Heir to the martial arts world, starting with not crying at the Grim Reaper

As the members of the Turtle Man Gang said, Ziyang Market is very large, with many Turtle Men and Jianghu people. There are many bookstores here, as well as many stalls selling books and secret manuals.

At this moment, Gu Jiu arrived at a study located on the edge of a cliff.

This study is called "Plum Blossom Study." The storefront is neither too big nor too small, and it might even have some fake manuals like "Cloud-Dispelling Palm."

Gu Jiu went inside and quickly came out again.

The study was decorated with many colorful paper umbrellas hanging from the beams, and the bookshelves were also filled with flower branches.

This gaudy and flashy shop was clearly made by a woman, reminding Gu Jiu of the shops run by mistresses kept by wealthy men in her past life.

He couldn't help but wonder if this was some kind of all-female study.

To be honest, he had only been here for less than a day, and the concept of "all women" had already influenced his consciousness.

After confirming that there were no signs indicating "all female", Gu Jiu went inside again.

To be honest, he didn't have a very good impression of the study.

That's so artsy.

They don't even sell a single book for leisure.

No matter what world it is, artsy women are probably the most frustrating people.

The bookshelf full of martial arts manuals also had rather vulgar names like "Spring Breeze Willow Hands," "Wu Mountain Misty Clouds Skill," and "Three Variations on Flower Arrangement."

In short, it's the kind of secret manual whose very name can put you to sleep.

Even more outrageous, from the moment he entered the study, a young woman, who was probably a shop assistant, followed him, looking him up and down with a suspicious gaze.

"First of all, you can't even turn a single page of the martial arts manual unless you buy it."

At this point, the woman spoke up to offer a reminder.

Gu Jiu realized that the other party was acting like a thief because his clothes and appearance didn't seem like he could afford the secret manual.

Who the hell does he look down on!

I just touched a corpse last night!

Gu Jiu couldn't help but complain, "How am I supposed to know if this manual is real or fake without even turning a single page?"

"With a signboard as big as 'Plum Blossom Study,' how could it be fake?"

The woman still acted like she was looking down on everyone.

Gu Jiu had already experienced this; ever since entering Tianjing Town, the service attitude in this area had been very poor.

This is probably a local characteristic formed by the dominance of fairies and turtle men.

Gu Jiu flipped through the pages again, and sure enough, he found a book called "Dispelling Clouds Palm" at the very bottom.

No, not only "Dispelling Clouds Palm", there is also "Ice Heart Manual"!

The Ice Heart Manual was originally a Taoist mantra for calming the mind.

However, if it is a martial arts manual, then the most well-known one should be from "Storm Riders".

That was the internal energy cultivation method used by the Nie family to suppress madness and unleash the "Six Secrets of Frost and Cold," which later became the "Snow Drinking Saber Technique." Once mastered, it allowed one to freeze objects with bare hands.

This can be considered the foundation of Nie Feng's unique internal martial arts skills.

This small study actually contains two divine martial arts manuals: "Cloud-Dispelling Palm" on top and "Ice Heart Technique" below!

He had already mastered Bu Jingyun's "Xuyun Force." If he were to also master the "Bingxin Technique," wouldn't he become both wind and cloud?

With the Cloud-Dispelling Palm and the Ice Heart Technique already in existence, how far away are the Wind God Leg and Blood Drinking Saber Technique?

It's not impossible for him to combine his powers with the wind and clouds on his own and achieve "Maha Boundless," after all, he is a martial arts prodigy, one in ten thousand, and it's normal for his talent to be slightly higher than that of Bu Jingyun and Nie Feng combined.

Gu Jiu became increasingly excited as he thought about it, but he quickly suppressed his excitement and pretended to be very calm, asking, "How much is this 'Cloud-Dispelling Palm'?"

The woman said, "Ten taels of silver."

Gu Jiu exclaimed in shock, "Ten taels? Why don't you just rob me?"

He had three copies of "The Cloud-Dispelling Palm" on hand, the most expensive of which cost no more than two qian of silver.

Although everything is expensive in the Ziyang market area, with some items costing two or three times more than in other places, how much more expensive has it suddenly become?

However, Gu Jiu quickly calmed down.

He got the "Cloud-Dispelling Palm" for two taels of silver by bargaining; the owner of the nameless bookstore initially asked for two taels of silver.

The woman in the study frowned and said, "Ten taels of silver is the starting price for a martial arts manual, do you understand? The more you look at it, the more it seems to be from outside."

Gu Jiu tried to bargain, saying, "When has this 'Cloud-Dispelling Palm' ever been so expensive? It's only because I'm curious to collect such a secret manual that I'm asking for a discount. How much less can you offer?"

"Not a single penny less," the woman in the study said firmly.

"I'll offer two ounces, or you can just take it or leave it."

Gu Jiu put down the manual and walked straight outside.

Last time he used this trick to cut a 10% discount, this time cutting a 20% discount should be more than enough.

Even after Gu Jiu had walked several steps out of the study, he still hadn't heard anyone calling him back.

Did you fail to negotiate the price?

Gu Jiu went back and asked about the price of "The Ice Heart Manual" again.

"That's ten taels of silver," the woman in the study replied.

"How can such a secret manual sell for so many?" Gu Jiu complained.

He almost blurted out the words "fake secret manual".

The woman in the study seemed indifferent, saying, "I told you it's the bottom price. Don't you know what a bottom price is?"

Gu Jiu naturally knew what the bottom price was. It was probably the same as how some stores in her previous life would not price their cheapest items cheaply in order to maintain their high-end image.

He grew angrier the more he thought about it and couldn't help but complain, "With so many bookstores and stalls around here, what gives you the right to be so arrogant?"

Ziyang Market is very large, with many study rooms.

Gu Jiu searched for traces of divine skills inside, visiting four or five more places before finally finding a copy of "The Ice Heart Manual" in the afternoon.

But this one also costs ten taels of silver, not a penny less.

He is now almost certain that the "Ice Heart Manual" was also a "fake manual" that circulated back then, otherwise it wouldn't be priced at about the same as the "Cloud Dispelling Palm".

The awkward thing about these outdated "fake manuals" is that after their reputation was ruined, major bookstores stopped selling them long ago. Many of the copies scattered among the people were used up for things like wiping their bottoms and padding tables. Even the "Paiyun Palm" manual, which was once said to have tens of thousands of copies, probably didn't survive much. So even fewer of them ended up on the market.

However, perseverance pays off, and Gu Jiu finally found a copy of "The Cloud-Dispelling Palm" at a bookstall.

Gu Jiu first looked at a book called "The Thirteen-Step Breaking Fist of Monkey Peach" and asked, "How much is this one?"

The stall owner, a man with a square scarf tied around his head, squatted there and said, "Fifteen taels of silver."

Hearing this answer, Gu Jiu felt a sense of unease, so he picked up the "Cloud-Dispelling Palm" book and asked, "What about this one?"

The man's eyes flickered for a moment, then he said, "This one should be cheaper, ten taels of silver."

Gu Jiu frowned and said, "Could you lower the price? This is too expensive."

"Brother, this is the starting price for the martial arts manual, okay?" the stall owner said.

"The bottom price is the bottom price; you can't have everything at such a high bottom price. I'll offer three taels of silver; what do you think, will you sell it?"

Gu Jiu increased her bargaining budget.

The stall owner shook his head and said, "Not for sale."

"Five taels!"

"I'm not selling it either. Brother, you should look elsewhere; you probably won't find any secret manuals here that you can buy."

After leaving, Gu Jiu went to a bookstore and two stalls to inquire about other secret manuals, confirming his guess.

Damn it, the people selling these secret manuals are teaming up to control the prices.

Whether it's a large or small bookstore or a street stall, as long as it's a martial arts manual, the starting price is ten taels, even for a "fake manual" like "Paiyun Palm" which has a bad reputation.

It's clear that the price control measures are very strict; even roadside stalls haven't loosened their grip.

He guessed that this was a long-established rule in this industry, and anyone who broke the rules would probably not be able to survive.

Damn, this martial arts manual is actually quite expensive.

Last night he took more than twenty taels of silver from that turtle master, and a little over one tael from the group of turtles, totaling less than thirty taels of silver.

Buying two manuals would be enough, so there's not much point in continuing to browse.

Let's get our hands on the "Ice Heart Manual" and the new version of "Cloud Dispelling Palm" first.

Although he is a martial arts prodigy, one in a million, it is still uncertain whether he can quickly master the "Ice Heart Manual." He should just start practicing it first.

So Gu Jiu bought a copy of "Paiyun Palm" from the stall and another copy of "Bingxin Jue" from the bookstore.

The prices at Ziyang Market were indeed astonishing, much higher than those in the already expensive Tianjing Town. However, thinking that he could finally focus on practicing his new martial arts, he was still in a good mood.

"Never mind, let's eat first."

Since things had come to this, Gu Jiu decided to have dinner first.

He ate his meal at dusk, and after finishing, he noticed that there were far fewer people on the street.

The sheer number of people made him feel somewhat strange.

It's like there were dozens or even hundreds of people on this street just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, only a few are left, as if the place would become haunted as night falls.

Gu Jiu glanced back at the empty street, recalling the story on the stone tablet about Master Ziyang refusing to be buried, and shrank back, thinking to himself, "Could it really be haunted?"