Chapter 39: Self-Study

If Yang Tong hadn’t said it, who would have known these techniques were constrained by the List of the Conferred Gods? And the power of these techniques went without saying. Take the hardest to cultivate—the Immovable, Unbreakable, Supreme, Vacuous Divine Body—for example. It required enduring three thousand two hundred tribulations, totaling one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred years. It sounded like an absurdly long time. But for those Demi-Gods stuck at the Demi-God Level and unable to break through, such a technique was an unimaginable temptation. And that was the hardest one. What about the simpler ones?

Of course, Yang Tong could only think about it for now.

After calming his emotions, Yang Tong went to the courtyard and practiced Taijiquan. Around ten o’clock, he went out to the Mercenary Guild.

Yang Tong found Li Fangxin without any trouble.

“President Li, I’ve come to buy some things. I’m wondering…” Yang Tong said to Li Fangxin, who came over to greet him in the VIP lounge on the second floor.

“What would you like to buy?” Li Fangxin asked with a smile on his face. After handing in the Earth Soul Crystal Yang Tong brought yesterday, he had naturally received great rewards, so he was in a very good mood. He felt even more friendly toward Yang Tong, not just because of the Earth Soul Crystal, but also because Li Fangxin’s background was similar to Yang Tong’s—they were both from humble origins. Yang Tong was also a peripheral member of the Mercenary Guild, so he was considered one of them.

“Two hundred Standard Crystals, and books for middle school level and above. All kinds of books that can be bought, I want them all. Also, some potions to speed up cultivation, potions that restore vitality, qi and blood, and healing potions. All top-grade stuff. And all sorts of auxiliary cultivation equipment, I want those too,” Yang Tong stated without ceremony.

“So much? What do you need books for?” Li Fangxin was a little surprised to hear this. Although the list was long, none of the items were contraband. They were all within Yang Tong’s purchasing authority and were all consumables.

“Self-study. I suddenly came into some money, so naturally I should spend it well to improve my own strength,” Yang Tong answered honestly. Using a continuous and massive amount of resources to push the speed of his cultivation progress forward was the way to avoid suspicion. His cultivation was about to officially enter a rapid growth period. Through practicing Taijiquan, he already had the strength close to Apprentice Sixth Level from Apprentice Fifth Level. If he could comprehend the Jade Pure Secret Record, he would soon be able to achieve Transcending Mortality Awakening through the technique’s formulas.

“No problem. I’ll have someone prepare the supplies for you right away,” Li Fangxin said, then left the VIP room to arrange for the items.

After quite a while, Li Fangxin came back with a Storage Ring. He took a list from his pocket and handed it to Yang Tong. “Here is the list. Check it.”

Yang Tong took the list and focused on reviewing the book titles. Most were history and geography books, with some academic books as well. There were also martial arts manuals, but they were all low-tier ones, over a thousand books in total.

Yang Tong held the list and marked off the books he didn’t want over there. In the end, only about a dozen books remained. There were as many as three books explaining the principles of the cultivation process.

“President Li, this… this is just too…” Yang Tong shook his head. “It’s my fault. I didn’t make myself clear. Can you get some more advanced books? For example, books on Spirit Tool forging and material science?”

“Sorry, can’t sell those. Those books can only be bought by official guild members. Though there are some more advanced martial arts books. Take a look, here’s the list,” Li Fangxin answered, shaking his head. “The methods for forging Spirit Tools can only be learned by advancing your studies at the higher academies in Falling Star City. But don’t even think about it; their admissions require Awakened who achieved awakening before the age of thirty to qualify for free enrollment. Awakened after thirty can enroll by paying fees. As for these martial arts manuals, there’s the Pure Tone Sword Art which multiplies power by seven times, five hundred thousand Spirit Coins; the Storm Palm which multiplies power by six times, three hundred thousand Spirit Coins; and the Snow Thunder Blade Art which multiplies power by ten times, one million two hundred thousand Spirit Coins. However, after you buy these manuals, you must not teach them to anyone except direct family members. Otherwise, you bear the consequences.”

Yang Tong thought for a moment and nodded. “Then, are there any books that introduce the origins of Spirit Tools and such? I’m just curious and want to learn about it. And also the best movement technique manual I can buy.”

“Yes. ‘Crane Shadow Step’. Cultivated to the extreme, movement speed can reach the speed of sound. Three million Spirit Coins. ‘Spirit Tool Overview’. Originally it’s also a restricted book, but I can make an exception and sell it to you. One million Spirit Coins. It must not be spread to others,” Li Fangxin stated.

“Okay, no problem. Take these books back, and add one copy of ‘Snow Thunder Blade Art’, ‘Crane Shadow Step’, and ‘Spirit Tool Overview’,” Yang Tong nodded.

Li Fangxin had someone bring the Snow Thunder Blade Art and the Spirit Tool Overview.

Not long after, a guild staff member brought two paper books and a dark green crystal.

Li Fangxin waved his hand, and the staff member tactfully withdrew. In his heart, however, he was marveling. This young master must be from some major family, right? These three items together cost five million two hundred thousand Spirit Coins. Could an ordinary person afford that?

Li Fangxin picked up the two paper books. “These are the Snow Thunder Blade Art and Crane Shadow Step. The paper of these manuals is treated with ancient methods. It won’t dissolve in water or burn in fire, and can remain intact for three thousand years.”

“This is a Memory Ink Crystal. It records the Spirit Tool Overview. Memory Ink Crystals like this are specially used to record important content with vast amounts of information. Something like the Snow Thunder Blade Art can be handled with a few dozen pages of paper. But if the Spirit Tool Overview were recorded on paper, it would fill a large chest. It would be hard to preserve, hard to read, too troublesome. Place it against the center of your forehead, concentrate your mind on it, and you can receive its contents. It will transmit directly into your mind. Those with strong spiritual power can receive all the content at once. You can finish reading it here. You cannot take it out,” Li Fangxin said seriously.

Yang Tong was somewhat surprised and speechless. He bought the book but couldn’t take it away. Yang Tong didn’t say more. One could easily imagine how precious this Memory Ink Crystal was. No need to memorize; just press it to the forehead, and the content transmits directly into the mind. What an advanced thing was this? If Earth had something like this, how convenient knowledge transmission would be?

First, he picked up the Memory Ink Crystal and memorized its contents. After about five minutes, the crystal finished transmitting. Yang Tong had merely recorded all the content, not digested it carefully.

“The total for all these things you bought is nine million six hundred fifty thousand Spirit Coins. I’ll round off the small amount. Nine million six hundred thousand Spirit Coins will do,” Li Fangxin said with a beaming smile.

“Uh…” Yang Tong hadn’t expected to spend nearly ten million Spirit Coins in an instant. The spending was a bit too fast.

Yang Tong swiped his card, put all the items into his ring, and prepared to go home and seclude himself for self-study.