There were two prerequisites to exuding internal force.
First, one needs to have enough internal energy; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to combine it into one, much less manipulate it at will.
Second, one needed a specialized martial art—it had to be offensive to be used as a medium to exert force.
It wasn't that defensive, speed, and supportive martial arts weren't good; they were simply incompatible.
In the first place, these martial arts did not require the exuding of internal force.
Therefore, eighth-grade martial artists usually cultivated more than two martial arts.
Su Jingxing had Seven Steps Fist as a martial art, and no lack of internal force. If his goal was to exude internal force, all he had to do was keep trying.
Supplemented by his Perfection mastery—the level where one can take five steps in a row—of the Seven Steps Fist, he could achieve this in anywhere from half a month to half a year!
In simple words, he just needed to put in the time.
With Essence Energy Pills to cleanse his fatigue and provide energy, Su Jingxing could stay up for a few days straight.
However, the amount of space he had for training was limited.
Although the back mountain of the crematorium had few visitors, there was still a chance for him to get exposed.
The dormitory was also out of the question due to Kong Dabao's presence.
He had to move!
…
That night.
Su Jingxing packed up the 300 Essence Energy Pills and left for the black market.
Qinghe City's black market was located at the intersection of the central, western, and southern districts. It existed in the form of a secret alley, specially created during the renovation of an old district.
It operated only at night.
Of course, its existence wasn't exactly a secret—just that everyone who knew about it didn't discuss it openly.
Having existed for decades, the black market had long formed its own complete industrial chain.
No matter how intense conflict between factions got, the black market was an armistice zone; everyone had something to gain from this treasure pot, even the government.
Anyone who wanted to enter the black market had to pay an entrance fee of a hundred Great Yu dollars.
Inside the black market, those who wished to hawk their wares would have to pay an additional fee to purchase a stall. Stalls weren't that expensive, and only cost 100 Great Yu dollars per square meter.
When a transaction is complete, one could go to a dedicated banking counter to ensure a secure payment. Every transaction there would be subjected to a transaction fee, which was merely a flat 5% of the total spending.
In short, as long as no murder was involved, the black market management committee would provide excellent service and aim to let both the buyers and sellers leave in satisfaction.
Of course, what made a black market a black market were goods and people that could not be displayed openly.
For safety and self-preservation, everyone who entered the black market would put on a disguise.
Playing by the rules, Su Jingxing bought a black cloak and a black mask separately. After putting them on, he found one of the three entrances to the black market and paid 100 Great Yu dollars to enter.
It's bustling here!
That was Su Jingxing's first impression as he walked through the street of the black market.
If not for the fact that everyone around him wore masks, the place differed little from the night markets on Earth.
But the items that were being transacted there were by no means ordinary.
Things that were prohibited in the cities could be found everywhere here.
Firearms, elixirs, martial arts, weapons… They had a bit of everything.
It was Su Jingxing's first visit, and he wasn't in a hurry to set up a stall, so he just began window-shopping.
After making a whole round, he decided he had had his fill of spectacles and headed to the management committee to pay for a stall.
Interestingly enough, unlike all the visitors who wore masks to hide their identities, the staff of the management committee worked normally with their faces exposed, as though they were on the outside.
When there was time to spare, groups of people would gather to shoot the breeze.
On the way to applying for a temporary stall pass, Su Jingxing passed by an open office, where a few people were chatting idly.
"Who would have expected him to make the breakthrough so quickly?"
"Indeed. So many people failed to advance from the sixth-grade to seven-grade, but Wan Rong actually succeeded."
"Heh. You better address him by Master Wan next time. He's also a prominent figure now."
"Yeah, that's what entering the sixth-grade does to one's status. Even us in the black market gets to reap the benefits. It sure pays to be powerful.
"I heard our boss's boss personally presented our black market share to Wan Rong."
"What, you envious or something?"
"As if you aren't."
"Haha…"
In the office, the few of them chatted and laughed without any restraint.
The news made Su Jingxing tense up.
Although he recovered quickly, Su Jingxing couldn't help but complain in his heart.
Wan Rong!
Upon hearing this name again, the obsession of the Original Su Jingxing began reacting subconsciously.
Su Jingxing felt helpless about this uncontrollable behavior.
He had to put an end to this as soon as possible!
As long as this problem didn't get resolved, Su Jingxing could never be at peace.
But the problem was…
Wan Rong had hit sixth-grade?
Su Jingxing walked out of the management committee office and frowned.
The original Su Jingxing only knew that Wan Rong was a powerful martial artist, but not his exact realm.
Before this, Su Jingxing had gauged it to be eighth-grade or seventh-grade.
After all, martial artists above the seventh-grade were already on another level, and should rarely interact or have conflicts with ordinary people.
Su Jingxing's original plan was to seek revenge on Wan Rong after becoming a seventh-grade martial artist.
However, after coming across the news that Wan Rong had actually hit sixth-grade, he had to amend his plans.
Seventh-grade martial artists were nothing compared to sixth-grade martial artists.
A sixth-grade martial artist could easily handle ten seventh-grade martial artists at once.
Since ancient times, there had always been three thresholds in the nine martial artist grades.
The first was from an ordinary person to a ninth-grade martial artist. The second was from seventh-grade to sixth-grade, and the third was from fourth to third-grade.
It was relatively easy to cross the threshold of the ninth-grade; one just had to learn a martial art and a certain amount of resources at their disposal.
Seventh to sixth-grade was far more complicated; it required both talent and perseverance.
Futilely, many seventh-grade martial artists spent their entire life trying to make the breakthrough.
However, those who made it would be on a whole new level of the social ladder, and their status and fame would rise almost immediately
Wan Rong made a fine example; after advancing to the sixth-grade, he even owned a share in the black market.
And that had been a gift delivered to his doorstep.
Meanwhile, the likes of Wu Anxun were stuck in a place like Forestry Town.
In a sense, Wan Rong's breakthrough had more than doubled the difficulty of Su Jingxing's revenge plan.
Before he was absolutely confident that he could succeed, he had to tote the weight of the original Su Jingxing's obsession!
…
Huff—
Su Jingxing exhaled to stifle his impatience.
Forcing himself not to take his mind off Wan Rong, he located his stall.
After reaching his designated area, he took out a large piece of cardboard that he had prepared and wrote down the names and prices of the items for sale.
High-quality Essence Energy Pills, 300 Great Yu dollars per pill!
During his window-shopping earlier, Su Jingxing had seen a couple others selling Essence Energy Pills, with prices ranging widely from 250 to 350 Great Yu dollars.
Quality-wise, it was up to the observer.
Su Jingxing picked the middle value to save trouble.
After he finished writing, he placed the cardboard in front of him and poured out an Essence Energy Pill from its porcelain bottle as a sample.
Needless to say, the Essence Energy Pill obtained from the Essence Energy Card was top-notch.
Anyone who knew their stuff could tell its quality in one glance.
Before long, a short, stout man wearing a mask stopped before his stall. He picked up the sample Essence Energy Pill and leaned in to smell it. After a few careful whiffs, his eyes lit up. Excited, he said in a low voice, "How many Essence Energy Pills of such quality do you possess?"
"300," replied Su Jingxing.
"I'll take them all!"