I can increase my power through breathing.

Chapter 8 Black Market, Buying Secret Manuals

It didn't take long.

The official wanted notice and the martial arts bounty were issued at the same time.

The county government issued an arrest warrant and posted wanted notices for Zhou Qing. Whether it was for the sake of the imperial court's reputation or for Magistrate Lin Yue's own future, Zhou Qing had to be brought to justice. However, Master Zhou issued a bounty in the martial arts world not only to save face for the Zhou family, but also to eliminate potential threats.

Zhou Qing publicly tried Zhou Chen and killed him in front of everyone. This was undoubtedly a slap in the face to the Zhou family. If a sufficient response is not given, more people will dare to challenge the authority of the Zhou family.

Once the bounty is issued, many martial arts practitioners will surely hunt down Zhou Qing for the hefty reward.

Master Zhou didn't believe it.

How much trouble can a small-time fugitive cause when faced with a warrant for his arrest and the pursuit of martial arts masters?

at the same time.

Zhou Qing has already left the county town.

He fled into the deep mountains and forests to evade pursuit.

When he fled, he took some dry food and water with him, and he also had internal energy protecting him, so he could hide for a few days without much trouble.

Besides, if we get really hungry, we can go hunting.

Several hours later, it began to get dark.

Zhou Qing discovered an abandoned temple in the mountains.

"Let's rest in the temple for the night first."

Zhou Qing quickened his pace and soon arrived in front of the temple.

The temple looked abandoned for a long time, and a musty smell permeated the air, but he didn't care, as long as it could provide shelter from the wind and rain.

He found a relatively clean corner to sit down, then took out the valuables he had taken from Zhou Chen and counted them.

Among them, there were more than 500 taels of silver notes.

A dozen or so taels of loose silver.

"With over five hundred taels of silver, one should be able to buy an internal energy cultivation manual on the black market."

Zhou Qing thought to himself.

Internal martial arts manuals are extremely valuable.

Aside from some large auctions, no one would sell them through normal channels. However, the jailer Liu Shan had inquired and found out that there was a black market near the city of Anqing that might be able to sell internal martial arts manuals.

The black market is a place where transactions are conducted without regulation.

Goods can be bought and sold on the black market without paying taxes, and even some prohibited items that are difficult to buy through legitimate channels can be purchased there.

The same applies to internal martial arts manuals.

However, the internal energy cultivation manuals sold on the black market are generally of dubious origin, mostly obtained through murder and robbery, and practicing them may pose hidden dangers.

For example, the internal energy cultivation manuals bought on the black market may have unknown origins. They may come from a martial arts family or be the most treasured technique of a martial arts sect. Practicing them may lead to being hunted down.

Therefore, while buying internal martial arts manuals on the black market is a shortcut, it is also fraught with unknown risks.

However, Zhou Qing has no connections, so the only way for him to obtain internal energy manuals, besides buying them at large auctions, is through the black market.

Although he could forcibly improve the Rejuvenation Technique through Dao Source, it was too wasteful. It would take seven Dao Source points to advance the Rejuvenation Technique from the ninth level to the tenth level, and the amount of Dao Source required would increase as the level progressed.

Rejuvenation Exercise is, after all, just a health-preserving exercise, and its power is limited.

……

……

Five days later.

As evening fell, Zhou Qing arrived at the black market outside Anqing Prefecture.

In fact, he had arrived near the prefectural city three days ago, but Zhou Qing had never been to the black market, nor had the jailer Liu Shan. They had only heard about the location of the black market from others, so it took them two days to confirm its location. At this moment, Zhou Qing was dressed in all black and his face was covered with a black cloth.

On his way to the prefectural city, Zhou Qing passed through some villages and towns and learned from some people that he was wanted by the government and that the Zhou family had also issued a bounty on him. He knew that the black market was full of all sorts of people and that he had to hide his identity.

He understood that once his identity was exposed, he would be in an extremely dangerous situation in the black market.

The reward from the Zhou family amounted to three thousand taels of silver.

Although the wanted poster issued by the government only costs one hundred taels of silver, it allows one to choose an internal martial arts technique for free from the county government's armory in Black Stone County.

Even a common, third-rate internal skill is of extraordinary value.

Of course, the high value of internal energy cultivation manuals is due to their being held by powerful forces and prohibited from being circulated, making them difficult for outsiders to learn.

If it can be circulated.

So, a secret manual can be copied countless times, and all that's needed is some paper and ink. The price is just like martial arts manuals—not exactly commonplace, but practically dirt cheap.

Some third-rate martial arts techniques can be bought for just a few taels of silver.

The price of internal martial arts techniques that can be traded on the black market is naturally not the same as that at auctions.

At auctions, even ordinary third-rate internal skills can sell for thousands of taels of silver, while on the black market, they often only cost one-tenth, or even a fraction of that.

Zhou Qing paid an entrance fee of one tael of silver and entered the black market.

Although the black market is a free trading place for martial artists, it is protected by someone; otherwise, it would have been wiped out by the government long ago.

This entry fee is for the powerful forces behind it.

Furthermore, transactions in the black market are entirely voluntary, and forced buying and selling are prohibited. Fighting is also forbidden in the black market; if anyone violates these rules, they will be met with a strong crackdown by the black market enforcement team.

However, once they leave the black market, the law enforcement team has no jurisdiction.

Zhou Qing entered the black market and saw a constant stream of people, including martial artists, numbering at least several hundred.

The people here, whether they are pedestrians who want to buy things or stall owners who sell goods, are mostly masked, or wearing masks or straw hats, to hide their true identities.

Zhou Qing strolled around and found the black market stalls to be a dazzling array of goods, including precious medicinal herbs, rare treasures, various weapons, and poisons.

There are five stalls selling the secret manuals.

However, the manuals openly sold at these five stalls are all martial arts techniques; if you want internal energy cultivation techniques, you'll have to ask each stall individually.

There were quite a few martial artists coming up to buy the manuals at these five stalls.

From their conversation, we learned that these five stalls had been operating on the black market for some time, so there was no need to worry about buying fake manuals.

If someone were selling counterfeit goods, they would have been dealt with long ago.

Zhou Qing immediately went to a stall.

The stall owner behind the stall was an elderly man with his face covered. Although his face was not clearly visible, his age could be roughly guessed from his eyes and skin condition.

Of course, it's impossible to tell whether the other person has disguised themselves or not.

"The martial arts you're selling are all techniques, but do you have any internal energy cultivation methods?"

Zhou Qing asked.

"The internal skills are certainly there, but they are quite expensive, so they won't just be displayed on the stall. It depends on whether the customer is sincere in buying them."

The stall owner spoke in a hoarse voice.

Of course, there is another reason why it is not displayed publicly.

Zhou Qing was also aware of this.

That means these internal skills were obtained through illegitimate means.

Therefore, these vendors must sell secretly. If they sell openly, the black market is full of all sorts of people, and it would easily lead to trouble.

(End of this chapter)