Longevity Martial Arts: Grinding Experience in the Chaotic World novel Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Harvest

Tick-tock, tick-tock—

Blood dripped continuously from the short blade. Gu Sheng gasped for air, though this wasn’t the first time he had killed—it was only the second time he had engaged in close combat.

The first time was in the forest, when he split Li Yan in half with a hatchet. This time, he had stabbed his pursuer straight through.

Now, the thin Martial Artist’s chest was a mangled mess. Gu Sheng had stabbed him over a dozen times, leaving a bowl-sized hole that was gushing blood.

But this time...

Gu Sheng felt he had adapted much better. A few deep breaths were all it took to completely stabilize his emotions. His gaze gradually became calm.

He squatted down and pulled off the thin Martial Artist’s veil, revealing a long face beneath it that startled Gu Sheng.

"He’s from the Black Sand Gang..."

Gu Sheng hadn’t interacted with this man directly before, but he remembered seeing him standing behind Han Lu on the day the Black Sand Gang came to collect the annual tribute. That moment had stuck in his memory, even after so much time.

"An Iron-Skin Martial Artist, and adept at lightweight movement techniques. Within the Black Sand Gang, he’s probably considered a minor leader, right?"

A flicker of anticipation lit up in Gu Sheng’s eyes.

He began meticulously searching the man’s body.

A moment later.

"As expected... nothing worth getting excited over after all..."

Gu Sheng looked at the scattered pile of items before him, disappointment visible in his eyes.

He had hoped to find the lightweight Martial Arts technique on this man’s body; the movement technique had amazed him not long ago. Even over a short distance, it narrowly evaded an arrow aimed straight for the heart.

If it had been an ordinary Martial Artist, under Gu Sheng’s strategic setup to lure the snake out of its hole, they would’ve already been finished with a single arrow.

What a pity.

Reality wasn’t a video game. Killing an enemy and finding rare techniques as loot happened, but not often.

No one would go to the black market with a Martial Arts manual on them—unless they wanted to do charity work for their enemies.

Occasionally, some Martial Artists carried manuals to study or jot down insights, but most would memorize them completely and then burn the originals.

"Martial Arts manuals are incredibly difficult to come by. When I looked in the black market before, nine out of ten were fake, or outrageously expensive. There was only the Shapeshifting technique that was barely worth considering..."

Gu Sheng sighed and redirected his focus to the scattered pile of items before him.

"At least it’s not entirely fruitless."

To start, there were eleven portions of Body Refining Ointment. This man had probably bought them fresh from Master Ge’s representative’s stall, and they all conveniently fell into Gu Sheng’s hands.

Adding in what Gu Sheng had purchased himself, he now had twenty-two portions—a supply that would last him for a very long time to recover from consumption.

Next, there was a pile of bottles and jars and a few willow-leaf throwing darts.

Two bottles were recognizable to Gu Sheng.

One was a poison called Green Frost, more potent than Black Blood Powder. This must have been the toxin coated on those willow-leaf darts.

The other was Corpse Dissolving Water. As the name suggested, a small amount could completely dissolve a corpse.

These were items Gu Sheng had seen for sale on stalls in the black market before. He had been tempted at the time, but they were out of his budget. He hadn’t expected them to be delivered into his hands by someone else.

As for the rest...

Gu Sheng didn’t recognize them, but he decided to keep them for now. Perhaps he’d figure out what they were later, after seeing more in the future. He wasn’t in a rush to deal with them right away and planned to evaluate whether to sell or use them gradually.

Finally, there were a few silver coins and some large money pieces—adding up to about five or six taels of silver.

It wasn’t a lot, but it still made Gu Sheng’s nearly-depleted finances a bit fuller again.

This man’s total wealth certainly wasn’t limited to what he carried, but when venturing to the black market, no one would bring everything with them.

"If all of this were converted to silver, the total haul from this would probably be worth about thirty taels!"