Chapter 8

Ding Qi arrived in Liangcheng, but Ding Shan did not rush to send him home. Instead, he kept him around for a few days.

Having just left the mountains, Ding Qi found everything in Liangcheng very novel and wanted to explore. Since such an opportunity was rare, he was happy to stay for a few days.

Ever since learning that Zhang Tao had become a core disciple of the Qingyun Sect, Ding Shan had been in a good mood. Zhang Tao, whom Ding Shan had brought out from the mountain village, had a special relationship with him. The higher Zhang Tao's status in the sect, the more beneficial it would be for Ding Shan. If Zhang Tao could one day become a high-ranking member of the sect, Ding Shan could use this relationship to further develop within the Qingyun Sect, which naturally made him very pleased.

During these few days, Ding Shan took Ding Qi around Liangcheng and even talked about bringing Ding Qi out of the mountains to become an apprentice. For people from the mountains, besides hunting, becoming an apprentice outside was one of the few ways out. Ding Qi's elder brother, Ding Yong, had taken this path.

Since Ding Qi did not become a disciple of the Qingyun Sect this time, Ding Shan brought up this matter. Ding Qi simply nodded in agreement, knowing that Ding Shan would discuss it with the family in a few days.

Compared to the previous days, Ding Qi seemed particularly excited today.

"Uncle, have we not arrived yet?" Ding Qi walked down the street, his face filled with anticipation.

Ding Shan smiled and said, "We're almost there."

Jingzhou was located in a remote area, at the border of the states of Lu and Xia. Due to the vast mountains and wastelands, many places were beyond the reach of the government, making the government's influence quite weak. Instead, the influence of the martial world was extremely strong. Even in a small city like Liangcheng, there were many martial figures. Weapon shops that provided weapons for these martial figures could be found all over Jingzhou, and there was one in Liangcheng as well.

This weapon shop was the destination of Ding Qi's trip and also the main sales target for the blacksmith shop operated by Ding Shan. Most of the weapons forged in the blacksmith shop were sent here.

Over these days, Ding Shan knew that his nephew was quite interested in the martial world. At the same time, Ding Qi often went up the mountain to gather herbs and collect firewood, so he needed a weapon for self-defense. Therefore, Ding Shan wanted to give him a suitable weapon before he left.

Originally, he could have asked Master Li to forge one, but forging weapons was different from ordinary farming tools and took a lot of time. Moreover, the weapons Master Li was good at were not suitable for a teenager. So this time, he brought Ding Qi to the weapon shop to pick one out.

Ding Qi was extremely excited about this. He had long wanted to have a weapon like those in the martial world.

Liangcheng was not a large city, and soon Ding Shan arrived at the weapon shop.

The shop was not big and not very noticeable, which made Ding Qi, who had high expectations, slightly disappointed. The shop owner and Ding Shan were old acquaintances. After explaining the purpose of their visit, the shop owner let Ding Qi browse freely.

Seeing the various kinds of swords and knives displayed, Ding Qi's disappointment quickly turned to excitement. Although these weapons were very common in the martial world, they were still very attractive to Ding Qi, who had never held a weapon.

Ding Qi stood in front, unsure of what to choose.

Before coming, Ding Shan had told him that with his current physique, he could not fully utilize a regular sword or knife. It would be better to choose a short weapon or a dagger.

Although he liked those swords and knives very much, he knew that what Ding Shan said was true. Reluctantly, he moved his gaze to the area where short weapons were displayed.

Just as Ding Qi was about to go to the other side of the shop to pick a short weapon, he suddenly stopped by a counter, his face showing surprise.

On the counter was a small stack of things that looked like account books.

Stopping in front of the counter, Ding Qi picked up these account book-like items and carefully flipped through them. After a few, his expression became increasingly surprised.

The shop owner also noticed Ding Qi's reaction and walked over with a business-like smile.

"Did you like these martial arts manuals? These techniques are ones I've collected over the years from various places. They are rare treasures that are hard to find outside," the shop owner said with a smile.

The stack that surprised Ding Qi so much could not possibly be real account books.

As the fat shop owner said, these were manuals recording martial arts techniques. Ding Qi had just skimmed through a few, and they included not only leg and foot techniques but also sword and knife manuals, and even internal cultivation techniques.

Before Ding Qi could react, Ding Shan said with disdain, "Fat Sun, the junk you put there can fool others, but not me."

The fat shop owner smiled awkwardly upon hearing Ding Shan's words.

Then, Ding Shan said to Ding Qi, "Little Qi, don't listen to what this fat man says. If there were any valuable martial arts manuals, he wouldn't dare put them here, for fear of inviting disaster. These techniques are common and can be found anywhere in the martial world. They are not even real martial arts manuals, just some basic techniques. The cultivation methods are also very basic and won't yield any significant results."

Indeed, as Ding Shan said, the techniques recorded in these manuals were very basic and common in the martial world. They were often practiced by street performers.

High-level martial arts manuals were not so common. Sometimes, a single supreme manual could cause several or even a dozen large sects to fight to the death. The techniques recorded in such manuals were truly profound. Of course, these techniques were the closely guarded secrets of the major sects and would not appear in a small weapon shop.

"Brother Ding, you can't say that. Although the martial arts manuals here are not profound, if practiced deeply, they can still make one a third-rate martial artist," the fat shop owner countered.

Ding Shan's words were so harsh that the fat shop owner had to defend himself.

"Practiced deeply? You dare say that, Fat Sun. To practice any martial art deeply, one needs a strong internal force. Even those with exceptional cultivation talent need to take various precious pills to increase their power. The value of these pills alone is enough to last us ordinary people for several lifetimes," Ding Shan said, his face showing some helplessness.

In the conversation between Ding Shan and the shop owner, Ding Qi gradually understood the key points.

Cultivating martial arts was not as simple as Ding Qi had thought, where good talent was enough. Talent was indeed crucial, but unless one had exceptional talent, most cultivators also needed another thing: pills. During the cultivation of true qi, martial artists needed to take various pills to rapidly increase their power.

Those who could provide a large number of precious pills and cultivate martial arts were wealthy and powerful people who could obtain valuable martial arts manuals. They would not waste time on these time-consuming and inefficient common techniques. Those who practiced these common techniques naturally did not have the means to obtain pills and thus could not become experts.

Realizing this, Ding Qi felt very discouraged.

However, Ding Qi still had a longing for the martial world. Seeing so many martial arts techniques in front of him, he did not want to give up.

He thought he should at least choose one to practice and see how it goes.

Although Ding Shan was indifferent to his persistence, he did not want to dampen his nephew's enthusiasm. After all, a martial arts manual did not cost much.

Ding Qi stood in front of the counter, flipping through the books, trying to find one suitable for him.

He only knew a basic true qi circulation method, so he wanted to find a martial arts technique with a matching cultivation method.

This made it easier to choose. Any technique that only had forms and no matching cultivation method was discarded by Ding Qi.

The manuals had simple introductions to the techniques, and Ding Qi, who had learned to read basic characters from the old scholar in his village, could understand them.

Even the parts about meridians and acupoints, which he did not fully understand, were illustrated, making them easy to comprehend.

As Ding Qi flipped through the manuals, he picked up another book.

The pages of this book were yellowed, and the smell of old books filled his nose.

Ding Qi had seen many old books before but had not paid much attention to them.

He learned from the fat shop owner that his grandfather had once been a disciple of the Qingyun Sect and had made significant contributions. His grandfather had received many rewards, including a batch of martial arts techniques of little value that had been cleared out from the sect's library. That was the most glorious time for the fat shop owner's family in nearly a century.

Recently, the fat shop owner had moved this batch of old books from his home to sell here, hoping to pass them off as valuable items and fool some inexperienced newcomers.

The book Ding Qi was looking at was undoubtedly one of these.

However, with the experienced Ding Shan by his side, the fat shop owner could not fool him.

Ding Qi, who had not paid much attention, was surprised when he picked up this book.

"This book feels different from the others," Ding Qi thought to himself.

Although he could not explain why, he felt something odd when he picked up this book.

With a strange feeling, Ding Qi began to read the book. It recorded a common martial arts technique called 'Iron Sand Palm.' He had already seen similar content in other books.

The only difference was that it included some exercises to improve coordination and physical strength. Apart from that, there was nothing special.

He flipped through it several times but found nothing unusual, which left him puzzled about his strange feeling.

While flipping through the book, Ding Qi suddenly felt a darkness in his vision, and the little true qi in his body surged to his hands, merging with the book. Fortunately, his true qi was extremely weak, and the movement did not significantly affect his body. After a brief surge of blood, it quickly subsided.

If he had not been alert to the book's strangeness, he might have dismissed the situation as a momentary illusion.

After that, Ding Qi focused all his attention on the book, even forgetting about the weapon he was supposed to choose. He picked a short sword casually. Of course, the martial arts technique he chose was the 'Iron Sand Palm' manual that felt strange to him.

However, even after being sent home, no matter how he tested the book, nothing unusual happened.

Even the strange feeling he initially had from the 'Iron Sand Palm' manual disappeared after the true qi movement.

To Ding Qi, it was just an ordinary old book.

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