After a brief afternoon nap, Ikasa woke up refreshed. He had already formulated a plan. Now it was ti to put it into action.
The very first thing he had to do was purchase the raw ingredients needed. He collected all the copper coins he had in his house.
"94… 95… 96 Coppers… Hmm Not bad. I can get everything I need."
Ikasa muttered as he sealed the money pouch.
As Ikasa left his house the last rays of the sun fell on his face. The beautiful sunset reminded him of his balcony apartnt on earth where he used to have a warm cup of tea in hand as he watched the setting sun.
"I will build a skyscraper in this world and enjoy the sunset from its highest floor one day!" Ikasa affird to his heart.
A few hours later Ikasa had already road the entire market in search of aged paper, but he didn't find a single one that could satisfy his needs. In the end, he found an old Scroll holder. He purchased it at a bargain of 5 coppers.
Soon the vendors and hawkers started to pack their wares and the market started to close. Ikasa sighed with regret.
'I guess I will have to use that thod.'
Back on earth, he had t one girl who ran a souvenir shop. They claid to sell historic scrolls. The paper really did look dated and ancient. Even the sll was a bit musty.
After a coincidental one-night stand with the girl, Ikasa had discovered their secret.
They used to seep thick yellow coarse paper in extra boiled tea for a few hours. Then dry it in the sun till it was semi-dry. They would then dust it with red dirt and let the paper dry on fire. It would make the paper crisp and excess dirt would fall off.
To give it the musty sll they used to stuff these ready scrolls into moist earthenware for a few days.
The girl used to make hundreds of thousands of dollars from selling her 'ancient scrolls.' Ikasa hoped to replicate her feat in another world.
Ikasa bought cheap tea leaves, an earthen pot, and so coarsely made paper. He also scraped so dirt from the roadside. He now had the ingredients to cheat people into buying his manuals.
When Ikasa returned ho, he imdiately began his procedure. As he let the paper seep into boiling tea, he studied the Cultivation Manual in his hands.
During the Path Forging Realm, a human couldn't sense the energy. When he exercised, he used his movents to unknowingly guide the energy through circulations in his body.
Just like a path is ford when you repeatedly walk through a patch of grass, similarly, a path for energy is ford in your body when it circulates along a set route enough tis.
The difference between the grades of manuals determined the length of the path. Lower-grade manuals took shorter paths through the body. But the higher the grade of manuals, the longer the path.
"Hmm… So a shorter path ans easier cultivation. However, the neglected body part would be very very weak."
While reading the basis of the classification of manuals, Ikasa was reminded of an incident that had beco quite famous in this city.
There was a cultivator who cultivated Armstrong Cultivation Technique. He had gained fa as the strongest Path Forging cultivator because of how huge his arms were.
It was only revealed later that the Armstrong Cultivation Technique was a Mid-grade Path Forging Manual. The technique focused entirely on creating an energy path from one palm to another palm through one's torso.
Once in a bid to impress a beautiful girl, he picked a fight with the guy she was with. He was kicked by the scrawny guy, who had just entered the Interdiate Path Forging realm, in his shins. Astonishingly, that muscular guy had collapsed as if he were a house of cards in a single move.
People were confounded by this outco. Both were Interdiate realm Path Forgers; then why was the fight decided in one move?
The only difference was the scrawny guy's manual was a high-grade manual that forged a path through the entire body. Whilst no energy path was ford in the lower body of the muscular guy and hence, he was very weak below his torso.
This was the reason people preferred higher grade manuals over the lower grade ones.
And Ikasa's Manuals were even more amazing!
The difference between the normal manuals and his manuals beca very clear to Ikasa.
Normal Manuals described a set of motions. When one moves according to these exercises, they will guide energy on the path ntioned in the manual.
The larger the errors while performing the exercises, the larger the chances of energy deviating from the path in the manual.
On the other hand, Ikasa's manuals imprint the set of body movents in the user's mind. Thus, users could move according to them instinctively, lowering the chances for error.
At the sa ti, it circulates the energy in one's body along the path in the manual creating a very rudintary but clear path for energy to follow.
When the energy in one's body had a clear path to travel on, one can be said to have entered the Path Forging realm.
"So this is why Hei Ying broke through! This ans anyone who uses my manual will break through imdiately to the Path Forging realm!"
Ikasa cheered at this amazing discovery.
–
A night had passed and Sun was shining in the morning. Ikasa removed the Paper carefully and hung it out to dry.
When he entered his house, he saw the Cultivation manual he had been reading by his pillow. He had fallen asleep while comparing the manuals from the printer and other normal manuals.
"A cheat is a cheat. However much it might make my life difficult, it really is amazing!"
Ikasa murmured appreciatively as he gazed lovingly at the Printer. He used the 'Copy' button once again today and got another [Dumb Belle's Guide to Strength].
Once Ikasa had freshened himself and had his breakfast, he began morizing the depictions and their descriptions in [Dumb Belle's Guide to Strength].
After practicing for so ti, he could perfectly recreate the figures in the book in smaller sizes so they would fit on the scroll.
Ikasa brought the semi-dried scroll inside and dried it on fire for a few minutes. Once it was dry enough to hold ink, he drew the motions and descriptions on it.
He looked at his work in satisfaction. The strokes were perfect and the calligraphy impeccable. Then with a flourish, he added the na he had long thought of.
'Ape's Might Body Forging Technique! What a great na! If this na doesn't earn 1000 gold the people here must be blind!' Ikasa thought with glee.
He already knew the dark ink would look out of place on the paper. So he had improvised and added a few steps. He boiled the last night's tea and let the steam waft on the paper.
Once the paper beca moist, he sprinkled the dirt on it. The ink that was spreading due to the paper becoming moist was imdiately absorbed by the dust.
A few hours later when the paper had absorbed the dust's sll and color, Ikasa dried the paper on fire to make it crisp. And now the last step, storing it in a humid earthenware.
While Ikasa was rolling the scroll, he was happy to notice that the ink had faded considerably. It had a look of an 'ancient' scroll. Then he stored it inside the scroll holder and sealed the scroll holder in a wet earthen pot.
For the next few days, Ikasa spent his ti searching for a suitable mansion that could house seven people comfortably while also leaving enough space for kids to play and train.
At first, he didn't know where and whom he should look for. So he contacted Yao Han, the guard captain. He directed him to the City Lord's administrative office. Ikasa realized that in this world, City Lord controlled most of the real estate business.
When he asked about renting a house, he received weird looks. Finally, Yao Han couldn't hold himself back.
"Brother Ikasa, what is this 'rent' you speak of?"
'That explains all the weird looks!'
Ikasa thought as he patiently explained the concept of renting. Yao Han was appalled that people would live in soone else's house and pay that house's owner for living there.
Ikasa also understood that he had no choice but to outright purchase the property he wanted to live in.
As he looked at suitable options he realized he had to choose between getting multiple adjacent houses in Outer City and getting a single humongous manor in the Inner city.
The difference in prices was also quite significant. The multiple houses in Outer city, combined, cost just under 300 Gold.
And yet, the single old, outdated manor in the Inner-city, city cost 700 gold. And it was a discounted price because the seller needed money urgently.
Ikasa decided to visit both properties. The houses in Outer City belonged to vassals of the Li Family. They couldn't pay Li family the produce they promised for the year; So the Li family had directly confiscated their houses and put them on sale.
Each house was not that large with just two dium-sized rooms and a small patch for growing vegetables. These six houses were arranged in a 'U-shaped' formation with two houses on each side. In the center were a large Banyan tree and a well.
Ikasa was very pleased with this construction. But when he was close enough to the houses, he heard the laughter of children. Even the houses were occupied. He glanced quizzingly at the attendant who was accompanying him.
"An elder of the Li Family ordered for families to be chased away and also stationed goons here. But the head butler of the Li family convinced the Patriarch to let these families stay here until the houses were sold or they paid the promised 150 gold."
The attendant's voice, tinged with admiration for the Head Butler, did not escape Ikasa's notice. Even he felt admiration for such a kind-hearted butler but he was more amazed by his manipulation skills.
Ikasa put away the thoughts of purchasing these houses. He would purchase these only if there were no other suitable houses. If possible he didn't want to displace these families and ruin the efforts of that Butler.
Next, the attendant guided Ikasa to the mansion in the Inner City. On the way, Ikasa tried to glean so background information about the mansion they were going to visit.
"The Mansion is in the western part of the inner city. After the Wei family declined many mansions and villas cropped up in their territory. This Mansion is one of them."
"Oh? Was the Wei Family's territory that big?" Ikasa asked in shock.
"You know, once upon a ti, the entire western Inner-city used to belong to the Wei Family. Alas, their pot of sins was filled and Feng Yan destroyed them."
"They had it coming and deserved what they got".
Ikasa unknowingly clenched his fists. For so reason, he imagined a mature version of Xin Ruo surrounded by a few young masters who teased and violated her. He subconsciously gritted his teeth.
The attendant looked at him weirdly. He hadn't expected such an intense reaction. But he just assud Ikasa was a man with a story.
Ikasa was silent for the rest of the journey. He was zoned out but the sound of iron gates grating against the ground jolted him awake.
"We are here," The attendant said with a smile.
Soon, the caretaker of the mansion ca forward to greet the duo.
The mont they entered, the fragrance of flowers assaulted their senses. Ikasa noticed a small pond surrounded by flowers on the right. There were also a few large trees behind the pond.
Directly opposite the pond, on the left side was open space. The ground was covered with grass. The path from the gate to the actual entrance of the mansion acted as the dividing line between these two areas.
Both of these areas were concealed from the outside world by high rising walls.
'This would serve perfectly as training fields for kids.'
Once he entered, he could see the chips and cracks in the sandstone walls. It indicated that the mansion was quite old and the owner didn't care for it well enough.
Despite that, it was structurally sound.
"There are five bedrooms and a dedicated kitchen and a pantry. This open space can be used as a ballroom if you so desire…"
The caretaker introduced the mansion's best features enthusiastically.
Ikasa had seen all he needed to see. This Mansion would be good enough. Thankfully, it ca with basic furniture like beds and all. So he didn't need to spend extra to get the furniture.
"So Ikasa, do you like this manor? Do you want to start the purchase procedures?"
The attendant nudged Ikasa. The caretaker also looked hopeful. Good Masters were rare after all.
"Er… Let's not be hasty. I will need a few days to think about it."
'Are you kidding ? I don't even have 1 gold on now! How am I supposed to pay half the sales price to initiate purchase procedures?'
The hopes of the attendant and the caretaker were dashed. But they were not disheartened. After all, few people make impulse purchase decisions.
After accompanying the attendant to City Lord's administrative office, Ikasa returned ho.
It was ti to open the pot and let the 'ancient scroll' re-erge in this world.
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