Chapter 151: Chapter 151: Mingling with the mighty, a hefty copper body
Due to the registration process, each visitor from the martial world would be invited into the only shelter in the courtyard in turn.
Some left demurely after a moment, while others emerged with joy. Presumably, the items they held for trade had been acknowledged by the Iron Bone Sect.
Shi Xiaole noticed astutely that whenever those suspected of successful exchange walked out, several ominous glances were cast from the crowd.
Some even followed them covertly.
This happened every year. Some people didn’t even bring items for trade, just came to stir up trouble and look for easy prey.
The smartest ones were those who gave no reaction, or deliberately acted as if they had failed, even though the exchange was successful.
Of course, not all those who wore their emotions on their sleeves were fools; perhaps they had complete confidence in their abilities and deemed it unnecessary to hide.
In any case, the martial world is a place of sinister hearts, and one must always be extremely cautious.
"May Young Hero Shi Xiaole please come with me."
Hearing his name, Shi Xiaole immediately stepped out from the crowd and followed a disciple of the Iron Bone Sect into the shelter.
The shelter was divided into two rooms. In the outer room sat an elderly man with a kind face.
He tapped his well-defined and evenly thick fingers slowly on the table. Seeing Shi Xiaole arrive, he laughed, "According to the rules of the Iron Bone Sect, each person can exchange up to three stalks of Dragon Tendon Grass. I wonder, young hero, how many stalks you would like and what you have for trade?"
Shi Xiaole took out three secret manuals from his arms and handed them over.
Elder Wu received them one by one, reviewed them, and said, "One superior third-class palm skill, two middle third-class fist techniques, haha, quite good."
While the Iron Bone Sect is a horizontal practice martial arts sect, all inner and outer techniques and martial arts are universal; the difference lies only in the point of exertion.
In fact, there are only about thirty-some secret manuals in the vast Iron Bone Sect, and of those, only two are horizontal practice manuals.
Don’t think this is too few.
Even the top sects in the Floating River Area only have forty or fifty manuals, most of which are third class. As for first-rate sects, having over thirty is pretty good.
And for factions like the Golden Phoenix Tower and the Huajian Sect, they only have about ten secret manuals.
While he was mixed up in the Cloud Triangle, Shi Xiaole happened to come across a few secret manuals from his opponents- a stroke of luck. But since he came to the Floating River Area, he only gained a third-class manual from Dongfang Haoran’s cave dwelling, the others all obtained from the system.
As one can see, secret manuals have always been a rarity in the martial world.
"Young hero is generous, I cannot be stingy. I’ll trade for three stalks of Dragon Tendon Grass, how does that sound?" said the elder, putting down the secret manuals and smiling.
"Deal."
These three secret manuals were all looted from others, and they were already recorded in the Martial God Hall, so Shi Xiaole didn’t care about them at all.
"Dragon Tendon Grass has a special aroma. To avoid drawing the attention of the people outside, please follow me to another place to pick it up yourself."
Disregarding the curious eyes of the people in the yard, Shi Xiaole, following Elder Wu’s directions, quickly came to a manor on the east side of the Iron Bone Sect.
As for the suspicious figures following behind him, he hoped they wouldn’t provoke him.
Some of the martial artists who had left previously were also in the manor. Seeing Shi Xiaole, they all showed inscrutable smiles.
"Haha, with two stalks of Dragon Tendon Grass, my horizontal practice martial arts will surely improve a lot."
"I’ve been seriously injured recently, I hope I can recover with the aid of Dragon Tendon Grass."
Seeing the Iron Bone Sect disciples carefully packing Dragon Tendon Grass into boxes, the visiting martial artists’ eyes all lit up with joy.
Just then, a rush of brisk and powerful footsteps sounded, followed by a voice shouting, "Wait!"
Everyone turned to look and saw a tall, hairless, and eyebrow-less elder in gray clothes, "We are not exchanging for Dragon Tendon Grass this year."
"What, no exchange?"
"What does that mean?"
"I’ve already handed over my stuff."
Caught by surprise, some of the martial artists were baffled.
The browless elder, in a strong position, ignored the others and shouted angrily at the Iron Bone Sect disciples, "What are you waiting for? Take all these stalks of Dragon Tendon Grass back."
The frightened disciples of the Iron Bone Sect immediately complied.
Elder Ma was known for his explosive temper in the sect, they did not dare to provoke him.
"Excuse me, your sudden change seems unfair. Could you explain the reason so that we can understand?" a thin man licked his lips and said coldly.
Elder Ma said, "Since when did our decisions at the Iron Bone Sect become open for your questioning?"
"What about the things we exchanged?" the thin man asked loudly.
After sweeping his gaze over the crowd, Elder Ma laughed, "We of the Iron Bone Sect will return your items. Come back after three days to collect them."
"Three days later?"
Everyone’s faces changed and anger welled up in their hearts.
Everyone’s exchanged items were different, but three days was too long. Who knew if the Iron Bone Sect were shady and would tamper with their stuff? Speaking harshly, if they switched their item with a fake, where would they go to seek justice?
Shi Xiaole’s face also darkened.
He did not care about those three secret books, but he hated being intentionally taken advantage of by others. If the Iron Bone Sect truly intended to cheat him, then over the course of three days, not to mention three secret books, they would have copied three hundred.
Would he not have become a fool who delivered goods over a thousand miles?
"Since the Iron Bone Sect is not doing this deal, why do you delay it for three days?"
A scholarly-looking man said forcefully, forcing himself to remain calm.
After all, this place was the headquarters of the Iron Bone Sect, it would not be good to too hard on them.
"The righteous sects operate according to rules and procedures. Your goods have already been delivered to the treasury, retrieving them is not that simple."
Elder Ma’s gaze turned cold as he said lightly.
His words angered the crowd. Rules and procedures? They had made a deal, and yet the sect just abruptly cancelled it. When had they ever spoken of rules and procedures?
Elder Ma flicked his sleeves and said, "Remember, the Iron Bone Sect never defaults on anyone’s possessions. I have spoken all that needed to be said. You had better leave early."
As his words fell, he turned and left, apparently weary of speaking to the crowd.
"I am not convinced! The Iron Bone Sect is oppressing people with their power. I will publicise this matter to the entire martial world and let everyone judge."
A young man in his twenties, boiling with rage, unsheathed his long sword. He swung it threateningly at the back of Elder Ma a few times before stopping.
"Unconvinced? What right do you have to be unconvinced? Disrespectful to your superiors in the martial world, let me teach you a lesson for your sect."
Unexpectedly, Elder Ma suddenly stopped and turned around as if he had eyes in the back of his head. A fierce invisible force exploded from his body.
With a bang, the young man was forced to retreat more than ten steps, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Qi emitted from his body: the sign of a mature Horizontal Practice Martial Artist from the Qi Absorption Realm?!
Horizontal martial artists are different from internal martial artists. Every major realm does not have many smaller realms, and only differentiates among initial, mature, and full mastery stages.
To be able to emit qi from the body, he was at least a mature level Horizontal Practice Martial Artist from the Qi Absorption Realm and his strength could only be stronger than a martial artist of the seventh level of the Qi Absorption Realm.
The martial visitors present took a sharp intake of breath. Others who wanted to protest were nomore talking. Even though the sect would not kill them, it would be easy for them to humiliate them.
Since ancient times, an arm can’t wrestle a thigh. Many had given up earlier when the Sect refused to immediately return their items. Their protests were only due to their unwillingness to yield.
Upon seeing this, Elder Ma showed a trace of a disdainful smile at the corner of his mouth.
These martial wanderers, usually hopping and jumping merrily. When they see a bit of his colors, they’d be scared enough to not even dare to fart.
In short, they are all a bunch of cheap bones!
People were extremely displeased internally, but they were weaker than their circumstances and in the end, they all chose to leave.
"I heard long ago that the Iron Bone Sect behaves strong and domineering, it is indeed true."
"What’s the use of knowing? Even if we spread today’s events in the martial world, with the Iron Bone Sect’s power, they could easily fabricate more rumors that are unfavorable to us. In the martial world, it ultimately depends on who has a harder fist."
Outside the Iron Bone Sect, many martial visitors shook their heads and dispersed with faces full of grief and indignation. Most of them decided to come back after three days, maybe the Iron Bone Sect won’t fool them.
Shi Xiaole hadn’t said a word from beginning to end, and entered the nearby bamboo forest alone.
Iron Bone Sect’s West Court.
"Young Master Yi, the matter has been dealt with."
The previously mighty Elder Ma, at the moment, was almost ingratiating himself as he smiled at the young man on the upper seat.
The young man looked about the same age as Shi Xiaole, he looked unremarkable, but whenever he was casually seated, he emitted a fearsome pressure like a war-weary king that made Elder Ma dare not look directly at him.
This pressure did not come from his martial power, but from his status and position.
Yi Nanxiong, the heir of the Returning Vitality Sect, one of the four top sects of the Floating River Area. His reputation in the Floating River Area is highly esteemed.
He was a naturally talented in horizontal practice despite being from an internal martial arts sect, and was said to have been apprenticed from childhood to an eccentric martial artist. He has been making a name for himself in the martial world these years, celebrating his achievements, and is known as ’My Yi is the best, My body of copper is vast’.
"Elder Ma is indeed reliable."
Yi Nanxiong glanced at him, his smile somewhat flat.
Years of hard practice had caused Yi Nanxiong’s horizontal martial arts achievements to surpass his contemporaries, and he had been feeling the sense of an imminent breakthrough recently.
That’s why, even though he was already roaming the martial world, he rushed to the Iron Bone Sect from a thousand miles away, hoping to use plenty of herbs to quickly break through his realm.
And the Dragon Tendon Grass was one of the key herbs.
Having learned of Yi Nanxiong’s needs, the Iron Bone Sect of course complied. After all, it was only a group of martial visitors. What did breaking their promise matter? Moreover, Yi Nanxiong had generously gifted them a top-grade third-rate book of horizontal practice techniques.
You must know, secrets of horizontal arts were even rarer than those of lightness arts, only poisonous arts and pupil arts could compare. Especially for the Iron Bone Sect, its value was immeasurable.
"Master Yi, the suzerain has instructed me to take full responsibility for your needs in clothing, food, shelter, and travel during this period. If you need anything, feel free to tell me."
Upon hearing Yi Nanxiong’s affirmation, Elder Ma was excited, and spoken even more attentively.
The man before him was a once-in-decades horizontal martial arts genius in the Floating River Area. Even the suzerain was full of praises for him. Adding to that his status, it was always right to have good relations with him.
"I understand, Elder Ma. You may leave now."
Yi Nanxiong closed his eyes. His breakthrough was imminent, he didn’t want to waste too much time on flatterers.
"If that is so, I will take my leave."
Upon hearing the words, Elder Ma retracted his smile and had no choice but to leave disappointedly.
...
In the bamboo forest, Shi Xiaole stopped in his tracks and said, "Everyone can come out now."
Rustling, shadows flickered, and in an instant, fifteen masters had surrounded Shi Xiaole.
