeding.

Most popular were the breeding and taming techniques for Coleoptera, spiders, scorpions, and centipedes.

Raising a poisonous insect was intended mainly for combat.

By releasing a venomous insect to bite an enemy, it could instantly incapacitate the enemy or even kill them outright.

Qin Niu had limited funds, and though he wanted the Insect Control Books, he had to buy what was immediately necessary.

"It seems like only this 'Green Demon Bee Raising' manual fits the bill,"

he paused in front of a scroll of Insect Control Technique.

Bees and ants have certain commonalities. If he learned it well, he could consider raising a nest of bees later on.

That way, he would have creatures crawling on the ground and flying in the sky.

It would greatly enhance his combat capabilities.

Is Green Demon someone's nickname?

Qin Niu felt that this Bee Raising manual had a somewhat sinister air about it.