Cultivating Immortality Begins with Acting as a Girl Chapter 008

There was a series of wood carvings placed in a messy manner. These wood carvings, whether human or beast, were in various forms, but each one was carved lifelike, with details showing the craftsman’s dedication.

At the same time, a strong and peculiar aura emanated from them!

It was the aura of Profound Source!

Song Ling’s eyes lit up, and he took out all the wood carvings, placing them neatly on the table.

After some testing, Song Ling found that not all of these wood carvings contained Profound Source, and among those that did, the amount of Profound Source varied, with the highest being two infant wood carvings, which had a full eight points. The rest mostly had only one or two points, with a maximum of no more than three points.

The material of these wood carvings was all common cypress wood. There was a wood carving of an auspicious beast, but it only had one point of Profound Source, and there was also an ordinary miniature chair, but it had three points of Profound Source.

After observing so many samples, Song Ling was able to confirm that the amount of Profound Source had nothing to do with the material or the shape of the wood carving.

As for what it was related to, he had a vague guess in his mind, but he was not sure.

Song Ling picked up a wood carving, calmed his mind, and summoned the panel in his mind.

[Three points of Profound Source found, extract?]

“Yes!”

After Song Ling confirmed, the peculiar aura on the wood carving was silently drawn out, but the wood carving itself did not change at all.

However, on the panel in his mind, the remaining Profound Source had turned into three points.

Song Ling breathed a sigh of relief. Before success, he was really a little worried that this Profound Source could not be replenished, and the golden finger panel was just a dream. Now he felt relieved.

Soon, he extracted all the Profound Source from the remaining wood carvings.

Adding the Tapir from Zhao Li before, the current panel became:

[Currently Mastered Skills]

Wind Breaking Blade (Limit Broken)

[Remaining Profound Source: Thirty-six points]

Looking at the numbers on the panel, a strong sense of satisfaction and security arose in Song Ling’s heart.

At that time, five points of Profound Source were enough to elevate the third-rate martial skill Wind Breaking Blade to Limit Broken. Although the Wind Breaking Blade was originally at the bottom of third-rate martial skills, this glimpse showed that other third-rate martial skills should not be too different.

Song Ling guessed that even for second-rate martial skills, the Profound Source required to reach “Limit Broken” should not be too outrageous, at most around dozens of points.

Now that he had Profound Source, the next step should be to get a martial skill.

Song Ling pondered for a moment and called in the siblings Zhao Li and Zhao He.

“Martial Artist, do you have any instructions?” Zhao Li’s attitude was even more respectful than before.

Song Ling took out the two infant wood carvings and asked Zhao Li if they were the two siblings. After receiving a positive answer, he thoughtfully took out a piece of broken silver from the money bag that originally belonged to Sun Yan of the Black Tiger Gang and threw it to Zhao Li, saying indifferently:

“I really like your father’s wood carvings. He is a truly skilled craftsman.”

“I won’t hold it against you that you tried to rob me. This silver is for me buying these wood carvings. Take it to buy medicine for your mother’s illness.”

Although these wood carvings were no longer useful, considering that similar incidents might happen in the future, if he always sought these things but never bought them, it would inevitably make people suspicious. It would be better to pretend to be a collector.

Zhao Li’s eyes reddened, and her eyes filled with moisture.

She took the broken silver and said softly, “Thank you, sir. My father was a woodcarver all his life. His greatest wish was for his works to be recognized… If he were still alive, he would be very happy to hear your words.”

Song Ling nodded and asked again, “Do you know where I can get martial skills?”

Although Zhao Li and Zhao He were ordinary people who didn’t practice martial arts, they had grown up in Suiyi City since childhood, so they might know some information.

“Martial skills?”

Zhao Li and Zhao He were stunned, not expecting Song Ling, a martial artist, to ask them this question.

After a moment of serious consideration, Zhao Li said, “I dare not deceive you, sir. We don’t know exactly where to get martial skills, but perhaps you can go to the ‘North Market’ to have a look.”

“North Market?”

Zhao Li: “Yes, the North Market is a market jointly established by several large gangs in the North City, including the Thousand Leaf Gang. All kinds of strange things are sold there, and perhaps there will be the martial skills you want.”

“In that case, you can accompany me on a trip.” Song Ling stood up.

“Now?” Zhao Li was startled.

“Now.”

Song Ling’s tone was decisive.

Improving strength was of utmost importance.

…

The North Market was some distance from Louli Village, where Zhao Li lived. And because Zhao Li was not skilled in martial arts and had limited stamina, it took them a full hour to almost arrive.

Unlike the urgency of escaping the Black Tiger Gang’s stronghold, this time Song Ling had the leisure to observe carefully.

He found that slums like Louli Village were not isolated cases in the North City, but were ubiquitous, and even the norm for civilian residential areas.

Even corpses starved to death on the roadside were not uncommon.

Due to strict population flow management, one had to pay a certain amount of gold and silver to go to the East City. These beggars who had lost their means of livelihood and were wandering the streets could not even go to the prosperous East City to beg, and could only stay here and starve to death.

It was not an exaggeration to call it a living hell.

Along the way, Zhao Li occasionally looked at Song Ling curiously.

This “sister,” who looked only a few years older than her, was already an entered-flow martial artist, which made her both awe-struck and envious.

In her world, martial artists were high and mighty beings, capable of cultivating martial skills and possessing superhuman strength, a dream unattainable for ordinary people like them.

The scene where he directly killed Li Laosi, whom she dared not offend, was deeply etched in her mind.

Soon, the two walked into the North Market gate.

Inside the North Market, there was a bustling crowd and a lively atmosphere. Various stalls were dazzling, and hawking sounds rose and fell, forming a stark contrast with the desolation outside. Antiques, pills, weapons, including the martial arts secret manuals Song Ling wanted, could be seen at various stalls.

Among the people coming and going, most were martial artists, about a third of whom were entered-flow martial artists, and even second-rate martial artists could occasionally be seen.

It should be noted that this was only on the surface; there was no telling how many hidden masters had concealed their auras.

Song Ling was secretly startled, and the slight pride that had arisen in his heart about his own strength vanished.

He couldn’t get used to bullying ordinary people and then truly think of himself as a grand master.

A third-rate martial artist only had preliminary self-preservation ability; only by reaching the second-rate realm could one barely be considered a master.

“Customer, take a look at my secret manuals. Although most of them are incomplete, I guarantee that every one is genuine and not a fake masquerading as the real thing.” An old man wearing a straw hat smiled and said to Song Ling, who was passing by his stall.

Song Ling stopped and picked up a secret manual to examine.

After flipping through a few pages, he put it down, then picked up another, repeating this several times before frowning and saying, “All your secret manuals are incomplete. What’s the point?”

The old man chuckled twice and said, “Customer, not everyone wants to become a martial artist. Many people just want some self-preservation ability. They can’t afford truly complete secret manuals, and my incomplete ones are cheap and good, perfectly meeting their needs.”

Song Ling made no comment and asked again, “Do you have any complete second-rate martial arts secret manuals here?”

…