Chapter 73

In the large combat room of the Xingyun Pavilion, there were artificial rock formations, forest areas, street zones, and river sections, allowing martial artists to adapt to various combat environments and truly enhance their practical combat experience.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Two figures darted through the artificial rock formations, two white lights occasionally colliding and fiercely impacting the massive boulders, causing them to shatter with a loud boom.

Suddenly, a white light crashed into a large rock and stopped, coalescing into Gao Yu.

"Gao Yu, even if we don't use our cultivation techniques, it's still very difficult for you to defeat me," another white light landed, transforming into Qin Lie, who was drenched in sweat.

He had grown taller recently, though still slender, he no longer looked small...

"You freak, your body is stronger than those in the Kaiyuan Realm, it's indeed not easy to defeat you," Gao Yu grunted, also drenched in sweat.

After the battle, his face appeared even paler, as if he had just left a sickbed, making people worry that he might collapse at any moment.

However, Qin Lie was well aware of Gao Yu's terrifying nature, knowing that behind his seemingly pale and sickly appearance, he had extremely sinister and deadly moves.

During this period, he learned alchemy from Yao Tai during the day and often engaged in intense battles with Gao Yu in the combat room at night.

After the previous confrontation with Feng Kai, he realized he lacked combat experience, so he recently borrowed books from the scripture library to study. Coincidentally, Gao Yu, who was determined to defeat him, challenged him, and he readily agreed. The two then engaged in combat in the combat room.

Initially, Gao Yu used the techniques from the Nine Nether Floating Souls Record to fight against his Heavenly Thunder Punishment, but he was repeatedly defeated.

The Heavenly Thunder Punishment was the nemesis of all ghostly spirits and vengeful souls. Gao Yu's use of the spirit techniques from the Nine Nether Floating Souls Record against him was simply asking for humiliation.

Whenever any ghostly spirits or evil ghosts appeared, they were instantly obliterated by the heavenly thunder.

After several attempts, Gao Yu admitted that Qin Lie was his nemesis. However, he was unwilling to concede and proposed that they change their combat style—neither would use the Nine Nether Floating Souls Record nor the Heavenly Thunder Punishment.

A pure battle of spiritual energy and physical strength.

Gao Yu, with his rich combat experience, took the upper hand in their first battle, making Qin Lie struggle and look very disheveled.

However, due to Qin Lie's extremely strong physical body, although he was always at a disadvantage, he never truly lost. After being hit by Gao Yu, his body was rarely severely injured, and his combat ability was not significantly affected.

Thus, although Qin Lie was repeatedly beaten by Gao Yu, he never fell or lost.

After several consecutive battles, Qin Lie gradually found the key and slowly turned the tide from a one-sided disadvantage.

As his combat experience improved, his physical strength advantage became more evident, and he began to shift from defense to offense. His combat skills also became more systematic, and Gao Yu gradually showed signs of fatigue.

In recent battles, it was Gao Yu who was at a disadvantage.

Whenever Qin Lie launched a close-range, storm-like attack, Gao Yu's body could not withstand it, and he would be the first to retreat.

Gao Yu had no friends in the Xingyun Pavilion, with a solitary and eerie personality, making him hard to get along with, and he rarely interacted with others.

It was only because of the frequent battles with Qin Lie that the two gradually became familiar. Qin Lie became Gao Yu's only friend in the Xingyun Pavilion.

"In the Xingyun Pavilion, among martial artists of the same realm, there should be no one who can defeat either of us," Gao Yu stood beside a rock formation, his slightly sinister face showing a serious expression, "But it's not absolute. There are many variables in combat, and spirit weapons are a significant variable. If someone has a high-grade spirit weapon with powerful effects, they might defeat us by relying on the advantage of their spirit weapon."

"Your spirit weapon is extraordinary. With it, you can even make Fang Tong, who is in the early Kaiyuan Realm, look disheveled. It's just that the cultivation technique I practice is specifically effective against you. If someone else with a slightly higher realm fought you, they might be suppressed by you," Qin Lie said.

"Yes, that's true," Gao Yu nodded, "I have such a spirit weapon, and others might have one too, so we need to be careful."

"Why are you saying this?" Qin Lie asked.

"Recently, things outside have been unstable. It seems that the spirit beasts from the Extreme Cold Mountains are coming out and attacking nearby villages and towns. A few of my clan members were bitten to death by spirit beasts. My father said that the spirit beasts have been acting abnormally recently, with a wide range of activity, and there might be some unusual changes."

Gao Yu explained, "If there are no unexpected events, the Xingyun Pavilion will arrange for martial artists to clear out the spirit beasts. My contribution points are almost used up, and I plan to take on some missions."

Hearing him mention contribution points, Qin Lie's face turned grim, "My contribution points are also almost used up."

Borrowing books from the scripture library, using the gravity room, the meditation room, and the combat room for cultivation all required contribution points.

He had been frequently visiting these places recently and had almost used up his contribution points. When he came to the combat room today, the registrar told him he had only ninety-three contribution points left.

Contribution points in the Xingyun Pavilion could be obtained by going out on missions, hunting spirit beasts, finding spirit mines and materials, and killing martial artists from opposing forces of the Xingyun Pavilion, among other tasks.

To enjoy the cultivation resources of the Xingyun Pavilion, one needed contribution points. Otherwise, one was not allowed to enter the scripture library, the spirit weapon library, or various training grounds.

"You can't get contribution points by staying with Yao Tai, and you've been practicing diligently recently. I guess your contribution points are also almost used up," Gao Yu thought for a moment and said, "I'll go and inquire about the situation and see if I can take on some missions. If you have nothing to do recently, you can come with me."

"Sure, let's see what missions are available first," Qin Lie nodded.

"Bang!"

A piece of broken stone suddenly flew from the nearby street training area, hitting Gao Yu's calf, making his face turn cold, and he said sinisterly, "Which lowlife is throwing stones?"

"Lowlife, who are you talking about?" A few young martial artists appeared in the street training area, and a tall figure shouted.

"Liu Ting, ignore that mad dog, let's continue practicing," Liu Ting, dressed in a rose-red outfit, stood at the street corner, her nose wrinkled, and she called out.

Qin Lie turned his head and saw that the group was Liu Ting and Wei Li. Liu Ting was the daughter of Deputy Pavilion Master Liu Yuntao, and Wei Li was the son of Elder Wei Xing.

Wei Xing was on Liu Yuntao's side, favoring Liu Yuntao to take over the position of Pavilion Master.

Gao Yu's face turned cold, and he picked up a fist-sized stone, aiming at Wei Li's chest and throwing it forcefully.

The stone whistled through the air with great force. If Wei Li were hit, he would definitely be bedridden for a few days.

Wei Li, with average talent, was only at the eighth level of the Body Tempering Realm, inferior to Qin Lie and Gao Yu. Seeing the stone coming, his face changed.

Liu Ting shouted, her left hand darting out and catching the stone steadily, though her body trembled slightly.

She huffed and said coldly, "Sure enough, a mad dog, biting anyone it sees. Wei Li, ignore them. They are both poor, and their contribution points are almost used up. In a few days, we won't see them in the training grounds. With the recent unrest outside, many people will be sent on missions, and they might not even return. Why bother with them?"

"Right, Sister Ting," Wei Li sighed in relief and quickly said.

"If your stones fly around again, what I return won't be stones. I'll let you taste the flavor of my vengeful soul," Gao Yu said coldly, his face grim, and then he left with Qin Lie.

In the following days, while Qin Lie was learning alchemy from Yao Tai during the day, he noticed that many martial artists came to ask Yao Tai to repair their spirit weapons.

"Recently, many people have been sent on missions, and many of their spirit weapons have been damaged. It's really troublesome and delays my alchemy process," Yao Tai complained every day, "If the material of the spirit weapon is not severely damaged, it can still be used. But once the spirit array diagram is damaged, it must be repaired. Repairing the spirit array diagram is not simple and is too profound for you. You don't need to come here recently."

Thus, Qin Lie had nothing to do during the day.

"Qin Lie, come over and chat with me," one day, when Qin Lie returned to his small house, he heard Zuo Qian's call.

Turning his head, Qin Lie saw Zuo Qian in her three-story building, waving from the window, inviting him over.

"Coming," Qin Lie smiled and naturally headed to Zuo Qian's building.

During this period, he often went to Zuo Qian's place to chat, sometimes about cultivation, sometimes about the conditions of the Senluo Hall and the special aspects of the Seven Evils Valley.

"What has Sister Qian been busy with recently?" Qin Lie asked when he arrived.

"Collecting spirit materials, preparing to ask someone to help me forge a spirit weapon suitable for me. I just returned to the pavilion these past two days," Zuo Qian, wearing a robe, looked lazy, and she smoothed her hair, saying with a bit of worry, "Sigh, the spirit materials are collected and sent over, but I don't know if it will succeed. If it fails, it will be a disaster."

Martial artists in the Xingyun Pavilion could easily obtain spirit weapons by using contribution points to exchange for them in the spirit weapon library. However, most of the spirit weapons in the spirit weapon library were of low grade and were made by Yao Tai.

If one had enough spirit stones, they could go to the spirit material market and choose higher-quality spirit weapons from places like the Spirit Tool Pavilion.

—The spirit weapons there were of better quality and more powerful than those made by Yao Tai.

Of course, those who were more picky and had connections would find special spirit materials and ask alchemists to custom-make spirit weapons for them, refining unique and most suitable spirit weapons based on their realm and cultivation techniques.

Such spirit weapons, tailored to one's conditions, were what martial artists truly desired and were the most precious and suitable.

Zuo Qian and Tu Ze, whose fathers were both leaders of the Senluo Hall, were such people with connections. They could ask high-grade alchemists to custom-make unique spirit weapons for them.

"Tu Ze has already gone to the Senluo Hall, taking his spirit materials and the ones I collected. He knows my situation well and will explain everything to the alchemists there. As for whether a suitable spirit weapon for me can be successfully forged... no one can say for sure."

Zuo Qian looked anxious, "This is the third time. If it fails again, I'm afraid I won't be able to bear it."

"Already failed twice?" Qin Lie was surprised.

"What did you think?" Zuo Qian smiled bitterly, "The probability of alchemy failure is much higher than success. The higher the grade of the spirit weapon, the higher the probability of failure. However, for a unique spirit weapon that perfectly matches the cultivation technique, sometimes one must swallow the bitter pill of failure."

She looked at Qin Lie and forced a smile, "I'm still better off. If Tu Ze fails again this time, it will be the fourth time. He is even worse off than me..."

"Uh, does the alchemist bear any responsibility for failure?" Qin Lie was secretly alarmed.

"What responsibility does the alchemist bear?" Zuo Qian looked puzzled, "Even the most top-tier alchemists can't guarantee 100% success in alchemy. Failure is a normal occurrence, nothing strange about it. Even if the alchemy fails, we still need to pay a portion of the fee. Do you think alchemists work for free?"

"Even if it fails, a fee is still required?" Qin Lie raised an eyebrow.

"Of course. Although the fee is lower compared to success, it is definitely not negligible," Zuo Qian nodded and said matter-of-factly, "There are no alchemists who work for free. Regardless of success or failure, they must be paid. This is a basic rule in the alchemy world."

...

PS: On Monday, please support the book by voting. Thank you in advance!

[AD begins]

[AD ends]