Chapter 235: Going Back to the Black Market

The next day.

After only a short time of training, Jiang Cheng elevated the Flower Fist to the Perfect Realm.

Every cell in his body greedily absorbed the surrounding Force.

However, the process did not last long; it vanished in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Cheng slowly opened his eyes, carefully feeling the changes in his body.

Roughly estimating, his strength seemed to have increased by about one hundred kilograms.

At the same time, the Acupoints could absorb over a thousand more Force; compared with the forty‑thousand‑plus Force, it was a modest improvement.

But this was also due to the Flower Fist's low ceiling.

Jiang Cheng had anticipated this, so he was not disappointed and turned his gaze to the other two Secret Martial Arts.

Seven Star Palm.

Setting Sun Fist.

This time he did not intend to go from easy to hard; he would start directly with the hardest.

The palm technique of the Seven Star Palm naturally requires no separate practice; training the Seven Star Skill suffices.

Opening one Acupoint grants Entry, making one a Level One Force Warrior.

Opening four Acupoints yields Proficient, a Level Two Force Warrior.

Opening ten Acupoints yields Mastery, a Level Three Force Warrior.

Opening twenty Acupoints yields Great Completion, a Level Four Force Warrior.

When all thirty Acupoints are opened, the Seven Star Skill reaches the Perfect Realm, making one a Level Five Force Warrior—not a newcomer, but a mid‑to‑lower tier level.

Jiang Cheng felt a bit of anticipation, wanting to see what improvement this Secret Martial Art, whose ceiling is slightly higher than the Breaking Jade Technique, would bring.

He closed his eyes and silently activated the Seven Star Skill.

After a few minutes, Jiang Cheng opened his eyes and looked at the Panel.

Below Entry, the Seven Star Skill refines Force at the same rate as the Breaking Jade Technique—four per minute—but the Experience Value increase is threefold, granting 0.3 Experience Value per second.

Compared with the ten‑fold boost previously granted to the Flower Fist, this is far less, yet still expected.

After all, the Seven Star Skill has three more Acupoints than the Breaking Jade Technique.

The Entry Experience Bar is also twice that of the Breaking Jade Technique's Not Yet Entered level, at 10,000 points.

At 0.3 Experience Value per second, it requires a little over nine hours.

The Force Light Points consumed are not many—just over two thousand.

"It seems that to refine the Seven Star Skill to the Perfect Realm, a few days are unavoidable," Jiang Cheng thought to himself.

But that might also be good news.

Because it means the improvement from the Seven Star Skill will not be small.

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.

Evening.

"Crack!"

Accompanied by the breaking of an Acupoint somewhere inside his body, a massive influx of Force surged in, absorbed throughout his body.

A few seconds later, Jiang Cheng opened his eyes, a look of joy flashing in them.

In three days, he raised the Seven Star Skill from Not Yet Entered to Mastery Level.

Each breakthrough strengthens his constitution, and the degree of improvement grows higher each time.

So far, he feels his strength has increased by at least ten percent.

This fills him with anticipation for the next two realms; he thinks that if the Seven Star Skill reaches the Perfect Realm, his strength could rise by at least thirty percent, perhaps forty percent, and his speed would also improve considerably.

He glanced at the Panel.

【Seven Star Skill: Mastery (0/150000)】

The Seven Star Skill refines Force at the same rate as the Breaking Jade Technique.

At this Mastery stage, it can refine 32 Force Light Points per minute. Because of the threefold bonus, it yields 0.8 Experience Value per second.

The 150,000‑point Experience Bar can be completed in a little over two days.

In roughly ten days, this Secret Martial Art can be refined to the Perfect Realm.

If the Seven Star Skill also reaches the Perfect Realm, then refining the remaining Setting Sun Fist will be even faster.

Of course, the resulting boost might be smaller, since the Setting Sun Fist originally opens few Acupoints—only twenty.

"Earlier I thought that refining all these Secret Martial Arts to the Perfect Realm could reach Level Six or even Level Seven, but now it seems Level Six is possible while Level Seven is overly optimistic," he thought.

Jiang Cheng gave a wry smile.

Refining the Seven Star Skill to the Perfect Realm would likely increase his power by about thirty to forty percent.

For the Setting Sun Fist, an optimistic estimate is about twenty percent; a pessimistic one might be only ten percent.

His original strength was three tons; a sixty‑percent increase brings it to 4.8 tons, close to the five‑ton fist power of a Level Six Force Warrior, but still a bit short.

If there were another Human Weapon that could open over twenty Acupoints, its constitution, strength, and speed should all meet the Level Six standard.

"Fortunately, tomorrow is the middle of the month."

Jiang Cheng looked behind the door, where a calendar hung.

He plans to go to the Black Market again, using the several Human Weapons he possesses to trade one or two different Human Weapons with others; taking a small loss is fine.

After all, he is only a little short of the Level Six threshold.

If possible, he also wants to use the newly acquired Heaven Martial to exchange one or two Heaven Martial or lower‑level Earth Martial.

Secret Martial Arts are certainly never too many, just like money—the more, the better.

However, he does not dare to hold great expectations about it.

Because that guy wearing the Niutou Mianju is somewhat famous in the Black Market, yet so far he has only sold the Introductory Chapter to a few people.

You should know this is an Introductory Chapter that can cultivate to Grandmaster, and it only costs 100,000! It's practically a bargain.

Yet many people know it's real, and they would rather spend several hundred thousand buying Earth Martial from the Black Market—because they have too much money? Or is it because the Introductory Chapter is too difficult?

It's like writing online fiction; if it's the 'five white' type, they say you just need to tell a story, tell a good story, and you can earn a million a year, even ten million. Many newcomers follow that, only to not even land a contract.

So many newcomers turn to learning something simpler, like Golden Chapter One, with three twists and three shocks, and can earn over ten thousand a month.

And when they reach a monthly income of 30,000, then 50,000, they gain a deeper understanding of what the 'five white' folks say, and can ascend to a higher level.

So, is what the 'five white' people say unreasonable? It's just because they haven't reached that level yet.

Many people have to start from the very basics before they can understand more advanced things.

Of course, there are also natural prodigies who can immediately pick up a Heaven Martial and cultivate it.

Jiang Cheng is not a prodigy, but he has a Panel, so he doesn't have that worry; this time he goes to the Black Market, still planning to try his luck.

Being able to exchange for a Heaven Martial is best; exchanging for one or two Earth Martial is also fine.

Besides exchanging for Earth Martial, he also wants to buy a weapon to practice the Shadowless Blade.

After all, Secret Martial Arts weapons—whether there's a corresponding Secret Medicine or not—at least you need a weapon.

It doesn't have to be too expensive; a C‑grade alloy weapon will do.

That day Ye Ying said that there are many types of A‑grade alloy weapons, which can respectively damage Level Seven to Level Ten Force Warriors, with prices ranging from one million to three million.

B‑grade alloy weapons can easily cut through the skin of a Level 6 Original Force Warrior; for those below Level Six, it's even more obvious. Therefore, at Level Six, if one person wields a B‑grade alloy weapon and the other is bare‑handed, the outcome is almost certain.

The price is usually between 300,000 and 1,000,000.

C‑grade alloy weapons correspond to Level Five and below, with prices usually between 100,000 and 300,000.

D‑grade alloy weapons correspond to Level Four, priced below 100,000.

There are none below D‑grade; after all, even a Level 3 Force Warrior is only a few times stronger than an ordinary person, with no qualitative change in bodily defense— even a kitchen knife can wound them.

Thanks to bargaining down by 300,000, Jiang Cheng still has about 200,000 left on him; after selling his gold jewelry, buying a slightly better C‑grade weapon shouldn't be a big problem.

Of course, the premise is that this time the Black Market's auction includes such an item; he recalls that there was one at the beginning of the month.

(End of Chapter)