Chapter 187 - 185: Celestial Essence Body Refining Technique
"After appraisal, it is a secret technique passed down from Ancient Abyss Country, and the seller can guarantee the integrity of the technique. It happens to be what Younger Brother Song needs, but he wants one thousand Han Gold..."
After hearing this, Liu Dingsheng frowned.
"Is the source reliable?"
"The news is released by Zhuji Pavilion."
Upon hearing this, Liu Dingsheng nodded, no longer questioning the reliability.
The words "Zhuji Pavilion" are an absolute gold-standard sign, practically eliminating the possibility of buying fake goods.
"But the price of one thousand Han Gold is simply too exaggerated. It’s just a secret manual. Even if it’s a secret technique from Ancient Abyss Country, why such a price?" Liu Dingsheng said, his brow still furrowed.
One thousand Han Gold, what does that mean? Equivalent to one hundred thousand silver coins!
For anyone, it’s an astronomical figure.
This amount could nearly save the starving masses of a small county city.
Many local tycoons have been operating for a hundred years, and even their warehouses might not be able to produce such a sum.
And it’s only used to buy a secret technique, a manual with no one responsible for teaching it, which is simply asking for a king’s ransom.
Many manuals are profound and obscure, and when acquired, they may be impossible to practice, which means buying a useless item for one thousand Han Gold.
That’s why, even if precious manuals are available, no one is willing to spend a fortune to buy them.
The more precious and unfathomable the manual, if no one teaches it, it’s highly likely to be unreadable and unmasterable.
Thus, a renowned teacher is what’s truly valuable, while rigid manuals are not as worthwhile.
"Elder Liu, this is the price set by Zhuji Pavilion after evaluation, you know there’s no room for bargaining..." the person said with a bitter smile.
Liu Dingsheng fell silent.
He was well aware that Zhuji Pavilion would not randomly set prices to disrupt the market or damage their authoritative reputation.
Setting such a price means they determine this item has its values, even if no one buys it, they won’t change the price.
"Tell me, what’s Zhuji Pavilion’s evaluation of this secret technique." Liu Dingsheng asked, glancing at Song Changming, whose expressions remained relatively calm.
"Zhuji Pavilion claims this secret technique is not difficult to practice, requiring only one precondition for cultivation, which is to open the Nether Sea and use Spiritual Power.
The greatest value of the secret technique lies in its theoretical potential to infinitely enhance the physical body, and there’s precedence for proving this!"
"Infinitely enhance the physical body..." Song Changming was quite tempted upon hearing this.
If this secret technique is so remarkable, he’d covet it even if it cost a fortune, figuring out ways to gather money to purchase it.
"Who’s the one they mentioned achieving that?" Liu Dingsheng, being an old hand in Jianghu, wasn’t very concerned about theoretical matters but focused on actual circumstances.
"Sixty years ago, a madman under the Ghost Blade Sect known as Ghost-faced Vajra, who once suppressed the world with his physique!" the guard said.
Upon hearing the name Ghost-faced Vajra, Liu Dingsheng was startled, taking a deep breath and saying, "It’s actually his secret technique!"
Seeing the puzzled look on Song Changming’s face, Liu Dingsheng explained.
"Sixty years ago, the extraordinarily powerful Ghost Blade Sect was sanctioned by a Hidden Sect, leading to the fall and fragmentation of the Sect. The strongmen under the Sect, including one ruthless figure named Ghost-faced Vajra, all died successively.
His physical strength enabled him to snap waterfalls with a flick of his hand and split mountains with a step, possessing the skills of chasing stars and plucking moons!
At that time, his horizontally trained physique was considered the best in the world. If this is the technique he practiced, it indeed seems convincing..."
The events of sixty years ago, no matter how magnificent they were back then, were hard for Song Changming to fully comprehend.
He hadn’t experienced that era and knew little about what made the legendary Ghost Blade Sect special.
His only connection to the Ghost Blade Sect was the Soul-breaking Saber technique he’d initially mastered, which originated from the Sword Skill of this Ghost Blade Faction.
"Chasing stars and plucking moons..." Song Changming was increasingly fascinated as he listened; what kind of Immortal skill was that?
"Ahem, that was the most widespread commentary among Martial Artists in the Martial Realm back then, so some exaggeration was normal, but its physical strength was an indisputable fact." Liu Dingsheng lightly coughed, explaining.
"So, this secret technique is really that powerful!" Song Changming was moved.
But Liu Dingsheng remained cautious, adding, "That Ghost-faced Vajra indeed had unmatched physical strength, but he also had one major flaw, which was his deranged and violent nature akin to a malevolent ghost, and I suspect this might relate to cultivating the secret technique..."
He held a fixed impression of the secret technique as taking an extreme path.
With swords taking risky edges, the more powerful the technique appears, the greater the accompanying side effects of the secret technique!
If it were truly flawless, it wouldn’t be labeled a secret technique but a legitimate Divine Skill forming its own faction.
Thus, it wouldn’t be easily brought out for sale.
The person returning from delivering messages also nodded, "Indeed, Zhuji Pavilion candidly stated that although this secret technique can continue to be practiced indefinitely, enhancing the physical body’s strength, during this process, the cultivator’s disposition will be distorted by the technique’s influence, becoming frantic until losing humanity entirely.
The eventual fate of the Ghost-faced Vajra was this, and other cultivators were no exceptions.
Therefore, practicing this technique, it’s crucial to possess strong Spiritual Power to resist the invasive side effects of the technique, and equally strong self-control, avoiding excessive pursuit of power, overlooking its accompanying side effects."
This remark was like pouring cold water over Song Changming’s gradually heating mind.
No wonder they said it is theoretically possible to infinitely enhance the physique, given this lethal side effect, it indeed only exists as a theoretical possibility.
"Changming, perhaps it’s best to wait and see if other Body Refining Secret Techniques can be found." Liu Dingsheng suggested.
In his view, this secret technique was too shady and perilous, and Song Changming, possessing a bright and promising future, really had no need to choose this technique and take risks.
One misstep could lead to no return, walking a dead-end path.
Song Changming hesitated a little, but eventually said, "Senior, regardless of practicing it or not, I still want to purchase this secret technique and have a look."
Simply letting it go would leave him somewhat regretful.
The strong figure under the Ghost Blade Sect, relying on this technique, achieved the physical strength recognized as the best of that era!
This proves that the secret technique has merits. Even if it’s just for reference, he wants to buy and study it to satisfy his curiosity.
"Have you made up your mind? It’s one thousand Han Gold?" Liu Dingsheng, seeing his persuasion was ineffective, couldn’t help but remark.
This giant sum, even he was troubled by seeing it.
"Ping’an." Song Changming nodded.
Song Ping’an understood and quickly rushed into the room, soon bringing out a brocade box.
"Here is the thousand gold, I’ll trouble you to help, and here’s a token gesture to buy drinks for the brothers." Song Changming handed over the brocade box containing gold and then took out another money bag as a supplementary offer.
Having Liu Dingsheng help out couldn’t be done without giving a little benefit.
As for the source of the huge sum, firstly it came from Song Changming’s accumulation over the years, monthly income from the Bisho Silkworm.
Secondly, relying on Earth List fame, he garnered substantial gambling stakes from many challengers over the years.
Accumulating ten Han Gold, ten Han Gold is also a considerable amount.
Of course, the major part of this huge sum was from Song Changming’s gains from two incidents.
One was previously when he ventured alone into Donglai County City, took down the invading enemy leader, and raided two boxes of money and silver from Xue Boyan’s warehouse, totaling around fifty thousand silver coins.
Converted to Han Gold, that’s nearly five hundred pieces!
The second instance was when he eliminated the Sanhe Gang with an official background in Taiching Prefecture, Liang Zhao Long insisted on giving him a large sum of loot.
After conversion, it was two hundred pieces of Han Gold as well!
Thus, he could now comfortably shell out this thousand gold sum, and even after spending, he still had some money left, not impoverished to the point of returning to zero.
Eventually, Liu Ziwen personally took this huge sum to manage operations, purchasing this exceedingly precious secret technique for Song Changming.
Several days later, the secret technique was delivered to Song Changming.
"Changming, make sure to exercise restraint..." Liu Dingsheng still advised uneasily.
"Rest assured, senior, I’m always steady." Song Changming smiled slightly.
One thing he didn’t reveal.
Even if something went wrong from practicing, he still had an extra life to expend for revival.
This was his ultimate confidence.
If not for this, he might indeed hesitate to try such a sinister secret technique.
Returning to his room, Song Changming opened the signed receipt package.
Inside was an atlas manual, with its first page imprinted with a unique stamp from Zhuji Pavilion.
This confirmed the manual as authenticated and verified by Zhuji Pavilion as a legitimate technique.
It essentially came with Zhuji Pavilion’s reputational guarantee, minimizing the possibility of error.
"Celestial Essence Body Refining Technique..."