In many parts of the world, as Tyr understood it, the greedy art of marketing and selling was seen as dishonorable in monasteries.

After all, they were supposed to be places where one let go of “worldly desires,” with the largest of those being none other than cold hard cash.

Despite that fact, the market seemed to be thriving in this particular temple.

Most of the people selling things beside the center road weren’t monks but rather travelers and merchants running their shops.

After asking around for a few minutes, Tyr made his way to what he deemed was the best cultivation technique store nearby.

Many vendors recommended their own stores, but this was the only store that many vendors, pedestrians, and even monks suggested.

Tyr observed the shop with a curious gaze.

‘Looks like it just got set up recently,’ he thought to himself, noting the large tent that barely had any dust on it.

Tyr entered the store, noticing the busy atmosphere inside.

There were pedestals and stalls scattered throughout the marquee, with dozens of customers walking around, scanning the wares.

On the pedestals were books and scrolls galore, consisting of nothing but cultivation techniques.

Hanging on the walls were also some rare spells and skills to learn.

Tyr was unfamiliar with cultivation techniques, but he was even more unfamiliar with spells learned via scrolls.

‘I guess I’ll have to check it all out.’ With a smile, he joined the crowd.

First, Tyr skimmed through all of the cultivation techniques he could find.

Many resembled grimoires—hard-copy books with glowing inscriptions and lettering.

Others looked like scrolls of various types—some old and tanned, others new and pristine. Some were long, others short. Some neat and tidy, and others simply falling apart.

Then, he spent some time looking at spells available to learn.

Most of them seemed a bit useless, frankly speaking.

‘Huh… a slight energy boost for half of my stored Aura?’ he thought, furrowing his brows in disappointment.

‘I understand that my Aura regenerates to its normal amount depending on how evolved my Aura Core is, but still… it takes a while for that Aura to come back. Using half of it for stamina is just silly.’

He continued inspecting.

‘Considerable regeneration for 1 Aura Stone.’

‘Tornado of Fire for 3 Aura Stones.’

‘Temporary strength boost, drains all of your Aura over a 60-second timespan.’

Tyr shook his head. ‘All of these are trash…’

He sighed. ‘Well, I guess you can’t expect much from a monastery. Most of these aren’t even attack spells. That strength boost could be used for farming, for all I know. At the very least, it doesn’t seem to be made for combat. Losing all of your Aura is like a death wish in battle.’

He returned to the cultivation techniques, his main focus for coming here.

At the very back of the marquee, there was a small stage surrounded by a generous crowd.

Tyr had noticed it when he first entered the establishment but wanted to browse the cultivation techniques first.

This time, he decided to check out what was happening.

Squeezing through the crowd, Tyr managed to reach the front.

He saw a man standing on the stage.

‘Looks like a merchant,’ Tyr mused.

“That’s right! It’s all about strength in this challenge. And you get to choose any cultivation technique you want absolutely for free if you can defeat my prized competitor!”

It was a middle-aged man with a shiny gold tooth revealed by his cheesy smile as he riled up the shop with his exciting proposal.

Hell, even Tyr couldn’t help but smile slightly at those words.

‘For free? Hmm… it seems this guy is the owner of this establishment.’ Tyr glanced at a wooden wall at the back of the stage adorned with dozens of shiny cultivation technique scrolls.

“These are the best of the best within our store! But remember, if you lose, you have to trade in a cultivation technique of your own! It can be the weakest of the weak—it doesn’t matter! Just remember, even by risking a measly F-Grade cultivation technique, you earn the chance of winning at least an A-Grade technique in return!”

Tyr raised a brow. ‘Damn… well, it couldn’t hurt to try, right? I need a cultivation technique though… eh… I’ll just pretend to have one.’

“But do not think it will be easy!” the merchant continued. “Your opponent will be no man. Instead, it will be a machine—a hand powered by nothing but Aura!”

Awe-filled gasps and dramatic noises of surprise rippled through the tent.

In the center of the stage was an arm wrestling table. On one side was a hand floating in mid-air.

“Hmm…” Tyr muttered under his breath, observing.

At that moment, a young man stepped up to the stage. “Great! I’ll give it a go!” he exclaimed.

The young scholar was a bald-headed monk. He looked to be quite muscular beneath his robes, and his stature was tall.

Many seemed to recognize him as the crowd erupted in cheers.

“Oh? Are you sure you have the ability!? Remember, you must have a cultivation technique ready to give up!” the merchant said, shaking the young monk’s hand.

“Of course I do… now let’s get started. I will win an amazing cultivation technique for myself!”

The monk sat down at the table.

Tyr scanned him without hesitation.

┏━━━Status━━━┓

Name:

Yo Ing Hang

Age:

24 Years

Power Level:

350

Rank:

Virtuoso

┗━━━━━━━━━┛

‘Damn… he’s even stronger than I am. With my Polaris Tiger Soul Mend, I should be able to exceed his strength… but still. If he loses, I don’t think I’ll have a good chance of winning either.’

Tyr observed the situation carefully.

‘Then again… this all looks like a carnival game. Those cheating sons of bitches never let anyone win.’

He glanced around the shop. ‘I didn’t even find a single A-Grade cultivation technique in this store… so I was wondering why it was so popular. Now I see.’

He paused, piecing things together.

‘The main attraction is those A and S-Grade techniques hung up on the wall… but if it were that easy—or even possible—at least one of those would be gone by now. But not a single one has been won. Seems sketchy.’

Before long, the match began.

“Ready… 3… 2… 1… begin!”

SWWISH

The machine hand moved swiftly, instantly overpowering the young monk.

BOOM

The monk’s hand slammed into the pad, his defeat echoing across the room.

The monk’s excited expression vanished, his hopes shattered abruptly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep