Chapter Seventy-Four: The Staff Techniques of Ten Directions
Yan Luo tried to contact the seller of the “Mad Eight Streams Ancient Martial Arts,” but the system replied with a message from the other party: “If your assets are less than 100,000, don’t bother looking for me, you broke bastard.”
He silently glanced at his points:
21010
“It seems I’ll have to give up.”
The Newcomers’ Zone was, after all, the gathering place for world modders from LV1 to LV3. Here, as an LV1, Yan Luo belonged to the lowest tier in terms of purchasing power. No matter how much he earned in the inner world, he had only experienced two worlds so far—his foundation was limited.
“This won’t do, Yan. The techniques here are all too expensive if you want something decent. Should we just buy a skill instead?”
Zhu Xiaoyong pointed toward a stall. Yan Luo walked over to take a look; there was a martial arts skill seed: Iron Shirt. After absorption, it would appear directly in the skill bar—strictly speaking, skills differ somewhat from those you train yourself.
Take the magic-side’s most common skill, Fireball, for example. If you practice it yourself, you must first possess magical energy or an element like fire. When casting, you need to mobilize the energy, perhaps even recite incantations. If you make a mistake, the fireball won’t appear.
Iron Shirt, for newcomers, was probably among the most practical skills.
If it didn’t take up a skill slot, there would surely be a horde of people wanting it. Even so, quite a few still stood in front of the stall, and the price for the skill seed was 19998—affordable, but Yan Luo would never buy it.
Basic Life + Self-Healing was enough.
Continuing to browse the commercial district, Yan Luo made a discovery: energy-augmented fist and foot combat inheritance manuals were exceedingly rare, and beyond his current means.
After all, he was merely an LV1 world modder.
There was no sense in saving up now to buy later; biotic energy needed to be converted into combat power as soon as possible. After scouring the commercial area for a full two hours, Yan Luo stopped before a stall, lost in thought.
On the stall lay an inheritance manual:
“Ten Directions Staff Technique”
According to the description, this was a martial art created by a native master skilled in staff techniques from a Level 3 martial arts inner world. This set of staff techniques did not incorporate energy, so the price was relatively low:
“22222”
Yan Luo was interested in this manual for two reasons: first, using the Coiling Dragon Staff would yield tremendous destructive power; second, the ten staff moves included were, at their core, methods for training internal force! With the inheritance manual and its mind imprint, mastering these ten moves meant acquiring the most crucial forces in national martial arts:
Bright Force, Dark Force, Transforming Force!
This staff technique would lay the foundation for future combat skills.
“Who would’ve thought that after giving up the Bronze-grade Warlord, I’d find a suitable staff technique…”
Yan Luo’s points were insufficient, so he contacted the stall owner.
Wang Dongwei and Zhu Xiaoyong were willing to lend him money, but first, he wanted to see if he could negotiate the price.
The other party was also present in Dreamspace, and soon, a young man of about twenty-five arrived.
LV3, with the title above his head:
“I’m the Most Stylish”
The title was flamboyant, to say the least.
The young man looked somewhat like a mixed race individual—blonde, extremely fair skin, dressed in a sky-blue, impeccably tailored casual suit that reminded Yan Luo of those long johns... His hairstyle was parted in the middle with bangs draping down both sides, and he wore a diamond-studded pair of glasses.
“You want to buy the manual?”
The young man's brows furrowed slightly; an LV1 Zombie Hunter, could someone of such rank and title really produce more than twenty thousand points?
Sensing the other’s thoughts, Yan Luo switched his title to “I Am Legend.” Instantly, this LV1 modder appeared much more impressive.
In fact, he had another, even more astonishing legendary title:
Sage.
“Yes,” Yan Luo nodded.
“Wait a moment!”
The youth’s expression grew serious. He took out a small mirror, holding it up to inspect himself closely, murmuring, “The parting in the middle and the bangs on both sides are neat, the collar stands perfectly, the glasses aren’t askew on either side, the clothing’s folds are perfectly symmetrical... Excellent.”
He put down the mirror and introduced himself to Yan Luo: “Hello, I am Murong Mu, a perfectionist who has broken the limits of humanity. In my view, only symmetry is true perfection. Thus, even in daily life, at every moment, I pay attention to maintaining symmetry in everything.”
Yan Luo calmly introduced himself, “I am Yan Luo, the embodiment of calm beyond human limits. I wish—”
“Wait!”
Murong Mu suddenly raised his right hand, gesturing for Yan Luo to stop. He took a small comb from his waist and seemed intent on doing something. Yan Luo didn’t dodge, standing as still as a statue and expressionlessly watching as the youth tidied his hair.
Soon, Murong Mu had combed Yan Luo’s slightly messy hair into a middle part—bangs perfectly symmetrical on both sides. He let out a long breath, “Now, at last, you look pleasing to the eye.”
At a nearby stall, Zhu Xiaoyong and Wang Dongwei witnessed the scene, both left speechless.
Yan Luo’s hairstyle was now a middle part, and notably, since he didn’t want to attract attention in Dreamspace, he had removed his mask of emotions. Otherwise, the head ornament slanted to one side would probably have driven this “perfectionist” mad.
As for Murong Mu’s claim to be a perfectionist, Yan Luo reserved judgment—just as he called himself the emotionless one beyond human limits, breaking through as the embodiment of calm.
“Could this guy be the ultimate manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder?”
That thought flashed through his mind, but Yan Luo didn’t voice it. He picked up the inheritance manual for the “Ten Directions Staff Technique” from the stall.
“I want to buy this, but 22222 points is a bit steep.”
“This is expensive?”
Murong Mu looked distraught. “Do you know how much biotic energy it takes to create an inheritance manual? Besides, even though this staff technique is only low-grade martial arts, each move corresponds to an internal force style. Do you understand what that means?”
“Yet, it’s just a staff technique.”
Yan Luo replied calmly, “How many world modders ever use a staff? As the saying goes, ‘lancers are unlucky,’ but using a staff feels even more lackluster than a spear... At least a spear has a sharp tip. Staff users are seen as cannon fodder, so hardly anyone chooses a staff. Your manual is hard to sell.”
“Maybe some LV1 newcomers use staffs, but... how many can afford over twenty thousand points? Twenty thousand isn’t expensive...”
“But the most important issue is... I can’t afford it.”
Murong Mu was at a loss for words in the face of Yan Luo’s honesty.
After a moment’s silence, he asked, “What do you think is a fair price?”
“Twenty thousand.”
“That’s absolutely unacceptable!”
Murong Mu’s face twisted, gritting his teeth, “That’s not symmetrical! At least make it 20002 points!”
Yan Luo: “...”
Paying 20002 points, Yan Luo obtained the inheritance manual: Ten Directions Staff Technique, the ten moves were—
One Pillar Holds the Sky
The Earth Shatters, Two Extremes
Threefold Shock of Heaven and Earth
Stirring Four Seas
The Five Elements Revolve
Sweeping Across Six Realms
Seven Stars Combo
Splitting Eight Wastelands
Crushing Nine Netherworlds
Finisher: Invincible in Ten Directions
The names were flashy and impressive; the native who devised this staff technique was surely quite the character... To the uninitiated, it might seem like a high-level martial arts manual from a Hong Kong comic universe, but in truth, it couldn’t even conjure a flame or a ki blast.
“Time to head back and practice the first move: One Pillar Holds the Sky!” Yan Luo thought to himself.