After entering the city, Ning Tianchen took the right street at a fork in the road.
This street was packed with people.
The stalls on both sides were filled with a dazzling array of goods, and all kinds of people moved about, the noise echoing continuously.
“Wow, the city is actually this lively.” This scene was similar to what he had witnessed in the village markets during his childhood in his past life.
This must be the Barak City market.
With the city being so big, he naturally wouldn’t search every single street for Ning Rongrong.
Knowing her, whenever she encountered a lively market like this, she would definitely join the fun.
Furthermore, Ning Rongrong was very generous.
Whenever she went shopping, if she saw something she liked, she would buy out the whole stall.
Finding her wouldn’t be hard if he asked around a bit.
Walking through the busy market, Ning Tianchen kept an eye on the people passing by while his peripheral vision continuously scanned the stalls.
The goods were so varied that a single glance couldn’t take them all in.
Before long, Ning Tianchen’s gaze was drawn to a stall selling assorted items.
Stepping forward, he picked up a book from the stall, examining it carefully to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.
“Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls?”
If he remembered correctly, this was the work of a certain “Grandmaster.” Could it be that this Grandmaster had come to Barak City?
With that thought, he looked up at the stall owner.
In his memory, Yu Xiaogang was a middle-aged man with a buzz cut.
The owner in front of him, however, was an old man with white hair and beard.
The old man’s body was robust and vigorous, clearly lacking the physique of a freeloader like Yu Xiaogang.
The old man lay on a rocking chair and snorted, “If you’re not buying, don’t touch!”
Ning Tianchen wasn’t angry.
He held up the book and asked, “This book is quite rare.
If my guess is correct, this book has never been officially published.
Yours is either an isolated copy or a hand-copied manuscript.”
The old man naturally knew the book’s origin and said nonchalantly, “This was left here on consignment by an old friend of mine.
But if you know the author of this book, I’ll give it to you for free.”
Ning Tianchen didn’t rush to answer but flipped open the book’s contents.
Sure enough, the contents were the “Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls” proposed by Yu Xiaogang.
Nine of the theories were common knowledge that had already been proposed by others long ago.
Based on the books Ning Tianchen had read in the sect’s library, he could instantly identify the sources of five of the theories.
Yet Yu Xiaogang, when writing the book, failed to cite the sources, treating them as his own original theories.
Furthermore, he shamelessly added his own opinions to every theory.
However, any descendant of a major family could easily spot the plagiarized elements in his opinions.
The only theory that wasn’t plagiarized was essentially him mocking himself in a roundabout way.
Such a book would have been fine as a beginner’s introductory read, but he just had to classify it as his personal, original theories.
Might as well keep it, Ning Tianchen thought.
In the future, when looking for soul master theory, checking this book might be a bit faster.
“I won’t take it for free.” Saying that, he placed a gold soul coin on the stall.
“Hehe, interesting little fellow.
I think we will meet again soon,” the old man chuckled lightly, covering his face with a palm-leaf fan and ignoring everyone else.
“What a weird old man,” Ning Tianchen muttered softly.
This book was definitely from Yu Xiaogang.
However, Yu Xiaogang had a wide network; who knew who else he had given the book to.
Tucking the book into his clothes, he continued searching the streets for Ning Rongrong.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to put the book into his soul tool, but there were too many pickpockets here.
If he wasn’t careful, his soul tool ring might get stolen, and he wouldn’t be able to explain that to Ning Rongrong.
…
After wandering the market for about half an hour, Ning Tianchen found another stall selling books.
Driven by curiosity, he approached it.
Scanning the stall, his eyes finally landed on a book without a cover.
Picking it up, he flipped to the first page.
It was an illustrated handbook containing drawings of numerous herbs, along with descriptions of their effects and characteristics.
“Hey, hey, hey, if you’re not buying, don’t read it.
If you read the whole thing, who am I going to sell it to?” Seeing Ning Tianchen engrossed, the middle-aged owner snatched the book back.
During the snatch, Ning Tianchen accidentally caught a glimpse of the last few pages; the herbs recorded there seemed to be immortal herbs.
Since the book was taken back, he couldn’t be certain.
Pausing, he smiled and asked, “Boss, may I ask where you got this book from?”
The boss looked at him warily and snorted, “I collected these books from around the city.
If you aren’t buying, leave quickly, don’t disrupt other people buying books.”
Ning Tianchen smiled faintly, pulling a gold soul coin from his pocket.
“Boss, I am someone who loves a good story.
If there’s a story behind this book, this gold soul coin is yours.”
As a young master of a great family, the one thing he didn’t lack was money.
Seeing the shiny gold soul coin, the boss’s mouth almost watered.
But knowing the truth, what story could this book possibly have?
It was just something he picked up while collecting scrap from a noble’s house a few days ago.
Seeing that it was in decent condition, he put it out to sell separately.
“Oh?
Which noble?” Ning Tianchen asked.
The boss gave a bitter smile, “I think it was the Dragon Snake Family, or maybe the Ruan family…
I can’t really remember clearly.”
Ning Tianchen rubbed his chin.
If it flowed out from a major family, the herbs recorded in the book were highly likely real.
He tossed the gold soul coin to the boss, who sensibly handed the book over to him.
Flipping through the contents, Ning Tianchen saw many herbs that were both familiar and unfamiliar.
“Delicate Fragrance Silk Immortal, Ink Jade God Bamboo…”
The herbs recorded in this handbook were at least high-tier medicinal materials, and the rest were mostly immortal herbs.
Immortal herbs were incredibly rare.
The family that previously owned this book had probably never found the herbs recorded in it, deemed it a useless book, and casually discarded it.
Moreover, the functions of many immortal herbs weren’t clearly marked in the book, so it would be useless to an ordinary person anyway.
…
After browsing the market for another incense stick’s worth of time, he suddenly saw a large crowd gathered ahead.
“Hurry up and look!
The young miss of the Dragon Snake family is tearing into a little rich girl in the middle of the street!
That scene…
you’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you miss it.”
Someone started the commotion, and others immediately responded.
Ning Tianchen searched his memory and realized…
the Dragon Snake family must refer to the family of the Duke Long and Serpent Granny couple.
The family’s young miss should be their granddaughter, Meng Yiran.
Given Meng Yiran’s fiery temper, she could indeed get into a street fight.
Plus, her family was based in Barak City, so she had no reason to be afraid.
As for the other “little rich girl”…
Ning Tianchen’s heart tightened, “Could it be Rongrong?”
Knowing Ning Rongrong’s personality, she was entirely capable of doing such a thing.