The Martial Saint Started from Scavenging

The woods were dimly lit, with shadowy figures moving about. Most of the stalls displayed cheap junk or rubbish of dubious origin, and the vendors were simply trying their luck selling their wares.

Ye Sheng's stall was even more inconspicuous. A tattered cloth was laid on the ground, with only a single porcelain vase standing on it, making it look even more shabby than the stalls selling goods around it.

Most passersby only glanced at it briefly before leaving without any interest.

Ye Sheng, however, remained unhurried. About an incense stick later, a thin, furtive-looking servant stopped in front of his stall.

"Brother, what's in that bottle?"

Ye Sheng raised his eyes, deliberately lowered his voice, and calmly uttered three words: "Qi Condensation Pill".

"A Qi Condensation Pill?" The skinny handyman scoffed, his tone full of doubt. "You? You think you can refine a Qi Condensation Pill? Are you just trying to fool people with mud balls?"

Ye Sheng didn't answer, but simply uncorked the bottle. A pure medicinal fragrance immediately wafted out from the bottle opening.

The skinny servant sniffed the air, and the mockery on his face instantly turned into surprise.

Although he didn't know anything about alchemy, having lived in the sect for a long time, he still had a good eye. This medicine had a mellow but not overpowering aroma; it was definitely not fake!

"Is...is it really a Qi Condensation Pill?" He leaned closer, lowered his voice, and asked with slight excitement, "What quality? How do I trade it?"

"Ten low-grade pills in total," Ye Sheng said in a deep voice. "Exchange them for a beginner-level martial artist's body-refining technique, or an equivalent amount of sect contribution points."

"Body-refining techniques?"

The skinny handyman scratched his head, looking troubled, and said, "Brother, this kind of thing is hard to find. I do have half a tattered copy of 'Iron Shirt,' which was discarded by a senior brother from the outer sect. Do you want it?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Sheng frowned slightly.

What he urgently needs right now is a cultivation method that can complement the "Internal Breathing Method" to strengthen his physical body and solidify his foundation.

However, if there is only half a fragment, its effect is minimal.

Seeing that Ye Sheng had no interest, the skinny servant rolled his eyes, took out an oilcloth package from his pocket, and mysteriously opened it.

"I don't actually have a complete body-refining technique, but how about this?"

Inside the tarpaulin was a palm-sized, rusted black iron piece. The piece resembled a fragment of a weapon, with irregular notches along its edges.

Ye Sheng glanced around, and a thought suddenly struck him.

[Scavenger] His innate perception told him that this item was extraordinary.

[Skill Panel Feedback: A fragment of the magical artifact "Mystic Iron Shield" has been detected. It contains a weak metallic spiritual energy and is made of a tough material. It can be used for crafting artifacts or setting up miniature arrays.]

Fragments of a ritual implement!

Ye Sheng's eyes narrowed sharply. This was an item reserved for cultivators; even if it was a fragment, its value far exceeded that of so-called incomplete cultivation manuals.

He remained outwardly calm, picked up the piece of iron, casually weighed it in his hand, and scoffed, "This piece of junk? Rusted to this state, it'd be a waste of fuel to melt it down. Do you think I'm a junk collector?"

"Hey bro, don't underestimate it."

The skinny handyman quickly said, "I picked this up from the bottom of the sect's 'Sword Testing Cliff'! It's said that two inner sect masters fought there back then and broke a magical artifact. This is one of the fragments! Look at its weight and texture, it's definitely a good item!"

Ye Sheng sneered inwardly, but his face showed an expression of disbelief.

He tossed the piece of iron back, waving his hand impatiently: "Alright, alright, stop arguing with me. I'll only exchange this pill for a complete body-refining technique or sect contribution points. I have no interest in this piece of junk."

"No, brother!" the skinny handyman cried out anxiously. "I... I'll add something else! Look at this!"

He then pulled out several small, dusty stones, each about the size of a fingernail, from his pocket.

It is a fragment of a spirit stone. Although its quality is extremely poor and it contains very little spiritual energy, it is a genuine fragment of a spirit stone.

"That's all I have, everything I own!" the skinny handyman said with a pained expression. "Brother, give me a straight answer, are you going to trade or not!"

Ye Sheng looked at him, his heart already bursting with joy. This skinny servant clearly didn't know his stuff, mistaking the fragments of the magic weapon for ordinary black iron, while thinking these few low-value spirit stone fragments were much more precious.

He pretended to hesitate for a moment before reluctantly nodding, "Alright, seeing how sincere you are, I'll let you off this time."

A deal that everyone was happy with.

The thin, scrawny servant, carrying the bottle of Qi-Gathering Pills that were incredibly precious to him, left with profuse thanks. Ye Sheng, meanwhile, calmly put away the fragment of the black iron shield and the shards of spirit stones.

He made a fortune from this deal.

With a successful start, Ye Sheng's "black market business" quickly gained momentum.

Every time he went to the black market, he would use the [Thousand Faces Illusion Technique] to disguise his appearance, being extremely cautious. Although the Qi Condensation Pills he refined were of low quality, their medicinal effects were pure, and the price was fair. He gradually gained a reputation in the black market, attracting many repeat customers. Many menial disciples came to him to exchange pills: some traded fragments of cultivation techniques, some traded herbs they had gathered themselves, and some even traded "information" that their sects couldn't keep hidden.

However, no one knows the true identity of this mysterious seller.

His resources accumulated more and more, and his strength also increased rapidly during this period. His progress in breaking through the "Internal Breathing Method" was particularly obvious, and the internal energy in his dantian grew to the thickness of his little finger.

All of this could only be done in secret. On the surface, Ye Sheng remained the same new handyman who worked silently in the abandoned alchemy room, with a withdrawn personality and who was bullied by others.

But trouble eventually came knocking. Du Qiang had been making things difficult for Ye Sheng at every turn, and recently, after hearing rumors that a newcomer was selling Qi Condensation Pills of stable quality on the black market, he became greedy.

He made inquiries from various sources, using both threats and inducements to several servants who had previously traded with him. Although he was unable to find out the seller's true appearance, some of them vaguely mentioned that the seller's figure and voice were somewhat similar to Ye Sheng's.

In addition, Du Qiang noticed that Ye Sheng's recent movements had been somewhat mysterious, which aroused his suspicion, and he decided to test him.

That afternoon, Ye Sheng had just finished working in the abandoned alchemy room and was walking wearily back to his hut on the mountain path when he bumped into several people.

Leading the group was Du Qiang, who had a pointed mouth and monkey-like face, followed by five or six seemingly strong and powerful servants. The six or seven men completely blocked the narrow mountain road.

"Hey, Junior Brother Ye, just got back from making a fortune?"

Du Qiang stood with his arms crossed, looking at Ye Sheng with a forced smile, his small eyes filled with greed and jealousy.

Ye Sheng frowned slightly and stopped in his tracks: "What is it, Senior Brother Du?"

"It's nothing." Du Qiang shook his head, then winked at one of his henchmen.

The henchman immediately stepped forward and smashed an empty porcelain bottle at Ye Sheng's feet.

"Crack!" The porcelain bottle shattered with a sharp, piercing sound.

"Ye Sheng!"

The henchman pointed at Ye Sheng and demanded fiercely, "You dare to sell counterfeit medicine on the black market! My senior brother took the pills you made and is now vomiting and having diarrhea, almost dying! Today, you must give me an explanation!"

Ye Sheng looked at the broken porcelain bottle on the ground, then glanced at Du Qiang's sinister face, his eyes instantly turning cold.

He knew that the other party was deliberately framing him and extorting money under false pretenses. They probably already suspected his black market activities of selling pills, but they lacked concrete evidence.

"An explanation?" Ye Sheng sneered. "What kind of explanation do you want to hear?"

"It's simple!" Du Qiang stepped forward, spreading his palm. "First, pay up! My senior brother spent one hundred taels of silver on medicine and treatment; you must compensate him! Second, hand over all your alchemy formulas and all your 'treasures' as tribute to us brothers! Otherwise, we'll break your legs today and throw you into the waste alchemy room as fertilizer!"

The servants behind him also brandished their weapons, including wooden sticks and kitchen knives, their faces contorted in rage.

The servants passing by all kept their distance when they saw this, and no one dared to step forward and say a word of justice.

Clearly, this was a "test and blackmail scheme" that Du Qiang had planned long ago.

Ye Sheng looked at them and suddenly smiled.

He slowly unloaded the cloth bag from his back, which contained the day's scavenging spoils, and then pulled out a seemingly ordinary wood-chopping knife from his waist.

"So, you're saying there's no room for negotiation?"

He raised his head, a cold smile appearing on his face, and a sharp killing intent erupted from his body.

Du Qiang and the others were intimidated by this aura and subconsciously took a step back, their faces showing surprise and doubt.

They felt that the boy in front of them was a completely different person from the weakling they remembered who had been bullied by them.