The Reincarnated Hunter Sweeps Up All Fortunes - Chapter 7
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 7
Episode 7
One thing worth clarifying first.
The dots that appear on the Treasure Search skill have grades based on their color.
A white dot like this one is Normal Grade.
For example, weapons or armor that ronin typically use.
Why wasn’t it showing up at first, you ask?
‘Beats me. Maybe the range was just too narrow.’
If a skill seems to have issues, it’s worth considering whether it’s a range problem.
Most of the time, that solves it.
Well.
The mechanics are involved too, to some degree.
This time, what I’m looking for is something called Chance — a catch-all category of ultimate utility.
Or to put it differently, it’s because Im Gang’s level is pitiful.
‘A Third-Rate ronin weeps again today.’
Walking at a leisurely pace, I filtered out every Normal Grade item.
Though I mentioned it as an example, these were genuinely the sorts of things ronin carried.
Even with luck, you’d get maybe a few days’ worth of Internal Energy in a Spirit Elixir, or at best some Third-Rate martial art.
You can consider Blue Grade and higher as actually usable at my current level.
‘Though that wasn’t the case in my past life.’
Right after I awakened, I picked up every white item to sell for rice money.
Ah, my beloved past life.
While I was reminiscing, blue dots began blinking into view one by one.
If there were about twenty white items, there were five blue ones.
‘No yellow ones though.’
Yellow Grade items are equivalent to Perfect Grade in terms of Internal Cultivation Methods.
The Great Force Dominance Technique I just learned showed up as a yellow dot, so I’m certain of it.
It’s a shame, though.
Honestly, it’s strange for Perfect Grade martial arts to be lying around the street like this.
‘Hmm. If it’s Blue Grade, does that make it First-Rate?’
Im Gang hummed to himself as he wandered toward the nearest blue dot, drawn like a bee to a flower.
It was a bookstore again.
Ding.
“Welcome.”
According to academic consensus, Chance in the martial world typically appears in caves nestled halfway up cliff faces.
Yet in the world where Im Gang was reborn, for some reason, Chance appeared in bookstores.
‘Ah. There’s also the pawn shop.’
From today onward.
Academic consensus has it: martial arts manuals come from bookstores, Spirit Elixirs from pawn shops.
Is this even a martial arts tale?
I zoomed in on the map and made my way to the blue dot.
Books packed tightly on every shelf.
Among them, I picked up a volume that gleamed clearly.
‘Appraisal.’
Ting!
[A First-Rate Nine Connection Fist Method.]
Oh… wait.
My spirits had begun to lift at the mention of First-Rate, then stumbled at the realization it was a fist method.
A fist method… It’s good that it’s First-Rate, but…
‘The reason ronin don’t use fist methods is because of Internal Energy.’
A fist method means bare-handed combat.
Without cultivating External Martial Strength or possessing considerable Internal Energy, it’s difficult to unleash its full power.
Even with the Internal Energy I gained from learning the Great Force Dominance Technique, it’s only six years’ worth.
Right now, using a weapon—no, throwing a Flying Blade is far stronger.
‘Hmm. Though it might still be better than the Wind Fang Blade Method…’
Even if I can’t fully harness it, a First-Rate fist method is a First-Rate fist method.
Compared to Third-Rate blade techniques, it would definitely be superior, even without much Internal Energy at all.
But…
“You buying that book?”
The bookstore owner gently probed Im Gang, who was lost in thought.
Im Gang answered with a troubled expression, saying he was still deliberating.
“I haven’t read the whole thing, but it seemed passable enough.”
“This book is passable enough, you say……?”
“Yes, that’s what I’m telling you!”
Im Gang, who knew the book in his hands was a First-Rate martial art, found the bookkeeper’s words ridiculous.
The bookkeeper was pitching the book to Im Gang, eager to make the sale.
“Do you know what this book is?”
“A blade technique…….”
“A fist method.”
“……the fist method right next to it. Anyway! If you buy it, I’ll give you a good price.”
“How much?”
“Why does it feel like your words are a bit short…….”
The bookkeeper muttered irritably.
Im Gang let out a hollow laugh and casually tapped the blade at his waist, fixing the man with a steady stare.
“Should I spread the word to other ronin that this bookshop cheats customers?”
“……Heh-heh-heh. Fifteen coins, and I’m honored to serve you.”
“Ten coins. And that’s already generous. In exchange, I’ll forget everything that happened today.”
“Thank you so much, sir!”
“And thank you for helping me obtain such a fine book.”
The negotiation was easy.
In Hangzhou, bookshops don’t sell well unless they stock spring pictures or spring scrolls.
Martial art manuals?
There’s no way a small bookshop like this would have a proper martial art manual.
‘……that’s the common perception, after all.’
That perception is mostly true. It’s the same with the Great Force Dominance Technique, and while something like the Nine Connection Fist Method does occasionally arrive by chance, it’s rare.
It’s not a loss for the bookkeeper. Ten coins, ten copper pieces—not even enough to cover the paper cost—but it’s better than letting it gather dust on the shelf.
To be honest, he’d probably rather have another spring scroll or spring picture wedged in that spot.
‘Spring pictures go for at least one silver tael, and spring scrolls were a hundred coins, if I recall…….’
Hangzhou, with its abundance of heterodox martial artists and ronin, tends to be particularly expensive.
If Im Gang had known how to write well and draw well, he wouldn’t have become a ronin.
Truly.
* * *
After finishing his first round of shopping, he returned home.
“Whoosh. Whoosh-whoosh. Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh. This isn’t a sound coming from my own mouth.”
After learning the Nine Connection Fist Method and practicing martial arts for an hour.
It was more of a predicament than he’d thought.
In the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao once said of chicken ribs—that there was too little meat to eat and it was a shame to discard them.
This was exactly the same situation.
‘It’s serviceable even without Internal Energy…… but if I’m not careful, I’ll be skating on thin ice with my life.’
If he raised his grade, it might be different.
……but Internal Energy was the real problem.
For that reason, he’d decided it was indeed a predicament.
He took out the second item he’d obtained in his first round of shopping and consumed it.
A one-year Spirit Elixir.
Now he understood why the portioned Qi Gathering Pill was Yellow Grade.
It was because Spirit Elixirs themselves were precious.
In the martial arts stories he’d read in his past life, characters constantly consumed mountains of Spirit Elixirs, underwent complete metamorphosis, achieved the returning youth technique, and their Internal Energy increased tenfold, allowing them to tear through space and cause mayhem.
But as if to remind him that fiction and reality are different, this world valued Spirit Elixirs dearly.
‘So that’s why the old man made fun of me.’
Suddenly, an old memory surfaced.
Once, he’d poked his master’s ribs with his blade over and over, asking if he knew any Internal Cultivation Methods, whether he was hiding any Spirit Elixirs.
That day, his master had laughed so hard his belly shook.
Furious, he’d rushed at him, only to get beaten like a dog on a festival day.
To reiterate: there was a reason the portioned Qi Gathering Pill was Yellow Grade.
He considered heading back out to search for treasure, but the sun had begun to set, so he gave up.
The nights in Hangzhou are dangerous.
Wandering the back streets is fine enough if you have some skill.
But shopping comfortably isn’t an option.
So.
‘Good night.’
I slept.
With a bit of experimentation mixed in.
The next morning.
Im Gang checked his system window and let out a delighted laugh.
Name: Im Gang (Lv. 6)
Class: Third-Rate Ronin / Treasure Hunter
Internal Energy: 7 years 43 days
Skills: Third-Rate Wind Fang Blade Method, Second-Rate Bronze Body Technique… (See more)
Skill Points: 0
Skills: Third-Rate Wind Fang Blade Method 80%, Second-Rate Bronze Body Technique 40%, Map Lv. 3, Trap Detection Lv. 1, Treasure Search Lv. 4, Appraisal Lv. 1, Trap Disarming Lv. 1, Lockpicking Lv. 1, Concealment Lv. 1, Long-Range Attack Enhancement Lv. 1, Long-Range Guidance Lv. 1, Perfect Grade Great Force Dominance Technique 50%, Qi Sense, Third-Rate Flying Blade Technique 10%, First-Rate Nine Connection Fist Method 10% NEW!
My internal energy increased even while I slept.
Doesn’t everyone say success is revolution, failure is treason?
This is revolution.
I did wake up a few times, and the efficiency was slightly lower than if I’d done it properly.
‘I accumulated twenty-one days of internal energy just by sleeping!’
Is this the true power of a Perfect Grade Internal Cultivation Method?
Whew.
If this were a novel, I could title it “A Reincarnated Hunter Martial Artist’s Success Story.”
Im Gang hummed to himself as he glanced out the window to confirm the street below, reassured himself that the money and martial arts manuals were still safely stashed on the floor, and headed out for his second round of shopping.
He naturally didn’t forget breakfast.
“I heard the Red Stream Faction took over the Black Knife Gang’s territory?”
“What? How in just one day?”
“The Black Knife Gang’s master was killed and his second-in-command was made the second deputy chief, or so they say—I’m not sure of the details.”
He also caught wind of the aftermath of that commission he’d nearly forgotten about.
After that, he wandered through bookstalls and acquired two martial arts manuals.
Ding!
[Second-Rate Return Flow Step Method skill has been registered.]
Ding!
[Second-Rate Whirlwind Kick skill has been registered.]
At a general goods shop.
“Jackpot!”
“…?”
Ding!
[Correct Fate Pearl.]
He’d acquired a Correct Fate Pearl as loot.
* * *
The Correct Fate Pearl was a lustrous orb with a silvery sheen,
the sort of treasure that sects and clans with genuine foundation—not organizations like the Red Stream Faction or Black Knife Gang—would give to promising young talents during their development.
Merely carrying it on one’s person was enough for its effects to manifest: when practicing Qi Circulation, one could accept more energy, and it stabilized the flow of vital essence through the body.
In short, it lowered the probability of falling into Demonic Cultivation Error.
‘In terms of my previous life, it’s like an artifact that increases magical reserves and regeneration?’
The Correct Fate Pearl was easier to obtain than a Spirit Elixir.
Don’t misunderstand.
Just because it was more common than a Spirit Elixir didn’t mean they were abundant.
According to rumor, there were around a hundred per province?
The price wouldn’t be cheap either.
‘It’s probably worth well over a billion.’
It wasn’t without drawbacks.
The greater the bearer’s internal energy, the lower the efficiency, and eventually the effect wouldn’t apply at all.
That’s why sects only gave one to each promising junior—
Exactly.
For someone like Im Gang, who’d accumulated a pittance of internal energy, this was an end-game item for the early stages.
‘But up to how many years of internal energy does it work on?’
A Third-Rate Ronin’s information network had its limits.
Shortly after.
The finale of his second shopping excursion was a fabric shop.
“…Huh?”
Just as when he’d discovered the Great Force Dominance Technique, a yellow dot flared brightly.
Like a man possessed, he moved toward it, and a fabric shop appeared before his eyes.
The shop was large enough that its craftsmen could take measurements on the spot and make custom garments, though they also displayed ready-made clothing for sale.
And then.
He bought used clothes, had them mended, and resold them.
Ronin never wore custom tailoring.
Why not?
Too expensive!
One slip meant getting slashed or pierced, so even ready-made garments felt wasteful.
That’s why they tended to buy secondhand clothes that fabric merchants had purchased and had repaired.
The cloth shop Im Gang had wandered into was exactly that sort of place.
Naturally, it was somewhere he’d shop.
“Who’s this? Haven’t seen you before.”
“Mind if I look at some clothes?”
“Of course. Make yourself comfortable, look all you like.”
Mended garments hung thickly from the shop’s entrance all the way to the back.
He picked out one of them.
At first glance, a cheap, tattered thing that looked like it was woven from rough cloth and worn thin.
“How much for this?”
“Just ten coins.”
Ding!
[A worn upper garment woven from Heavenly Silk.]
……An absolute steal!
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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