Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

Chapter 151 Selling Wild Boar Tusks in Exchange for a Magic Book

Xilun stared at the blueprint for a long time, simulating the sword's slashing trajectory in his mind, and pondered: Compared to Robert's short sword, which was more decorative than practical, this eight-sided longsword seems to be much better in terms of lethality.

Immediately, the woman quoted a price: "60 pounds. No bargaining."

The exorbitant price instantly silenced the room.

Siren watched silently from behind. He glanced at Mr. Yuri beside him, who was yawning listlessly, seemingly completely uninterested in the weapons.

Finally, after some haggling, the sword was bought by a man who smelled faintly of sourness and seemed to work as a sewer cleaner.

The transaction continues.

A man in an elegant vest stood up, his gaze sweeping over the group at afternoon tea, and said urgently, "Does anyone have a section of the Holy Spirit Tree's root? I'm willing to pay a high price."

Someone nearby gasped and said, "Are you planning to refine a potion to advance to the third tier of Extraordinary? This kind of thing only grows in the rifts of the spirit realm or in elven lakes; it's probably very difficult to find."

Undeterred, the man asked twice more, but seeing no one respond, he sat back down dejectedly.

Xilun pondered for a moment, recalling the purpose of his trip.

He possessed an extraordinary relic, which he obtained from that wild boar mutant.

He cleared his throat and said in a steady voice, "I stumbled upon an extraordinary relic material that had fallen from the body of a giant forest boar, without any processing."

At this point in Xiren's speech, Marich, who had been sitting in the main seat with a smile, suddenly brightened up, leaned forward slightly, and asked, "Which part of the Giant Forest Boar? The skin, the bone, or the tusks?"

Xilun said, "It's a fang."

Maric's eyes darted around, a hint of fanaticism flashing in them, but he quickly regained his composure, sat back down, and nodded slightly, signaling for Xiren to continue.

Yuri chimed in at the opportune moment, "The tusks of the Giant Forest Boar have quite a few uses."

However, a single tusk is not enough to be crafted into an extraordinary relic.

Unless you plan to buy other extraordinary relic materials, and if the compatibility is right, you can ask a high-level blacksmith to forge a decent extraordinary relic.

Or, you plan to use it to exchange for something else.

After Yuri's reminder, Xiren naturally understood the ins and outs.

He pondered, "If people are interested in my things, I'd like to see what I can get in exchange. If it doesn't satisfy me, I can try collecting more materials and having someone craft it myself."

The woman selling weapons was very perceptive about materials and immediately chimed in, "This fang is very hard and can be used to forge many weapons. And if it's of good quality, I can offer 20 pounds for it."

The others also quoted their prices, but none of them were as high as the woman's.

Siren wasn't keen on selling it for money; he already had the bounty from Wall and didn't need those few dozen pounds.

He wanted to exchange it for something more practical.

At this moment, Marich spoke up, his voice carrying an irresistible allure: "How about selling it to me?"

Xilun turned to look at him and asked, "What can you offer in exchange?"

Maric interlaced his long, slender fingers and asked, "What direction do you need?"

Xiren frowned, his mind flashing back to Susie's strange incantations and Huma's unpredictable magic rope, and pondered, "General cultivation materials, or—knowledge of mysticism."

Maric pondered for a moment, then stared intently at Siren and said, "What is your level of occultism? I need to assess what level of artifact you should bring out."

After a moment's thought, Xilun truthfully replied, "I'm probably just at the level where I can understand the Extraordinary Breathing Technique and read it on my own. My understanding of those spiritual texts is limited."

Marich smiled knowingly and said, "A hobbyist, huh? I can trade you your materials for a basic magic book."

Although it doesn't contain advanced magic or forbidden techniques, it excels in its comprehensiveness, covering the basic theories of mysticism, spiritual perception, and some of the most fundamental material identification.

Spellbooks are rarely sold in the market, and even if they are, the price won't be less than 28 pounds.

This was precisely the kind of basic literacy material that Xilun currently lacked. Xilun decisively replied, "Okay."

He paused, then said, "But the materials are at home, how can we change them?"

Marich waved his hand casually and said, "It's alright, I'll have someone pick it up. Just leave the address with my butler."

Xilun sat back down, feeling quite satisfied.

The salon was more fruitful than he had expected.

As the party ended, everyone gradually dispersed.

Marich led Siren through the corridor to a bedroom furnished like a small library.

He pulled a thick book wrapped in a black hardcover from the bookshelf and handed it to Xilun, saying, "Here, take this. I'll have a servant fetch the tusks tomorrow."

He looked at Xilun and laughed, "My collection is still missing quite a few items related to the three ferocious and exotic species: pigs, bears, and tigers."

If you acquire any extraordinary relics or materials from these three ferocious beast species in the future, we can negotiate a good price.

I have a large collection; there's bound to be something you need.

Xilun nodded slightly and accepted the heavy magic book.

When he went out, Yuri was standing by the fountain yawning.

As evening approached, the afterglow of the setting sun cast long shadows of the two of them.

Yuri stretched and said, "I won't keep you for dinner. From now on, I've informed Marich. Just have your servant announce your arrival, and you can go in. It will be on this day of every month."

Xilun nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.

Yuri glanced around to make sure no one was around, then stared at the black book in Xilun's hand. His tone became unusually serious as he said, "As for the magic book, you can take your time to look at it and broaden your horizons."

However, be cautious when it comes to studying it.

Mysticism is not so simple; a slight misstep can lead to spiritual backlash and drive one insane.

A person's energy is limited; it's best to specialize in one martial art or breathing technique. Trying to do too much at once will only lead to indigestion.

Siren tucked the book inside his trench coat and nodded, saying, "I understand, Lord Yuri."

Seeing that he had taken his words to heart, Yuri chuckled self-deprecatingly and said, "I've been rambling on again. I'm sure you know what to do. Go back now."

He waved his hand, turned around, and disappeared into the twilight.

Xilun opened his black umbrella and walked back to the Golden Rooster Hotel alone.

He returned to room 106, took off his coat and hung it up, then lay wearily on the bed, placing the heavy magic book against his chest.

After a while, he got up and went outside to get the food he had ordered in advance from the street vendor.

Under the dim light of the gas lamp, Xiren mechanically chewed on the somewhat hardened dark bread and stew while turning the slightly rough parchment pages of the magic book.

He flipped through the pages casually, the distorted symbols and bizarre diagrams flashing before his eyes.

After finishing his meal, he wiped his hands clean, straightened his posture, and began to seriously consider what he was reading.

He didn't intend to learn those dangerous spells immediately; his main goal was to understand the underlying logic of the mystical discipline so that he wouldn't be as passive as he was when facing those occult scholars hiding in the shadows in the future.

Outside the window, a cold, drizzling rain was falling in the foggy city. The raindrops pounded heavily against the thick glass, leaving winding streaks of water. Occasionally, the dull thud of carriage wheels rolling over the puddle-strewn cobblestones could be heard from the distant streets, accompanied by the indistinct mutterings of drunkards.

Inside the room, the smokeless coal in the fireplace was burning brightly, emitting a dry and steady heat that completely kept out the damp chill of the early autumn rainy night.

Xilun sat upright at the large oak desk, his back ramrod straight, like a javelin.

The dim, yellow glow of the gaslight gently spilled down, illuminating the thick, black magic book in front of him, which smelled of old parchment.

Beside it lay a brand-new blank parchment notebook and a quill pen saturated with black ink.

Unlike those impetuous fools who immediately search for lethal spells and incantations, he opened the book to the very beginning, which explained the origins and underlying logic of mysticism.

The text on the pages is not the official Victorian language, but a mixture of distorted symbols, hieroglyphics, and ancient syllables. The characters resemble withered earthworms, connected end to end, exuding a dizzying and eerie feeling.

Xilun's gaze was unusually calm, and there was not a trace of agitation in his deep eyes.

He crossed his arms in front of him, pondered for a while, then picked up a quill pen and drew a huge cross on a blank notebook.

He wanted to deconstruct this unknown discipline in a way that he could understand.

During his years of struggling in the lower echelons of the underworld, he learned one thing from experience:

When faced with anything unknown, blind fear and blind worship are both fatal. Only by analyzing and dissecting it, and establishing one's own cognitive framework, can one truly make it one's own.

The quill pen made a rustling sound as it scratched against the rough parchment.

The foundation of mysticism, in the final analysis, is still physical strength.

However, unlike the extraordinary who obtain berserk power by squeezing out cellular potential and tearing muscle fibers, the mystic obtains power through meditation.

Xilun drew a simple diagram of the human body's meridians on a piece of paper.

Meditation is an extremely introspective process.

The mystical scholar slowed his breathing and lowered his heart rate, bringing his body into a state close to suspended animation.

In this state, their cerebral cortex becomes unusually active, and their mental power is amplified infinitely, thus resonating with the faint internal energy hidden within their bodies.

Some people call the energy generated after this resonance "magic," while others call it "psychic energy."

The name doesn't matter; as long as you understand that it's the same thing, that's enough.

Essentially, they are all variations of the application of human bioelectricity and qi and blood energy.

This perfectly explains a question that had been lingering in his mind for a long time.

Why is it that Huma, despite possessing a technique capable of unleashing terrifying destructive power in an instant, has a physical body as frail as an old woman suffering from a chronic illness?

Because mysticism does not place much emphasis on physical strength.

Human energy is limited.

If a mystic, like an extraordinary person, spends a great deal of time each day pounding his flesh with heavy objects, soaking his bones in medicinal broth, and honing his fighting skills on the brink of death, then he will waste a great deal of time on meditation and learning complex symbols.

So the mystics made a choice. They possessed "magic" refined through meditation, but lacked the corresponding physical strength.

They traded their physical fragility for vast occult knowledge and bizarre attack methods.

Xilun continued reading, lost in thought.

He wrote "Chemistry" in the lower left corner of the frame.

According to the book, mysticism has developed into many large branches over a long period of time.

For example, spellcasting, forging, and potion-making.

Siren's gaze lingered on the field of "Potions" for a long time.

He recalled the mutated plants that Daisy and Susie had searched for in the wild forest, in the hollows of dead trees and the rotting swamps.

He also remembered the bottles of potions that Mr. Yuri had shown him in the warehouse, bottles that emitted a strange luster.

Potions, in essence, is an extremely precise and dangerous chemical reaction.

The only difference is that the catalyst has changed from ordinary flames and acids/alkalis to the spirituality and power of mystical scholars.

Different materials are fused at specific spiritual frequencies to produce a medicinal liquid that can alter the structure of the human body and even induce extraordinary properties.

As for "forging," Xiren recalled the eight-sided longsword blueprints that the woman had shown at the salon gathering in Marich that afternoon.

By forging the relics of extraordinary beings into steel using runes and spiritual flames, inanimate objects are endowed with extraordinary destructive power.

"Techniques" are the arrangement and combination of mental energy, physical strength, and specific symbols to directly interfere with the physical laws of reality.

Xilun silently scanned the area, like a traveler who had been trekking through the desert for a long time suddenly encountering an oasis. He tirelessly and thirstily absorbed the knowledge that could fill the gaps in his understanding.

He didn't read quickly, lingering on each page for a long time, and the handwriting in his notebook became increasingly dense.

Suddenly, he stopped moving and stared intently at the bottom right corner of the book.

There, a complex and twisted knot pattern was drawn in dark red ink.

Next to the image, a word is marked in ancient script.

Xilun recognized the meaning of the word: spiritual rope.

This is the spell that almost killed Huma.

Xilun's gaze seemed to be firmly drawn to the parchment with the knotted rope pattern.

Spiritual Rope, a basic form of control magic.

The book provides a very detailed introduction:

Using vines or animal sinews from specific years as the base material, and boiling them with complex magical potions, the ropes are given a rudimentary spirituality. Then, in battle, one can use strength to activate and control them, making them wrap around and strangle enemies like living beings.

Xilun put down the quill pen in his hand and leaned back against the hard wooden chair.

He closed his eyes, and the scene in the wild forest kept replaying in his mind.

Huma stood in the mist, the dark red rope like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, suddenly emerging from under his robes without warning, tightly constricting his ankles and throat.

The suffocating sense of oppression and the chilling magic attached to the rope are still fresh in his memory.

If it weren't for his mental turmoil stemming from his hatred of the last bullet from the revolver, the outcome of that battle would likely have been entirely different.

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