I Can Upgrade Everything Infinitely-Chapter 43 - 42: Sales Channel

Only after Du Cangying announced there would be compensation did the students of the Cangying Martial Arts Hall finally quiet down. Xu Qing fell silent; faced with the Government Office’s arrangements, the Three Great Martial Arts Halls of the Outer City had no choice but to comply.

Next.

The task assignments began.

Xu Qing was made a squad leader of the Outer City Patrol Team. He received a Token from Du Cangying, on which the number "Thirteen" was engraved. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Clearly,

Xu Qing was the captain of Patrol Squad Thirteen.

Furthermore,

Patrol Squad Thirteen was part of the Jia City Patrol Team, led by his senior brother, Huo Yi, who served as its captain.

"Xu Qing."

Huo Yi found Xu Qing.

"Senior Brother."

Xu Qing greeted him with a bow.

"Mm."

Huo Yi nodded. "In your patrol squad, you’re the captain. You also have two vice-captains: Liu Xiao, the Gang Leader of the Red Snake Gang, and Su Changhe, the Chief Escort Master of the Tiger Head Escort Agency."

"The three of you should get acquainted. From today onward, you’ll be working together, so I expect you to cooperate."

"Greetings, Brother Xu."

"Brother Xu."

Liu Xiao and Su Changhe approached with smiles on their faces, saluting Xu Qing with cupped fists. Liu Xiao was a thin, middle-aged man with narrow eyes, while Su Changhe was a robust and heroic-looking man.

"Brother Liu, Brother Su."

Xu Qing glanced at them, a smile appearing on his face as he returned their salute. "I’ll be in your care from now on."

To begin with,

to ensure the refugees and vagrants outside the city wouldn’t riot, the Government Office had dispatched constables. Additionally, under the Government Office’s orders, the Cangying, Broken Stone, and Yinghong Martial Arts Halls had also formed patrol divisions.

In total, there were nine patrol divisions, designated Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, and Ren. Each division consisted of one to two hundred people.

Each Martial Arts Hall could form three patrol divisions.

Among them,

Cangying Martial Arts Hall’s three patrol divisions were the Jia, Bing, and Geng City Patrol Teams.

For a total of five hundred eighty members.

Xu Qing’s Patrol Squad Thirteen was part of the Jia City Patrol Team. Including Xu Qing, Liu Xiao, and Su Changhe, the squad had a total of fifteen members.

The members of the Patrol Teams were mostly Martial Arts Hall students, gang members, and the like.

The composition was rather motley.

As a result,

the teams were difficult to manage.

Time flew by.

「By nightfall.」

Xu Qing had no time to practice martial arts all day. He was busy assigning tasks to the various patrol squads and handling numerous other matters. He even met with the County Magistrate of Qingbei Town in the afternoon.

He was a true dignitary.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!!!

Sword Light flashed.

Earlier in the day, Xu Qing had spent some silver to buy three ordinary Iron Swords. They weren’t expensive, but they still set him back thirty taels of silver.

...

[Experience +1]

...

[Experience +1]

...

Xu Qing swung his sword. With each swing, the ordinary Iron Sword in his hand gained one Experience Point.

Before long,

all three of Xu Qing’s Iron Swords leveled up.

...

[Iron Sword Level 3: 0/40 (...)]

...

All three Iron Swords were upgraded to Level 3. A Level 3 Iron Sword was as sharp as one forged from Refined Iron. At market price, each could be sold for around three hundred taels of silver.

In other words,

he had turned a tenfold profit.

Before he knew it,

it was the dead of night.

Xu Qing put on the Evil Ghost Mask. After a hiatus of over half a year, the mysterious master of Swordsmanship, Lv Dongbin, had reappeared. He was heading to the Black Market for the third time.

The scene changed.

The Black Market.

Xu Qing had arrived. The Black Market was as bustling as ever. People hawked their wares from stalls, selling everything from Spiritual Food, medicinal materials, and Secret Medicines to weapons.

This time,

Xu Qing went to a weapon shop in the Black Market.

"Boss."

Xu Qing walked in and glanced around. The shop was filled with all sorts of weapons—sabers, swords, staves, spears... though most were blades.

"Welcome. What can I get for you?"

The shop owner was a portly, smiling, middle-aged man with a large belly and eyes narrowed to the size of mung beans.

"Do you buy ’Iron Swords’?"

Xu Qing asked.

"We do."

The shop owner paused, his eyes landing on the black bundle on Xu Qing’s back. He nodded. "May I take a look, sir?"

"Of course."

Xu Qing nodded, taking out the three Iron Swords and handing them to the owner.

The shop owner examined them for a moment before setting them down, his smile never wavering. "The quality is decent, but the quantity is a bit lacking. If you’re selling, sir, I can offer you one thousand taels."

"Done."

Xu Qing agreed with a nod.

Soon,

the transaction was complete.

"Sir."

However,

the shop owner called out to Xu Qing. "I imagine you have more than just these three? I’ve examined them, and let’s speak frankly. All three Iron Swords were clearly made by the same master craftsman. What’s more, they were forged recently and show no signs of use."

"How about it?"

"Sir, have you considered a long-term partnership with me?"

"What kind of partnership did you have in mind?"

Xu Qing asked.

"It’s simple."

The shop owner said calmly, "From now on, sell all the weapons you forge exclusively to me. In return, I’ll give you a price that’s sure to satisfy."

"I’ll buy as many as you can make."

"Alright."

Xu Qing considered for a moment.

"Excellent!"

The shop owner was stunned for a second before bursting into laughter. "I didn’t expect you to be so decisive! Rest assured, I’ll make sure you never get a bad deal on the price!"

"Let’s have a formal introduction."

"I am Guo Qianming."

"Mm."

Xu Qing nodded. "Lv Dongbin."

"Huh?"

Guo Qianming froze, his expression one of disbelief. He sized up Xu Qing. "You’re... Lv Dongbin?" he asked, his tone laced with astonishment.

"The mysterious master of Swordsmanship?!"

"The very same."

Xu Qing nodded.

And just like that,

Xu Qing had achieved his first goal for visiting the Black Market: securing a stable outlet for his goods. From now on, he just needed to sell a few upgraded Iron Swords each day to earn enough money to cover his daily expenses and martial arts training.

As for his second goal.

Xu Qing then went to the Black Tiger Spiritual Food Store and met with its owner, Black Tiger. Xu Qing didn’t have much silver on him. Even after earning a thousand taels, he only had a little over ten thousand in total.

Therefore,

Xu Qing only bought ten thousand taels’ worth of Black Mountain Tiger Meat this time.

"Safe travels, customer,"

said Black Tiger.

Xu Qing did not respond.

This time,

not a single Black Market Hunter dared to try and ambush him. After his previous two visits, the Hunters knew just how terrifyingly powerful he was.

These Hunters were only after money; they didn’t have a death wish.

Xu Qing left the Black Market and returned to his courtyard. He removed the Evil Ghost Mask, his normal features returning, and stored it away.

At first,

Xu Qing had originally thought that once his Baji Fist reached Level 11 and he achieved the Dan Jin realm, he would be able to further upgrade his Level 10 Iron Sword and Level 10 Evil Ghost Mask.

However,

the Encyclopedia of All Things indicated that with his current Cultivation, he was still unable to control an Iron Sword or Evil Ghost Mask upgraded to Level 11.

So,

Xu Qing had no choice but to drop the idea.

’Before, when I was only at the Huajin realm, a pound of Black Mountain Tiger Meat was enough to sustain my daily consumption and training,’

Xu Qing thought. ’But now that my Cultivation has broken through to the Dan Jin realm, a pound a day is no longer enough. I need three pounds of Black Mountain Tiger Meat to sustain my daily consumption and training.’

’The meat I bought for ten thousand taels of silver won’t last long.’

The night passed without incident.

「The next day.」

「Morning.」

Xu Qing went to the Cangying Martial Arts Hall, then left Qingbei Town for the area outside the walls. A cold wind howled and snow fell heavily. As far as the eye could see, the land was a vast expanse of white, covered in a thick blanket of snow.

In the distance,

Xu Qing looked up to see masses of emaciated, sallow-faced refugees and vagrants. They had all gathered outside the city; some had even pitched tents.

Clearly,

these refugees and vagrants had no intention of leaving.

Faced with such a large number of refugees and vagrants, the County Magistrate of Qingbei Town was at a loss. Driving them away was out of the question, yet letting them into the city was impossible.

There was no telling what kind of trouble they would cause if they were allowed to enter.

Moreover,

if he set this precedent,

refugees and vagrants from other counties would flock here.

When that happened,

Qingbei Town would be in deep trouble.

Going forward,

the daily task for Xu Qing and his men was simple: patrol the refugee and vagrant encampments outside the city, twenty-four hours a day, without interruption.

Additionally,

they also had to protect the soup kitchens established by the Three Great Families and the Government Office, maintaining order to prevent refugees from rioting and looting, which could lead to turmoil.

Of course,

Xu Qing and his men worked in shifts.

On the first day,

Xu Qing’s patrol was in the first group on duty. Their shift coincided with the time when the soup kitchens run by the Three Great Families and the Government Office were preparing to distribute congee.

Therefore,

Xu Qing and his men were needed to maintain order.

Not only that,

the soup kitchen that Patrol Squad Thirteen, led by Xu Qing, had to protect was the one set up by the Jiang Family, one of the Three Great Families of Qingbei Town.

Incidentally,

the Jiang Family’s soup kitchen had been operating the longest. It was originally started simply because the family’s young miss, Jiang Feiying, was kind-hearted and couldn’t bear to see beggars go hungry.

Furthermore,

this congee distribution had continued uninterrupted for over half a year.

After more than half a year,

what was once a small, temporary stall had become a large, well-established building.

It looked like a small roadside inn.

"Don’t push! Don’t push! There’s enough for everyone!"

"All of you, get in an orderly line!"

"..."

The patrol members shouted.

Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

’Hmm?’

However,

Xu Qing frowned. Because he possessed the Evil Ghost Mask—which housed a real Evil Ghost—he could sense faint wisps of Yin Sha Qi clinging to some of the refugees and vagrants.

Clearly,

something was amiss.

’Whatever, it’s none of my business.’

After a moment’s thought, Xu Qing decided not to get involved. He would pretend he hadn’t noticed a thing.