Li Yuan sat down next to him and broke open the seal on the clay jar.

Master Li skillfully took out two wine cups.

Li Yuan first filled his teacher's cup and then filled his own, saying, "Teacher, please don't laugh at me. My heart is already so flustered, how dare I pretend to be something I'm not?

Come, come, this is the last jar of aged Spring Dream Brew from the tavern this year. After much thought, I decided to offer it to you, Teacher, as a sign of respect."

Master Li laughed heartily, but his expression as he looked at his disciple was complex.

He couldn't see through.

No matter how he tried, he couldn't see through.

Something must have happened for Tie Sha to appoint him as an Elder.

Master Li knew very well who Tie Sha was. If not for being stuck in this remote county, if not just a Seventh Grade, Tie Sha would be a brilliant and ambitious hero.

Tie Sha appointed Li Yuan as an Elder, so Li Yuan must be suited to that position.

Why is Li Yuan suited to that position?

Why?

The allied forces of the Sun and Wei families had endured and lain low, planned carefully, and acted after careful consideration. Just when they were about to succeed in their siege, they were utterly defeated.

And all of this was because of the Blood Saber Ancestor.

Does Li Yuan have a connection with the Blood Saber Ancestor?

Or is it...

Li Yu's eyes flashed with a vague shock and astonishment; he gulped, suddenly looked up at the clear-eyed young man raising his cup, and inwardly mocked himself: how could it be possible?

Then suddenly he countered himself: why not?

But is it possible, does it really matter?

"Teacher, I toast you." Li Yuan raised his cup with both hands.

Li Yu raised his cup as well.

Li Yuan clinked his cup against his teacher's and drank it all in one go, then laughed and said, "It's still best to drink with Teacher."

Li Yu smiled and asked about Li Yuan's progress with his blade practice, then softly said, "There have been more things appearing in the Black Market recently; you should take a look when you have time."

Saying this, he raised his cup again to clink and softly said, "It's not allowed to show the registry to others now, but if you want to see it, come by in the evening. I'll secretly give it to you. After you finish, secretly return it to me."

"Thank you, Teacher." Li Yuan would not forget who had plucked him from among the many disciples, taken him as an apprentice, and who had not only protected but also cared for him.

...

Half a month later.

Wearing a mask, high-heeled boots, and a coarse-cloth cloak, Li Yuan, after having previewed the registry last night, quickly approached a vendor at the Black Market, pretending to casually pick up a book, flip through it, and then put it down.

He repeated this a few times, and under the increasingly impatient gaze of the blue-clothed, fierce-looking man running the stall, he finally nonchalantly chose a book and said, "Is it genuine?"

"It's a copy, brought from afar. Selling a fake...why would I bring trouble upon myself?" The blue-clothed man snorted coldly and then said, "I've been selling goods here for a long time, not just once or twice.

But copies are different from originals; don't blame anyone if you can't practice from it.

However, as long as you cultivate properly, entering the basics should be no problem... The copies that reach me guarantee at least entry-level practice."

Li Yuan naturally knew this point; otherwise, he wouldn't be buying from this man, so he agreed and quickly flipped through it.

The book he picked wasn't a Cultivation Skill but rather a set of Skills, but it was rare for it to cover Skills from Ninth Grade to Seventh Grade. Although it was a Spear Skill, Li Yuan suspected it might hide secrets like the "Spring and Autumn Three Blades," which is why he wanted to buy it.

Li Yuan quickly skimmed through it and, seeing no major issues with the text or diagrams, asked, "How much is it?"

The man glanced at it and said, "300 taels of gold."

"Could it be a bit cheaper?" Li Yuan glanced at the standard "Eighth Grade Martial Artist Value" on the man's head, then took out a few golden coins from his chest. His hand was like molten fire, with a rich vitality surging, and his hand almost turned a deep black. He casually stretched, twisted, and spun the golden coins into a small twist.

The man looked at his hand and asked, "How much do you want to pay?"

"100 taels of gold," Li Yuan said.

"It's impossible; the price is too low."

"But this isn't the Ghost Market; there's hardly anyone in this county who uses a spear.

Even if they did, they have family traditions. They wouldn't buy your copies.

If you carry so many Cultivation Skills around outside, who knows how long it would take to sell them?

Moreover... you might even encounter danger, right?"

The man hesitated, but staring at the other party's hand and sensing the unabashed vitality, he realized the other might be an unfamiliar Seventh Grade and suddenly said, "Then 50 taels of gold it is, for the Senior."

Li Yuan: ???

The man chuckled, "Junior's surname is Chen, given name Shuang, hoping Senior will look after me."

Li Yuan said no more, tossed the gold over, and said, "100 taels, not a single tael less."

With that, he stuffed the booklet into his chest and quickly left the Black Market.

Initially, two people were following him stealthily, but after witnessing his display, they quietly retreated.

Li Yuan silently glanced at those two people.

He remembered that nobody would have been so blatantly following him before, and earlier... there weren't so many people in the Black Market...

He quickly walked on, scanning the surroundings.

"More and more unfamiliar faces..."

"This means... the aftereffects from the Central Plains have already arrived..."

...

...

A few days later.

Li Yuan had changed his attire, standing normally now, but with a slight stoop, leaning on a cane.

Because he knew in advance what items would appear after today's market opened, he quickly pinpointed his target and arrived at the stall, pretending to flip through the booklets, then picked up a Cultivation Skill, sighing in a hoarse voice, "Forget it, just buy one and burn it for Brother Gu, fulfilling his dream."

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