He Xiaotian finished washing up, then went back to his bed and picked up his phone.
[I Don’t Sell Fake Manuals, I Sell Antiques]: "An incomplete copy of the *Dragon Elephant Wisdom Skill*. It only has the complete cultivation method for the first level. But even someone with poor aptitude can master it in a year or two.
"This is a manual I got from my informant in Tibet. You know how I was planning on going there a while back? I was going to buy this manual for you, but I ended up turning around mid-flight. You can have it for fifty thousand.
"*Dharma’s Twelve Muscle-Tendon Changing Forms*. This technique trains a person’s Spirit, body, and qi as one. By combining your Spirit, physical form, and breath and practicing diligently, you can fully regulate your internal organs and all the meridians in your body. This will strengthen your physique, prevent and cure illnesses, fight off premature aging, and extend your lifespan.
"I’ll let this one go for a hundred thousand. After all, it’s relatively well-preserved and looks good. I can’t sell it as an incomplete copy.
"An incomplete copy of *Dharma’s Twelve Gates Golden Bell Shield*. Same as the *Dragon Elephant Wisdom Skill*, it only has the cultivation method for the first gate, and even that is slightly damaged. This one barely meets your criteria; it can only reduce pain.
"There’s another one, a martial art from the Northern Shaolin Temple, that also doesn’t quite fit your ’invulnerable to weapons’ requirement. It’s said to have been created during the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty by Master Rootless, the supervisor of the Northern Shaolin’s Eighteen Bronze Men formation.
"This skill trains the body to become as hard as a bronze statue, with the head and limbs being the most resilient. The only drawback is that its vital points remain fatal weaknesses. If you’re interested in these last two, I’ll give them to you as a bundle for eighty thousand."
After quickly scanning the shop owner’s message, he was quite satisfied.
’Flaws don’t matter. For five hundred Spiritual Energy Crystals a month, was I really going to give them some divine techniques to learn?’
’As for any smart-asses who might go searching for martial arts to practice on their own...’
Well, He Xiaotian could only pray they wouldn’t practice themselves to death!
’Of all the manuals he’d bought, it seemed the system had only flagged one as complete.’
’Any of them that were even slightly famous or powerful were guaranteed to have flaws.’
’If you actually dared to train following these, you’d be asking to die!’
[Once Dreamed of Roaming the World with a Sword]: "OK, the hotel address is XXXXX. Get it here before noon."
He then placed the order, and 230,000 vanished from his bank account.
[I Don’t Sell Fake Manuals, I Sell Antiques]: "Rest assured, my brother-in-law will be delivering it again. You won’t have to wait until noon; I guarantee it will be in your hands before ten o’clock."
After replying, the shop owner immediately called his brother-in-law and told him to hurry up and get out of bed to deliver the package.
Meanwhile, He Xiaotian went downstairs to eat, with the trio of lackeys, of course, trailing right behind him, loyally playing the part of his faithful followers.
The trio had been up grilling for half the night and were starving.
The three of them wolfed down their food, and He Xiaotian frowned as he watched.
"Your table manners are atrocious. Can’t you be a little more civilized?"
"..."
’You’ve got some nerve talking to us!’
’Don’t you have any idea how much you packed away last night?’
Of course, they only dared to grumble this inwardly. They would never say it out loud.
"Boss, maybe you should wear a full mask from now on," Feng Yu said, looking at the piggy face mask with a pained expression.
’I mean, you’re this absolute beast, a powerhouse who can obliterate a Daoist temple with a single hammer strike, so why do you always wear a cute piggy mask?’
’Could this be the legendary "playing the pig to eat the tiger"?’
He Xiaotian thought about it. ’He has a point.’
Whenever he ate, he always had to push his mask up.
"Then I’ll leave it to you three. As my followers, you should have the foresight to solve your big brother’s problems."
Feng Yu: "..."
’Boss, I was just making a casual suggestion! Don’t take it seriously!’
The other two were shooting him murderous looks.
Make no mistake, they weren’t blaming He Xiaotian.
It was because their pockets were empty. Right now, even a child’s mask would probably cost a dozen yuan.
Every last one of them was completely broke; their pockets were cleaner than their faces.
"Here’s a thousand yuan."
After finishing his meal, He Xiaotian took out ten crisp, red bills from his storage space.
The moment he did, Feng Yu felt the two dagger-like stares on him vanish. He instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
He had just gone upstairs and entered his room when a knock sounded at the door.
He opened it and, well, well.
’Isn’t this the guy who delivered the oil fish?’
For some reason, no matter how he looked at him, He Xiaotian thought the guy seemed a bit campy.
The delivery guy endured He Xiaotian’s weird stare and held out a box.
"Your delivery. Please sign for it."
SCRIBBLING...
He Xiaotian took the box, and after signing his name, spoke again.
"Hey man, I didn’t realize you had such... particular tastes."
The "particular tastes" were, of course, a reference to the oil fish incident from a few days prior.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about."
With a WHOOSH, the delivery guy vanished down the hallway.
He Xiaotian shook his head, closed the door, and immediately tore open the cardboard box, taking out the four manuals one by one.
*Dragon Elephant Wisdom Skill - Level 1*, *Dharma’s Twelve Muscle-Tendon Changing Forms*, *Dharma’s Twelve Gates Golden Bell Shield - Gate 1*, and *Copper Statue Skill*.
"Scan!"
[Ding! A manual riddled with errors has been detected. Do you wish to spend 500 Experience Points to perfect it?]
[Ding! A slightly flawed manual has been detected. Do you wish to spend 100 Experience Points to perfect it?]
[Ding! A chaotic and disorganized manual has been detected. Do you wish to spend 800 Experience Points to perfect it?]
[Ding! A manual with missing key sections has been detected. Do you wish to spend 400 Experience Points to perfect it?]
"Confirm."
1,800 Experience Points vanished, replaced by four complete martial arts manuals.
’Just as I thought. Modern-day martial arts manuals are nothing but giant traps.’
’Whoever follows them is doomed!’
He felt a bit worried for any of his future students who might try to be clever.
Training blindly like that would, at best, result in torn meridians, turning them into a cripple. At worst, they’d lose their minds or even end up bedridden and paralyzed.
’Hopefully, they’ll just be a bit more simple-minded.’
’Warn them?’
He Xiaotian wasn’t that charitable. He’d rather let all the smart-asses die.
It would save him the trouble of teaching a few backstabbers.
[*Dragon Elephant Wisdom Skill - Level 1* - 0/500 (Uninitiated)]
[*Dharma’s Twelve Muscle-Tendon Changing Forms* - 0/250 (Uninitiated)]
[*Dharma’s Twelve Gates Golden Bell Shield - Gate 1* - 0/500 (Uninitiated)]
[*Copper Statue Skill* - 0/350 (Uninitiated)]
The corner of He Xiaotian’s mouth twitched. The *Dragon Elephant Wisdom Skill* and *Dharma’s Twelve Gates Golden Bell Shield* were only at their most basic first levels.
And yet they required 500 Experience Points just to get started!
’As expected of legendary techniques,’ he thought. It felt like his two-hundred-thousand-some Experience Points wouldn’t be enough for more than a few levels.
’It really is true for everything—you can’t get strong if you don’t pay to win.’
’There’s no such thing as a free-to-play player.’
’You either use cheats or you spend money.’
’You say Experience Points aren’t money?’
’But Spiritual Energy Crystals are!’
’If this system had a developer, they must have taken a page from a certain penguin-themed corporation’s playbook.’
’Hey buddy, wanna buy a premium membership?’
’Pay up, and not only will you get stronger, but you’ll also get your name displayed in a prestigious red font!!’