Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 22 The County Bookstore

Manager Wang was very generous. He not only bought all the remaining 31 salted fish, but also bought salted chicken, salted duck, and geese in a bundle. In the end, Zhou Ye received more than six taels of silver.

I never expected salted fish to be so popular. The town market hasn't been open for long, and all the goods I brought have already sold out?

At that moment, Zhou Ye suddenly had a new idea—why not go to the county town? There was still plenty of time; they could make it today. And they could even visit a bookstore in the county town?

Thinking of this, Zhou Ye felt a surge of excitement. He looked around and noticed that many other people were also carrying various weapons. It seemed that his attire wasn't particularly outrageous; there were indeed quite a few people venturing into the mountains.

He already had over 40 taels of silver and a 50-tael silver note. In any case, that would definitely be enough to buy a few medical books.

Having made his decision, Zhou Ye immediately took action. He first went to the blacksmith's shop and sold all the wood-chopping knife and axe he had brought, earning a little over three taels of silver. Then, he hurried towards the county town...

When Zhou Ye arrived at the county town, an hour had already passed. Gazing at the towering city walls in the distance, he was still taken aback.

However, as Zhou Ye approached the city, he discovered that there were also a large number of houses built outside the city walls, and a large number of residents lived there.

However, the houses were dilapidated, and the people around them were dressed in similarly tattered clothes. Clearly, the residents outside the city walls were mostly poor, and their living conditions were likely quite unfortunate.

Ignoring the residents for now, when Zhou Ye passed through the residential area outside the city wall and entered the gate, the soldiers guarding the gate glanced at him. Finding that Zhou Ye wasn't carrying any goods, they lazily ignored him.

After entering the city, Zhou Ye asked a passerby for directions and quickly found the largest bookstore in the vicinity...

When Zhou Ye entered the bookstore, a clerk greeted him warmly: "Honorable guest, what kind of book would you like to buy? I can help you choose one."

Do you have any medical books here?

"Medical books?" The waiter was clearly taken aback, because such books were extremely obscure. "Please wait a moment, sir, I'll go ask the manager."

A moment later, a man dressed as a shopkeeper came over: "Distinguished guest, we do have the medical books you mentioned. But which one do you need? We don't have them displayed in the store; they're all stored in the back warehouse."

"Excuse me, sir, could you please introduce yourself?"

"That's alright. We have medical books here..."

"..."

After listening to the shopkeeper's introduction, Zhou Ye asked a few more questions and finally decided to buy a set of "Pharmacopoeia Compendium".

In truth, Zhou Ye had no interest in studying medicine. Those medical reference books that aided in diagnosis were of no use to him whatsoever. On the contrary, the "Compendium of Pharmacopoes" would definitely provide him with a lot of experience points for his basic poison skills.

That set of "Pharmacopoeia Compendium" consisted of four volumes, and the price of one set was as high as 24 taels? After much haggling, I finally paid 22 taels.

Zhou Ye couldn't help but sigh, all knowledge here seemed to be extremely expensive, something that ordinary people couldn't afford.

Zhou Ye carefully wrapped up the set of books and was about to leave when the shopkeeper smiled and asked, "Honorable guest, judging from your attire, you must be a martial arts enthusiast? We have a few martial arts books in our shop; would you be interested?"

"Oh?"

"Please come in. The more valuable martial arts manuals are kept in the inner hall. Hehe."

To be honest, martial arts books that can be bought in bookstores are definitely commonplace. Besides, he has too many weaknesses, and he can't practice many decent martial arts techniques. So Zhou Ye decided to take a look, at least to broaden his horizons.

As Zhou Ye walked into the inner hall, he asked the shopkeeper who was accompanying him, "Shopkeeper, do you sell any martial arts manuals here?"

"You jest. The martial arts techniques are closely guarded secrets of the imperial court, sects, aristocratic families, and martial arts schools. Not to mention this small shop, you won't find them in any bookstore in the city."

"So, if you want to learn martial arts techniques, you can only go to a martial arts school?"

"Exactly. One can also join the army. If one achieves merit in battle, the imperial court will reward them. Aristocratic families should know that they only pass on their skills to their own clan members. Sects have even higher requirements for accepting disciples. Unless one is exceptionally talented, it is very difficult for others to obtain such an opportunity..."

From the shopkeeper's introduction, Zhou Ye learned that, given his status, the only way to learn martial arts techniques was to join the army or a martial arts school.

Joining the army was out of the question; that would be a near-certain death sentence. The tuition at martial arts schools was extremely expensive, costing 3 to 5 taels of silver per month. Moreover, the minimum payment was six months' rent, meaning a lump sum of 2 to 30 taels of silver.

Another aspect is the division of martial arts realms—Entering Strength, Manifest Strength, Hidden Strength, and Transformation Strength. As for higher levels, the shopkeeper was unaware of them.

Furthermore, after practicing martial arts, one needs a large amount of meat every month to replenish qi and blood, and even expensive elixirs to aid cultivation. This is the so-called "poor scholar, rich martial artist," and the expenses are staggering.

However, the initial stage of mastering internal strength is the foundation of a martial artist, and they are still within the realm of ordinary people. In the event that they encounter an ordinary person with excellent martial arts skills, the difference between the two is not actually that significant.

On the contrary, once one enters the Ming Jin stage, it's a complete transformation. Ordinary people simply cannot contend with it.

Therefore, in the general public, one can use any title one like. As long as one has entered the realm of "internal strength," one can be respectfully addressed as "Martial Master." However, the martial arts circle is much stricter. Only those who have entered the realm of "manifest strength" can be called "Martial Master."

Perhaps the shopkeeper is right. Or perhaps he's just boasting and trying to sell more martial arts books.

Zhou Ye smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying. They soon arrived at the inner hall and found more than 20 martial arts manuals inside.

Interestingly, Zhou Ye immediately spotted the book "Ten Styles of Military Swordsmanship." Moreover, it was the cheapest, costing only 20 taels. The other martial arts books were generally between 30 and 50 taels.

"Shopkeeper, are all the martial arts techniques here third-rate?" Zhou Ye asked tentatively.

"You're joking. Second-rate events only happen at auctions. First-rate ones... I'm ignorant, I've never even heard of them."

Alright! This was within Zhou Ye's expectations. He couldn't possibly find a bargain. Surely one could buy first- or second-rate martial arts techniques in a bookstore like this?

However, as Zhou Ye flipped through the pages, he began to hesitate.

To be honest, martial arts training is quite expensive. It can easily cost dozens of taels of silver. But Zhou Ye doesn't care at all; whether it's the mountains and forests or the great rivers, those are places where he can make money for free.

Besides, having so much silver on hand is actually of no use. Even if these martial arts skills can't be practiced for the time being, maybe there won't be another opportunity like this?

It would be better to exchange all the silver for martial arts manuals. At least that would guarantee my future training!