Chapter 32: Price Gouging

Meng Yifan picked up another book nearby; the cover was inscribed with "Wind-Greeting Willow-Brushing," and the label below noted it as a Yellow-grade Lower-tier Lightness Skill, selling for two hundred taels of silver.

"Huh! Could these books all be cultivation methods and martial arts manuals?" Meng Yifan was startled. He flipped through another book beside it; the cover read "Overlord Spear," a Yellow-grade Lower-tier spear technique, also selling for two hundred taels of silver.

Meng Yifan quickly leafed through a few more books and discovered that these were all Yellow-grade cultivation methods and martial arts.

All the manuals were clearly priced: Yellow-grade High Rank sold for five hundred taels of silver each, Yellow-grade Middle Tier for three hundred taels each, and Yellow-grade Lower Tier for only two hundred taels of silver each.

Meng Yifan scanned the surroundings. There were at least two hundred books of varying thickness on the shelves here, meaning there were over two hundred manuals just on the first floor of Wanxiang Tower; this was truly unbelievable.

"According to the stories told by the storytellers, cultivation methods and martial arts manuals are usually the closely guarded secrets of martial sects. How is it that in Wanxiang Tower, they are being sold in bulk to the outside world just like selling Chinese cabbage? As long as you have enough silver, you can choose whatever you want."

The only martial arts technique Meng Yifan currently knew was the Bull Strength. When fighting the Flying Tiger Demon, he realized he was severely lacking in a lightness skill and a powerful offensive martial art.

Previously, Meng Yifan had been somewhat distressed about where to find manuals for lightness skills and martial arts. He hadn't expected that in Wanxiang Tower, there would be hundreds of manuals for sale. As long as you could afford the price, you could take the manuals away; this was truly great.

Once he sold the Demon Beast materials and had money, Meng Yifan planned to buy some suitable martial arts here.

"I wonder if they sell Immortal Cultivation Techniques here?" Meng Yifan quickly searched through the nearby books, only to find that they were all martial arts cultivation methods and techniques; there were no books related to immortal cultivation, which left Meng Yifan somewhat disappointed.

Meng Dayong said, "Yifan, stop rummaging around. These books are all Yellow-grade martial arts cultivation methods and techniques. Martial arts cultivation methods are divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow, and are further subdivided into three tiers: High, Middle, and Low."

"The Bull Strength we practice is only a Yellow-grade Lower-tier cultivation method. The True Qi cultivated is not considered profound, and its improvement to physical fitness is limited."

"It is said that Heaven-grade cultivation methods produce very condensed True Qi, possess strong combat power, and can even fight against Immortal Cultivators of the same level."

"Martial artists who practice Heaven-grade cultivation methods can strengthen their bodies to the limit at every level. Even without using True Qi, they can crush martial artists of the same level based on physical fitness alone. Unfortunately, Heaven-grade cultivation methods are priceless treasures, rare and hard to find; even Wanxiang Tower does not have them for sale."

Meng Dayong's words were filled with longing for Heaven-grade cultivation methods. Hearing this, Meng Yifan felt a stir in his heart. He had the Game Panel, which clearly displayed that the attribute limit for a First Grade Martial Artist was 100 points, and the attribute limit for a Second-Grade Martial Artist was 200 points.

Meng Yifan did not need a Heaven-grade cultivation method; he only needed enough Experience Value to raise his physical fitness to the same level as a martial artist practicing a Heaven-grade cultivation method.

However, the Bull Strength technique was too trashy, and the True Qi cultivated was limited. Even if his physical fitness were the same, the difference in True Qi would be too great. If he were to face a martial artist practicing a Heaven-grade cultivation method in the future, Meng Yifan would still be at a disadvantage.

"Dad, do you know where there are Earth-grade or Mysterious-grade cultivation methods, or Immortal Cultivation Techniques?" Meng Yifan asked.

"Yifan, the fourth floor of Wanxiang Tower is an auction house. Occasionally, high-grade cultivation methods appear, but without exception, the prices are frighteningly high. It is said that a Mysterious-grade Middle Quality cultivation method once sold for the high price of fifteen thousand taels of silver. Low-level martial artists like us simply cannot afford it; we should just honestly practice Yellow-grade cultivation methods."

"As for the Immortal Cultivation Techniques you mentioned, those are the cultivation methods of Immortal Masters. Even in Wanxiang Tower, they have never been auctioned."

"Stop letting your imagination run wild. Let's go, we need to sell the Demon Beast materials, then buy you some suitable martial arts, and then go to the second floor to buy some Pills. The remaining money should be enough for us to buy a house in the city. Time is limited, we must speed up, otherwise, we must leave the city before dark."

Meng Yifan nodded and followed Meng Dayong to the southwest corner of the first floor, which was where they purchased Demon Beast materials.

An old man with a goatee sat at a table reading a novel. Seeing Meng Dayong and Meng Yifan arrive with large bundles, he knew they were there to sell things.

However, seeing that Meng Dayong was only a First Grade High-Level Martial Artist and Meng Yifan was merely a Second Grade Lower Tier Martial Artist, their strength was so low that their bundles surely contained nothing good. The old man did not pay much attention and, while reading his novel, said indifferently, "Put what you want to sell on the table."

Meng Dayong took out the Demon Core of the Third-grade Tiger Demon and placed it on the table. The old man was suddenly startled, hurriedly put down his novel, and picked up the Demon Core to examine it closely. Once he was certain this was truly a Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Core, the old man looked at the Meng father and son in disbelief, wondering how they, with such low strength, had managed to kill a Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Beast. Could it be that they were just lucky and happened to encounter a dying Third-grade Demon Beast?

"Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Core, how much can it sell for?" Meng Dayong asked.

The old man looked at the attire of Meng Dayong and the other, knowing they were just hunters from the mountains and likely had no background in Luolong County. His eyes rolled, and he said, "Eight hundred taels of silver."

"How is that possible? Two months ago, wasn't the price of a Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Core one thousand taels of silver? Why has it dropped so much now?"

Meng Dayong was somewhat unhappy. This Demon Core was something he and his son had risked their lives to obtain, and they were counting on it to sell for more money so they could buy Pills, cultivation methods, martial arts, and a house. This old thing had slashed the price by two hundred taels of silver at once; this was too ruthless.

"My friend, you know that was two months ago. In these two months, the Demon Race has invaded on a large scale, and Demon Beasts are everywhere outside. Those high-grade martial artists have hunted many, and more people have come to us to sell Demon Cores. Goods are expensive when they are rare; when there are many, they aren't worth much. So, the purchase price of Demon Cores has dropped a lot. Isn't this normal?"

The goateed old man spoke with conviction, as if eight hundred taels of silver for Meng Dayong's Third-grade Mid-tier Demon Core was already a high price.

Meng Dayong was so angry he blew his beard and stared, but he didn't know how to refute it. What the old man said seemed to have some logic, but losing two hundred taels of silver all at once made his heart ache.

Two hundred taels of silver—that was truly not a small amount. It was enough to buy a large house in the county, enough to buy a Yellow-grade Lower-tier cultivation method, or even two First Grade Breakthrough Pills. To have it vanish just like that—anyone would feel the pain.

Having lived two lives, Meng Yifan saw through the old man's lie at a glance. The words the old man said sounded somewhat reasonable, but in reality, it was all nonsense.

One must know that Demon Cores have a wide range of uses, mainly for refining high-grade Pills. With the Demon Race invading and a great war on the verge of breaking out, this was precisely the time when the demand for Pills was at its peak. There was no reason for the raw materials for refining Pills to drop in price; this old thing was just seeing that they were people from the mountains and easy to bully, so he was deliberately driving down the price.