Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Shadowless Swift Blade, Lightweight Water Floating
"Ah, is that so?"
Chen Fan quickly apologized, sounding sincere, "Sir, I’m really sorry, I didn’t pay attention and accidentally looked too closely."
"It’s alright, it’s alright."
The old man waved his hand, appearing magnanimous, "Little brother, this Nine Yang Divine Skill and the previous Tathagata Divine Palm are both supreme martial arts. If you buy them together, I can give you a discount, nine yuan each, how about it?"
"But this is still too profound, I can’t understand it. How about I look at something else?"
Chen Fan blinked.
He was starting to question his life.
Are both of these fake, or have I just not read enough to meet the system’s inclusion threshold?
Either way, he decided to read through all these dozen books. If there’s no gain, he’ll spend ten yuan to buy one for verification, just to test it out.
"Alright then."
The old man hesitated for a moment but nodded.
Compared to those who came before, this kid seemed more honest. Unlike some, who would read a sentence and ask a question, over and over, without buying anything in the end, wasting his time.
Seeing Chen Fan pick up a book, read for a while, put it back, and pick up another one, the people of the Chen Family Stronghold who arrived in succession were dumbfounded.
"Guodong, what is Xiaofan doing?"
"Is he picking martial arts secret manuals? But that old man is selling only fake goods, right?"
"Yeah, better not fall for his tricks."
Chen Guodong smiled wryly and said, "He must be selecting. But Xiaofan should know what he’s doing, let’s just watch."
"Hmm."
Everyone looked at each other, realizing they couldn’t really be of any help.
On the other side, the old man also fell silent.
Initially, when Chen Fan picked a certain book, he would enthusiastically introduce it, but the kid would put it down halfway through reading.
"Is this kid here to mess with me?"
He frowned slightly.
Just then, Chen Fan’s heart suddenly raced.
Got it!
Yes, he found a real one!
The details were as follows:
[Shadowless Swift Blade (Incomplete): Completely Ignorant (0%)]
[Collection Progress: 36%]
[Completion Requirements: Body Tempering Third Layer, Basic Saber Technique Level 5]
[Requirements not met, unable to complete]
This saber technique is extremely fast; often the opponent hasn’t seen your move before the blade reaches them, hence the name, Shadowless Swift Blade.
Coincidentally, he just bought a dagger. While a dagger is neither a knife nor a sword, it can be used as both, making it perfect for practicing this technique.
Even if someone got close and he couldn’t use a gun, he could defend himself with the blade.
Thinking of this, Chen Fan was overjoyed but made sure not to show it, as there might be more genuine manuals among the unread ones.
The old man, who wrote these techniques, surely knew what was what.
If the old man noticed anything unusual, Chen’s plan to get it for free would be ruined.
"Did this kid realize this technique is real?"
Unbeknownst to Chen Fan, the old man did sense that something was off.
But Chen Fan, just as before, put the manual back and picked up the next one.
"Hey, kid, are you buying or not?"
Seeing that more than half the manuals had been read without any intention to buy, the old man became impatient.
"Of course I’ll buy."
Chen Fan responded without hesitation.
"You’ve been looking for so long and haven’t found one you want?"
"I have, I just want to see if there’s anything better later on."
Chen Fan replied with a smile.
The old man’s gaze drifted over a certain manual, thinking to himself, there is one, but even if you see it, you’ll miss it.
Unless you buy them all, you won’t miss anything.
But really, they’re just incomplete; what do you expect for ten yuan?
Chen Fan, relieved, grabbed another manual.
The name sounded familiar: [Lightweight Water Floating], a common street martial art.
But if it were real, it would be different.
After reading a page, Chen Fan checked his skill bar in his mind, and his heart leaped with joy.
Another real one!
[Water Floating (Incomplete): Completely Ignorant (0%)]
[Collection Progress: 10%]
[Completion Requirements: Body Tempering Second Layer, Basic Body Technique Level 3]
[Requirements not met, unable to complete]
"Basic Body Technique?"
He murmured to himself.
He knew the Basic Step Technique, but what was Basic Body Technique?
"Never mind, this isn’t the time to think about that. Continue reading to increase the collection progress."
He flipped to the next page and quickly scanned through.
In his skill bar, the collection progress of [Water Floating] visibly increased.
Halfway through, Chen Fan instinctively put the manual down.
[Collection Progress: 30%]
Even if he finished this manual, he wouldn’t reach 100%. As expected, the old man was cunning.
He quickly browsed through a few more, all fake, and soon only two were left: [Vajra Indestructible Divine Skill] and [Great Vajra Palm].
Honestly, Chen Fan already felt the trip was worth it.
Two martial arts manuals, and both he got for free.
But he couldn’t help but hope one of the last two was real.
Just look at those names, they sounded awesome.
"Little brother, isn’t that enough?"
At this moment, a hand stopped him. The old man’s smile faded, his tone displeased, "You’ve looked through so many already, surely you’ve found one to your liking? If not, these last two won’t make much difference."
"Hey, this old man’s got a temper now."
Gao Yang laughed.
In the past, the old man always had a cheerful demeanor. Though he would curse people behind their backs, showing anger like this was a first.
"Well, it’s normal, right?"
"Yes, quite normal."
Liu Yong and the others nodded.
What Xiaofan did, just looking without buying. If they were the old man, they’d be irritated too.
"?"
Chen Fan was taken aback, locking eyes with the old man, feeling a strange sensation.
What’s going on?
Could it be these last two manuals have genuine content?
Of course, the old man could also be playing hard to get.
He thought for a moment, then smiled, "Sir, there are only two left. Let me finish looking at them. I promise I’ll buy."
The old man glanced at him and said, "Buy first, then talk."
"Look first, then buy."
"Buy first, then look."
"Not buying means not looking?"
"Not looking."
"Really not looking?"
"Really not."
The old man shook his head firmly.
He suspected the kid was sent by someone just to mess with him.
If he were an expert, he would have recognized the two true manuals earlier.