Chapter 107: No Credit Allowed

Lu Yu pondered for a moment, then asked with a calm expression: "Old man, are these few Cultivation Methods you mentioned truly as miraculous as you claim?"

"Oh, little brother!"

The old man widened his eyes, his face full of an expression that said, 'You are actually questioning me?' "You are an old customer; even if I were to cheat others, I would never cheat you!"

Lu Yu smiled slightly and nodded in response: "Since you have said so, old man, if I were to still harbor doubts, it would seem like I am being unreasonable."

"Yes, yes, yes, that is exactly the logic."

The old man nodded busily, his head bobbing like a rattle-drum.

At this moment, he seemed to have already seen those eighty yuan happily flying toward him.

To be honest, this money was earned quickly and easily. When he went back later, he would have to forge a few more, striving to reach double digits; by then, he might be able to squeeze two hundred—no, three hundred yuan out of this sucker.

To say he felt no guilt in his heart would be a lie, but there wasn't much of it.

It was hard to come across such an easy mark; if he didn't fleece him hard, he would be doing a disservice to himself.

"Old man,"

Lu Yu spoke unhurriedly, "actually, there is one more thing I haven't mentioned to you."

"Hm?"

The old man's heart skipped a beat; he vaguely felt that things were not looking good and asked subconsciously: "What is it?"

"It is about those dozen or so Secret Manuals I bought from you last time."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the old man's right hand trembled involuntarily, and the smile on his face instantly stiffened.

What was this situation? Could it be that this kid had discovered he bought fakes?

But if he had discovered it, why did he come back just now, and why was he planning to buy more? He even flipped through them for a long time; could it be that he came here on purpose to toy with him?

Lu Yu did not make a sound, and the two of them stared straight at each other.

Finally, the old man gave a light cough and said: "Little brother, we agreed last time that once sold, they are non-refundable. Besides, I have already spent that thirty yuan, so you figure it out."

After speaking, he put on a shameless look of a dead pig not fearing boiling water, his eyes staring straight at Lu Yu.

"Old man, when did I say I wanted you to refund the money?"

"Then what do you mean?"

The old man was completely bewildered.

He felt that the kid in front of him did not seem as simple as he had thought. But if one were to say he was smart, it didn't seem like that either.

"The Secret Manuals I bought from you last time, I took them to an elder in the Zhai to look at, and he said most of them are fake."

Lu Yu watched the old man as he spoke.

The old man's complexion changed in a flash, his eyes began to dart around, and he argued stubbornly: "You, what kind of elder is that? How can you slander people for no reason? My Secret Manuals are all genuine, you get what you pay for."

"That elder of mine said the same thing." Lu Yu nodded. "He said that although most are fake, there are two that are real, just incomplete. However, the price was quite reasonable, so it counts as getting what you pay for."

The old man's lips moved, wanting to say something but not letting it out.

He knew clearly in his heart that his Cultivation Methods were indeed incomplete, and listening to this, the other party seemed to be a practitioner who knew the ropes.

He couldn't help but ask curiously: "Which two did your elder say were real?"

"Shadowless Great Fast Blade and Water-Pointing Swimming Dragon Skill." Lu Yu replied.

"Ahem."

Upon hearing this, the old man gave two dry coughs and continued to quibble: "Little brother, actually every Cultivation Method here is real; your elder only managed to identify two of them."

After saying this, he felt slightly relieved. It seemed this silly kid's elder was just so-so, only identifying two; this immediately gave him some confidence again.

"Old man, that elder of mine is an In-Jin Expert; his eye for things must be very sharp, right?"

The old man couldn't help but shiver.

An, an In-Jin Expert?

Even the master of the Zhou Family Fort was merely a Ming-Jin Martial Artist. This kid looked like he came from a small Zhai outside; how could he possibly know an In-Jin level expert?

If such a person wanted to deal with him, it would be as easy as a Reverse Palm.

He was full of suspicion, staring fixedly at Lu Yu's eyes, trying to see if the other party was intentionally trying to scare him.

However, Lu Yu's expression was composed and his gaze was frank, without the slightest bit of guilt, because every word he said was true.

However, he was also afraid of scaring the old man too much, so he stopped while he was ahead and said:

"Old man, I don't mean anything else by telling you this; that elder said that the things you sell are indeed reasonably priced."

"Right, right, right."

The old man hurriedly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and gave a thumbs up: "Little brother, that elder of yours is truly reasonable and of high moral character! I have always said that the things I sell are worth the price."

Only then did he truly heave a sigh of relief.

Listening to this little brother, the other party didn't seem to intend to cause him trouble, which was truly for the best.

Otherwise, even if he hid in the Zhou Family Fort, he probably wouldn't have any peace!

The corners of Lu Yu's mouth lifted slightly, and he changed the subject: "Actually, buying these five Secret Manuals doesn't cost me much money. But if there isn't even one real one among them, take me for example, I might not come to patronize you again in the future."

He stopped at the point, believing the old man would certainly understand the meaning behind these words.

"No problem, no problem."

The old man, who had just put his heart back into his stomach, felt his heart jump back into his throat all of a sudden.

Listening to the other party's implication, if he bought these few Secret Manuals and found not a single one was real, that In-Jin Expert might personally come knocking on his door.

And if he lost this sole 'source of wealth', that would be troublesome.

Of course, the most fatal thing was that among these five, there really wasn't a single one that was real...

"Old man, don't take what I just said to heart." Lu Yu smiled. "How much did you say these five Secret Manuals were again? Eighty, right?"

As he spoke, he pretended to reach for his money.

"Hey!"

The old man hurriedly reached out to stop him, smiling awkwardly: "Little brother, why don't you come back and buy them next time? These five books, these five books..."

He stammered, feeling incredibly annoyed inside.

If he had known it would turn out like this, he should have mixed in one or two real ones.

"What's wrong with these five?"

Lu Yu kept his hand suspended in mid-air and asked with a puzzled look: "Is there something written incorrectly in these five?"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes!"

The old man was so excited he became a bit carried away and insisted, "I wasn't in a good state at the time, and there are some parts that still need to be perfected. Brother, why don't you wait another two days and come back? I'll definitely satisfy you by then."

"Is that so."

Lu Yu was overjoyed inside, but on the surface, he remained calm, his eyes revealing deep regret as he said in a disappointed tone: "That is such a pity. It was so hard to make this trip, only for it to end like this."

"It's my fault, it's my fault."

The old man hurriedly apologized: "Little brother, don't worry, next time you come, I will definitely have them ready for you."

"Alright then."

Lu Yu sighed helplessly, then asked at the right moment: "Grandpa, do you have any Martial Arts Manuals for body refining here? Something like the Thirteen Taibao Hard Qigong or the Golden Bell Shield.

I was thinking, when fighting those Fierce Beasts in close quarters, if I could learn one or two body refining martial arts, wouldn't I be afraid of getting hurt?"

He felt that his move of bringing up Zhang Ren had been quite effective, successfully making the old man feel some apprehension.

So it was also time to take the initiative and ask for Cultivation Methods and Secret Manuals; even if they were incomplete, he had a way to complete them.

If the price was a bit higher, he could accept that too.

"Body refining Cultivation Methods?"

The old man pondered for a moment and nodded: "I do have some, but little brother, I'm just afraid you won't be able to endure that hardship."

"Can't endure hardship?"

"That's right."

The old man rarely showed a sincere and earnest expression: "This body refining kung fu does indeed improve quickly, but the sweat you pay is far more than others, and it's also easy to cause irreversible damage to the body.

Unless you succeed in body refining, otherwise when you get old, while other Martial Artists only suffer from declining Qi and blood, you, on the other hand, will be in agony."

If it weren't for the fact that this kid had an In-Jin Expert behind him, he wouldn't bother saying so much nonsense to the other party.

"So that's how it is."

Lu Yu nodded: "Many thanks for the reminder, Grandpa, but I still want to see them."

The old man stared at Lu Yu for a while, then sighed and said: "Alright, since you insist on wanting them, I will give them to you when the time comes. You mentioned the Thirteen Taibao Hard Qigong and the Golden Bell Shield, right?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yu was immediately overjoyed.

Listening to the old man's implication, did he have both of these martial arts?

What exactly is this old man's identity? Could it be that he is really like he bragged, some descendant of the Five Mountains Sword Sect?

"Cough."

Lu Yu coughed lightly: "Grandpa, I also want to ask, do you have any Martial Arts Manuals for cultivating the Spirit here?"

"Cultivating the Spirit?"

The old man opened his mouth slightly, as if he hadn't expected Lu Yu to ask this.

"Yes."

Lu Yu nodded: "I feel that a Martial Artist should not only temper their muscles and bones, but the Spirit must also be honed. Grandpa, do you think what I said makes sense?"

"It makes sense, it does make sense."

The old man muttered softly: "It's just that honing the Spirit is too difficult and has extremely high requirements for comprehension."

As he spoke, he glanced at Lu Yu.

"Hmm?"

Lu Yu frowned slightly; what did that mean?

Could it be that in the old man's eyes, his own comprehension was very poor?

The old man really did think exactly that.

In fact, he not only felt that Lu Yu couldn't do it, but even felt that the In-Jin Expert Lu Yu mentioned wouldn't be able to get started even if he got the manual for honing the Spirit.

This wasn't him being alarmist; the facts were just like that.

Only those Awakened, whose Mental Power far exceeded that of ordinary people, had a chance to touch the threshold.

However, how could there be a reason not to earn money delivered to his door?

"Little brother, besides the Body Refining Secret Manual, you also want something to improve Mental Power, right?"

A meaningful smile appeared on the old man's face.

"Yes, Grandpa, if you have them, the price is negotiable."

Lu Yu gritted his teeth, pretending to be pained.

"Good, since you are so straightforward, little brother, then I won't dawdle either. These three Cultivation Methods, one hundred yuan each, how about that?"

"Ah?"

Lu Yu was stunned, then asked: "Are they also incomplete copies?"

If they were complete Cultivation Methods, he felt this price wasn't realistic.

"Cough, cough, cough."

The old man coughed a few times in a row, looked left and right, and lowered his voice: "Little brother, since you've already guessed, I'll tell you straight. With so many Cultivation Methods, how could I remember them all? They must be incomplete copies.

However, if you think the price is high, we can still negotiate, right?"

He looked at Lu Yu expectantly.

Lu Yu showed a conflicted expression and said with difficulty: "Grandpa, you keep selling incomplete Secret Manuals, this puts me in a bit of a spot?"

"Eighty," the old man gritted his teeth, "eighty yuan per book is the lowest. If you are willing, just bring the money directly next time."

Seeing this, Lu Yu stopped pretending.

After all, the three books added up to only two or three hundred yuan, which was nothing to him.

"Fine, then eighty yuan per book." He nodded, "If you have other powerful Cultivation Methods by then, old man, you can bring them out too. I will go borrow some more money from that elder and try to buy them all."

"Good, good, good."

The old man was incredibly moved.

What a good young man, actually willing to borrow money just to support his street stall.

They were just incomplete books, after all; he had plenty of them, and since the price had risen from ten yuan to eighty yuan per book, he was making a killing!

"Alright, young man, come back in three or four days, I guarantee you'll be satisfied. Oh right, make sure to bring enough money, I don't support credit."

In the end, he did not forget to add a reminder.