“Huai Min, was there anything else found with this? Or maybe an instruction manual or sothing?”
“Nope. According to the intake records, it all ca from a scavenger. Pretty old stuff too.”
Ji Qinglin shook the nearly full box of black powder in his hand, mind spinning with all kinds of possibilities: dicine for healing? A crumbled pill? Poison used in demonic cultivation? No way it’s hand-ground coffee, right?
And the glass box didn’t even have a lid—heck, it didn’t even have an opening.
Was this so sealed-up keepsake, like a sand tir or sothing?
“Huai Min, I’ll take this. How much?”
“30 red coins.”
The best part about dealing with robots is peace of mind. They only charge a fixed profit, never hiking the price just because you're a regular or look like a sucker.
“Alright. If you co across anything with a similar marking in the future, please contact
right away. We can talk price later.”
“No problem.”
“Oh right, one more thing—do you know anything about the Yin-Yang Polar Extres Palm and the Phantom Shadow Soul-Chasing Steps?”
Zhang Huai Min paused for a mont, then replied in his usual chanical tone:
“Both are premium techniques not sold publicly. They're proprietary skills developed by major companies, restricted to small circles. You can’t even pirate them. Anyone using those techniques is either a top-tier cultivator or a Qi Refiner supplied directly by a major company.”
Ji Qinglin thought to himself—so that guy nad Qian Feng wasn’t lying. Definitely not soone average. Looks like he really is a corporate executive. Tsk. If only I’d known earlier, I could’ve squeezed more out of him.
After putting away the glass box, Ji Qinglin asked out of habit, like any good middleman:
“I haven’t been to the Northern New District in a while. Huai Min, any new developnts or big news in the black market lately?”
“Oh? You haven’t heard? I thought you ca for this too. Word is, there's an Immortal’s corpse in the Northern New District.”
“An Immortal’s corpse? In the Northern New District? You serious?”
Ji Qinglin had definitely heard urban legends about Immortal cultivators, the war with tech civilizations, and how collecting the remains of Immortals could lead to ascension. But hey, every era has its own urban legends—nothing too surprising.
“Rumor has it soone stole an Immortal’s corpse from the West Chang District Comrce Guild President’s private stash and brought it to the Northern New District to fence it. But it’s all hearsay—no one’s seen the actual body. Still, that’s why so many people are coming to the Northern New District to try their luck.”
Ji Qinglin thought, even if it’s real, who the hell could gather a full set of sothing like that? And once you’re caught hiding an Immortal’s corpse, you’d beco public enemy number one. You’d be ‘ascended’ by others faster than you could beco an Immortal.
While they were chatting, Yu Ye walked out from the corridor, holding a report in her hand with a confused look on her face:
“Master, I don’t understand this.”
“You don’t need to. It’s for them.”
He handed the code-filled report over to Zhang Huai Min, who read it carefully and let out a chanical-sounding hum of confusion.
“Huai Min, what’s the verdict? Boy or girl?”
“Master!”
“Your disciple has excellent physique and outstanding talent for cultivation. Also, her flexibility and soul awareness are especially strong. I’ll recomnd a few cultivation software modules that better suit her.”
As he finished, the empty counter opened again, and a tal panel loaded with USB-like devices slid onto the table—each one a cultivation technique storage drive.
While selecting them, Zhang Huai Min explained:
“Cloud Ladder Leap is too slow—add Cloud-Cutting Steps. Let
see... Heart-Piercing Kick is everywhere now, go with Plum Blossom Step Through Snow instead... Oh right, no ranged technique yet, huh? The ridians aren’t strong enough for major distance attacks yet, so start with the Vein-Sealing Seal. It’s not powerful, but it’s good for surprise attacks. If all of this is mastered, her strength will be at the mid-to-upper tier of the Qi Refining Realm. Only then can she level up further—but it’ll probably take a good while.”
Yu Ye listened attentively, ntally arranging the order to train in these techniques.
Seeing this, Ji Qinglin ntally facepald. He had planned to copy whatever techniques Yu Ye trained in, but now saw they were all tailored for won. He asked:
“Huai Min, you got anything a bit more bold and badass?”
“I do, but they’re not really suitable for your disciple.”
“They’re not for her to practice. But she should still learn them, so she can counter male Qi Refiners’ moves.”
“Fair enough. But adding those will raise the price a bit.”
“No problem. It’s all going on the Comrce Guild tab anyway. Just count it as
helping a brother hit his sales quota.”
At Ji Qinglin’s suggestion, Zhang Huai Min picked out a few more higher-tier techniques typically used by male cultivators.
Mad Ye: Holy crap, Wind and Thunder Steps, Eight Extres Crush, Pulse-Piercing Strike... Is he trying to kill you?
Yu Ye: Master always has his reasons.
It was Ji Qinglin’s first ti buying advanced techniques—and in bulk too—so when Zhang Huai Min gave the final price, he was genuinely shocked. For a second he thought maybe even robots had gotten shady.
Just as the Master and Disciple were about to leave, Zhang Huai Min called out to Yu Ye:
“Brother Ji, per cultivation privacy regulations, I’d like to speak with your disciple alone about so personal care matters for female Qi Refiners. Would you mind giving us a mont?”
Ji Qinglin trusted Zhang Huai Min and didn’t overthink it. He headed downstairs first:
“Alright, I’ll wait downstairs.”
In the blink of an eye, only Yu Ye and Zhang Huai Min were left in the shop. Ignoring the confusion in her almond eyes, Zhang Huai Min pulled out another technique storage drive and handed it to her, confusing her even more.
“This is...?”
“This is the Soul Phantom Technique. Cultivating it allows any soul to gradually form its own phantom body. While it can’t fully detach from the host or deal much physical damage, it can affect data and signal streams. Later on, the soul body might even partially materialize. It’s a soul cultivation technique.”
Yu Ye furrowed her brows, bit her lower lip, and cautiously took two steps back:
“Master Huai Min... what do you an by that?”
Zhang Huai Min said bluntly:
“There’s more than one ‘you’ inside your body. And we intelligent machines respect every soul.”
Yu Ye was stunned for a mont, then let out a long breath. She gave Zhang Huai Min a deep bow and said:
“She’s the one inside
who asked
to thank you.”
She picked up the Soul Phantom Technique drive and added:
“Please don’t tell my Master. I’ll pay you back for this one myself.”
“Custor privacy is safe with —I won’t tell anyone. And you don’t have to pay. I already included it in the previous total.”
Looking at this slightly scruffy-looking robot with a chanical voice but more empathy than most humans, Yu Ye suddenly understood what her Master ant when he brought her here. As she turned to leave, she looked back once more:
“Thank you, Master Huai Min. This ti... I truly thank you.”
Zhang Huai Min, feeling like he’d simply done what needed to be done, smiled and saw her off before flopping back into his tal recliner.
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