I Can Upgrade Everything Infinitely-Chapter 39 - 38: Baji Quan Level 9, Black Market

Xu Qing nodded silently, then left the Cangying Martial Arts Hall carrying fifteen pounds of Flesh Lingzhi. After walking out, however, he let out a sigh.

"Sigh..."

Xu Qing thought to himself, ’I can’t come back to the Cangying Martial Arts Hall to buy Flesh Lingzhi again. The strength I’m currently showing is that of a Martial Artist who has only recently reached the Initial Entry of Ming Jin.’

’For Mingjin Martial Artists, Level 1 Spiritual Food like Tai Sui Spirit Meat is more than enough for daily life and martial arts training. There’s no need for a Level 2 Spiritual Food like Flesh Lingzhi at all.’

’Of course,’

’it’s not impossible to consume Level 2 Spiritual Food like Flesh Lingzhi. It’s just a bit wasteful, and the amount one can eat is very small. Too much would undoubtedly cause one’s body to explode.’

’But I already bought fifteen pounds of Flesh Lingzhi half a month ago. Under normal circumstances, that should have lasted me for several months at least.’

’However,’

’only half a month has passed, and I’m back to buy more Flesh Lingzhi. That’s highly unusual. The people at the Resource Tower have already started to find it suspicious.’

’I can’t go there again.’

At this thought,

Xu Qing frowned.

’In that case, my only option is the Black Market. A while ago, Zhao Jingyuan did tell me that Qingbei Town has a Black Market, and they sell all sorts of things there.’

Xu Qing mused, ’In the Qingbei Town Black Market, many things are for sale. The most popular items, naturally, are things like Secret Medicines and Spiritual Food.’

’I should find a chance to check it out.’

「The scene changed.」

Xu Qing returned to his residence, ate a pound of Flesh Lingzhi, made some preparations, and headed out again toward White Dwarf Mountain to continue grinding Experience for his Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique.

The Flesh Lingzhi.

Its appearance was nearly identical to an ordinary lingzhi mushroom, and they were all the exact same size, as if they had come from a single mold. Each one weighed precisely one pound, no more, no less.

However,

there was a difference between Flesh Lingzhi and real lingzhi. After all, Flesh Lingzhi wasn’t a fungus but a type of meat—in essence, a Flesh and Blood Spiritual Food.

It merely shared the same shape as a lingzhi mushroom.

「That night.」

「Late at night.」

Before bed...

...

[Baji Fist LV8: 800/1280.]

...

[Life-taking Thirteen Swords LV4: 40/240.]

...

[Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique LV5: 160/160.]

...

"Upgrade Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique."

BUZZ!

The Encyclopedia of All Things flickered with a fluorescent light.

Xu Qing’s consciousness, carried along by waves of profound fluctuations, seemed to enter a mystical space where he continuously practiced the Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique.

Finally,

the Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique was successfully upgraded.

Consequently,

Xu Qing had also mastered the upgraded Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique.

Upgrade complete.

[Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique LV6: 0/320 (...)]

At Level 6, the Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique already allowed Xu Qing to command thirty-two tamed beasts simultaneously. This was an outrageous number; even true Curse-Sealing Beastmasters might not possess such an ability.

「Time flew by.」

「In the blink of an eye,」

「fourteen days had passed.」

「On this day,」

「late at night.」

"Haaah..."

Xu Qing let out a long breath. He stopped practicing the Life-taking Thirteen Swords. ’Before I knew it, nearly half a month has passed, and I’m out of Flesh Lingzhi again.’

’Also,’

’over the past half-month, I’ve learned a lot about the Black Market from Zhao Jingyuan. Tonight is the time to go see it for myself.’ 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

’Also...’

With a thought,

BUZZ! BUZZ!

The Encyclopedia of All Things flickered with fluorescent light.

...

[Baji Fist LV8: 1500/1280 (Upgradeable!)]

...

[Life-taking Thirteen Swords LV4: 180/240.]

...

[Blood Curse Beast Taming Technique LV6: 140/320.]

...

"Upgrade Baji Fist."

Xu Qing said.

BOOM!

A tremor ran through Xu Qing’s mind as the Encyclopedia of All Things shone with a brilliant light. His consciousness seemed to enter that mystical space once more, where he began to practice Baji Fist.

His Baji Fist had already reached Level 8 and was now completely different, having gradually evolved into an extremely profound Martial Art.

Upgrade complete.

[Baji Fist LV9: 220/2560 (This is a profound Fist Technique that combines both combat application and a Training Technique. It is a profound Martial Art worthy of being passed down. Its movements are fierce and powerful, yet simple and unadorned. It generates force swiftly with extreme explosive Power, tempers the muscles, bones, and flesh, allows Power to permeate the skeleton and course through the entire body, and strengthens the internal organs. Upon mastery, one can step into the ’Huajin’ Realm, where Power can spread throughout the entire body.)]

BUZZ! BUZZ!

Xu Qing opened his eyes. He could feel his entire body had been strengthened. It wasn’t just an increase in his Power and Realm; the very strength of his physical body had been sublimated.

"Haaah..."

Xu Qing exhaled a breath of stale air, which shot out like an arrow. This was a form of metamorphosis, making his strength even greater and his Huajin more refined.

"Not bad, not bad at all."

The corners of Xu Qing’s mouth lifted into a slight smile. ’My Huajin Cultivation has grown stronger again. At this rate, once Baji Fist reaches Level 10, I’ll be at the Peak of Transformation Stage.’

Next,

Xu Qing took a moment to adapt to his new strength and Power. He once again donned the Evil Ghost Mask, transforming back into that mysterious master of Swordsmanship, ’Lv Dongbin’.

SWOOSH!

With his agile movements, Xu Qing executed the Snake Body Technique and left the courtyard. Following Zhao Jingyuan’s directions, he headed for the Black Market in Qingbei Town.

’I’m here.’

「Half an hour later.」

Xu Qing arrived at a small alley on Outer City North Street in Qingbei Town. Every night at midnight, a stone door would appear in this alley. Opening it was the key to entering the ’Black Market’.

In fact,

the design and method employed a type of Illusion Technique that could fool the eyes of ordinary people. Only those who knew the specifics could discover the stone door.

CLICK!

Inside the alley,

Xu Qing took a deep breath. He noticed he wasn’t the only one there; others were present, but they were all wearing cloaks and masks, their features completely obscured.

Of course,

Xu Qing had known what to expect, so he had prepared a Monkey Face Mask for himself and donned a gray cloak to hide his figure.

In reality,

Xu Qing had already concealed his true face using the power of the Evil Ghost Mask.

Soon,

the stone door was opened by someone in front of him.

’Let’s go.’

With a calm expression, Xu Qing, like everyone else, slowly walked in. After the stone door opened, it didn’t reveal a passage but a solid wall.

However,

the crowd passed directly through the wall, their figures vanishing without a trace.

This was a type of ’Blinding Technique’.

’Hm.’

Xu Qing nodded. Following the others, he passed through the wall and entered the Black Market. The scene before him opened up instantly, revealing a massive marketplace.

Moreover,

the place was bustling with noise. Looking up, he couldn’t see the sky at all, as if it were completely covered by something, creating a sealed environment.

"Come take a look, come take a gander! Fresh Spiritual Food, ’Blood Bamboo Shoots’! Step right up, don’t miss out!"

"Secret Medicine! Secret Medicine! Lost Secret Medicines for sale!"

"The legendary ’Fundamental Skill’! Anyone need one?"

"..."

The clamorous voices flooded into Xu Qing’s ears.

Indeed,

as Xu Qing looked around, he saw street after street lined with people whose faces and figures were concealed, all tending their stalls and selling their wares.

Of course,

there were also many people strolling about, stopping at various stalls to haggle over prices with the owners or to make trades.

For now,

Xu Qing didn’t have much need for Martial Arts, weapons, Secret Medicines, or the like. He would only consider spending money if he came across something particularly special.

Besides,

if a real Fundamental Skill were available, it was unlikely it would ever be his turn to get it.

One had to understand that

publicly,

in the entire Outer City of Qingbei Town,

only the Three Great Martial Arts Halls—Cangying Martial Arts Hall, Shattering Stone Martial Arts, and Yinghong Martial Arts Hall—were known to possess a true Fundamental Skill.

This showed

that a Fundamental Skill was something one could only hope to encounter by chance, not seek out. At his current level, at least, it was impossible to obtain one, and there was no way these stall owners were selling the real thing.

Still,

having heard the cry, Xu Qing went to take a look. As expected, it was a fake. He saw through it at a glance, shook his head, and walked away.

After that,

Xu Qing wandered through the Black Market for a while but didn’t see anything particularly novel. Not forgetting the purpose of his trip, he made his way to a relatively large ’Spiritual Food Exchange’ within the market.

Black Tiger Spiritual Food Store.

In the Black Market, those without backing could generally only run a small stall. To be able to open a proper store here, one inevitably had to have both influence and strength.

"Boss."

Xu Qing walked in and glanced around, his eyes landing on a burly middle-aged man behind the counter. The man was enormous, built like a black bear.

Looking closer,

he could see a Black Tiger head tattoo on the man’s neck, though only the lower half of it was visible.

"What are you buying?"

The owner, Black Tiger, glanced at Xu Qing.

With just that one glance,

Black Tiger felt a prickling sensation crawl up his scalp—a sense of danger, as if the person before him was the most elite Hunter in the forest.

Involuntarily,

a trace of awe appeared in Black Tiger’s heart.

"Buying Spiritual Food."

Xu Qing looked at the owner, his tone calm. He took out silver notes worth ten thousand taels of silver and placed them right in front of Black Tiger. "Level 2 Spiritual Food."

"Alright."

Black Tiger’s pupils contracted. He knew this was a big deal. Combined with that instinctive feeling of danger, he didn’t dare to be the least bit careless. He said, "The Black Market price for a pound of Level 2 Spiritual Food is two hundred twenty taels. Most of the Level 2 Spiritual Food we sell at the Black Tiger Store is Black Mountain Tiger Meat."

"For ten thousand taels of silver, at the normal market price, you’d get forty-five and a half pounds of Black Mountain Tiger Meat. I can make an executive decision and give you forty-six pounds."

"That works."

Xu Qing nodded.

"Please wait just a moment."

Black Tiger turned and walked into the back, returning from the storeroom with a not-so-large black iron box. He opened the box, revealing chunks of black flesh inside.

Upon closer inspection,

each piece of black flesh had been cut into a perfect cube. Each of these black cubes had sides only one centimeter long.

And yet,

each of these small black cubes weighed a full pound. Forty-six pounds meant forty-six of these cubes.

"Please, have a look."

Black Tiger said.