Longevity by Grinding Skills-Chapter 51: Iron Bridge Pass

Xu Yunfan let out a soft laugh. The Iron-faced Man before him had only reached Minor Achievement in the First Level; he couldn’t even be considered a Martial Master. Xu Yunfan was genuinely surprised by his audacity.

At that, he lost all interest. The way the Iron-faced Man was being so secretive, the Golden Crow Bone Forging Chapter couldn’t possibly be real.

Even if it were a True Skill, it was probably just a classic bait-and-switch.

Xu Yunfan stood before the Iron-faced Man, paused in silence for a moment, then turned and left without a word.

Seeing this, a glint flashed in the Iron-faced Man’s eyes. The Judge’s Pen in his hand lifted slightly as he stared intently at Xu Yunfan’s departing back.

After a long moment, the Judge’s Pen at the Iron-faced Man’s wrist suddenly flicked up half an inch. The silver-and-iron Judge’s Pen struck the inkstone, sending a few sparks flying.

He wandered a full circle around the Black Market. Besides the hawkers selling Martial Arts Manuals, there were all sorts of medicinal herbs he couldn’t name, emitting a pungent, aromatic scent.

A strange medicinal aroma steamed up from a narrow passage dedicated to selling herbs.

A masked old woman in a purple satin jacket carried a rattan basket, her twig-like fingers fiddling with dried Red Blood Vines.

A man in a bamboo hat had a Three-legged Bronze Cauldron set by his feet. Inside, a dark green concoction was bubbling away, GURGLE GURGLE, and a flagpole was propped up beside him.

’Hundred Herbs Soup. Strengthens Blood Qi.’

Xu Yunfan’s nostrils twitched. From fifteen paces away, he caught the earthy scent wafting from a pile of "Centennial Ginseng"—they were clearly fakes, made from dyed balloon flower roots.

’Damn it... a Black Market through and through.’

Xu Yunfan cursed to himself.

He did, however, inspect the weapon stalls carefully.

A Familiar Copper Mace was chiseled with a suspicious-looking Thunder Pattern, and a Nine-Section Whip still had fresh iron slag stuck to the joints of its rings.

It wasn’t until he glimpsed a broken blade lying on a blue cloth that Xu Yunfan stopped in his tracks.

The break in the blade was as jagged as a wolf’s fang, and the remaining four-inch edge was covered in sawtooth-like nicks.

They were all Mortal Soldiers, but this Broken Blade alone seemed to have reached the Sharp Blade Tier. Unfortunately, only a quarter of the blade was left, and its edge was riddled with nicks.

The blade seller had a sharp eye and naturally knew this Broken Blade was something special. Seeing Xu Yunfan staring at it without blinking, he began his pitch.

"You’ve got a good eye, sir!"

The blade seller leaned in, flashing his yellow teeth.

"This is a treasure that came out of the Central State’s Hu Ben Camp! Back in its day, it shattered seven Curved Sabers of the same tier in the Western Desert..."

"The only thing that got shattered was your lying tongue, wasn’t it?"

The scar-faced man selling a Meteor Hammer nearby spat. "That piece of scrap iron? If you melted it down for firewood, the smoke alone would choke you!"

Xu Yunfan flicked the spine of the blade with his finger. Hearing the dull thud, he frowned.

The blade was indeed mixed with Cold Iron. Unfortunately, it had been through an incredibly brutal battle. The break was smooth, a clear sign it had been sliced clean through by someone.

The cost to reforge it would be far greater than forging a new blade of the same quality.

He gave the blurry "Broken Prisoner" inscription on the hilt one last glance, readjusted the Jar Gold Hammer on his back, and turned to leave, ignoring the bickering pair.

After wandering a few more times through the caves selling various exotic treasures, Xu Yunfan’s initial anticipation was completely extinguished.

’It made sense. If there really were a statue of the Powerful Awakening Bodhisattva emanating an ominous aura, its owner would have been long dead. How could it possibly be put up for sale here?’

Suddenly, the sound of a shattering clay pot came from the northwest corner.

In the corner, a hunchbacked old man in a ragged jacket was gripping a linen-clothed youth’s wrist. A worn silk book had fallen from the youth’s robes, and on it, the three words "Iron Bridge Pass" were written in a bold, powerful script.

"Two hundred taels!"

The youth’s face flushed red as he struggled desperately to break free from the hunchbacked old man’s grip, but the old man’s hand was like an iron clamp, completely unmoving.

"This is from the ruins of the Iron Armor Sect—"

"Silence!"

The hunchbacked old man’s face was cold as his fingers dug sharply into the linen-clothed youth’s wrist, numbing half of the young man’s body and rendering him speechless.

He sneered. "A vulture from Bei Mang Mountain dares to cause trouble here? Who knows how much stuff you people have dug out of the ground... One hundred taels."

"Iron Bridge Pass?"

Xu Yunfan’s voice suddenly reached the ears of the hunchbacked old man and the linen-clothed youth.

The deep voice made the hunchbacked old man stiffen slightly. He turned to see a fierce, iron tower of a man standing beside him.

The linen-clothed youth’s lips trembled, and he shivered too much to speak.

Seeing this, Xu Yunfan reached out and grabbed the hand the hunchback was using to clutch the youth’s wrist. The immense finger strength horrified the old man, and the overwhelming power forced his fingers to twitch and release their grip.

He didn’t even glance at the hunchbacked old man, his gaze fixed directly on the linen-clothed youth.

’Neither of these two were good people. One was a greedy old hunchback, the other a Tufu Zi who robbed graves.’

"You have a Kung Fu manual from the Iron Armor Sect?"

The linen-clothed youth nodded quickly, his expression cautious and timid.

"It’s a fragment, the key to the Iron Bridge Pass technique. The complete version is an Ultimate Skill that leads directly to the Blood Exchange Realm. I only found a partial Bone Training Secret Technique."

’Bone Training?!’

’He needed a Bone Refining Technique.’

Xu Yunfan said, "Let me see it. If it’s real, I’ll give you two hundred taels for it."

Hearing this, the hunchbacked old man’s eyes glinted with a cold light. He spoke in a sinister voice. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Brat, I saw that Cultivation Technique first!"

Xu Yunfan glanced at the hunchbacked old man and extended a large hand. The old man saw this and tried to step back and dodge, but his pupils suddenly shrank as Xu Yunfan’s hand sliced through the air and clamped down on his shoulder.

The old man’s expression changed drastically. He said urgently, "This is the Black Market! Fighting is forbidden!"

Xu Yunfan chuckled, loosened his grip slightly, and patted the old man’s shoulder.

"My friend, what’s your offer?"

The hunchbacked old man fell silent for a moment before saying, "Five hundred taels."

"I’ll offer a thousand!"

Hearing Xu Yunfan’s unhesitating bid, the hunchbacked old man’s chest tightened.

"You..."

He shot Xu Yunfan a vicious glare, but when he saw Xu Yunfan’s gaze instantly turn ice-cold, he turned and left without another word.

’A thousand taels... he might not make that much reselling goods in this place for a whole year.’

Xu Yunfan’s gaze shifted to the linen-clothed youth, his expression impassive.

"May I inspect the goods?"

"O-of course!"

The linen-clothed youth nodded quickly and pulled the crumpled silk book from his robes.

On the silk book, the three words "Iron Bridge Pass" were written in an ink as black as iron.

Xu Yunfan opened it and read the first few lines.

’You have discovered the fragmented Bone Forging Chapter of Iron Bridge Pass. After careful study, you have a faint sense of comprehension, but upon deeper reflection, it remains somewhat baffling.’

He read the notification that floated into his field of vision.

Xu Yunfan’s heart leaped. This trip to the Black Market had not been in vain; at least he had gotten what he came for.

He had heard about the Iron Armor Sect from Elder Lv. It had once been a major sect in Qingzhou, but it was wiped out overnight in a bloody massacre, presumably by an alliance of several other major Qingzhou sects.

Though the Iron Armor Sect never expanded beyond Qingzhou, its Iron Bridge Pass Kung Fu, when pushed to the absolute limit, could allow a master of the Flesh Refining Realm to break through to the Blood Exchange Realm.

The Iron Armor Sect’s specialty was Bone Training.

Although this fragment’s Bone Training Chapter wasn’t the core secret, it should be more than enough to achieve Great Mastery of Bone Cultivation.

He casually pulled a stack of Silver Notes from his robes, counted out a thousand taels worth of silver, and handed it to the linen-clothed youth.