It took him some time before he reached Skilled mastery of the art, allowing him only one second to form the water ring. This one second still gave him dissatisfaction. Although it was just a brief one second, this pause could be the difference between life and death.
He was currently ten years old. He had another five years to train, he should be able to reach the Master level for this arcane art before he took the entrance trial of the academy.
His study on the 101 primal poison tome did not progress much, mostly because he didn't have the required ingredients to experiment with. Madam Lin had been supportive of his alchemy study and had continuously supplied him with standard ingredients.
Despite not being able to create the poison described in the next pages of the tome, Amon used the knowledge he had gained to manipulate the standard ingredients into a sufficiently potent poison. He created his own mix of poison that was shaped into a small pebble. This pebble could be used as a thrown weapon that would break upon impact. It would then release a cloud of gas, which if inhaled, would cause instant paralyzation of bodily function.
Because the ingredients used were common ones, its potency was not that strong. However, it should still affect Transformative stage cultivators for a short period. As for Strength stage cultivators, they would most likely be unable to move for a whole day. For Mortal stage and non-cultivators, they would most likely die after inhaling this poison.
He called this creation Poison Cloud Bullet. Amon made thirty of these poison bullets to add to his arsenal.
*
One day during his ten years of age, he decided to go into the city even when he had no mission. He wanted to see what he could get with his 446 Aer stones.
The city was full of shops selling mundane things for the normal citizens' daily use. Shops that catered to cultivators' needs were located in one section of the city, called Profound Treasure Market. It was separated from the normal shops to prevent conflict between cultivators and the normal citizens. As cultivators usually looked down on non-cultivators.
The shops in this market were set up by various powers of the city, but its overall management was controlled by the ruling power, the White Cloud Sect. The justification was to maintain neutrality among the different powers within the market, but the true reason was rather so the sect could control and manage those powers' growth within the market.
Many sect followers were standing around the Profound Treasure Market. They served as enforcers within the market to prevent anyone from causing a problem. The weakest of these enforcers were peak Strength stage cultivators. Amon could easily identify them from their attires which were white robes with a cloud symbol on their backs.
Profound Treasure Market was always bustling on a daily basis. The shops sold various types of goods needed or produced by cultivators. There were shops that sold spirit beast parts, healing and restoration pills, exotic ingredients and herbs, Engraved weapons and armors. There were even some shops that sold martial and arcane art books, but mostly low-tier ones.
He had learned through more readings inside Madam Lin's personal library that arts were also divided into several tiers.
Although he didn't roam around the Lin estate most of the time, he did go from time to time to observe the training of the young generations of the Lin clan. He noticed that although the quality of their arts was not bad, those arts had a certain quality distinction compared to the arts he got from the Hei clan.
The arts that those Lin children practiced, didn't differ much when between their mastery levels. The arts only improved a bit in their power when they leveled up, for example from Skilled mastery to Expert mastery. While his arts improved significantly, especially after reaching the Master level.
His arts could be considered as low tiers at their Beginning and Skilled mastery. But after reaching Expert, they were as good as mid-tier arts. For his Silent Swift Stab, after reaching the Master level and gaining the ability to turn invisible, this art could even be considered high-tier art.
After some pondering, he thought maybe these were the arts that the Hei clan kept from when they were still among the top clans in the past. Most of their more prominent arts might have been razed, but these arts which at first glance appeared as low-tier arts were left behind. Hei clan did not sell them off because they knew of these arts' potential.
After browsing through the martial and arcane books, he did not find anything he was interested in. He went to the weapon shop. He would like to find a bow or crossbow, he still had a martial art book from the Hei clan which could be used in conjunction with this ranged weapon. He already had throwing weapons for ranged combat, but this kind of weapon had limited range. If he could use a bow as well, it should increase his lethality range even further.
He looked around the shops but didn't see any that caught his eyes. Mostly they sold melee weapons, like axes, swords, and spears. Swords were especially popular as he saw that one-third of the market was populated by this type of weapon. He, on the other hand, was never interested in a sword. He thought they only looked elegant, but not truly effective. He always thought that they were too clumsy. He preferred a dagger. His current dagger was good but the shape was too ornamental. He hope he could find one that resembled the military knife he used to wield in his past life.
As he was walking around, he saw a rather imposing shop. It was the largest he had seen in this market. It had a luxurious-looking façade and consisted of several floors. Without hesitation, Amon went in to take a look. The shop sold various kinds of things, but mostly weapons and armor. They were all expensive, with price ranges that were outside of Amon's current stock of Aer stones. Again, most of the weapons were melee weapons with swords as the majority.
He saw a stair that allowed him to go up to the second floor. He was about to go up the stairs when he was stopped by the two guards guarding the stairs.
"Kid. Where do you think you are going? The upper floors are only meant for exclusive customers and respectable individuals," the guard said.
"How for one be considered an exclusive customer and respectable individual?" Amon asked.
Amon saw that he wouldn't be allowed to go up. He was still weak now, not wise to cause trouble. He turned around and left without any further words.
"Kid these days, no manner," The guard commented.
At this time, three people came down from upstairs. One was a teenager. Another was a young adult with a slightly overweight body. The third one was a rough-looking adult who appeared to be a bodyguard for his two younger companions.
The teenager saw Amon's back as Amon walked away. He immediately recognized Amon. He said something to the fat young adult beside him, who smiled as his fat companion gave an instruction to the bodyguard. The bodyguard jumped forward using movement art and arrived in front of Amon in an instant.
The guards who were guarding the stairs frowned, who dared to use arts in this shop? Though these people came from upstairs which meant that they were exclusive customers, it didn't mean that they were allowed to break the rules. They paid attention to this individual to see if he would cause any further problems.
Amon, who suddenly found someone blocking his path, studied this individual. He also knew the rules of this market. No one sane enough would try to cause trouble here unless they wished to confront the White Cloud sect.
"My master would like to have some words with you," the person blocking Amon said as he gestured to Amon's back.
Amon turned and saw two people coming toward him. Both were individuals he recognized. The teenager was Lin Xiaoying, the one he had beaten to a pulp many years ago. While the fat young adult was Lin Zuyi, Madam Lin and Lin Fong's direct nephew.
Amon just looked at them without saying anything.
"Look at this, the bastard who thought he can profit off our family," Lin Xiaoying didn't waste time to start mocking Amon when he arrived.
Lin Zuyi quickly joined in, "indeed, indeed. I wonder how he has the face to come to this market with his bastard status. I bet he has been tricking my aunt to give him Aer stones."
"What a pity. Madam Lin has always been the smart one. How can he get tricked by such a brat? Big brother Zuyi, you should visit your aunt more. She might need your words to wake her up."
"Sigh. I am just worried that other clans will laugh at us if they know we have such a bottom-feeder inside our clan."
"Look. He was so ashamed that he was at a loss for words."
Amon just smiled as they continued to mock him. After they seemed to stop, he looked at Lin Xiaoying, grinned, and said, "How are you doing, loser?"
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