My Cultivation Techniques Upgrade Automatically

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Can’t Even Call a Chicken Without Rice

’This whole street is yours!?’

’So this is your great fortune! Your personal Deep Red?’

’You son of a bitch, you really deserve to die!’

To be honest, Wu Chen was a little stunned. Even when he was being raised by the Blood Slaughter Sect like a prized tonic, he had only thought the sect was extravagantly generous.

After all, it was a Demon Sect, a colossal existence.

But for an entire street to belong to one person... Wu Chen took a moment to digest it, then decided it wasn’t that hard to understand after all.

Immediately after, he focused his attention on Jiang Fang, who stood before him.

’No wonder I have a bounty on my head, and this Jiang Fang was able to find me right away.’

’Turns out I’ve been living in his house.’

Wu Chen was speechless. But upon further thought, he found many doubtful points:

"If this whole street is yours, you can’t deal with a few gangs?"

Wu Chen stared intently at Jiang Fang’s expression, not quite believing his words.

Jiang Fang then proceeded to explain the general reasons.

The story was simple, really. Jiang Fang was a member of the renowned Jiang Clan Commerce Association.

The Jiang Clan Commerce Association had attached itself to the Great Yun nation to grow, and it was originally the enterprise of some unknown Princess Consort, which was why it had spread to every city in Great Yun.

But a large enterprise naturally means a large family; where there is a main bloodline, there are also side branches and minor offshoots.

This Jiang Fang was from a side branch, possessing little value and poor aptitude.

Aside from his surname, he had almost no connection to the Jiang family, so he was tossed into the most chaotic and worthless place, Black Stone City, to manage their business there.

But the current state of Black Stone City was one of treacherous mountains and dangerous waters, with gangs and bandits running rampant and a dwindling population. There was nothing to manage, and the business was just one step away from closing down for good.

"So you’re saying you’re an abandoned son of the family, with ownership of a street full of storefronts but no actual money? And you only have a dozen or so people under you?"

Wu Chen stroked his chin, smacking his lips thoughtfully.

"Yes."

Jiang Fang nodded with difficulty. The words were blunt, but they were the truth.

Aside from being well-informed in Black Stone City, he, the so-called Young Master Jiang, had it worse than a common gang grunt.

Even his own parents were constantly blamed back at the family estate because he had failed to manage the business well.

"Right now, business in Black Stone City is dying, the common people are struggling, and outside the city walls are large groups of refugees who are barely clothed and have nothing to eat."

Jiang Fang’s expression was one of helplessness. He cupped his hands and said with sincere words:

"For the sake of Black Stone City, for the sake of its tens of thousands of citizens, I hope Young Master Wu and Miss Xue will do me this favor and eliminate these villains."

Wu Chen didn’t agree immediately. Instead, he glanced at Xue Hongling out of the corner of his eye.

He found that as soon as she realized the man was asking for their help, she had turned all her attention to the roasted meat.

The very picture of a foodie.

She didn’t agree on the spot, which would have put him in an awkward position.

"Young Master Jiang, your words sound far too hollow and grandiose."

Only then did Wu Chen look at Jiang Fang, smiling as he said:

"If I help you, you get the manpower and territory of sixteen gangs, a chance to rebuild, and your business will flourish."

"If I don’t help you, you can sell the information on me and Miss Xue and still gain a reward."

"Either way, you stand to benefit. Yet when it comes to me, you plan to get something for nothing."

"Isn’t that a bit much?"

"Or do you think that just because you know our whereabouts, I’ll be afraid and submit to your commands?"

"No, no, no! I, Jiang Fang, have absolutely no such intention!"

These words made Jiang Fang’s heart tremble. He quickly stood up, waving his hands repeatedly to show that he would never do such a thing.

He had only come to ask for their help because he knew they were on an assassin’s bounty list, and the innkeeper had said they didn’t seem like bad people.

But he was also extremely awkward.

He really had nothing of value to offer at the moment.

Besides, what Wu Chen said was completely reasonable. Who would help someone based on empty promises?

Haven’t you heard the saying? If you have no rice in your hand, you can’t even call a chicken over.

"You have no silver taels, so how about pills? No pills either? You must have at least one Martial Arts Manual, right?"

Wu Chen coaxed him, "Trying to get things done without spending a single silver tael? There’s no such principle anywhere in the world!"

With that, he watched Jiang Fang patiently, waiting for his response.

"Silver taels, pills, Martial Arts..."

Jiang Fang muttered the words. He truly didn’t have the first two. As for Martial Arts, he had some, but given that his guests were skilled enough to be on a bounty list, he figured they probably wouldn’t think much of them.

"Young Master Wu, I do have some Martial Arts, but..."

Jiang Fang said tentatively, "They’re just some ordinary Flesh Refining Realm and basic Martial Arts. I’m afraid you..."

"That’s great. Sincerity is what counts." Wu Chen waved his hand, indicating that he didn’t care about the quality of the Martial Arts.

He appeared casual, but inwardly, he was blooming with joy.

He would rely on his own two hands to obtain good Martial Arts; as for the run-of-the-mill ones, he could use them to build up quantity.

He needed to complete the accumulation of Qi Power and have the Qi Power entry evolve and ascend.

Besides, he had already planned to slaughter all these gangs and acquire their Martial Arts anyway.

Jiang Fang’s unexpected appearance also yielded some gains, which could be called a double blessing.

Wu Chen agreed to Jiang Fang’s request but demanded to see the Martial Arts first. Jiang Fang did not refuse.

He had nothing right now and could only rely on Wu Chen. Only when the city was pacified would his business have a chance to turn around, and only then could he leave this destitute land.

But before going to see the Martial Arts, Wu Chen decided to eat first.

Because the meat was ready.

He used a small knife to slice the well-cooked meat. The pieces sizzled, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The aroma hidden within the meat burst forth as the blade cut through, assaulting the senses.

Xue Hongling’s delicate nose twitched. She ate the meat on her plate in small bites, her red lips glistening with oil, looking quite alluring.

Smelling the aroma, Jiang Fang, who hadn’t eaten meat in a long time, couldn’t help but reach out toward Wu Chen’s side, wanting to grab a piece to satisfy his craving.

SLAP!

Wu Chen slapped his hand away without ceremony. "This costs extra."

Thanks to Wu Chen’s "generosity," Jiang Fang finally got to eat some meat.

He patted his satisfied stomach and led his two guests up to a storage room in the far corner of the inn’s second floor.

The things inside were arranged quite neatly, and there wasn’t much accumulated dust.

It seemed the inn’s business was truly bleak; otherwise, who would have the time to clean so often?

Jiang Fang led the two inside, brought them to a bookshelf holding over thirty Martial Arts Manuals, and then excused himself and left the storage room.

A handsome man and a beautiful woman were in there together. What would it look like for him to be hanging around?!

He quietly backed out, leaving the two of them in the room to look at the Martial Arts in peace.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE, RUSTLE!

In the quiet storage room, only the sound of flipping pages remained.

"These Martial Arts are very ordinary. There’s no benefit in reading them, and practicing them would just be a waste of time."

"Besides, aren’t we already in the process of killing these gang villains? Why not just agree to his request outright?"

Xue Hongling flipped through a couple of the Martial Arts Manuals and found them to be the most ordinary of the ordinary. Seeing no need to even look at them, she placed them back where she found them.

With a flick of her dark hair, she looked at the figure diligently poring over the manuals, her eyes filled with confusion.

"’Techniques must not be taught lightly.’ Isn’t that a saying?"

Wu Chen replied without looking up, "The same goes for labor!"

"We can’t sell our labor cheap. Isn’t a martial artist’s physical effort still effort? It’s all the result of painstaking training!"

"Besides, I wasn’t expecting him to cough up much money. But using the excuse of helping the city’s people to profit for himself? That’s just disgusting."

"What’s more, he comes from the Jiang Clan Commerce Association. He’s a businessman. Does he really need me to teach him the principle of bartering?"

"Furthermore, if we had agreed right away, he might have thought we were scared. He could have used us and then turned around and sold our information to someone else. It’s not impossible for him to try and profit twice!"

"..."

Xue Hongling listened quietly, feeling that what Wu Chen said made sense.

No matter what, you can’t devalue yourself, and you must be wary of outsiders.

Still, the Martial Arts in this storage room were incredibly dull. There were no secret treasure fragments like in the plays.

She was getting sleepy just looking at them.

"Mmmph!"

"You can look by yourself, then. I’m going to rest."

A wave of sleepiness washed over her. She let out a small yawn and stretched, raising her hands high above her head.

Her fine figure was on full display, its curves clearly visible beneath her form-fitting martial arts uniform.

Wu Chen’s mind was entirely on the Martial Arts Manuals. He was flipping through them with a hungry thirst, so how could he have any spare attention for such things?

He just nodded and said, "Mm, go on, go on."

’Having a girl around really affects the speed at which I can flip through Martial Arts manuals!’

Once the young woman had left, he began to speed up.

It didn’t take long for him to finish flipping through the thirty manuals in the storage room, along with the ones he’d acquired from killing the gang members yesterday.

Wu Chen glanced at his status panel. On it, he saw that he had unknowingly stepped into the third realm of Martial Arts.

[Deep Red Host] Wu Chen

[Martial Arts Realm] Meridian Passage Realm, One Lineage

(Qi Power: Overlord Lifts the Cauldron)

[Martial Arts & Cultivation Techniques] Bone-Eroding Wind Blade: Force...

[Point-Allocation Martial Arts] Wind-Kicking Leg, Bone-Crushing Palm...

’The Qi Power entry didn’t advance?’

Wu Chen could feel that it was just a thin membrane away; it seemed like with just a little push, he could break through.

But he wasn’t in a hurry. There were still fourteen gangs in Black Stone City, plus the accumulated resources of the Gold Tooth Gang.

There was no way the entry wouldn’t advance after all this.

While allocating points to his Martial Arts, he glanced around the storage room and saw a set of ink, brushes, paper, and an inkstone set aside on a bookshelf.

He thought for a moment, found an empty spot, and began to add water and grind the ink.

He was writing out the ’Bone-Eroding Wind Blade: Force’.

This was what he would use to trade with Xue Hongling for that agile Body Technique.

An hour later, the thirty-plus-page Martial Arts Manual was complete. He stretched and rubbed his sore wrist.

Looking at the thick manual, he mused:

’I’ve known this young woman for two whole nights now. It should be fine to trade Martial Arts, right?’

’Never mind. I’ll wait a few more days. I’ll bring it up when we know each other better and her guard is down.’

’That way, she won’t think I was only after her Martial Arts from the beginning.’

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