"The rent in this area really isn't cheap. Four silver coins a month—that's the cost of three wheat harvests for an ordinary farmer!" Shen Xingyan sighed, studying the information on housing prices.
If he were still an ordinary farmer, a price like this would surely have scared him away. After all, who would want to spend a large part of their monthly earnings on housing? It would cause strong internal resistance. But considering his current financial situation and future earning potential, this price seemed perfectly acceptable. Besides, if his and his sister's safety were secured, many more opportunities would open up in the future. This money would not be spent in vain.
He then looked at a few more similar options to better understand the rental situation in the area. Upon learning that "school housing" right next to the educational institution cost 10 silver coins a month, even a future rich man like Shen Xingyan couldn't help but whistle in surprise. He couldn't help but think, "If it weren't for the fear of dangers on the roads at night, people from the outskirts would probably prefer to just sleep in the streets in this area."
Shaking his head, Shen Xingyan, after looking over all the options, didn't enter the agency to clarify the details; he simply left. After all, he looked like an ordinary farmer on the outside, and even if he pretended to be willing to spend that much money and rent a place, it could arouse suspicion. After all, only thirteen days had passed since he had awakened his profession as a farmer, and an ordinary farmer couldn't possibly have saved up enough for a month's rent in this area in that time.
Unfortunately, Shen Xingyan had to postpone the discussion about renting until the next ten days.
Leaving the real estate agency, he began to stroll through the open market. Before, during his school days, he rarely came here due to a lack of money, despite the market's proximity to the school. Now that he was here, he carefully looked at everything around him.
The North District open market was more of a short street than a real market. There were few merchants, and at first glance, everything looked quite meager, not at all comparable to the bustling markets of the Star Source world. The market was so small that Shen Xingyan quickly looked over all of it. Most of the goods were materials from the bodies of Disasters killed outside the base, as well as strange resources gathered there. Some things Shen Xingyan was seeing for the first time, as school textbooks couldn't cover everything.
Due to the system of battle merits and the high prices at which the base bought high-level resources, including parts of Disasters, real-world income significantly exceeded earnings in the Star Source world.
As a result, capable professionals often went beyond the base and periodically brought back valuable items to sell. They would sell less valuable things to the base at low prices or put them out for display at the market, just like now.
The market also sold equipment and potions. While all of this could be extracted from the Star Source world, the prices here were more favorable.
Shen Xingyan stopped involuntarily when he saw some nutritious Disaster meat. His sister was currently in a growth spurt and needed additional nutrition. This meat, processed by butchers, could clearly satisfy that need. But, after thinking it over, he abandoned the idea, deciding that it would be safer to quietly extract the meat from the Star Source world. That way, there would be no risk of being discovered, and the quality of the meat would be guaranteed. Although the goods here were cheaper, he wasn't limited in funds right now and didn't worry about such trifles.
As he was about to head home and continue his training, his attention was drawn to a bookstore. At that moment, he remembered his Awareness skill, whose cooldown had already ended, but he hadn't used it yet.
"At school, I was so focused on training to improve my physical attributes that I rarely turned to combat techniques. Combat techniques were considered something that was easy to learn but difficult to master in school. Teachers recommended that students study them after the Awakening, following the hints from the stat panel—that way, progress would be much faster, saving a lot of time. Combat techniques allow for a fuller use of one's attributes. In the future, when I encounter low-level Disasters, I'll at least be able to protect myself. I'll take a look inside. Maybe I can find some copies of combat techniques. With my 'Awareness' skill, learning should go much faster."
With these thoughts, Shen Xingyan confidently entered the store. The old man sprawled in a chair by the entrance glanced at Shen Xingyan as he entered, and as if having seen through his intentions, immediately said in a hoarse voice, "Copies of combat technique books are on the far-right shelf. The prices are marked on each book, so go look for yourself."
Having said this, the old man fell silent and showed no desire to get up and serve the customer, continuing to lie there and read his book.
Hearing the old man's words, Shen Xingyan stopped for a moment, looking at him in surprise, stunned by his perceptiveness. He wanted to talk with this experienced old man, but seeing that he showed no interest in conversation, he decided not to impose himself.
"It seems that mastery, honed through practice, is applicable to any profession! This old man is truly insightful," Shen Xingyan thought.
Following the old man's directions, he walked over to the far-right shelf. Indeed, new books on combat techniques were displayed there, and it was clear at a glance that they were all copies. Looking over the prices, he found that they were not very high—from a few dozen to a few hundred copper coins. The books themselves were not expensive to produce, and considering that they were all ordinary copies of combat techniques, the prices seemed reasonable.
Shen Xingyan carefully studied each book. Right now, he had neither the sufficient physical attributes nor the money to learn advanced, modified combat techniques. He could only master ordinary techniques to increase his combat abilities. Besides, ordinary combat techniques, when perfected, could also create impressive effects.
Considering his current capabilities, Shen Xingyan chose three types of combat techniques. The first type was for weapons with a long reach, such as spears or staffs. As the saying goes, "an extra inch of length is an extra inch of power," so such techniques were essential. The second type was for close-quarters combat, bare-handed fighting. And the third was for movement, improving speed.
The combination of these three types of techniques was ideal: if long-range combat didn't work, he could switch to close quarters; if that didn't work either, all that was left was to run. Shen Xingyan called it "the survival trio."
Once he had decided on his choice, he began looking for suitable books in each of the three categories. Flipping through the pages, he noticed that all the combat techniques were quite similar, with only minor differences in details. In the end, he decided not to agonize over the choice and simply took one book from each category.