Chapter 178: Black Market Medicine
After Bu Jing fell asleep, the three of them discussed the future of the Huan Yu World and unanimously agreed not to introduce the cultivation system, only to guide people back onto the right path.
The Martial Kingdom was a fusion of martial arts and cultivation—it wasn’t pure martial arts, and their training couldn’t proceed without spiritual energy.
But the martial path in Huan Yu World was pure martial arts. It didn’t rely on spiritual energy. While that was largely due to the thin spiritual energy here, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just like now, it showed the three of them that even without spiritual energy, the Human Race could still train to incredible heights.
They wanted to see—if given enough time—whether Huan Yu World could produce warriors comparable to the Tribulation Stage, or even true Martial Immortals who attain immortality through martial arts!
But all of that hinged on one thing: the martial arts manuals of Huan Yu World must not have been lost.
Right now, even the emperor of Huan Yu World didn’t possess martial manuals from three hundred years ago. The only possible ones left were with the brothers Dong and Jing.
Abu said bluntly that he only remembered his family’s inherited technique, Four Pillars Holding Up the Heavens Technique. As for others like Heavenly Star Art and Iron Hands of the Stupa, he only knew the names.
Just one martial manual wouldn’t be enough to revive the glory of martial arts—but fortunately, there was still Bu Jing, who had memorized many martial arts techniques.
Although Bu Jing had agreed, he still had doubts: “Even if I write them all down, who would dare practice them? Nowadays, if the court finds out someone is practicing non-official martial arts, it’s a death sentence.”
Over a hundred years ago, Bu Jing had deliberately released a martial manual to test the waters. Someone did pick it up and treated it like treasure, hiding it away and practicing in secret. He avoided fights, avoided regular government inspections—anything to stay under the radar. And for a while, he succeeded.
But over time, he was exposed.
He lived to fifty.
Needless to say, he had been caught practicing a forbidden martial art. Once discovered by the Qi Kingdom’s officials, he was immediately detained and tortured for information.
But the manual had been one he’d “found on the roadside as a child,” so even if he confessed, the Qi Kingdom couldn’t trace it back to Bu Jing.
In the end, the one who secretly practiced the manual died in the Celestial Prison, vanished without a trace—no one even knew where the body was.
“The court sent people after him?” Jiang Li laughed. “That’s perfect. If they call out all Twelve Heavenly Kings, I’ll only use two hands and see if they can even manage to break a single hair off my head.”
Bu Jing felt much more at ease. Of course he knew that the beings who brought his little brother home were unbelievably powerful, but he wasn’t sure if they’d be willing to step in. After all, they had no ties—aside from being benefactors to his brother. It would be shameless to say, Hey, you’ve already brought my brother home, why not just go all the way and save our world too?
That kind of talk was just too thick-skinned. Bu Jing couldn’t bring himself to say it.
So he asked the question to see where these three stood—were they only interested in the martial manuals, or would they actually help?
Now that these three mighty ones were backing him, Bu Jing had nothing to worry about.
The Bu Clan Leader and Bu Tian were secretly delighted to see the Ancestor agree. They had long wanted to learn the martial arts their Ancestor had mastered, but he always refused, fearing it would increase their exposure and risk.
Now things were different—they could finally learn.
……
In a certain black market, it was eerily quiet. The customers here only whispered when haggling—they didn’t speak loudly.
Everyone wore hoods to conceal their faces.
Someone stopped after seeing something of interest, squatted down, and asked, “How much?”
The faceless vendor pointed at a sign:
Virility Tonic: Three taels of silver for one pack, ten taels for three.
“Ten taels? That’s too much. Can’t it be cheaper?”
Ten taels of silver was no small sum to ordinary people, but anyone coming to the black market wasn’t ordinary. Their martial skills and finances were both above average.
The vendor replied with difficulty, “We use real ingredients in this tonic—tiger bone, tiger p*nis, tiger skin, deer antler, ginseng, and more. Any cheaper and we wouldn’t make a profit.”
“I’ll take one pack!”
He figured buying just one pack was a steal in a way.
Of course, that wasn’t something he’d say to the vendor.
The vendor efficiently wrapped the tonic in oil paper and handed it over.
He laughed to himself—yet another customer who thought he got a bargain.
“You really are stingy, vendor. A three-tael tonic and you can’t even give me a bottle? Just paper?”
The vendor grinned. “Don’t worry, once you use it, you’ll know it’s worth every coin.”
The man returned home with the tonic. When he saw his delicate wife lying on the bed, desire stirred. He unwrapped the packet eagerly, ready to down the pill—but froze.
His wife was puzzled. This rascal always rushed to bed—why the pause this time?
Curious, she crawled over to see what he was doing. By candlelight, she saw the paper wrapping and gasped.
Her husband quickly covered her mouth. “Keep it down! You want the officials coming after us?”
“But—but this is a banned book!”
The wrapping paper had a beginner-level martial arts manual written on it. Even so, the two of them could tell it was vastly different from the Twelve Heavenly Kings’ official techniques.
“Should we report it?”
“Report it? What do we say—that I went to the black market? That I bought virility tonic?”
His wife went silent. Either way, it was too embarrassing to talk about.
“The vendor knew we wouldn’t report it.” He clenched his teeth—but in his heart, he felt a strong urge to train in secret.
Though the schoolteachers all said the techniques destroyed by the Heavenly Kings were garbage and dangerous, shortening lifespans and unfit for practice, his martial instincts told him this technique on the paper could help him live longer.
Besides, as a martial arts fanatic, the techniques promoted by the Kings were dull—just a few repetitive versions with no real variation.
He wanted to try something new.
……
“Any more medicine?”
Another customer approached the vendor and whispered.
“Of course! Everything here is medicine,” the vendor said, pointing to the virility tonic on display.
“I mean—do you have any wrapped in different paper?”
The vendor nodded eagerly. “Absolutely, of course.”
“Here’s ten taels of silver.”
The vendor handed him three packs of tonic and reminded him, “These three contain different contents—take them in sequence.”
The customer understood—those three sheets of wrapping paper formed one complete martial arts manual. Clearly different from the three-tael version.
“Defying the Twelve Heavenly Kings… that’s treason. Aren’t you afraid of being hunted down?”
The vendor smiled. “Even if they do hunt us down, someone else will take the fall. And to be honest with you, my Ancestor practiced the martial arts written on this paper—he’s lived over three hundred years!”
The customer’s pupils contracted, shocked by what he’d heard.
Of course, he wouldn’t believe the vendor outright. He decided he’d wait until he got home and read what was written on the papers before making a decision.
A tiny crack formed in his previously unshakable belief that the Twelve Heavenly Kings were saviors.
The black market closed. The vendor snuck back to the Bu family estate—along with many others.
The vendor pulled back his hood—it was Bu Tian.
They had used virility tonics and erotic comics as bait to distribute martial arts manuals.
“Gentlemen, all the medicine has been sold.”
“Mm, we know.”
In truth, there was no need for Bu Tian to report. Jiang Li and the other two had already scanned the area with their divine sense, covering over a dozen nearby cities. They knew better than Bu Tian how many had been sold and how effective it had been.
Martial manuals couldn’t be forced on people. And the faith in the Twelve Heavenly Kings ran deep in Huan Yu World. Even if Jiang Li and the others used force to overthrow the court, the people would still see them as invaders and refuse to believe them.
Changing minds wasn’t something that could be done overnight. Jiang Li and the others planned to take it slow, starting with the shadows—like the black market—and letting those with wavering faith and enough money be the first to try.