236: The value of flying and hiding

After descending the Great Wall, the sun had completely set. The starry sky above Shanhai Pass was exceptionally brilliant, with countless stars twinkling and the moonlight shining brightly.

Xiao Fan followed the navigation towards the “black merchant” where he intended to sell his goods.

On the way, he encountered a group of old men leisurely drinking tea and smoking.

These old men were all very burly, dressed uniformly in short-sleeved shirts, shorts, and flip-flops.

The most striking one, in particular, was reclining on a rocking bench. Xiao Fan even wondered if such a heavy person would cause the chair to collapse.

And then, as if on cue, it happened.

“Bang!”

As he rocked, the chair leg snapped instantly, and the old man landed on the ground with a thud. His large posterior even kicked up a cloud of dust.

Beside him, Hercules and the others burst into rough laughter, some even slapping their thighs in amusement.

“There are countless embarrassing sons-in-law, but an embarrassing father-in-law like you is truly a first!”

“Cough, cough, cough!” Demon War God cleared his throat and said to Xiao Fan, who was passing by, “Not bad, not bad. Keep up the good work.”

“Cough, cough!”

Xiao Fan also smiled awkwardly and nodded, unsure what to say, as anything he might say seemed impolite. So, he quickened his pace and left.

The days spent at Shanhai Pass were the most enjoyable for these Super God Class experts, as no one would run up to them shouting, “Demon War God! Daddy! It’s Demon War God! Photo, autograph, I love you!”

They could be as leisurely and carefree as old men on the street.

Soon, Xiao Fan arrived before the merchant.

The merchant had a handlebar mustache, very long on both sides, and shrewd eyes, but he was somewhat effeminate, occasionally stroking his long whiskers with a raised orchid-finger.

Upon seeing Xiao Fan sit down, the merchant Zhuang Daming’s face immediately broke into a brilliant smile.

He, of course, knew who Xiao Fan was.

It was clear he was here to sell items for merit points.

But he was so young and clearly didn't understand the cruelty of the market; this was an opportunity to swindle him thoroughly!

“Cough, cough, Yuan Emperor, are you here to sell goods?” Zhuang Daming asked, beaming.

Xiao Fan nodded with a serious expression and said, “You must be the black merchant Meng Tianzong spoke of, right?”

“What black merchant?” Zhuang Daming immediately became agitated and said, “I am an official appraiser and buyer, certified by Shanhai Pass’s official authority!”

“Do you think the officials would cheat you out of money?”

“Meng Tianzong and his group, let me tell you, they are just greedy!”

“Really, too greedy. I’ve already given him the highest price privately, but he’s still not satisfied and slanders me. Yuan Emperor, please don’t listen to their nonsense!”

“Heaven and earth are my witnesses, if I were a black merchant, I’d be eaten by an alien race tomorrow!”

Zhuang Daming thumped his chest, swearing earnestly, his expression extremely serious and sincere.

But Xiao Fan always felt that this guy was very likely to burst out laughing the next second.

However, on the surface, Xiao Fan still pretended to be an innocent novice, frowning and saying, “Alright, perhaps Meng Tianzong and the others exaggerated and misunderstood you.”

“Please take a look at the items I want to sell first.”

“Aye, alright.” Zhuang Daming nodded eagerly.

He took the ten Martial Arts manuals Xiao Fan handed him and looked down seriously.

These ten Martial Arts manuals were the first to tenth volumes of the Soaring Sky and Earth Evasion Art, each possessing more than ten different effects.

After Zhuang Daming finished reading the first volume, his pupils involuntarily trembled. He thought, “This is too outrageous, isn’t it?”

A typical Martial Arts manual is good if it contains three characteristics; what does it mean to have more than ten? Earth Evasion, Water Evasion, Fire Evasion, Bird Evasion, Wild Goose Gliding… all encompassed within one book?

How is this possible? Can techniques of different elements be written in the same Martial Arts manual?

And it’s only a Saint-Grade Martial Arts manual, with a low learning threshold!

Does such a Martial Arts manual even exist in this world?

It must be a trick, right?

But people from the Super God Class wouldn’t bring fake goods, yet it was still hard to believe—over twenty effects condensed into one Martial Arts manual, and there are ten volumes of this Martial Arts manual?

How should this be priced?

Zhuang Daming encountered a Waterloo in his professional career because he had never received such an unusual item before.

The standard for judging Martial Arts strength has always been based on the intensity of the effects. For example, a Divine-Grade Martial Arts manual can double your strength six times, while Saint-Grade only triples it.

However, the breadth of Xiao Fan’s Martial Arts manual was extremely exaggerated. Logically speaking, no one would delve into breadth because the difficulty is very high, and one can Cultivate many Martial Arts manuals. If one manual doesn’t have enough breadth, then just buy two.

But the Martial Arts manual in his hand was not a matter of one or two books; with more than ten effects, that’s practically equivalent to five or six books combined into one!

This means that everyone only needs to spend the time for one Martial Arts manual to gain the effects of five or six, and these effects are very suitable for the soldiers fighting daily at Shanhai Pass!

Because they are all abilities used for escape!

And there are ten volumes. If all are learned, it means having over a hundred escape abilities, almost encompassing all currently known escape effects!

This… to exaggerate a bit, these ten Martial Arts manuals of Xiao Fan could significantly reduce the death rate of the entire Shanhai Pass!

But the prerequisite is that everyone can learn this Martial Arts manual!

The key factor then lies in how easy it is to learn.

Because learning Martial Arts requires the power of “comprehension” (short for comprehension energy), if the difficulty of Cultivating a Martial Arts manual is too high, then Martial Arts enchanters will find it difficult to replenish the comprehension energy within it, leading to insufficient output and a decrease in popularization.

Under normal circumstances, the difficulty of Cultivating Saint-Grade Martial Arts is below the average level of Martial Arts enchanters at Shanhai Pass.

But this is not an ordinary Saint-Grade Martial Arts manual. Whether it is easy to learn or not can only be known after learning it.

A Saint-Grade Martial Arts manual typically sells for around sixty thousand merit points, similar to the Super God Class.

But this is a one-time selling price.

However, the value of a brand-new Martial Arts manual is not determined this way, as it can be sold multiple times, usually calculated based on five times.

The Soaring Sky and Earth Evasion Art, with more than ten effects per volume, naturally cannot be calculated as an ordinary Saint-Grade Martial Arts manual. So, it’s calculated as six books combined, which would be 360,000, then multiplied by five, making it 1.8 million. Ten volumes multiplied by ten, 18 million!

These ten Martial Arts manuals are worth at least 18 million merit points!

Thinking of this, Zhuang Daming suddenly stood up and said with a serious, deep voice, “Xiao Fan!”

“This Martial Arts manual of yours is too powerful!”

“Although it’s only a Saint-Grade Martial Arts manual, it has so many effects. So, I’ll calculate each volume at the price of six books combined, and then multiply by ten for the ten volumes.”

“18 million merit points!”

“But because the significance of your Martial Arts manual to the entire Shanhai Pass is too great, I am willing to pay you 20 million!”

“I am a man who is most honest and fair!”

However, unexpectedly, Xiao Fan, who had been smiling, suddenly his expression darkened.

20 million?

Is he trying to brush him off like a beggar?

Who is he trying to fool?

It’s fine to say this Martial Arts manual is six-in-one, but that not only means six times the money, it also means saving countless hours!

Time is the most valuable thing.

Before coming, Xiao Fan had already considered what the price of these ten volumes should be; no matter what, it was more than 20 million!

As expected of a black merchant. If an ignorant newcomer had come, they would have truly been deceived by this sincere and excited demeanor.

Xiao Fan then said with a faint smile, “Well… my father-in-law said that my Soaring Sky and Earth Evasion Art has already met the conditions for an embedded Martial Arts manual.”

“Em… embedded?” Zhuang Daming’s smile instantly froze.