Chapter 90

Qitian Hall.

Tang Jie's figure suddenly appeared before the hall, stumbling back a few steps, his face turning pale.

"Cough..." Tang Jie spat out a mouthful of blood: "The last ten points are really hard to get."

He took out a jade token to check, and it showed ninety-one points.

However, Tang Jie knew that the extra point was actually earned at the cost of his injury. Just barely enduring one more round made him spit blood, and if he had continued, he might have been beaten to death.

At this moment, the old man was not around, so Tang Jie went to rest on the side.

With nothing to do, he went to the record wall to check the scores.

The record wall recorded the students' scores, with a magical array on the wall connected to each student's jade token. When the score on the jade token changed, the ranking on the wall would also change.

On the ranking wall of the Tianyu Hall for this term, Tang Jie was at the top, his position unchanged, but his score had increased from ninety to ninety-one.

The second place was Qi Shaoming with eighty-three points.

"Chasing so fast," Tang Jie frowned.

If he remembered correctly, Qi Shaoming only had eighty points in the Tianyu Hall yesterday. He didn't expect that in just one day, he had increased by three points.

The third place was a student named Fang Zhi, whom Tang Jie had never met.

On this wall, there was another name that truly held the top position: Cang Qingfeng.

Below it was a note:

Cang Qingfeng, 442nd term student, the record holder of the Lingquan stage in the Tianyu Hall, enduring for thirty-five breaths.

"Cang Qingfeng, thirty-five breaths..." Tang Jie frowned.

According to the rules of the Qitian Hall, each puppet represents ten points. The first ten points are the easiest to get, as long as the puppet moves, you can get them. After that, it depends on how long you can hold out. If you can last until the tenth puppet joins the battle, you get a hundred points.

However, how long you can hold out depends on your ability, and each additional breath is a record.

The Qitian Hall has existed for a thousand years, so the records on this wall have been broken many times. Therefore, each record on this wall is actually the strongest record of countless elites over a thousand years.

Breaking each record is equivalent to writing the strongest record of the Xiyue School for 1800 years.

And the record of Cang Qingfeng was set 1400 years ago, and no one has been able to break it since.

Looking at the other walls, the record holders for the Linghu stage, Linghai stage, and even the Tufan stage were also Cang Qingfeng.

Tang Jie's heart stirred, and he went to check the record holders of other halls.

At the Tianzhu Hall, Tang Jie saw a series of large names written there.

One name caught his attention.

"Xiao Biehan, 1326th term student, the record holder of the Bai Lian stage in the Tianzhu Hall."

"Originally, the third great-uncle of the Xiyue Sect, truly worthy of being the sword madman, breaking the previous record and still unmatched to this day," Tang Jie smiled.

Turning from the Tianzhu Hall, Tang Jie went to other halls and indeed saw many famous names.

At the Tianxuan Hall, there was Yan Changfeng; at the Tianxuan Hall, there was Ming Yekong; at the Tianji Hall, there was Lu Yuanzhen; at the Tianbian Hall, there was Feng Hongluan. Besides Cang Qingfeng, the other five were all famous figures now, with Feng Hongluan being the dean of the Xiyue School.

However, none of these people had dominated all the records like Cang Qingfeng, mostly showing their strength at a certain stage.

After all, over a thousand years, there have been countless talents, and being able to leave a name in the limited records is already enough to be remembered for a thousand years.

Therefore, Cang Qingfeng was even more peculiar, and it was truly unknown who he was. Strangely, although he had tried to understand the Xiyue Sect, he had never heard of such a person.

"Could it be a student who didn't want to join the sect?" Tang Jie couldn't help but think.

Although the Xiyue School was set up to recruit talents for the Xiyue Sect, not every excellent student was willing to join the sect. There might be one or two independent geniuses.

Such people are usually called "excellent students," which means they perform well but do not join the sect.

While thinking, he walked back to the Tianyu Hall without realizing it, staring at the name Cang Qingfeng. He saw someone coming in, and it was Qi Shaoming.

Seeing Tang Jie, Qi Shaoming was a bit surprised but didn't say much, just nodding symbolically and walking past.

Tang Jie didn't try to get close either, just nodded back and left.

Qi Shaoming glanced at his back and his gaze fell on the wall where Tang Jie had been standing.

"Ninety-one points... increased again, so fast!"

Just as Tang Jie felt that Qi Shaoming was improving quickly, in Qi Shaoming's eyes, Tang Jie's speed was also very fast. After all, the higher the score in the Qitian Hall, the harder it is to improve.

Looking at the glaring number of ninety-one points, Qi Shaoming felt uncomfortable.

Although he appeared calm, deep down, he was actually more proud than anyone else.

Because he was Qi Shaoming!

The Qi Shaoming of the Nine Turns of the Jade Gate!

He usually kept people at a distance, not because he disliked making friends, but because he felt that among the many students in the Xiyue School, only An Rumei was qualified to be his friend.

The reason he didn't participate in the practice matches now was that after losing a few times, he realized that he was not yet strong enough to dominate at the Lingquan stage, so he came to the Qitian Hall to train hard.

When he could truly be invincible, he would return to the practice field and sweep everything away.

However, here he also encountered his own rivals.

At the Tianxuan Hall, there was Cai Junyang; at the Tianyan Hall, there was Li Huannian; at the Tianbian Hall, there was Shumingyang; at the Tianxuan Hall, there was An Rumei; at the Tianzhu Hall, there was Li Yunfan; at the Tianji Hall, there was Yu Hengwei. Now, in the Tianyu Hall, there was also Tang Jie.

He, Qi Shaoming, considered himself a genius, yet he had not topped any hall.

Of course, this was also related to his high ambitions and competitiveness. Although he didn't top any hall, his name was almost always in the top ten of the seven halls. If compared by total score, he was still the undisputed first.

But for him, this was far from enough.

At this moment, his eyes burned with fierce fighting spirit, and he muttered, "I will surpass you, one by one... and defeat all of you!"

---

In the afternoon, with nothing to do, Tang Jie went to Wei Tianchong's place.

Wei Tianchong was in the courtyard, fiddling with his puppet.

Compared to the last time, this puppet was much larger, and he no longer used materials like Lei Ji wood, which had poor defensive capabilities. Instead, Wei Tianchong chose the more durable and robust Zisha rock.

To the west of Wenxin, there is a place called Zimo, which produces Zisha stone. Zisha stone is characterized by its accumulation, often forming into stone, with a rough surface and a dense network of air holes inside, suitable for the circulation of spiritual energy. The best quality is smooth on the surface and has a thousand holes inside.

Zisha rock is the best choice for making puppets for low-level students. Although it doesn't have the lightning-absorbing properties of Lei Ji wood, it is solid and durable, and most importantly, it is cheap.

However, it is more labor-intensive to make, as it involves stone carving rather than wood carving.

Initially, Tang Jie wanted to help Wei Tianchong choose Zisha rock, but Wei Tianchong was too lazy and refused this option, so they ended up using Lei Ji wood.

Ye Xing's hammer not only shattered his puppet but also woke him up from his laziness, making him realize that no matter what, if you are lazy, you will have to pay the price.

So this time, he chose the most suitable material for his current stage.

Of course, this meant his puppet would take at least three months to complete.

For this, Wei Tianchong also learned a special technique called "Ghost Axe," which, through the use of spiritual energy, could temporarily make his weapon sharp and hard, suitable for carving and also for close combat.

At this moment, Wei Tianchong was seriously working on his puppet in the courtyard. Seeing Tang Jie come over, he put down his hammer and chisel and rushed over, surprised, "Why are you coming to see me today?"

Tang Jie smiled, "What are you saying? I am your servant student, shouldn't I come to see you whether there's something or not?"

"Ah, someone still remembers they are a servant student," a sour voice came from the back of the courtyard. It was Shid Meng, standing in a small patch of spiritual field, with a small rain cloud above it, raining on the field.

The Rain Spell.

Tang Jie knew he was upset.

Recently, he had been busy with cultivation and hadn't taken care of Wei Tianchong's life much... well, he hadn't taken care of him much before either.

So now, Wei Tianchong's life was mostly taken care of by Shid Meng.

Although learning immortal techniques made many things easier, some things were not about quantity but comparison.

Seeing Tang Jie ignore the young master every day, Shid Meng naturally felt uncomfortable, especially since Wei Tianchong still praised Tang Jie.

Therefore, when Shid Meng rebuked him, Tang Jie didn't get angry. Instead, Wei Tianchong was dissatisfied, "Shid Meng, what are you saying? Tang Jie takes care of my studies. Without him, I wouldn't have passed the major exams, and he even helped me deal with those people recently."

Tang Jie quickly intervened, "Forget it, forget it. Shid Meng is right. I have indeed been neglecting the young master these days, and I owe a lot to Shid Meng for taking care of him."

Saying this, he took out a Qi Nourishing Pill and gave it to Shid Meng, "You've been taking care of the young master, which must have delayed your cultivation. Some things should have been done by me, but you did them for me. I have nothing to repay you with, so I offer this as a thank you. If there's more in the future, I won't forget you."

Shid Meng was taken aback, holding the Qi Nourishing Pill and looking at Tang Jie, "You...?"

Tang Jie said seriously, "We entered the school together, and sometimes we can't just think about ourselves. Recently, I was enlightened by an old man, and now, looking back, I realize I didn't do some things well. If I offended you before, please forgive me."

Hearing this, Shid Meng felt a bit embarrassed and scratched his head, "Forget it, consider it as you paying for my time."

Shid Meng knew his abilities were limited. Even if he threw all the chores to Tang Jie, he wouldn't be able to achieve the same results and get resources. So, it was better to do his job well. Besides, life here was simple, and Wei Tianchong had improved recently, so he could take care of him. Plus, the Qi Nourishing Pill was a net gain, so he accepted it happily.

"By the way, looking at you, you should have reached the Lingquan stage, right?" Tang Jie asked.

Shid Meng smiled, "Yes, a bit later than the young master. I just reached the Lingquan stage a few days ago, and I learned the Rain Spell."

His talent was the same as Wei Tianchong, at the fourth turn of the Jade Gate. However, without resources, he always lagged behind Wei Tianchong. If it weren't for Tang Jie, Shid Meng's talent would be considered good among servant students.

"Learning just these skills won't have much future," Tang Jie said.

Shid Meng lowered his head, "I know, but what can I do? I am at the fourth turn, without resources, and the minimum standard for entering the Tufan stage. If I focus on other techniques, I might end up mediocre."

Tang Jie said, "You're right, but learning techniques doesn't necessarily mean you have to be very proficient."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Shid Meng was confused.

"Not every technique requires you to be very proficient to use it," Tang Jie explained. "In battle, the faster you can use a technique, the better. But some techniques don't need to be so fast. For example, healing techniques. Whether you use them in the blink of an eye or half a cup of tea, the difference might not be significant."

"You mean..."

"Also, reconnaissance techniques, anti-stealth techniques, and other auxiliary techniques. As long as they are not needed in battle, you don't need to be very proficient. Just learn them."

Shid Meng's eyes lit up, and Tang Jie continued, "You cultivate the Water Spring Reflection Technique, which is good for healing and recovery. Why not try to learn more techniques? In the future, during trials, you can have more room to show your abilities."

"Trials?"

"Yes, trials!" Tang Jie patted him. "Just starting on the immortal path, no one knows the outcome. Why give up so easily? If you can't stand out like others, why not find a different angle for yourself? Most students now pursue specialization and practicality. This approach is not wrong, but when everyone does it, it becomes less valuable. Since everyone is pursuing specialization, you can take the path of versatility. Learn multiple techniques, know a bit of everything, and specialize in something others don't. You might find it useful in the future."

Shid Meng's eyes lit up, but then dimmed, "But to learn so many techniques, I don't have enough money."

"Hey, I'll pay for it. Isn't it just twenty spirit coins per book? I can afford it. Just pay me back when you earn money in the future!" Wei Tianchong said, thumping his chest.

"That's exactly what I mean," Tang Jie smiled. "Everyone has their place