The signboard hanging above the academy gate had faded long ago due to lack of maintenance, and the original words 'Tongming' had turned into 'Tongyue'.
Lin Sheng did not hesitate and stepped towards the academy.
Upon entering, inside the academy was a hunched, elderly man lying on a rocking chair, holding a colorful, unknown book in his hand, shaking his head and occasionally showing a lewd smile on his face.
Seemingly noticing someone entering, the old man immediately put the book under him, stood up, and a smile appeared on his face as he looked at the entering Lin Sheng.
"May I ask what book the guest wishes to see? Please tell me, and I, this old man, will find it for you."
"I'm looking for a copy of 'Travels of Xifengzi', do you have it here?"
Lin Sheng asked calmly.
Hearing this name, the old man showed no change and immediately said,
"There are three parts to 'Travels of Xifengzi', which part does the guest want?"
"The third part, 'Falling Water Tour'." Lin Sheng stated directly.
At this point, his eyes finally flickered slightly.
"In that case, guest, please follow me to the inner room to choose."
The old man immediately led Lin Sheng towards the courtyard, and only after entering a side room at the back of the courtyard did he speak calmly.
"Please show your identification."
Lin Sheng naturally understood what he meant and immediately took out the Dark Star emblem representing his identity from his Pregnant.
Upon seeing the Dark Star emblem, the old man took it, examined it carefully, and then handed it back.
"So you are Ghost Face?"
The old man now looked Lin Sheng up and down, with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
Hearing the old man directly reveal his alias, Lin Sheng frowned slightly.
"No need to overthink. I can recognize you directly for two reasons: firstly, there was news from above a few days ago, and secondly, because of your identification emblem."
As if knowing what Lin Sheng was thinking, the old man said with a chuckle.
"Emblem?" Lin Sheng was startled.
"That's right, the emblem. Each emblem issued by the organization is unique."
As he spoke, the old man flipped his wrist, and in his hand appeared a Gray Star Envoy emblem that was not much different from Lin Sheng's.
"This is my emblem. You can call me Huang Quan."
The old man said with a smile.
Lin Sheng's gaze swept over his emblem, and he did indeed find differences.
On the front of Huang Quan's emblem, there was a faint cloud pattern, which was barely visible unless looked at closely.
And on the front of Lin Sheng's own emblem, there was a crescent moon pattern.
Clearly, these were the differences between the two, and also a symbol of identity to some extent.
"I see." Lin Sheng nodded.
"Just by looking at you, I knew that Mu Niu fellow didn't tell you anything. He's truly lazy to the core."
The old man shook his head, a hint of helplessness on his face.
"Next time you come to the station, you can wear a mask, a human skin mask is best. After all, our organization can't really be seen in the light. Although nothing will happen in such a small place, it's always better to be careful."
"I understand, but what do you mean by 'can't really be seen in the light'?"
Seeing the old man mention this, Lin Sheng asked at the right time.
Speaking of which, he didn't know much about the Dark Star Organization. The booklet Mu Niu gave him before didn't have information about this.
"What else could it mean? Our Dark Star Organization is on the Northern Yan's wanted list."
The old man said calmly.
"As for why, it's because the founder of Dark Star was from the Former Dynasty imperial family. Even after so many years, half of the high-level Dark Star Envoys in the organization are still descendants of the Former Dynasty imperial family."
Hearing this, Lin Sheng frowned. He really hadn't expected Dark Star to have such a background.
The plot of 'overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming' flashed through Lin Sheng's mind, and he understood why Lin Miao hadn't revealed anything; he was clearly afraid of implicating his family.
Although the Great Yan Kingdom was full of noble families and sects, the strongest force was always the Imperial Court, with an overwhelming advantage.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have held power for several hundred years.
Lin Sheng suddenly felt like he had boarded a pirate ship, but upon careful consideration, it wasn't a big deal.
The Dark Star Organization has been established for many years and is still thriving, so it naturally has its way of survival. As long as he is careful, nothing major should happen.
Moreover, his cheap Brother had already joined it, and should even be a high-level member. If he were exposed, he himself wouldn't be able to escape either.
It would be better to use the convenience of the Dark Star Organization to quickly improve his strength.
Seeing no change in Lin Sheng's expression, the old man didn't continue speaking. Instead, he changed the subject and spoke again.
"Hello, you came here this time to receive your Martial Arts cultivation method, right? These are the second-rate Martial Arts available at the Linjiang Prefecture branch's station. You can take a look and see which one interests you."
Saying this, the old man handed Lin Sheng a booklet without a cover.
It was called a booklet, but it only had a few pages. Lin Sheng took it and flipped through it, unable to help but exclaim in surprise.
"There are so many?"
It was no wonder he was so surprised. The few pages in his hand recorded no less than twenty second-rate Martial Arts.
Although second-rate Martial Arts were not as precious as first-rate Martial Arts, their value was not low. In Lin'an County, they were priceless commodities, and each one could easily sell for several thousand or even ten thousand taels of silver.
And here, there were over twenty for him to choose from.
"This is just the stock in the Linjiang Prefecture station, not the entire organization's collection." Huang Quan, who was squatting at the door looking at the colorful book from before, suddenly said.
"Don't underestimate our Dark Star. The organization has at least a hundred second-rate Martial Arts."
"A hundred second-rate Martial Arts." Lin Sheng couldn't help but gasp. What kind of concept was a hundred second-rate Martial Arts?
In the entire Lin'an County, all the second-rate Martial Arts combined probably amounted to only about ten.
Within the entire Linjiang Prefecture, excluding duplicates, the number of second-rate Martial Arts was probably at most a hundred, and these were scattered among various forces.
One can imagine the shock brought by the Dark Star Organization's more than 100 second-rate Martial Arts, not to mention the more valuable first-rate Martial Arts and even higher-level True Skills.
No wonder it could survive and grow so strong under the Great Yan's pursuit. The foundation of the Dark Star Organization is indeed formidable.
The shock in his heart didn't last long. Soon, Lin Sheng composed himself and began to select from the cultivation methods in the booklet.
【Circumference Cloud Ring Palm】: Advance and retreat in cycles, back and forth like the wind, striking like a gentle breeze surrounding, making it impossible to guard against...
【White Rainbow Sword Style】: Follow the opponent's style, borrow the opponent's strength, use stillness to control movement, strike later but arrive first, sword moves returning to simplicity, with decent lethality...
【One Character Primordial Leg】...【Tiger Step Eight Extremes Blade】...【Iron Shoulder Mountain Splitting Hand】...
Lin Sheng's gaze swept over the names of the second-rate Martial Arts one by one. The booklet recorded not only the names of these Martial Arts but also a brief introduction to each cultivation method, allowing the chooser to better determine their needs.
This was extremely convenient, but with so many cultivation methods in front of him, Lin Sheng felt somewhat overwhelmed.
"Leg techniques, not suitable. I already have Ape Embryo Skill, so I'm not lacking in leg techniques. Palm techniques are okay, strength-based ones are acceptable. As for sword and blade techniques, they seem pretty decent..."
He thought as he looked, trying to find a Martial Arts cultivation method that was relatively suitable for his current situation.
Ape Embryo Skill was considered top-tier among second-rate Martial Arts, with no obvious weaknesses; its speed and burst were quite good. Therefore, he was a bit undecided on what kind of Martial Arts he wanted for a while.
His gaze scanned over the Martial Arts recorded in the booklet one by one. The few pages of the booklet quickly led him to the last page, and finally, his gaze fixed on a cultivation method on the last page.
【Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm】: This technique is extremely sinister and poisonous, containing strange poisons within the palm techniques, making it impossible to guard against. However, cultivation is difficult and hard to master...
The introduction to this cultivation method described its considerable power, but it also seemed to have significant drawbacks. However, Lin Sheng was quite interested in it.
After a brief thought, he made a decision. This was the one.
"I choose this one."
Lin Sheng handed the booklet to Huang Quan. Upon seeing the cultivation method Lin Sheng had chosen, Huang Quan was startled, and a strange expression appeared on his face.
"Why would you choose this cultivation method? It's best not to choose any of the cultivation methods recorded on the last page of the booklet for practice."
"Although those cultivation methods seem to have pretty good power, they have huge side effects, and the cultivation process is extremely dangerous. If you're not careful, you'll die before you even master the technique."
Huang Quan explained, and as if afraid Lin Sheng wouldn't believe him, he gave an example.
"Someone who wasn't afraid of death practiced the Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm before, and their cultivation progressed rapidly, and its power was also quite vicious and brutal. However, just as that person had just achieved minor success with this technique, they were found dead at home one day, their whole body turned into sewage. How can the word 'tragic' describe that appearance?"
As he spoke, Huang Quan also sucked air through his teeth, his face full of regret.
"Speaking of which, that person was a Genius with quite good talent, tsk tsk..."
"Is that really true!?"
Lin Sheng raised his eyebrows.
"That's for sure. Hurry up and change to another one. The Martial Arts in the front of this booklet are all good. Do you want me to recommend a few to you?"
Huang Quan's face showed a smile, as if he was convinced that after saying this example, the other party would not be stubborn anymore.
"Thank you for your kindness, but no need. I'll choose this Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm."
Lin Sheng shook his head, with no intention of giving up.
"This leg technique is pretty good, you..."
Huang Quan was recommending to Lin Sheng on his own when he suddenly reacted, pointing at Lin Sheng and not knowing what to say for a moment.
"Did you not understand what I just said? Should I tell you again??"
"No need. This cultivation method is quite suitable for me. I have some research in the field of poison."
Lin Sheng shook his head slightly and said with a smile.
"Hmph, do you think those who died suddenly after cultivating before had no research in the field of poison?"
"Forget it, you chose it yourself, so you deal with it. But I'll say this now, if anything happens in the future, you absolutely cannot blame me."
Huang Quan seemed to have thought of something and quickly added another sentence.
"Naturally." Lin Sheng nodded.
"Then wait a moment, I'll go get it for you."
After speaking, Huang Quan had already stepped out of the room, moving very quickly.
It took a full stick of incense time before his hunched figure returned. His clothes were stained with a lot of dust, and he handed over a yellowed booklet.
"Cough cough... This cultivation method hasn't been practiced by anyone for so many years, it's really TND hard to find. Here, take it, this is what you wanted."
"If you had chosen other cultivation methods, I would have had to send them from the Fu City in a few days. Choosing this Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm saves that trouble."
Huang Quan directly tossed the yellowed booklet over.
Catching the booklet, Lin Sheng glanced at the dark blue cover, patted off the dust on it, and then put it into his Pregnant.
"Also, can I receive the tasks released by the organization here?"
He was quite interested in the tasks within Dark Star and wanted to see what the Gray Star Envoy level tasks were like. If possible, he didn't mind completing one or two along the way.
"Naturally, you can. Follow me."
Huang Quan didn't say anything and led Lin Sheng to a small room next door.
The small room was simply furnished. Huang Quan directly stepped on a slightly raised floor tile on the ground. With the sound of moving brick walls, a hidden room appeared.
On one wall of the hidden room, many loose pine flower papers were hung.
The edges of the pine flower papers were gray, brown, red, and dark, respectively.
The colors corresponded to the task levels. The basic content written on all the pine flower papers here were tasks belonging to Linjiang Prefecture.
Lin Sheng nodded and his gaze swept over these pine flower papers. When he saw the content on a dark pine flower paper hanging at the highest point, he paused slightly.
【Dark Star level task: Assassinate Prince Yan, Zhao Hongzhang. Task reward: Complete set of Profound Skill (Supreme Heavenly Demon Scripture), two Divine Scolding Glazed Pills.】
"Assassinate Prince Yan?"
Seeing this, Lin Sheng shook his head slightly.
This task was too abnormal. Although he had only been in this world for a few months, he had heard of the strength of the current Prince Yan.
What was strong was not Prince Yan's own Realm and strength, but the Tianhong Pavilion he created, which is currently the most powerful violent organization in the entire Great Yan.
It suppressed all the noble families and sects, with many experts within it. It was because of the existence of Tianhong Pavilion that even the South Qi Country, which was known for its martial arts, didn't gain any advantage.
Of course, what interested Lin Sheng the most was the reward for completing this task.
"Profound Skill?" This was the first time he had heard this term. It was probably a cultivation method even stronger than True Skills.
He thought this in his heart, but of course, he could only think about it. This kind of cultivation method was too far away from him now.
As for the Divine Scolding Glazed Pill, it was another unheard-of pill. However, being included in such a task reward, it was definitely a Divine Pill that was hard to find in the world.
From the yellowed material of this dark-edged pine flower paper and the thick dust on it, it was clear that it had been hanging on this wall for an unknown amount of time.
Lin Sheng shook his head slightly and moved his gaze down, scanning over the tasks representing the Fiery Star and Hidden Star Envoys, and landing on the gray-edged pine flower papers below.
【Gray Star Envoy task: Kill the Spirit Beast Azure Patterned Golden Eyed Leopard in the depths of Yangping Mountain and take its bones and blood. Task reward: Ten thousand taels of silver notes, one bottle of Foundation Strengthening and Heart Nourishing Pills.】
Seeing this task, Lin Sheng frowned slightly.
He had also heard of the Spirit Beast Azure Patterned Golden Eyed Leopard. It belonged to the category of Low Grade Spirit Beasts and should be on the same level as the Crimson Belly Spirit Snake.
It moved like the wind, so just finding it was a problem, let alone killing it. Moreover, killing this Azure Patterned Golden Eyed Leopard would probably require at least an expert among Blood Transportation Warriors.
He looked at the other Gray Star Envoy tasks and found that except for this Azure Patterned Golden Eyed Leopard task in Lin'an County, the rest were basically in other County Towns, or in the Fu City.