83 83.
"This is going to be a problem."
Yang Ze who was looking at the disappearing figures in the distance narrowed his eyes. With his powerful senses coupled with the deathly silence of the night, he was able to hear everything clearly.
He wasn't worried about the guy himself taking action, but the people behind him. He could just take care of the entire squad now, but the upcoming days would not be very peaceful after that, especially for someone like him. Yang Ze was now really regretting practicing the secret art by himself. He had to admit that he overestimated himself. Without knowing the effects that a technique might cause, he jumped right into it.
"Guess it's time to move my plan."
It didn't take Yang Ze long to come to a conclusion. After making up his mind, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.
By the time Yang Ze woke up, it was already morning. Opening the window, Yang Ze admired the view outside for a moment before closing his eyes.
"One around 30 meters left."
"One around 20 meters south."
Feeling the heartbeats of the people around him, Yang Ze was already able to make up the number of people observing him silently. Some were hidden in shadows while some were just wandering outside with a stall acting as sellers. Though everyone pretended to be busy with their work, Yang Ze could feel their gaze.
Ignoring them, Yang Ze changed into a new set of robes before heading out of his house in the direction of the alliance. A few moments after he left, more than five figures jumped inside his house silently.
"Search every corner. Do not let anything escape."
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.
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"Hello, I am here to collect martial arts."
Standing in front of the main hall, Yang Ze smiled at the familiar face.
"You again?" The man narrowed his eyes before snorting "Didn't you just take the breathing technique yesterday? Did you forget what I told you?"
"I am not interested in practicing. I just want to collect different martial arts and perhaps if possible make my own."
"Ugh. Another self-proclaimed scholar." Looking at Yang Ze's smug face, the man shook his head. There were always people like him, thinking about inventing a new martial art even though they have never practiced any martial arts or breathing techniques.
"Come." Signaling him to follow, the man walked in another direction. It didn't take long before Yang Ze found himself in a spacious room. Just like the library, there were rows upon rows of books placed there, however, unlike the library, these were all arranged systematically. From movement techniques to fist to kicks, everything that one might of think of were here. Yang Ze could even see a completely different section that was dedicated to various weapons.
"This is what I am talking about." With a wide smile, Yang Ze looked around before he was interrupted by a sudden voice.
"Okay, pick one."
"Can I take my time to see what kind of martial arts these are?"
"NO."
"So how do I pick what I want?"
"Just grab anything from a category. They all are about the same."
"You said one could buy the martial arts, didn't you? I want to buy some."
"Okay, tell me which category books you need, and I will pick them up for you."
Both of them looked at each other silently for a long time. No matter what Yang Ze said, the man just didn't want him to go through the books one by one.
"What about those people?" Pointing in the direction where a number of people were sitting on the chairs reading quietly, Yang Ze asked with displeasure.
"They are the members of the three families. Unless you are also a member, you do not hold the same privilege as them."
'Fucking hell.' Yang Ze cursed loudly in his mind. This martial alliance was anything but what he imagined. Every rule here seemed to be made just to squeeze as much money as possible from the people that were not from the three families. They even went to the length of prohibiting the sales of Martial Arts in the Numinous Treasure Pavilion.
"How much does one book cost?"
"Fifty spirit stones."
"Heh... Elder brother... How about this? Take some gifts and let this younger brother spend a day here."
Rubbing his hands with a smile, Yang Ze pulled out a bag of spirit stones from his pocket.
The man didn't speak, just took the bag and stuffed it inside his pockets. After patting his robe a few times, he looked at Yang Ze before speaking.
"You have thirty seconds to make a decision. After that, you will not be able to enter here till a month later."
"Huh?" For a moment Yang Ze thought he heard wrong. But looking at the man who was looking at him without a change in his expression, he nodded his head.
"Great. Thank you for the suggestion. Pick me one from the fist, one from defense, and one from miscellaneous. If possible, get me something that can help me concentrate efficiently."
"Okay." It didn't take him long to come out with three books in his hand.
"Two hundred spirit stones."
"Huh?" Narrowing his eyes, Yang Ze looked at the man before asking "Didn't you say that they cost fifty each? Why fifty extra?"
"The art that you asked for making your mind calm costs a hundred spirit stones. Pay if you want otherwise don't waste my time here."
Yang Ze didn't speak, but his expression was getting colder and colder. From the moment he joined this alliance, he had to pay an absurd amount of spirit stones for every single thing. It was one thing if the costs were somewhat bearable, but not only were they exuberant, but also highly inefficient. He paid sixty spirit stones for joining here, but there was nothing that he could show for it. The alliance even forbade others from selling martial arts, so they could monopolize it themselves.
Yang Ze was already getting annoyed because of all these restrictions, but now that the person in front of him took the bribe and then didn't even bother to do the one thing that he asked him to do.
"Here." Throwing a bag that had two hundred spirit stones in it, Yang Ze took the three books before walking out of the main hall.
'Heh. Moron.'
The moment he came out, Yang Ze heard the whisper. If this was any other person, they might not have heard it, but to Yang Ze, this whisper was as clear as a day.
He didn't speak anything but looked at the man one last time before heading out of there towards the library where he could spend some time.
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"Did you find anything?" The figure of a young man was looking at the people kneeling in front of him before asking in a cold tone.
"No, squad leader. There was nothing in that house. We searched every corner and any place where he might have hidden it, but we didn't find anything."
"Hmm..." The man went silent for a moment before speaking again. "What about the city hall? Found anything from there?"
"Yes." A man stepped forward before speaking "His name is Hua Ji, a few days ago, he came here and bought a house close to the Xia clan. He made an upfront payment of 130 spirit stones. Other than that, he also bought some materials worth a hundred spirit stones from a shop."
"Go on..."
"Yesterday, he joined the Martial Alliance by paying sixty spirit stones."
"I see" The man went silent for a long time. Till now, nothing could link him to the theft. In his mind, this Hua Li definitely got the help of an expert. Those cuts on the walls were not something any Qi guiding expert could do. This was one of the main reasons for his restraint, otherwise, he would have just captured him without asking any questions.
"Send a team to the Ignis city. I wanna know what his position is in the family for them to give so many spirit stones to him."
Though he spoke these words, he himself was convinced that this identity of Hua Li was nothing but a sham. Perhaps this was what he did. Roaming from town to town searching for wealthy people only to rob them before moving away.
...
"Ugh... It's finally done." Rubbing his head, Yang Ze took a deep breath before looking at the screen in front of him.
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{Name: Yang Ze}
{Realm: Innate (Heaven and earth), Formation Master}
{XP: 3250}
{Secret Art: Stillwater Art(Introduction) 100/3250XP+}
{Martial Art: Hollow Fists(Introdcution) 100/3250XP+, Astra Art(Introduction)100/3250XP+}
{Fishing: Locked (20/500 spirit stones needed to unlock)}
{Personal Space: 3 cubic meters}
{Efficiency: 300 XP/day}
{Level: 3} (20/1000 spirit stones needed to upgrade)
{Mark Of Sin: 1/11}
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"Good." Looking at the rows of text, Yang Ze sighed in relief. After wasting more than 200 spirit stones, the last thing he expected was for them not to register on the screen.
"Let's do this." Yang Ze had been missing the feeling of rapid improvement after stepping into Innate and getting stuck in that time loop. Now that everything was almost back to normal, he could focus on the thing he wanted to do the most.
With a smile, Yang Ze looked at the screen and clicked on the '+' Sign behind the Stillwater Art.
