Chapter 91: Chapter 90: Deep Red, Activate

Songtao Martial Arts Hall.

The reception hall.

Wu Chen sat in the guest’s seat, occasionally picking up a piece of fruit or taking a sip of fragrant tea to pass the time.

The Meridian Passage Realm Martial Artist had shown him in, had a serving girl bring some snacks, and then went off to find the old hall master of the martial arts hall.

After a short while, as Wu Chen was lost in thought, a resonant voice sounded in his ear:

"Young friend, since you’ve come to my Songtao Martial Arts Hall to learn a Jade Bone Realm martial art, you must be here for our ’Tiger Bone Body Forging Skill,’ I presume."

Wu Chen turned his head toward the entrance of the hall and saw an old man with graying hair but a vigorous spirit, walking with the stride of a dragon and the gait of a tiger.

"He Bai, Hall Master of the Songtao Martial Arts Hall." He Bai politely cupped his fist toward the young man who had come to learn martial arts, offering a simple self-introduction.

Wu Chen nodded and replied just as simply, "Wu Chen."

After exchanging names, He Bai sat in the main seat of the hall and got down to the business of martial arts:

"Young friend, you wish to learn a Jade Bone Realm martial art, but it does not come cheap."

Wu Chen took a reddish banknote he had prepared earlier from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

"Hall Master He, I wonder, is one thousand taels enough to take a look at your esteemed hall’s ’Tiger Bone Body Forging Skill’?"

"Tsk... Of course, it’s enough."

He Bai stared at the reddish banknote, shocked by Wu Chen’s lavishness.

A Jade Bone Realm martial art typically went for about five hundred taels of silver. Even an ancestral one would only cost seven or eight hundred taels.

Yet this young man offered a thousand taels right off the bat. That was enough to cover the cost of the secret body-nourishing medicinal soups as well.

But strangely, after glancing at the silver banknote, the old hall master shook his head and said:

"Unfortunately, Young Master Wu, you’ve come at a bad time. You won’t be able to practice this martial art."

The answer took Wu Chen by surprise. He looked at the silver banknote he had just taken out, a little speechless.

’I’ve already put the money on the table, and now you’re telling me no?’

"I can add more money." Wu Chen immediately decided to raise his offer. Since he had come all this way, he was determined to advance his realm before leaving, or the trip would be a waste.

But the old hall master just continued to shake his head. "It’s not a matter of money."

Hearing this, Wu Chen’s brow furrowed even deeper. He felt the old man was playing games with him.

’What does he mean, "it’s not a matter of money"? It’s definitely about the money!’

’This guy knows I want the martial art, so he’s planning to jack up the price and fleece me for all I’m worth, isn’t he?’

’If it’s just a price increase, I can accept another five hundred taels. But if it’s any more than that...’

’...this old bastard is courting death!’

Fifteen hundred taels was Wu Chen’s final compromise for a Jade Bone Realm martial art.

Besides, he had already inquired beforehand. The hall masters of the several martial arts halls in Mountain Mist City were all around the third or fourth stage of the Jade Bone Realm...

"Young Master Wu, it’s like this."

He Bai saw the impatience creeping onto the young man’s face. For some reason, as the boy’s expression soured, his own eyelid began to twitch inexplicably, as if disaster was about to strike.

He stopped beating around the bush, sighed, and revealed the truth:

"This Bone Forging martial art of mine requires a secret medicinal formula, taken internally and applied externally, to achieve the effect of cleansing the meridians and refining the marrow."

"Unfortunately, the tiger bones and various other medicinal ingredients the hall purchased last month were stolen by bandits on their way here. We haven’t been able to restock in the past month, which is why I said you wouldn’t be able to practice this martial art."

Wu Chen grinned. He finally understood that when the old hall master said he couldn’t practice it, he meant the complementary medicinal soups were unavailable.

For anyone else, this might have been a huge problem.

But for him...

Deep Red, activate!

He, of course, didn’t need any medicinal soups. As long as he could read through the martial art once, Deep Red would brute-force the upgrade points, piling them on until he reached Perfection.

After that, all that was left was to advance his realm.

"Hall Master He, you just need to let me see the martial art manual."

Wu Chen tapped the silver banknote on the table. "And all of this will be yours."

"Whether I can successfully practice it or not is not your concern."

It was an incredibly good deal. For a thousand taels of silver, he’d be making a clear profit of three hundred taels without even having to provide the medicinal soups!

But in Hall Master He’s eyes, this man seemed more like he was trying to steal his hall’s martial art.

He was, of course, aware that some heaven-gifted geniuses possessed photographic memories, but he wasn’t worried that someone could master the art just by stealing the manual.

After all, without the secret formulas for the external medicinal baths and the internal soups, one couldn’t achieve the bone-forging effect even if they knew the Bone Forging Skill.

In these formulas, one extra ingredient would turn it into poison, while one missing ingredient would render it useless.

An outsider would have to spend tens of thousands of taels on ingredients, invest several years, and make thousands of attempts, and still would find it nearly impossible to replicate the formula.

His hall’s secret formula, on the other hand, had been refined over generations to the optimal ratio, and its effect of cleansing the meridians and refining the marrow was second to none.

A formula like this was never shared with outsiders, and ordinary people would have no way of accessing it.

Thinking it over, He Bai couldn’t really come up with a reason to refuse.

Besides, the loss of the last batch of medicinal ingredients to bandits had indeed dealt a heavy blow to the hall’s vitality, and they were in urgent need of funds.

"In that case, you’ve made me an offer I can’t refuse."

"Young friend, this way, please!"

After a moment of thought, He Bai agreed to the deal. He made a gesturing motion and rose to lead the way.

One walking behind the other, they passed through the front courtyard’s corridor under the curious gazes of numerous disciples and arrived at the quiet rear courtyard of the martial arts hall.

Seven or eight Guards were on patrol here, all possessing the strength of the middle to late stages of the Meridian Passage Realm.

Hearing footsteps from the front courtyard, the group of Guards all looked over, only averting their gazes when they saw it was their own hall master.

He Bai led Wu Chen around some boulders and stopped at a rockery.

Then, he pulled a stone key, about the thickness of a thumb, from his clothes and inserted it into an inconspicuous stone hole.

RUMBLE!—

As the key turned, a large rock slowly moved aside, revealing a hidden stone chamber beneath it.

This was where the Bone Forging Skill was kept. The secret formulas were stored in another location, with real and fake ones mixed together. Even if someone stole them, they would only be able to concoct useless potions.

’All this security for just one Jade Bone Realm martial art?’

’But I suppose this is the lifeblood of the martial arts hall, so such measures are to be expected.’

Staring at the dark, open entrance to the stone chamber, Wu Chen was secretly amazed. He followed He Bai inside.

RUMBLE!—

As the two entered the chamber, He Bai activated a mechanism, and the stone door gradually closed behind them.

He Bai expertly lit an oil lamp in the darkness, then retrieved a thick book from one of a dozen hidden compartments and handed it to Wu Chen.

Wu Chen didn’t stand on ceremony. He sat down at a table and chair inside the chamber and began to read quietly by the lamp’s faint light.

As for He Bai, he sat on the other side and closed his eyes to rest.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Wu Chen closed the martial arts manual.

[Tiger Bone Body Forging Skill Entry-Level Proficiency +1]

[Tiger Bone Body Forging Skill Entry-Level Proficiency +1]

[Tiger Bone Body Forging Skill Entry-Level Proficiency +...]

[Tiger Bone Body Forging Skill Entry-Level (11/1500)]

Wu Chen stared at his panel. As expected, he saw the stats for the old hall master’s ancestral martial art already ticking up.

’The entry-level proficiency requirement was raised from one thousand to fifteen hundred?’

’That seems about right.’

’At this rate, it’ll take less than six hours to reach Perfection.’

The panel had already started adding points; the manual was now useless to him.

Wu Chen handed the martial arts manual back to the old hall master, who was resting on the other side of the stone table.

Stirred by the movement, the old hall master slowly woke up. He stared at the Bone Forging Skill manual placed before him, stunned for a moment.

He was certainly aware that for someone to have the strength of the Jade Bone Realm at the age of sixteen or seventeen, Wu Chen must possess abilities that surpassed others.

For example, a photographic memory that far exceeded the ordinary.

But even so, to memorize nearly a hundred pages of the complex Bone Forging Skill in just a few moments was simply too outrageous!

It was so unbelievable that He Bai started to wonder if the young man hadn’t understood it at all and was about to ask him to explain it page by page.

However, just as he was about to ask what Wu Chen didn’t understand, Wu Chen handed over the one-thousand-tael silver banknote as well.

This stunned He Bai again. Seeing the young man get up to leave, the meaning couldn’t have been clearer.

The transaction was complete. It was time to part ways amicably.

"..." He Bai fell silent for a moment.

Staring at the thousand-tael silver banknote on the table, he strangely didn’t take it right away. Instead, his expression kept shifting as if lost in thought, showing some hesitation.

This scene made Wu Chen, who had been about to leave, quietly raise his guard.

The Qi and Blood in his body surged in an instant, ready in case the old man decided to launch a sudden attack.

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