Nanyang Prefecture, east of the city, Tao Hua Workshop.
Inside a small courtyard with a single entrance.
Chen Mu sat next to a stone table under a grapevine trellis.
He took out all his money to count it.
"Travel expenses 200 silver, rent 12 silver, various purchases about 5 silver."
"There's still 402 silver left, plus 767 copper coins."
"Money is never enough," Chen Mu sighed.
Nanyang Prefecture City is bustling, and so are the expenses.
A silver coin could rent a house for a year in Qingshan County. But a courtyard of the same size could only be rented for a month in Nanyang Prefecture.
Food was also expensive.A pound of white wheat cost thirty-five copper coins, and the cheapest fish meat was more than sixty copper coins per pound.
"Shape Cultivation Technique must be even more expensive," Chen Mu pondered silently.
"What are your plans?" Chen Mu raised his head and asked Jie Jia.
The other party was squinting his eyes, staring at the silver in his hand.
Chen Mu expressionlessly put the silver into his money pouch and tucked it away.
"I have affiliated with Zhu Yi Pavilion in Nanyang Prefecture," Jie Jia said indifferently.
Qingshan County was shattered; those who died were dead, those who left had gone. It had almost become a deserted city; certainly, there was no going back.
Chen Mu envied him. This was the advantage of skilled craftsmen; they wouldn't go hungry anywhere they went.
If it weren't for the fact that being an assassin was too dangerous, Chen Mu would have been tempted to register at Zhu Yi Pavilion himself.
"I have scouted a storefront in South Market and am preparing to open a medicinal business," Jie Jia said, looking over suddenly.
"Three Yang Six Lords Pills?" Chen Mu realized; that was a big business.
"The medicine shop will only serve as a channel for purchasing raw materials. We'll have to sell at the Ghost Market," Jie Jia said. "And we'll need to change the name."
After all, it was a replication of Zhu Yi Pavilion's Secret Medicine; they couldn't be so blatant about it.
"You provide the materials, and I'll make them. We'll split the profit fifty-fifty!" Chen Mu proposed immediately.
"Seventy-thirty," Jie Jia stated blandly.
"I take seventy?!" Chen Mu pretended to be surprised.
Jie Jia just looked at Chen Mu calmly without saying a word.
Chen Mu lost interest and waved his hand dismissively, "Alright then."
It definitely hurt to part with the money. Silver was tempting to anyone.
But thinking about only being responsible for production without showing his face, he was quite satisfied.
What if someone harboring ill intentions planned a double-cross?
With Jie Jia in front to intercept, it felt good to earn his hard-earned share without worry.
"Have you found out about the Ghost Market? I want to take a look," Chen Mu asked.
Now that everything was settled, it was time to seek information on entirely new Shape Cultivation Techniques.
"I'll come to pick you up in two days," Jie Jia said indifferently.
...
Two days later, in the evening, a carriage stopped at Chen Mu's doorstep.
Dressed in black with a conical hat, Chen Mu sprang into the carriage from the shadows.
Without a sound, the carriage disappeared into the night.
"What's this?" Chen Mu asked, taking two porcelain bottles handed to him by Jie Jia.
"One is called Yellow Dragon Powder, the other is called Jade Marrow Pills; both are Healing Precious Medicine, highly expensive. See if you can decipher and replicate them," Jie Jia said. ℟ᴀꞐΟʙЁś
"Where did they come from?" Chen Mu pulled out the stopper and sniffed.
"Zhu Yi Pavilion."
You're going to fleece them for all they're worth, Chen Mu thought, bemused.
The thought of his fellow high-level assassin always considering replicating his own high-end products, unaware whether Zhu Yi Pavilion would issue a bounty on Jie Jia if they knew, brought mixed emotions.
Packing away the bottles, Chen Mu peeked through the gaps in the carriage curtain at the streets outside: "This isn't the road out of the city, is it?"
He had wandered around a bit in the past few days and had come to know the nearby main streets.
Jie Jia leaned against the carriage, resting with his eyes closed.
Chen Mu shrugged his shoulders. Was the Ghost Market in Nanyang Prefecture so blatant as to be located inside the city?
Soon, Chen Mu realized he was wrong.
The Jinshui River had a tributary called Luo River. It was clear and translucent, with excellent water quality, flowing from west to east, cutting through Nanyang Prefecture City.
Most of the city's domestic water supply depended on this broad and extensive river.
The carriage stopped at a deserted small wharf by the Luo River.
With Chen Mu in tow, Jie Jia boarded a black-canopied boat and handed the boatman a black wooden token.
The boatman, silent, nodded and set off. They soon stopped beside a massive ship shrouded in mist.
"Is the Ghost Market on a ship here?" Chen Mu asked, standing in the bow of the small boat, examining the large ship painted completely black and seemingly endless, full of curiosity.
"An eye-opener, isn't it?"
Jie Jia led Chen Mu aboard, looking quite familiar with the place.
Guided by two individuals in black, Chen Mu entered the ship's cabin through a small door.
While it was pitch dark outside, the cabin was brightly lit. Clearly, the entire vessel had been specially treated. Sealed on the outside, not a sliver of light could penetrate through.
Compared to the secretive nature of the Ghost Market in Qingshan County, this place was much livelier.
The calls of vendors, the haggling over prices—it would seem just like any bustling market if it weren't for the fact that everyone was wearing masks.
...
Red Knotweed Study
One of the few stores on the Ghost Market ship with a private room and a shop sign.
It mainly dealt in various ancient books and manuals, including secret Martial Arts techniques.
"Our shop has three kinds of Shape Cultivation Techniques," the shopkeeper said, wearing a ghastly mask, yet his voice was warm and polite.
"The Black Tiger Shape Cultivation Technique, the White Ape Shape Cultivation Technique, and a precious volume that the main store has just sent over," the shopkeeper pulled out a long scroll from behind.
"This precious volume is marked by clear illustrations and exhaustive annotations, a rare treasure indeed."
"Please look, sir, this is the secret Marrow Transformation Red Falcon Shape Cultivation Technique."
Chen Mu looked awkwardly at the familiar scroll before him.
"You haven't seen a manual depicted so clearly and understandably, have you?" pride filled the shopkeeper's tone.
Chen Mu remained silent.
He wanted to tell the man not only had he seen it, but he could also point out the hidden date tag at the bottom right corner.
This was the fifth copy he had drawn; how much had he sold it for back then?
Oh, he remembered now, ninety-seven silver.
"Very good," Chen Mu said with an admiring tone.
"So…" the shopkeeper grew even more enthusiastic.
"Let me take a look at the White Ape Shape Cultivation Technique," Chen Mu requested.
"Certainly," the shopkeeper replied, though disappointed.
"The White Ape Shape Cultivation Technique originates from Ganzi Prefecture, with a history that spans several hundred years and countless practitioners."
"It's easy to master and achieve success with, truly another extraordinary skill," the shopkeeper explained in detail.
"Do you have the Divine Intent Diagram?" asked Chen Mu.
"What is that?" the shopkeeper asked in return.
Chen Mu was taken aback.
The man selling Shape Cultivation techniques didn't know about the Divine Intent Diagram?
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Chen Mu suddenly understood.
The upper echelons in Da Liang had an even tighter monopoly on knowledge than he had imagined.
If it weren't for Jie Jia informing him, he would have never heard of the Divine Intent Diagram.
Just like the shopkeeper before him, not knowing that without the Divine Intent Diagram one cannot develop Soul Strength, one would be confined to merely practising the rudimentary stages of Shape Cultivation.
"Nothing?" Chen Mu waved his hand dismissively, not daring to probe further, "What's the price?"
"Only six hundred silver."
Chen Mu's lips twitched.
Six hundred silver? And that's just 'only'?
Even if he spent all his family's savings, he'd still be short two hundred silver.
"Well, you see, I left something cooking at home, please carry on," Chen Mu left the Red Knotweed Study feeling defeated.
The Red Knotweed Study was the largest bookseller aboard the Ghost Market ship.
If they didn't have the Divine Intent Diagram, it was even less likely the other shops would.
"Noble families, gangs, armies, should I consider these paths?"
The idea of him, a homebody, getting involved in such places was indeed rather distressing.
...
At Tao Hua Square, in the Chen Family Estate, under the grapevines.
Chen Mu had bought a rocking chair and was now half-reclining in it, reading.
The book was titled "Essentials of Decoctions," a pharmacopeia he had picked up from the Ghost Market.
Having decided to pursue the path of crafting Healing Precious Medicine with Jie Jia, it wouldn't do to be without solid skills.
Chen Mu had already asked Jie Jia to help collect medical books again, preparing to brush up on his Pharmaceutical Technique.
While reading, he regulated his breathing. His muscles twitched within a small range.
This was a new breathing method for the Red Falcon Shape Cultivation Technique.
After completing the Marrow Transformation phase, the Red Falcon Shape Cultivation Technique had no practices left to follow.
But Chen Mu had discovered that as long as he continued to train, his Proficiency could still be enhanced, although the effect had drastically decreased, nearly cut in half.
What intrigued him was that, as his Proficiency increased, a red ethereal shadow seemed to flicker in his mind.
With the improvement of Proficiency, the shadow was becoming more and more solid.
"Could this be the so-called Divine Will Diagram?" Chen Mu raised an eyebrow in thought.
"No rush in searching for a new Shape Cultivation Technique," Chen Mu decided, "Let's push the Red Falcon Shape Cultivation to another level first!"
"Let's see what changes occur," Chen Mu suddenly felt a sense of anticipation.
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