Chapter 97 - 96: Purchasing a Movement Technique

He returned to his room and opened the new laptop he had purchased. Jiang Shu logged into Weixun, clicked on the URL, entered his ID number, and completed the facial recognition process. A virtual beauty appeared on the computer screen, her sweet voice emanating from it: "Greetings, Dark Force Martial Artist Jiang Shu. Welcome to the Martial Artist Alliance. Since this is your first time here, allow me to explain the various sections of the Martial Artist Alliance. "First is the Weapons section. It includes melee weapons, firearms, various combat suits, and backpacks. Of course, different cultivation Realms grant different permissions. For instance, only Martial Artists at the Huajin Stage can purchase firearms using points. "Next is the Manuals section. This includes Guiding Skills, saber techniques, swordsmanship, spear techniques, movement techniques, and so forth. Martial Artists can choose what they wish to learn and purchase them with points. However, Martial Artists only acquire the right to learn a manual. They cannot copy, sell, or teach it privately. If discovered, they will be permanently expelled from the Martial Artist Alliance. In severe cases, they may even face imprisonment. "Then there’s the Secret Realm section. We constantly update it with information about various Heaven and Earth Treasure Medicines and Mutant Beasts encountered by Martial Artists in Secret Realms. Posts in this section must also be purchased with points. Of course, Martial Artists can also choose not to sell information to our Martial Artist Alliance. Instead, they can post directly and set their own fees in points. The Martial Artist Alliance will take about twenty percent of the revenue. "The Martial Artist Exchange section is where Martial Artists of the same Realm often discuss Martial Arts. Similar to the Secret Realm section, posts here also need to be purchased with points. If a Martial Artist has enough points, they can even request one-on-one video guidance from High Realm Martial Artists. "There are two ways to earn points. "One is through exchanging money: ten thousand Xia Country currency can be exchanged for one point. Dark Force Martial Artists can exchange up to one thousand points per year, and this limit increases with their Realm. "The second is by entering a Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. Any gains in a Secret Realm can be reported. Important materials from Mutant Beasts, high-grade or rare Heaven and Earth Treasure Medicines, or even information about Secret Realms can earn a significant amount of points in our Martial Artist Alliance. "As a first-time entrant, our Martial Artist Alliance will grant you access to some free posts. You can start by looking up basic knowledge for Martial Artists to broaden your horizons. "Lastly, I wish Martial Artist Jiang Shu success in climbing to the pinnacle of Martial Arts with the help of our Martial Artist Alliance." The virtual beauty vanished, and a webpage resembling a standard forum appeared before Jiang Shu. Next to his account, a small red dot glowed. Jiang Shu clicked on it; it was a friend request from Shang Jibei. He accepted. A message from Shang Jibei immediately popped up: "As Martial Artists, we all have a lot of privacy. Weixun is actually no longer secure for us. Although the Martial Artist Alliance was established by the Xia Country government, it provides Martial Artists with considerable freedom." Another message followed swiftly: "You don’t have to worry about being monitored when chatting here. Of course, if you do something that genuinely harms society, the messages here will definitely be subpoenaed." Shang Jibei typed extremely fast; he had joined the Martial Artist Alliance much earlier than Jiang Shu. Thanks to his family background, he also possessed a deeper understanding of it. "I’ll share some posts with you," he sent. "Take a look first; they’re all related to the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm." Then another message: "I won’t recommend specific attack methods or movement techniques. You can look into those and decide what to learn yourself." "Okay," Jiang Shu quickly replied. He then clicked on the shared posts one by one, carefully browsing through them. Survival Knowledge in the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. Collection of Important Materials from Mutant Beasts (Partial). Collection of Heaven and Earth Treasure Medicines (Partial). ... After reading the posts, Jiang Shu clicked on the Manuals section, then selected movement techniques. Currently, for weapons, he had the Nameless Three Blades. For fist and foot techniques, he also had the Tiger Bone Mad Demon Fist. His only movement technique was Snake Step. Although he had long since pushed it to Break Limit through relentless practice (its proficiency diligently increased via his system panel), the post-Break Limit Snake Step didn’t offer a significant improvement. What he needed now was a burst-style sprinting movement technique, useful for both hunting and escaping. On the computer screen, images of various manuals, along with simple descriptions and their required points, appeared one by one. "Snow Stepping Technique": Implies traceless steps in snow; when executed by a Dark Force Martial Artist, it is silent. Points: 300. "Grass Skimming": Channeling energy to the feet to lift the body, allowing one to skim the tips of grass without causing them to bend. Points: 300. "Toad Leap": Accumulating energy for a leap that can cover roughly three times one’s usual distance. Points: 300. "Small Leaping Skill": Accumulating energy to leap up two or three stories easily, suitable for picking Heaven and Earth Treasure Medicines on cliffsides. Points: 500. The lowest-level ones all require three to five hundred points. In Ji City, that’s enough to buy a house outright. Jiang Shu couldn’t help but shake his head. His current permissions only allowed him to purchase these movement technique manuals. He linked his bank card and directly began to transfer money. Movement techniques were indeed his weak point. Both the Small Leaping Skill and the Snow Stepping Technique should be quite useful in a Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. "Please confirm if you wish to purchase ’Snow Stepping Technique’ and ’Small Leaping Skill’ for a total of 800 points. After purchase, the movement technique manuals will be delivered to the address provided within one day. Please confirm that the address is correct." A prompt appeared on the computer. Jiang Shu, having linked his bank card, directly transferred ten million Xia Country currency. Eight hundred points were instantly deducted from his account, leaving only two hundred. A Martial Artist’s money really isn’t money at all. he couldn’t help but remark internally. When he had received the prize money of thirty million, his parents had felt as if they were in a dream. He himself had spent nearly ten million to buy a house and had also set aside three million in savings for his sister. Ten million was more than an ordinary family could earn in a lifetime. Eight million could allow countless people to choose to "lie flat" for life. But for him, at this moment, it was only enough to buy two manuals. And they were the lowest-level ones at that. Of course, for Martial Artists, there were far more ways to earn money than for ordinary people. Victories in the arena could bring in millions, even tens of millions, in prize money. After entering a Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, the gains would be even more exaggerated. In the posts, he had already seen that important materials from some second-order Mutant Beasts could be sold for dozens, or even more than a hundred points. This meant that by hunting just ten second-order Mutant Beasts in a Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, it was possible to earn tens of millions! And that didn’t even include the value of Heaven and Earth Treasure Medicines or some special information. I wonder when I’ll be able to enter a Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. Looking at the few million Xia Country currency left in his bank account, Jiang Shu couldn’t help but sigh internally. He was so incredibly poor right now!