Strongest Businessman of the Cultivation World

Ikasa had gotten over the tantrum the lady had thrown when she left his stall.

Not long after, another customer visited the stall. This time it was a young man in his twenties.

He first picked up the manual for [Gazelle Punch]. Shaking his head, he put it down. Next, he picked up the [Dumb Belle's Guide to Strength]. Looking at the name, he frowned and put it down.

The young lad perused the covers of the books for sale as if looking for something. But as he went through each manual, the frown on his forehead became deeper and deeper.

Seeing his silence might backfire, Ikasa took the initiative to greet the youth.

"Welcome, Good Sir. What are you looking for? Maybe I can help you?"

The guy looked up, and his eyes met Ikasa's. Ikasa jolted from the contact. He felt as if a sword was pointed at him.

"I am looking for a good movement technique."

The youth replied, feigning a deep tone of voice. His imitation was so bad that he might as well have not tried.

Ikasa suppressed a chortle that was about to escape. The tension from feeling his sword aura alleviated a little.

With a straight face, he picked up a silver-covered book with a black-colored title.

"[Fast, Faster, Fastest] is the best movement technique I have. It is the best one I have seen in the Mid-Grade Path Forging realm."

The customer seemed intrigued. He stretched his hand to receive the book. Ikasa handed it over. But just as he was about to flip through the manual to read the technique, Ikasa stopped him.

"Wait! This is a Single-use manual. It will disappear as soon as you read through it. So pay up first if you want to read it."

His restrictions triggered the man. His frown, which had subsided, made a full recovery as he stared angrily at Ikasa.

Ikasa thought he might blow up and shout. Instead, an icy and level voice sounded in his ears.

"Really?"

Hearing that voice, he felt cold shivers running down his back.

'This is a safe place. You won't die again Ikasa. Get yourself together.'

Ikasa assured himself, repeatedly, as he found the courage to look the Swordsman in the eye.

His feeble attempts to regain his composure failed, so Ikasa put on a brave facade. But the quiver in his voice still gave him away.

"These manuals are all from an ancient ruin. I don't know how or why they disappear after a single use, but that is the truth."

The Young man bought his excuse. The ancient ruins have unearthed more strange and esoteric items than just books that disappear after one use.

As the youth was about to accept its authenticity, a gust of wind blew some dust onto the immaculate glazed cover of [Fast-Faster-Fastest]. He immediately dusted away the particles that dirtied the book cover. But some damage was done.

"You say these manuals were excavated from an ancient ruin?"

The man asked Ikasa while looking at him with narrowed eyes. Ikasa was almost celebrating hooking his first customer when he heard this question.

He was stumped.

'What if he asked which ruins? I can just refuse to tell him as it is a trade secret.' He quickly regained his wits.

"Yes, of course."

Ikasa replied with confidence.

"Can you describe how you found them? You don't have to tell me the location of Ancient ruins; just describe the place where you found these manuals."

All of the Ikasa's confidence and jubilation for making his first sale was punctured in an instant.

Never having been to a Ruin in this world, he remembered scenes from the movies and games on Earth. He pictured himself in a palace from one of the games of his favorite buxom tomb raider.

Once he had the image, he described it.

"I found them in a vault of a palace. It was not very large, but it could still fit two fully grown men."

"Was there dust on the floor of the vault? Cobwebs hanging from the ceiling?"

This sudden inquiry for details threw Ikasa off.

'What is he trying to achieve with these questions?'

Since dust on the vault floor fit in with the image in his mind, he replied positively.

The sudden smirk on the youth's face caused alarms to ring in his mind. 'Did I misspeak? Did I miss something?'

"If there was dust inside the vault, how come these manuals are spotless? Why is there no speck of dirt on the book jacket or pages?"

Ikasa peeped at the books on his stall. Some looked clean, without any spots, while the few he had touched had smudged from his sweat.

He immediately came up with an answer.

"That's because they were wrapped in a special silk cover that prevented dust, water, or air from degrading them."

The youth had not expected this answer. He was taken aback for a moment. But only for a moment.

"Oh, this silk cover sounds very miraculous. Where is it? May I see it?"

Now it was Ikasa's turn to be annoyed. He had already given up on getting a sale from this tricky customer. He half-heartedly replied to his queries.

"I already sold them separately. Do you want to buy the manual or not?"

The Swordsman thought for a while. Everything Ikasa said made sense. His only concern was the names and appearance. Still, he decided to purchase it.

"Okay. How much is it?"

He asked, reaching for his coin bag.

"50 Gold. This is a special discount for you!"

Ikasa excitedly announced. His eyes were glued to the man's wallet.

"So Cheap?!" The man exclaimed.

"Who in their right mind would sell a Mid-Grade Movement technique for less than 100 Gold? As I thought, you are a fraud!"

Ikasa had a huge question mark on his face. He couldn't understand the youth's reasoning.

'What the hell? Has this world not heard of special discounts? And how did I become a fraud just because I am selling it cheap?!'

Seeing Ikasa tongue-tied, the young man sneered. Although he had his suspicions, Ikasa had convinced him. But when he heard the price, he was sure that the person selling these manuals was a swindler.

"I didn't imagine I would see fake goods being sold openly on Prosperity Street."

The youth looked at Ikasa condescendingly.

"The next time you want to peddle some fake manuals, prepare a good backstory and use aged paper if you intend to claim they came from an ancient ruin."

With a self-satisfied smirk, the youth turned and left.

'Fake goods, your head!'

Ikasa was ready to explode in his seat. However, the threat of bodily harm helped him reign in his urges.

"Low-key, stay under the radar. I just need to quietly sell my manuals and disappear." He reminded himself.

Even though Ikasa failed to make a sale twice in a row, he was not disappointed. Because the one thing Prosperity Street did not lack was Customers!

As long as his stall was open for business, he was sure some customer with a discerning eye would make a purchase from him.

Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, it was late afternoon. A few people had stopped by Ikasa's stall, but none made a purchase.

Another batch of people arrived as the sun was going down. He hoped someone in the new batch would recognize his product's worth.

Just as Prosperity Street welcomed new visitors, a new customer arrived at his stall.

This new customer was an aged man. His grayish-white beard gave him an aura of wisdom. His silken robes indicated his wealthy background.

Ikasa straightened his back. The discerning customer that he had been waiting for had arrived.

He did not put up any acts; Instead, he closely watched the Old man.

During his work, the previous Ikasa had known almost every influential figure in the city. But he didn't remember seeing this old man.

While he watched the old man, the man in question was focused on the booklets on the stall. His narrowed gaze peered at the books as if to deconstruct them and see through their essence.

When he had finally seen enough, he reached down to pick up one of the manuals. But even before that, he asked Ikasa for his permission.

"May I?"

'Such a well-mannered guy.' Ikasa thought in his mind.

He gently reminded the old man of his stall's rules as he gave him permission.

"Please, go ahead. But you cannot read it. It is a single-use manual."

The Old man's brows immediately furrowed. These one time use manuals might sound mysterious, but Old man had definitely heard of them.

Mostly, they recorded high-tier techniques, and their realm was above Chakra Opening. Path Forging realm books that can only be used once? The Old man was intrigued by this anomaly.

He nodded and picked up the [Gazelle Punch]. After looking at it from every angle, he had his servant fetch a glass of water. And then he poured the entire glass on the book's cover.

Ikasa watched the Old Man's eccentric actions with bated breath.

When the Old man poured water, Ikasa almost shouted to stop him. But then he thought about the glazed cover of the book and its impervious nature.

'As expected, water trickled down without getting the cover wet.'

The white bearded man smiled with satisfaction at the result.

"Young man, you have quite an interesting booklet here. Can you tell me where you found it?"

Hearing the praise, Ikasa was overjoyed. Still, why would he give away the source of his treasures?

"I am glad you recognize the authenticity of my goods, Mister. As for the source of the manuals, they come from a chance encounter in ruin."

The Old Man immediately saw through the deceptive maneuver. He smiled knowingly at Ikasa. But he didn't admonish him. Everyone was entitled to keep secrets of their own.

"So, which cultivation manual have you used?"

"This… I am actually unsuitable for cultivation. I can't use any of these."

This garnered a very intense reaction from the Old Man. His amiable tone immediately turned sharp.

"You say you can't use any of these techniques?"

The old man said, pointing to the books laid on the table.

Ikasa was perplexed. He couldn't lie and say, 'Yes, he could use the manual,' as he would be caught immediately. So, he had no other choice but to speak the truth.

"No, I can't use any of the manuals."

"Then how are you so sure that they are good only for one use?"

"Er…"

He couldn't very well say that the user handbook said so! The Printer was his Gold Finger. To protect his secret, he had prepared answers to a few questions. And this was one of them.

"Actually, I found a jade inscription where I found the manuals. It described how to use the manuals."

He nodded as he listened to Ikasa's words. The Elder had apparently bought his explanation.

'Whoosh,' Ikasa wiped an imaginary sweat drop. But what the Old man did next caused him to sweat for real.

"Mister, Stop! What are you doing?!"

The Old man had torn a page from the [Gazelle Punch] Manual. Then he proceeded to shred it into pieces while looking disappointed.

"My 50 Gold!"

Ikasa yelled while holding his head in despair. Then he angrily turned towards the old man.

"Old Mister! What is the meaning of this?"

In spite of his desire to spit expletives on the Old Man, he held his tongue due to fear of his high status.

"I don't know where you came across these remarkable booklets, but they are fake."