The secret manuals are sent via video and audio explanations. Although they have watermarks, they can still be resold privately, so the price isn’t high.

　　Even so, he still spent 130,000 to buy this volume of Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound Technique.

　　Among the secret manuals listed on “Xinhua,” this price isn’t the highest, but the vast majority require face-to-face transactions.

　　Ethan Clark also saw breathing and energy-cultivating techniques that could temper the five viscera and six bowels, condense vital blood, and even cultivate gangqi.

　　The methods for tempering the five viscera and six bowels are a bit better, selling for one to several million.

　　The methods for condensing vital blood jump straight to the tens of millions.

　　As for cultivating gangqi...

　　Starting at one hundred million!

　　Xinhua only guarantees the completeness of the techniques; as for whether you can master them or if problems will arise, they make no guarantees whatsoever.

　　……

　　“It’s very difficult.”

　　Three days later, Ethan Clark stopped.

　　The Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound Technique is a method that uses the tuning fork principle to generate mechanical waves, vibrating the muscles and bones within the body to strengthen them.

　　The body-refining stage is all about tempering the muscles, bones, and skin.

　　Of these, tempering the skin externally is painful but progresses quickly, while tempering the muscles and bones, which are hidden inside, is not only hard to master but also prone to problems.

　　Why do anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, meridian-soothing, and bone-strengthening medicines sell so well on the market?

　　It’s precisely because of the demand for external tempering of muscles, bones, and skin.

　　“I was too naive. If the Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound Technique were really that easy to master and that effective, it wouldn’t be sold for just 130,000.”

　　Ethan Clark finished his practice, returned to his room, and his gaze fell on the completed recording of “Tsunami” from the past three days.

　　He took out the business card given to him by Jason Carter.

　　He dialed the number of Tianxing Media’s Vice President Ashley Bolton.

　　Before long, the call was answered.

　　“Hello, this is Ethan Clark. I got your contact information from Jason Carter at Tianfeng Martial Arts School—Uncle Carter…”

　　“Oh, Director Carter.”

　　On the phone, Ashley Bolton responded.

　　Ethan Clark introduced himself and explained his situation.

　　After a moment, Ashley Bolton said, “Of course I’ll give Director Carter some face. As you said, you’ve built up some popularity online over the years. Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll have the company’s top agent take you on, and prepare a contract for you. The details, you two can discuss.”

　　“Thank you, President Bolton.”

　　Ethan Clark said.

　　After the call, Ashley Bolton hung up.

　　An hour later, Ethan Clark’s phone rang.

　　It was a call from an agent at Tianxing Media.

　　After some discussion, the agent sent over a contract.

　　Seeing that this contract was one level higher than the standard rookie contract, Ethan Clark realized that Jason Carter’s influence wasn’t as great as he’d imagined.

　　The fans he’d accumulated online also couldn’t give him any extra advantage.

　　Fortunately, the purpose of his call was simply to show his genuine intention to develop a career in music.

　　“I’ll think about it.”

　　Ethan Clark replied, then hung up.

　　“I can’t use this money to buy cultivation resources.”

　　Ethan Clark was very clear about his bottom line.

　　“Besides, I really do want to debut as a singer—there’s absolutely no pretense.”

　　With this in mind, he logged into his DingDing account and pulled up a contact named “Tianze Data”: “Help me promote a video.”

　　“Please provide your data requirements, platform, time, scope, and acceptable quote.”

　　Ethan Clark responded to each item, and when entering the quote, he started with a five and added six zeros after it.

　　After sending this quote, there was a brief pause on the other end, then their attitude seemed to change immediately, and they asked for Ethan Clark’s phone number.

　　In less than five minutes, his phone rang.

　　“Hello, Mr. Clark, I’m Charles Thompson, CEO of Tianze Data. You want to promote your new song, correct?”

　　“Yes, I want to see discussions about this song on all the major mainstream channels. I’m not concerned about profits, I just want popularity. Of course, you might say that popularity naturally brings profits... but...”

　　At this point, Ethan Clark paused: “I don’t care whether the popularity is positive or negative.”

　　“I understand what you mean. Thank you for choosing Tianze Data…”

　　Charles Thompson and Ethan Clark chatted for over ten minutes and agreed on a time to submit the copy and meet for further discussion.

　　……

　　After hanging up, in an old office building on the outer ring of Tanghai City, the not-yet-thirty Charles Thompson strode out of his office: “Guys, we’ve got a big order!”

　　“Boss, did you close that deal just now!?”

　　“A five-million order!?”

　　The office was also filled with quite a few young faces.

　　“Whether we can get it depends on whether our proposal can satisfy the client.”

　　Charles Thompson immediately ordered, “Find out the positioning of the ‘Ten Thousand Star Years’ account right away. As for platforms, Shazhan, Xuanyin, and Huoyan go without saying, but contact the other platforms too. Channel promotion, data analysis, and also... the sample of the client’s song ‘Tsunami’ has already been sent over. Identify the topics and highlights in it... Move! Whether we’re drinking soup or eating meat this month depends on this order!”