Chapter 183: Deduction

Shen Changqing returned to the Seclusion Pavilion.

Originally, his plan was that if he couldn’t obtain what he wanted from Ji Qu, he would have to make another trip to the Treasure Pavilion.

In the Treasure Pavilion, almost anything could be bought and sold. He believed a top-tier martial art could fetch a considerable price.

However, the problem was that even if the Treasure Pavilion offered a high price, it couldn’t possibly outbid the black market. After all, a faction ultimately needed to make a profit margin.

Conversely, auctions tended to yield higher prices. Of course, there was also the risk of not selling.

Nevertheless, Shen Changqing wasn’t too worried about that.

A martial art pointing directly to the Grandmaster Realm was a supreme treasure in the Jianghu. No Jianghu martial artist could resist its allure.

After all, a martial art of that caliber could be considered the sect-defining treasure of any major sect. Such martial arts were almost entirely controlled by the major sects, making it a pipe dream for ordinary Jianghu people to obtain one.

"Wait!"

Shen Changqing suddenly remembered something and turned back to the Earth-Rank Demon Slaying Courtyard.

Coincidentally, Ji Qu was just about to leave.

"Why is Lord Shen back again?"

His expression was surprised. Shen Changqing had just left not long ago, yet he had returned.

Shen Changqing said, "I hope Brother Ji can help me spread the word in the black market. It’s best to let everyone know that there will be three martial arts pointing directly to the Grandmaster Realm up for auction: an external martial art, an internal energy art, and an attack art."

Three martial arts!

Ji Qu was stunned. He had thought Shen Changqing would only be auctioning one or two. He didn’t expect the other party to offer three right off the bat.

However, Ji Qu understood Shen Changqing’s meaning. The more the news spread in advance, the more people would attend the auction, and the higher the prices would naturally be.

After considering it, Ji Qu nodded. "Lord Shen, rest assured, this old one knows what to do. But is the auction date definitely set for half a month from now?"

"That’s right."

"As for the auction venue, this old one thinks it should be held in the black market within the capital. There are three auction houses in the capital’s black market, and I have some connections with one of them. If Lord Shen holds the auction there, the commission can be reduced somewhat, and their promotional efforts will be more effective."

Ji Qu said in a deep voice.

He had originally planned to discuss these matters with Shen Changqing, but they had talked about so much earlier that he had forgotten. Now that the other party had returned, it was a good opportunity to bring it up.

"Very well, I’ll leave everything to Brother Ji. After it’s done, Shen will also give Brother Ji a portion of the commission. I certainly won’t let Brother Ji run around for nothing."

Shen Changqing smiled faintly.

Since Ji Qu was willing to go out of his way to help, he must have something to gain from it. It couldn’t be simply because he was a member of the Martial Pavilion that the other party was willing to do so much. So, it was better to be upfront about some things.

As for the auction house taking a commission, that was perfectly normal. As he said, auction houses had considerable influence in certain areas, so the promotional effect was naturally unquestionable.

Originally, Shen Changqing hadn’t intended to make such a big deal out of it. But since he had already revealed his identity, he might as well do things openly and honestly. In any case, with his current strength, there was no need to be too secretive. As long as he wasn’t colluding with evil, the Demon Suppression Division couldn’t do anything to him.

"Lord Shen, you’re too kind."

The smile on Ji Qu’s face brightened a bit.

Leaving the Earth-Rank Demon Slaying Courtyard once again, Shen Changqing returned to the Seclusion Pavilion.

Inside the courtyard, within his room, blank booklets were placed on the desk. Shen Changqing held a writing brush in his hand, writing something on them. On the cover of the booklet, the four words "Hundred Battle Saber Technique" were prominently written.

Due to the Demon Suppression Division’s rules, there weren’t many martial arts he could sell.

There was the Invincible Golden Body, a fused external martial arts.

There was the Hundred Battle Saber Technique, a fused saber technique.

And there was the Heavenly Martial Gang Qi, pushed beyond the limit.

Of these, the first twelve levels of the Heavenly Martial Gang Qi were exactly the same as what the Demon Suppression Division had. The last five levels were deduced by pushing beyond the limit with slaughter points.

Although the initial levels were the same, the latter levels pushed beyond the limit, elevating the Heavenly Martial Gang Qi to a higher level altogether. In this way, Shen Changqing wasn’t worried about the Demon Suppression Division causing trouble.

At most, if someone really inquired about it, he would just say that the Demon Suppression Division’s Heavenly Martial Gang Qi was incomplete, and the one he obtained was the complete version. Anyway, he just needed an excuse to brush it off.

As a dignified Grandmaster who had entered the door in both major cultivation systems, the Demon Suppression Division wouldn’t pursue him too deeply as long as it wasn’t a major issue.

The reason he started writing the Hundred Battle Saber Technique first was simple. Because the Hundred Battle Saber Technique was fused, he had complete memory of it in his mind. He didn’t need to waste any time to write it out.

As for the Invincible Golden Body and the Heavenly Martial Gang Qi, Shen Changqing only had the memory of the first part. He had no related memory of pushing beyond the limit.

Therefore, if he wanted to write out those two martial arts, he would have to spend time deducing the cultivation methods after breaking the limit from his current state.

That was why he wanted half a month as a buffer.

Firstly, it was to allow enough time to create a promotional effect.

Secondly, it was to use half a month to deduce the follow-up cultivation methods for the two martial arts after breaking the limit.

Half an hour later, after Shen Changqing wrote the final stroke, the entire booklet seemed to have a flowing light appearing and disappearing quickly. But upon close inspection of the pages, there was a majestic aura that hit one’s face.

In an instant, it was as if thousands of troops were charging forward, with soaring fighting spirit and pervading killing intent, causing one’s mind to involuntarily immerse itself within it.

This abnormal phenomenon was because Shen Changqing had unknowingly added his own intent during the writing process, causing the originally ordinary booklet to carry a trace of Martial Arts True Intent.

"With this trace of Martial Arts True Intent, I believe the price will be higher."

Shen Changqing smiled faintly.

At this moment, his mind felt a wave of fatigue, which was the result of severe mental loss. Ordinary writing of martial arts would not cause much mental loss.

The loss occurred because he had attached a wisp of True Intent during the writing process.

Among the many martial arts in the Martial Pavilion, very few truly carried True Intent. Like the Great Sun Scripture and the Tathagata Golden Body, they didn’t contain any martial artist’s intent.

Shen Changqing guessed that those two martial arts were probably not the true originals from the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect, but were copied down by the Demon Suppression Division’s experts based on the originals.

Therefore, the two martial arts in the Martial Pavilion lacked a wisp of True Intent.

Having a wisp of True Intent and not having it made a difference.

The biggest difference was the level of difficulty in comprehension when reading them.

For example, the Hundred Battle Saber Technique.

Adding a wisp of True Intent while writing didn’t guarantee that one would comprehend the Hundred Battle True Intent, but it increased the possibility compared to when there was no True Intent.

That small possibility was a great opportunity for ordinary Jianghu martial artists.

Closing the Hundred Battle True Intent, Shen Changqing left the room. It was currently a bright sunny day.

But he didn’t start cultivating the Great Sun Scripture. Instead, he came to the small pavilion and brewed a pot of Enlightenment Tea to recover from the mental loss he had suffered earlier.

After a long while, his mental loss recovered slightly.

Shen Changqing calmed down and silently reviewed the past Heavenly Martial Gang Qi’s Qi circulation route, beginning to reverse-engineer the cultivation methods after the twelfth level.

Although the Heavenly Martial True Qi cultivated from the current Heavenly Martial Gang Qi had all been transformed into Great Sun True Qi, he had circulated the Heavenly Martial True Qi countless times in the past.

That memory was almost engraved in his bones.

Now, as long as Shen Changqing spent some time, he could return to the time when he possessed Heavenly Martial True Qi and then deduce what he wanted from his past memories.

Time passed bit by bit.

Reverse-engineering martial arts wasn’t too difficult, but it wasn’t too easy either. It could take an hour or two.

Shen Changqing reopened his tightly closed eyes and then brewed another pot of Enlightenment Tea for himself.

"I didn’t expect that reverse-engineering martial arts would also cause a significant loss of mental energy. Fortunately, I have the Enlightenment Tea to support me. Otherwise, in my current state, I might not be able to deduce the contents of two martial arts within half a month."

The spiritual tea entered his stomach, nourishing his spirit.

From the Internal Affairs Pavilion, he had received the resources that a Martial Pavilion member was entitled to.

One hundred grams of Enlightenment Tea, three Blood Nourishing Pills, and three Qi Nourishing Pills.

The two types of pills were super versions of Qi and Blood Pills, and were similarly used to enhance a martial artist’s Qi and blood.

But the different is that the Qi and blood enhanced by Blood Nourishing Pills can exert a great effect even for martial artists in the Grandmaster Realm.

The Qi Nourishing Pills enhanced True Qi.

Shen Changqing had also seen the two types of pills in the Treasure Pavilion’s exchange catalog.

Any one of them cost twenty merit points to exchange.

Six pills were one hundred and twenty merit points.

Adding in one hundred grams of Enlightenment Tea, it would cost two hundred and twenty merit points to exchange as an Earth-Rank Demon Slayer.

And this was the resources that a Martial Pavilion member could receive each year.

Shen Changqing was very satisfied with this.

Receiving two hundred and twenty merit points each year was a good thing.

If the resources given were sold, they would be equivalent to tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, taels of silver a year.

However, no one would use such resources to exchange for taels of silver.

For the people of the Martial Pavilion, silver taels were external objects. The resources exchanged were the truly practical things.

Shen Changqing felt the same way.

With the one hundred grams of Enlightenment Tea given, plus the one hundred grams he had originally exchanged, he wouldn’t have to worry about this matter for a long time to come.

"After the three martial arts are sold, let’s see how much silver taels I can get—"

End of Chapter