Longevity by Grinding Skills-Chapter 50: Inside the Black Market

He had heard so much of this scholarly chatter while eating and drinking at Changfeng Tavern, he was sick to death of it.

If the Empress of Great Zhou wanted to secure her throne, she would naturally need to employ iron-fisted methods.

The Old Faction, unwilling to let a woman not of the Li Family sit on the throne, would naturally have people like Lian Yuanzhang and Hex Ming openly rebelling.

Back inside Qinghe Residence, Xu Yunfan looked up at the moon.

It was just a sliver away from becoming a perfect jade disc hanging in the sky.

’Just a few more days.’

Xu Yunfan toyed with the Iron Token in his hand.

Three days passed in a flash. That night, Xu Yunfan left the city, changed into black clothes in a forest by the main road, wrapped his Heavy Hammer in black cloth, and slung it over his back.

He strode like a shooting star toward the west of the city, racing away.

He covered the thirty-li distance at full speed, arriving in no more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

From a great distance, Xu Yunfan could see a stone bridge, appearing and disappearing in the mist.

Xu Yunfan stopped in front of a grove of withered willows not far from the stone bridge.

The shrill cry of a night owl pierced the mist. The stone bridge before him was slick with moss, and a tattered lantern hung from a crooked wooden post at its head.

A crippled old Daoist was moving a broken wooden stool to sit in the shadow of a bridge pier. His eye sockets were as sunken as two dry wells, and despite the cold wind, he showed no intention of moving in the slightest.

’He must be at least a First-Level Martial Artist, either in Tendon Training or Bone Training.’

’If he were in the Skin Cultivation realm, he’d be like Elder Lv, with muscles bulging all over his body.’

’But this old Daoist is too old. His qi and blood have waned, so he can’t even exert fifty percent of his peak strength.’

’If one doesn’t temper their tendons, bones, and skin to Great Mastery and achieve the Outer Three Harmonies to enter the Muscle Cultivation Realm, their qi and blood will dissipate with age, and their strength will decline year by year.’

Xu Yunfan stood still for a long time, his gaze sweeping the area. In this withered willow grove alone, there were no fewer than five people, all dressed in black. Their auras were calm, their breathing was deep, and their strength was considerable.

’But none of them should have reached First Level Great Mastery yet.’

Xu Yunfan gave them a glance and paid them no more mind.

He saw someone emerge from the withered willow grove, show a Token, and cross the bridge. After that, people began to show their Tokens and enter one after another.

Seeing this, Xu Yunfan no longer hesitated. He strode forward and presented his Iron Token.

"A Fog Concealment Order?"

The old Daoist scraped his fingernail against a scratch on the Token and sniffed the scent of rust.

"You must leave the market before 1:00 AM. No fighting is allowed in the Ghost Market. Violators will be attacked by everyone."

The old Daoist said casually, returning the Token to Xu Yunfan.

Xu Yunfan nodded slightly, walked past the old Daoist, and proceeded slowly toward the other side of the stone bridge.

On the other side of the stone bridge, a small hill came into view. There was a crack in the hill, through which black-clad figures were constantly entering and exiting.

Xu Yunfan followed the crowd into the crack in the mountain. After passing through a dark tunnel, he was suddenly greeted by the sight of an underground street stretching for hundreds of yards.

The stone walls on both sides were honeycombed with caves, where masked vendors had set up long tables in front of the entrances.

A burly man in a ghost mask walked by, dragging heavy shackles. The iron chains scraped against the bluestone floor, sending out sparks.

It was completely different from the cold, eerie Ghost Market he had imagined. This place was bustling with activity, the cacophony even louder than a wet market.

Everyone coming and going had their figures concealed and did not show their true faces.

As he passed the seventh cave, a masked, one-eyed man was in the middle of a spittle-flying sales pitch.

"Look at this *Dragon Subduing Palm*! It was personally written by a Beggar Gang Elder thirty years ago. It’s a true, top-tier tendon training martial art..."

Xu Yunfan stopped and flipped to the displayed section on the palm technique’s core principles. It did indeed seem profound.

"How much?"

The one-eyed man quickly replied, "You want to buy it, brother? I’ll give you an honest price: two thousand three hundred taels of silver."

The corner of Xu Yunfan’s eye twitched. He rubbed the page between his fingertips; the ink was clearly a fresh copy. Calming down, Xu Yunfan realized the passage on the martial art’s principles felt somewhat familiar.

Thinking back carefully, he realized he had heard this exact passage in a storyteller’s performance at a teahouse just three days ago.

He silently put the book down and turned to leave.

Seeing this, the one-eyed man was about to say something cold, but then he noticed the heavy weapon on Xu Yunfan’s back. His mouth snapped shut, and he just grumbled to himself, not daring to say more.

’Without exception, anyone who could move freely while carrying a heavy weapon was ferociously powerful.’

He walked a full circle around the area where secret manuals were sold. What finally caught his attention was a black-clad old crone at the end of the street, hunched over and leaning on a staff.

A large stack of manuals lay before her, their corners wrapped in oil paper. The yellowed, curled pages of an *Iron Cloth Shirt* manual certainly made it look like an antique.

Xu Yunfan’s finger brushed over a diagram illustrating a weakness, and with a sudden tug, he pulled apart a glued section—revealing the words *Postpartum Care for Sows* underneath.

Beneath the cover of a *Golden Bell Shield* manual was an Erotic Painting. Tucked inside a *One Yang Finger* manual was a wanted poster.

...

The old crone instantly leaped to her feet, her sharp voice screeching, "You young punk, what are you doing ruining my manuals? These are peerless Divine Skills!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Xu Yunfan really wanted to pull out his Heavy Hammer and give the old crone a good whack. Instead, he let out a breath and walked away without a word, leaving her to stomp her feet and curse at him.

The people around the Ghost Market seemed accustomed to this scene, continuing about their business as if nothing had happened.

"Looking to buy some real Martial Arts, sir?"

In a cave not far from the old crone, a man wearing an iron mask was tapping a Judge’s Pen on a stone table, striking tiny sparks.

Seven thread-bound books were stacked neatly on the table. Their covers were made of the most common indigo-dyed coarse paper, with titles like *Tiger-Crouch Long Fist* and *Six Harmonies Saber Technique* written in tiny, neat script.

Xu Yunfan glanced at the book titles and said flatly, "This kind of stuff? You can buy a whole stack of it for thirty wen at the bookstores in the east of the city."

As he finished speaking, his gaze sharpened.

The light from a fire stick in the cave illuminated finger marks on the wall, three inches deep. The edges of these holes, which pierced the bluestone, were smooth—clearly left by a master of an Eagle Claw-type skill who had reached the Transformation Realm.

’Only a Martial Master at the Great Mastery of Bone Cultivation would possess such power.’

’Beiye City may be small, but I’ve run into quite a few First-Level Martial Artists. I already know of four or five of them now.’

"Thirty wen for a stack?"

The man spun the Judge’s Pen in his fingers a few times, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

"More than that. It’d be at least thirty taels. These days, even being literate is a way to make a living."

Xu Yunfan pondered for a moment. He had walked around the Ghost Market and seen all sorts of things for sale, but the vast majority were fakes. You had to rely on your own judgment for many items.

Moreover, many of the goods carried the distinct smell of blood, meaning they were obviously stolen.

"Do you have any true Martial Arts?"

"Of course. Everything sold by my Jinfeng Tower is the real deal."

The Iron-faced Man asked, "What kind of Martial Arts are you looking for?"

"A Bone Strengthening Skill."

"A Bone Forging skill? You’re in luck, sir. I happen to have one right here."

The Iron-faced Man didn’t answer directly. Instead, he took out a thick tome from a wooden box behind him and placed it on the table in front of Xu Yunfan.

Gilt characters stood out boldly on the tome’s cover:

*Golden Crow Bone Forging Chapter*.

’A Bone Forging skill?’

Xu Yunfan’s fingers gently brushed across the cover, feeling the rough texture of the paper. He could sense that this tome was probably authentic, but...

Xu Yunfan opened the tome, but just as he was about to examine it more closely, the Iron-faced Man’s Judge’s Pen shot out and pressed it down.

Xu Yunfan said, "If I don’t look, how can I verify its authenticity?"

The Iron-faced Man didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he tapped the stone table lightly with his Judge’s Pen, producing a crisp sound.

His eyes were profound, as if he could see right through Xu Yunfan’s thoughts.

"Do you know, sir, how many eyes are watching these Martial Arts manuals here in the underground of Beiye City? And how many people have lost their lives here, just to obtain a single authentic manual?"