Chapter 144: Cultivating a Tranquil Mind

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“Boss Yu, I came this time because I want to buy a manual for Eight Extremes Fist. Do you happen to have one?”

Wan stated his intention outright, and Yu Yue understood at once.

“As it happens, I acquired an Eight Extremes Fist manual yesterday.”

With that, Yu Yue reached into his ring and took out an old book, placing it on the table.

I examined it carefully. The cover had yellowed with age and appeared to be made of leather. Several large, blurry characters were written across it:

“Eight Extremes Fist.”

I picked up the book and flipped through it. The techniques at the beginning were indeed quite similar to those Second Uncle had taught me, though they gradually began to differ later on.

Rather than merely being different, the latter half contained far more techniques designed to kill.

I turned a few more pages. Sure enough, there were many moves I had never encountered before. It certainly did not look like a pirated copy.

Moreover, the book contained no writing at all—only illustrations.

“All right, I’ll take this one.”

After I spoke, Yu Yue promptly held up three fingers.

“Three hundred thousand?”

“That’s right!”

I had actually guessed correctly. Besides, it was only a martial arts manual; surely it could not be too expensive.

“Fine. I’ll pay by card.”

Yu Yue did not waste any time. He took a card reader from his ring, and after I swiped my card, three hundred thousand vanished from my account in an instant.

I patted Chen Chen beside me, signaling that it was his turn to speak.

“I’d like to sell some ordinary healing pills.”

Though such pills were common in the cultivation world, they were exceedingly rare in the mortal world.

For an ordinary person, consuming a pill from the cultivation world was scarcely different from coming back from the dead. Some could even restore youth. And no matter how wealthy one was, they were impossible to buy.

Yu Yue reached into his ring and rummaged around for a long while before finally taking out several bottles.

One was blue, one white, and one red.

“The blue bottle contains the pills you asked for—ordinary healing pills.”

“The white and red bottles are gifts. The white one contains Spirit-Fixing Pills, while the red one contains Life-Restoring Pills.”

“As the name suggests, you can consume one Spirit-Fixing Pill each time your cultivation advances by a rank. They are extremely effective for stabilizing your cultivation.”

“As for the Life-Restoring Pills, they are lifesaving medicine. Take one in a moment of crisis, and it will keep you from dying.”

I looked at the bottles. There were about ten pills in the blue bottle, while the white and red bottles each contained only one.

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Since they had been given to us, there was nothing more we could say.

“I’ll give you the lowest price: fifty thousand per pill, or five hundred thousand for ten.”

I had never expected these pills to be so expensive. Once again, they had completely overturned my understanding of the world.

This time, Chen Chen had brought enough money, and he paid by card without hesitation.

“By the way, Boss Yu, I have a few more things to sell.”

Yu Yue had just finished collecting the payment and was in an excellent mood. When he heard that I wanted to sell something else, he froze for a moment before speaking.

“You always bring me a different surprise every time you come.”

I shrugged and tossed him the ring filled with violet crystals. He picked it up, took one look inside, and was completely stunned.

He casually removed a violet crystal and placed it gently on the table.

“Where did you get so many Violet Treasure Crystals? Do you realize these are materials for crafting high-grade magical treasures?”

So that was what they were called—Violet Treasure Crystals. And they were excellent materials for making magical treasures. It seemed I had struck gold this time.

“You don’t need to worry about where they came from. Just tell me how much they’re worth.”

Yu Yue reached into the ring again and examined the contents for several minutes before saying,

“There are quite a lot of Violet Treasure Crystals here. How about I give you eight million?”

Eight million was already an excellent price. Besides, I had barely put in any effort to obtain them. Eight million was more than enough.

“All right. Eight million it is.”

I handed my bank card to Yu Yue once more. He went to the counter, fiddled with the computer for a moment, and soon my phone received a deposit notification.

He returned my bank card and even gave me a gold VIP card. It was printed with the words: Lifetime Protection, Lifetime After-Sales Service...

I had not expected this place to be so modern.

“Then we’ll be on our way. Until next time, Boss Yu.”

Yu Yue had wanted to invite us to stay for a meal, but knowing my temperament, he did not try to stop me.

Even after we had gone some distance, he was still standing in the doorway and shouting,

“Little Brother, next time you come, you must stay and have a proper meal here!”

Boss Yu was a considerate man, and I found it easy to talk with him. I rather liked that sort of personality.

“Let’s go. We’ve finished our shopping, so it’s time to head home.”

Chen Chen nodded without saying anything.

The two of us did not linger. We returned through the portal directly to the interior of Kirin Hall.

It was a little after one in the afternoon, and there were plenty of taxis on the streets. We had barely left Crooked Dragon Town when we found an empty one.

Once inside the taxi, I took out the Eight Extremes Fist manual.

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This seemed to be a fairly authentic manual, though of course that was only my own judgment.

I skipped over the basics and went straight to the advanced techniques.

I had learned some of the moves before, but one called Dragon Has Regrets immediately caught my attention.

Wasn’t that one of the moves from the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms? How had it ended up in a fist manual? In any case, it did not matter what it was called, so long as it was useful.

The techniques in this book were probably as complete as they could be. It was more than fifty pages long, and it would not be an exaggeration to call it a secret martial arts tome.

I studied it throughout the journey and, without practicing a single move, somehow managed to learn several of them well enough.

By evening, the car finally reached the foot of Black Phoenix Mountain. Chen Chen had gotten out earlier, when we passed through the city. After paying the fare, I pushed open the door and began walking up the mountain.

From a distance, through the withered yellow trees, I could already see the lights burning on the mountainside. When I reached the end of the path, I slipped inside.

Second Uncle was just as he always was, sitting on a stone bench and reading. Nangong Xi, however, had gone back to her room to rest first today, saying that she was not feeling well.

I did not take it seriously and sat down on the stone bench to chat with Second Uncle.

“Well? Did you manage to buy a manual this time?”

When he finished speaking, I smiled faintly and immediately pulled out the manual.

Second Uncle flipped through several pages before nodding.

“Mm... This is a good manual. It should belong to a legitimate orthodox school.”

That confirmed my suspicions once again. It really was not a pirated copy.

Afterward, I talked with Second Uncle about many things, including the price of the pills. Upon hearing it, he said calmly,

“The price of pills has remained high these past few years. The main reason is that there are too few alchemists in this era. Every alchemist is considered a priceless treasure.”

I nodded. So that was how things were. Otherwise, the price of these pills would have been terrifying—fifty thousand for a single one, and that was only for the most ordinary kind.

If they were high-grade pills, each one would cost several hundred thousand. And that was the price when buying from an acquaintance.

“All right. Don’t you still have more than eight million? That will be enough to support you for a long time.”

Only then did Second Uncle’s words bring me back to my senses.

That was right. I still had more than eight million. I could now be considered a minor millionaire. As long as I did not purchase anything from the cultivation world, that much money would be enough to live on for a very long time.

After chatting with Second Uncle for a while longer, I returned to my room to rest.

After a full day of traveling back and forth, I felt utterly exhausted.

Only now did I understand that cultivators truly did not need sleep. But if they went without sleeping for too long, they would still feel physically and mentally fatigued.

I changed into something light, lay down on the bed, and soon fell asleep.

......

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