Farming trouble

The identification parchment was a scroll the size of an A3 paper. On it was a list of my characteristics with an official stamp on the bottom left.

[Name: Peng Tian.

Sex: Male

Age: - (Awaiting confirmation)

Cultivation: None

Martial Talent: Middle Grade Three Martial Talent

Soul Talent: -

Height: 7 feet tall [A/N: Old Chinese unit, 1 feet = 10 inches.]

Place of origin: -

Description: Looks like a native of the Southern Wilderness with his tanned skin and bulky physique. As tall as an 18 year old (Age awaiting confirmation). Noticeably spiky dark hair. Dark pupils.

Identifying features: A round birthmark on the upper left arm.]

I decided to find a blacksmith first. As I was still in the area of operations for the Seven Profound Martial House, my surroundings were filled with cultivation related stores. Some places that looked too high class like the Hundred Treasures Hall were out of my reach, but other than that, there were a lot of stores to choose from.

After walking around and being sent looks by multiple stores because of my rags outfit. I finally walked into a rustic blacksmith shop named 'The Cobalt Forge'. The inside walls had steel weapons and equipment hanging on wooden racks. There was just a single girl manning the counter. The sound of *clank* *clang* ringed out from the back of the shop.

"Welcome to the Cobalt Forge, what can I do for you today?" The girl politely asked.

"Hi, I want to sell some Iron Armor Bear's plates please." I placed the hide bag on the counter.

The girl was around the age of 16 year old, with brown hair wrapped nicely into a ponytail. Her outfit was a black apron over a yellow dress.

"Please wait." The girl started to inspect the iron armor plates. Weighing each piece on a scale and using a magnifying glass from time to time.

In the meantime, I was browsing the store for anything that might catch my interest. The store doesn't have any weapons or armor that can help me in combat, but a good knife or two might come in handy.

"Sir, I'm done." The girl weaved to me. "The osteoderm plates weigh in at 578 jin, I can give you 42 gold taels for it."

"That'll be fine, before that though, do you guys sell any good armor boots?"

The girl smiled and patiently pointed to the front of the store, "The boots section is that way."

I shook my head, "No, no, I mean do you guys have anything better than that stuff?"

The girl looked uneasy, "Customer, the value of the osteoderm plates you have isn't that high."

I took out the stacks of gold I righteously earned from before and showed it to her.

"I can pay extra." The magical words rang out.

The cute look in her eyes faded away instantly before being transformed into a veteran salesman ready to swallow me whole. The erupt change reminded me of the cruel world I was in.

'Why is Zhu Yan the least dangerous person I met today?' I sighed inside.

"Then I would recommend to you the Storm-Forged Obsidian Greatboots, made from the rare and unique Yanshi Obsidian. The boots are forged from a lighting strike, resulting in the great power within. I can guarantee, with every step in this boot, your feet will be as strong as thunder, firm as a storm, and as fast as lighting…" She continued on for half of an incense stick of time.

"Right…. I'll buy that then." I relented and picked up 2 daggers, flexible armor, baggy pants, and put them on the counter.

"That'll be 462 gold taels, deducting the 42 gold taels worth of osteoderm plates, the total is 420 gold taels." The girl's smile reached her ears.

…

I promptly changed into my new outfit, keeping the rags in the now vacant bag along with my other stuff. The next destination is Grand Clarity Pavilion. It was a thirty minute walk from the Cobalt Forge.

As the sun had already set, the Grand Clarity Pavilion was brightly lit. My flexible armor wasn't too ordinary, but the hide bags were out of place, causing all who saw me entering the establishment to look at me with a strange expression.

The waiter still maintained a favorable manner as he walked over and asked. "A table for one sir?"

"Yes, but I want to sell some Iron Armor Bear's meat too." I opened the bag to show him.

The waiter looked at me for a moment with a weird expression before saying, "Well, okay then sir."

The waiter brought me over to the kitchen. What awaited me was a beautiful woman in her twenties wearing a gorgeous dress. The woman was visibly less than thrilled to see me.

"What, don't tell me, this one wants to be a deboning worker too?"

This caused another pair of eyes to land on me. The owner of it was none other than our main protagonist, Lin Ming. He was getting scammed- I mean, he was working as a butcher for Grand Clarity Pavilion. He stopped his work to turn and looked, only to be surprised when he saw me.

"Sister Lan, this sir wants to sell some vicious beast meat and dine."

"Oh, place it over there then, we'll calculate it after you eat boy." The woman waved at me.

"About that, I was thinking…" I put on a thoughtful expression.

"What if I just eat as much as I want, and you don't have to pay me for the meat?"

Sister Lan considered it for a moment. As if she had just heard a joke, she then said "I know what you're thinking boy, how about this then, you can't order any dishes that's second grade and above, will you still take it?"

"Sure." I nodded.

"?!"

She had the 'Is this guy dumb?' written all over her face.

"You know what? Fine, Xiao Lian, get this boy a table."

…

*much* *much* *much* *Gulp!*

As expected of the best dining service in the Sky Fortune City, their food was top notch. While the cooking technique isn't as developed as on earth, the variety of textures and flavors from the ingredients more than make up for that.

"More rice please!" I raised my hand at a trembling waitress.

"I-I think you had enough for one day sir."

I looked back at the table full of empty plates, the stack of plates was enough to dwarf the waitress.

"...Yeah, you're right."

She let out a relieved sigh.

"I should probably leave some room for dessert."

I could feel someone transforming into the Ikari form in the kitchen.

Needless to say, I ate till the closing time.

…

After getting chased away from the store, I waited outside at the back of the Pavilion on the dimly lit street.

It wasn't long before a figure came walking out of the back. Standing at an average height of six and a half feet, Lin Ming glanced at me warily.

"What business do you have with me?"

"I want to sell you something."

He shook his head. "I have a commoner background, I don't have much money."

"Of course, it is not for right now, think of it as a loan." I threw him two pieces of parchment.

Lin Ming catched it and read the content. In it was the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians' and the 'True Primal Chaos Formula'. Both of which were valuable Legacy Skills. Although the quality was terrible as I wrote it on pieces of leftover hide with a knife.

Nevertheless, it cannot be understated how important Legacy Skills were to Lin Ming at the moment.

For perspective, those who practice the Legacy skills from Sky Fortune Martial House have little hope of achieving Pulse Condensation Stage. However, the same cannot be said about the Seven Profound Martial House's Legacy skills. As long as one has a Grade Four Martial Talent, breaking through into the Pulse Condensation Stage using Seven Profound Martial House's manuals is not difficult at all.

As for Lin Ming, he does not have even a decent training manual. All he had was a Trash technique called the 'Beginners' Martial Arts Manual.

For him, legacies were an important existence!

Lin Ming hesitated for a bit but still shook his head.

"This is too valuable for me."

"800 gold teals, the interest rate is 200 percent each month with compound interest." I simply stated.

Lin Ming gritted his teeth at me for a moment. He knew how risky the deal was for him, but as a person with a firm heart set on martial arts, he eventually agreed.

"Deal."

…

Now, I wasn't just helping him because he is the main character, there was a better reason.

Lin Ming is a trouble magnet.

The fastest way to get cultivation resources is to take it from others, but currently, I was in the Sky Fortune City with law and those who will enforce them. There were only so many resources I could take before my strength was exposed. For example, people had already caught a glimpse of my strength in the encounter with Zhu Yan. Eventually, no one would risk offending me even if I was literally beating them to death.

At some point, Lin Ming will start to offend people way above his pay grade, that is when I can swoop in and beat the crap out of them. This was the most efficient way to earn resources until I could get out of the kingdom.