Chapter 22

The importance of the Mingli Wujie (Mingli Martial Technique) to martial cultivators is immense; anyone who sees it would be willing to pay any price to obtain it.

Jiang Feng glanced around and then looked deeply at the old man.

For such a book to appear here, and not a single martial cultivator to come and take a look, it seemed as if it was waiting specifically for him to come.

Jiang Feng smiled slightly, raised the two books, and asked, "Old sir, how much for these two books?"

The old man rolled his eyes: "Not for sale."

Jiang Feng didn't get angry and asked, "Then what do you want in exchange?"

The old man pondered for a moment: "I saw you traveling with a young man earlier?"

Jiang Feng didn't hide it and nodded: "That's right."

The old man said, "Is he your friend?"

"Sort of."

"The jade pendant on his waist is something I've wanted for a long time. If you bring it to me, I'll give you these two books."

Jiang Feng stared at him for a while, then suddenly patted his buttocks and stood up, saying cheerfully, "Alright, just wait here."

He turned around to find Chong Fan and soon saw him at a stall under a tree.

He waved to Chong Fan and said, "Are you free now? Come with me for a moment?"

Chong Fan's shadow had already returned to normal, and he had seen enough. He obediently followed Jiang Feng to the book stall.

The old man's expression changed slightly when he saw Chong Fan.

Jiang Feng turned to Chong Fan and said, "Lend me your jade pendant for a moment."

Chong Fan looked at the old man, then at Jiang Feng, a bit surprised. After hesitating for a moment, he actually took off the jade pendant.

The old man's expression grew even more serious. Jiang Feng held the jade pendant nonchalantly and extended it to him, saying, "Here, I've brought the jade pendant."

The old man instinctively reached out to take it, but Jiang Feng pulled his hand back, avoiding his grasp, and returned the jade pendant to Chong Fan.

He said with a half-smile, "What did you say just now? If I bring the jade pendant, you'll give me the books? Now I've brought it, what are you going to do? You only said to bring it, not to give it to you, right?"

Chong Fan stared deeply at the old man, who seemed a bit flustered under his gaze.

Jiang Feng laughed, stood up straight, patted Chong Fan's shoulder, and walked away.

He didn't take anything. The Mingli Wujie was enough to drive all beginners in martial cultivation mad, but Jiang Feng left it behind without hesitation.

He walked to the Changchuan River, looked at the small boats on the river, took a deep breath, and stretched.

A moment later, footsteps sounded behind him. He didn't turn around and said, "Your family has come looking for you. Are you going back?"

Chong Fan was slightly stunned and asked, "How did you know they were my family?"

Jiang Feng laughed easily. He turned around and said, "Isn't it obvious? He was holding that book, trying to test me to see if I had any greed, and if I was worthy to be your friend."

His eyes were clear, and his voice was crisp and decisive, without a hint of resentment.

Chong Fan felt a bit uneasy under such a gaze. He was silent for a moment and asked, "Are you angry?"

Jiang Feng shook his head: "No, of course not. You came out alone and acted with a stranger, so it's normal for your family to worry. Although their methods are questionable, it's ultimately out of concern for you."

Chong Fan pursed his lips and asked, "So, are you going to make me leave?"

Jiang Feng was silent for a moment, and Chong Fan's heart immediately sank.

After a moment, he turned to look at Chong Fan, shook his head, and said, "It's not up to me, it's up to you. The time we initially agreed on is far from over."

Chong Fan immediately relaxed. He took out two books from his sleeve and handed them to Jiang Feng: "These are for you."

These two books were exactly "Taiwu Yishou Qizhi" and "Zhiming Jue." Jiang Feng shook his head: "No favor, no reward. Keep them."

Chong Fan suddenly smiled slyly: "Didn't you complete his request just now?"

Jiang Feng thought for a moment and suddenly smiled: "You're right!"

He wasn't a pretentious person. These two books were exactly what he needed, and Chong Fan gave them sincerely, so he accepted them cheerfully.

Chong Fan smiled and took the bamboo basket from Jiang Feng, saying loudly, "I've seen enough of this market. Now it's my turn!"

...

...

Chong Fan was full of confidence, and Jiang Feng indeed saw his abilities.

At the Half-Moon Market, there were sellers, buyers, and the most common were barterers.

Chong Fan seemed to have a plan. He divided the goods into several parts and began to implement his plan step by step.

The first part was for sale. He set up a stall, put the items on display, and immediately people came to ask for prices. He talked eloquently and soon sold all the goods.

These items were quite expensive, exchanging for over a hundred silver coins.

Jiang Feng watched from the side, raised his eyebrows, and said nothing.

Ordinary people used mostly copper coins in their daily lives. One copper coin for a bun, two copper coins for a bunch of vegetables, ten copper coins for a pound of lean meat... Jiang Feng was familiar with these prices.

One silver coin exchanged for a thousand copper coins, which had considerable purchasing power in ordinary markets.

Direct descendants of the Jiang family, like Jiang Huaixiao, received eight silver coins a month, which was the income of an ordinary person for a year.

Jiang Feng was an orphan of the Southern Jiang family. In theory, the Jiang family should have given him a hundred copper coins a month before he turned sixteen.

But because he wasn't sweet-talking and had no support, he didn't receive a full month's allowance before he was twelve. After his first rebellion against Jiang Huaixiao at twelve, he never received a single copper coin from the Jiang family again.

Martial cultivators had another price system.

Their transactions were mostly in silver coins. For example, a complete fourth-level red-horned cowhide was worth ten silver coins, a second-level fire python tooth was worth one silver coin... Yuan core fragments were priced per piece, ranging from one to two silver coins depending on quality.

Chong Fan had already studied the market prices. The first batch he sold were mostly high-volume, fixed-price goods. They sold out quickly.

After selling this batch, Chong Fan began to barter.

Jiang Feng was a bit confused at this point.

Chong Fan had clearly chosen his targets beforehand. The items he exchanged for were strange and varied, mostly junk in Jiang Feng's eyes, with no apparent use.

Chong Fan didn't care about Jiang Feng's thoughts and firmly exchanged them.

As the "junk" in the bamboo basket increased, Jiang Feng thought for a moment, patted Chong Fan's shoulder, and walked away leisurely.

Is he trusting me?

Chong Fan looked up at Jiang Feng's back, a glint of something different in his eyes. When he turned back, his cries became even louder.

Handing over the task to Chong Fan, Jiang Feng suddenly found himself with free time.

He wandered around the market, chatted with people, and listened to the recent news in the area.

Half of the martial cultivators at the Half-Moon Market were independent cultivators, with no family support or other backgrounds.

Some who had just entered the realm or had been there for some time were discussing the major exams.

The major exams were the most important thing for Jiang Feng besides cultivation, so he couldn't help but listen in.

He hadn't entered the realm yet, so others glanced at him but didn't pay much attention.

After listening for a while, Jiang Feng understood. For these independent cultivators, there was another task before the county exam: obtaining the Tianzhao Order.

There were usually two ways to obtain the Tianzhao Order.

One was issued by a family.

Each officially recognized family had a certain number of county exam slots each year.

The family would select suitable descendants, who would then directly participate in the county exam.

The other part was issued by the government.

Martial cultivators without family backgrounds could apply for the Tianzhao Order at the government office. Those who passed the test would receive the order and could participate in the county exam.

This was like a preliminary exam before the county exam.

The independent cultivators gathered here were discussing the application for the Tianzhao Order.

They were quite worried about it.

"Applying for the Tianzhao Order is much harder than I imagined! I applied last year, thinking I was strong, but I didn't pass the test... I underestimated the heroes of the world!"

Several people in the crowd who had failed last year joined in the discussion, sharing their scores.

This preliminary exam was a simple simulation of the county exam. There was no earth test, only the heaven test and the human test.

The heaven test was to test various qualities, and the human test was not a fight with a real person but a fight with a captured Ming beast.

The first man to speak lost to a first-level, first-grade Ming beast in the human test and was eliminated.

Ming beasts, like humans, advanced to the next level after reaching the tenth grade. A first-level, first-grade Ming beast was equivalent to the strength of a martial cultivator at the initial stage of Dawn.

After inquiring, it turned out that all those who failed had good scores in the heaven test but lost in the human test.

The man said helplessly, "I've dealt with many first-level, first-grade Ming beasts before, but the one in the application test felt stronger than the ones I usually face."

He took out a leather bag, squatted down, and poured out everything inside. The bag was full of Ming beast materials. Someone who knew the value of these items immediately recognized them: "Wow, these are pretty good. There are first-level, first-grade and first-level, second-grade ones. Did you get all of them?"

The man patted his chest: "Of course, I got them all by myself! Sigh, even so, I still failed the application for the Tianzhao Order. My luck..."

He sighed, looking very dejected.

"...I think something's not right."

Suddenly, someone frowned and said, "If it was just you who failed, it might be a matter of luck. But why did everyone fail at the same point?"

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