Chapter 28 - 28 Chapter 25: Fragment of a Cultivation Technique_1 (2/2)

Qin Niu turned and headed straight to the counter.

“`

Many people were buying cultivation technique manuals and queuing to check out.

The territory controlled by the Black Tiger Gang was at least over 5,000 square kilometers, with a population exceeding one million. The actual number could well be over one and a half million.

There were too many wealthy and powerful people in this region.

There were also many young people like Qin Niu, who wanted to advance, worked to save some money, and came to buy cultivation technique manuals in hopes of becoming stronger.

Martial skills, beast taming, insect control, and planting techniques did not require registration, only cultivation techniques did.

Qin Niu was directed to counter number two to pay the fee.

“Please have your waist token ready.”

The attendant student reminded him.

The waist token was akin to a modern-day identity card, made from a piece of bamboo and engraved with Qin Niu’s household registration information. Citizens under the jurisdiction of the Black Tiger Gang would all have the image of a lifelike Black Tiger on the back of their waist tokens.

Don’t think that it was just a Black Tiger design, but it was very hard to forge.

Moreover, those who were caught using a forged waist token faced at least being thrown into the dungeons of the Black Jail for trial. In serious cases, they could even be executed on the spot by the officials.

Ordinary citizens wore waist tokens. Even if someone like Yan Ruohai who owned vast tracts of land did not have another identity, he would also only receive a waist token made from a piece of bamboo.

But the tokens worn by officials were made from metal Fish Talismans.

Since iron was prone to rusting, they were mostly made of brass.

Higher-grade Fish Talismans were made from silver or gold. The lowest grade of Fish Talisman was made from a type of ironwood.

It looked like black iron, heavy and hard, but was actually made of wood, not iron.

People like prospective beast tamers, prospective insect masters, high-level farmers, and those who passed junior official exams had waist tokens that were made from ironwood Fish Talismans.

In this world, the status of merchants was very low.

Even if they made a fortune, they remained mere civilians.

Qin Niu took out his waist token with five taels of silver money and patiently queued.

Shortly after, it was his turn.

A specialized scribe took his waist token, verified its authenticity, and then began the registration. The time and the cultivation technique he bought were recorded clearly.

Only the price was not recorded.

This should be to avoid taxes.

Since the registry was to be submitted to the government for record-keeping, the cultivation technique store was undoubtedly afraid of being audited!

In the registration they played a little trick, not recording the sale prices of the cultivation techniques.

After Qin Niu paid, the Everlasting Spring Technique manual belonged to him.

“You can practice the cultivation technique on your own or loan it to others, but you must not copy it for sale. Otherwise, according to Black Tiger Gang’s law, you will be subjected to severe punishment,”

the attendant student reminded him.

Copying it for personal use was not a problem. But selling it to others was against the law.

In fact, for safety reasons, no one was willing to lend their cultivation techniques to others.

Except in the case of father to son.

By sharing a cultivation technique with another, one might also inadvertently reveal its weaknesses to an enemy, which was an extremely foolish thing to do.

A father’s love for his son is often selfless and great.

Rebellious children who would turn against their fathers were very rare, so it was quite common for fathers to pass techniques to sons.

Many families’ cultivation techniques were passed down from generation to generation.

To prevent leakage of cultivation techniques, it was usual to pass them only to sons and not to daughters.

Because a daughter would marry and could eventually pass the technique to her husband or sons, resulting in the technique being leaked.

After buying the Everlasting Spring Technique, Qin Niu did not check it on the spot.

Instead, he put it away securely on his person.

With the cultivation technique matter settled, he now needed to focus on three things: insect control technique, weapons, and low-grade Contract Charms.

He wanted to buy a chopping knife made from Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel, which could be used both for battling enemies and hunting, as well as for chopping wood. The price of a piece of Hundred-Tempering Black Armor was as high as five hundred taels of silver money, so he guessed that a Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel weapon would require at least a hundred taels.

With only twenty taels left on him, buying a Hundred-Tempering Fine Steel weapon seemed difficult.

After a moment’s thought, Qin Niu decided to buy what was most urgently needed and crucial first.

The Insect Control Technique was a must-buy.

Having obtained a nest of termites, he was still almost clueless about how to cultivate them.

For instance, after feeding them bear blood yesterday, some of the termites that consumed the bear blood evolved into powerful Worker Ants and Soldier Ants, indicating that bear blood could induce their evolution.

If he could learn systematically and master the knowledge of breeding insects, he would be able to evolve the termites faster and better.

Arriving at the bookshelf with Insect Control Books, Qin Niu began searching for the content he needed.

He searched everywhere but couldn’t find any books on termite breeding.

Most popular were the breeding and taming techniques for Coleoptera, spiders, scorpions, and centipedes.

Raising a poisonous insect was intended mainly for combat.

By releasing a venomous insect to bite an enemy, it could instantly incapacitate the enemy or even kill them outright.

Qin Niu had limited funds, and though he wanted the Insect Control Books, he had to buy what was immediately necessary.

“It seems like only this ‘Green Demon Bee Raising’ manual fits the bill,”

he paused in front of a scroll of Insect Control Technique.

Bees and ants have certain commonalities. If he learned it well, he could consider raising a nest of bees later on.

That way, he would have creatures crawling on the ground and flying in the sky.

It would greatly enhance his combat capabilities.

Is Green Demon someone’s nickname?

Qin Niu felt that this Bee Raising manual had a somewhat sinister air about it.