Chapter 16

Recently, Ge Chongshan, who had been standing close by and witnessed the sword strike, had a stiff expression on his face, his pupils contracting sharply like needles. Compared to the lord of Yinhuang Fort, he could hardly believe it and muttered to himself, "Such swordsmanship, such swordsmanship..."

Even immortals dancing with swords could not surpass this!

This was his inner cry, as well as the sentiment of the other experts outside the hall. This sword strike, like a heavenly swallow, a divine dragon's claw, left no trace, only its might was felt!

They kept replaying the details of this sword strike in their minds, but could only remember the dazzling, heart-piercing sword light and the feeling as if heaven and earth were paying attention.

For some reason, a thought suddenly flashed in Ge Chongshan's mind: "‘Heavenly Sword,’ ‘Heavenly Sword,’ with such swordsmanship, no wonder he is known as ‘Heavenly Sword’!"

At this moment, due to the death of the lord of Yinhuang Fort, the black-clothed people, who had turned into "poison beasts," became even more frenzied and deteriorated more severely, causing the scene to become chaotic and out of control.

Ge Chongshan, a seasoned expert in the martial world, quickly regained his composure, gathered his strength, and shouted, "The demon has been subdued! The poison mist only makes one weak. If we kill these ‘poison beasts’ before it worsens, we will be safe!"

"Brothers, I will assist you!" After stabilizing the morale, he rushed forward, his iron fan stabbing directly at the back of a black-clothed person, trying to end the battle before the feeling of weakness deepened.

Meanwhile, Meng Qi heard a grand, solemn, yet cold and indifferent voice in his ear:

"The lord of Yinhuang Fort is dead, the main mission is completed. Each person is rewarded with fifty merit points, and you will return."

Meng Qi's vision turned black, and he felt as if he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. His ears were eerily quiet.

Then, a white light appeared, and the white jade square, resembling a celestial pavilion, reappeared in Meng Qi's eyes.

"Indeed, we returned directly..." Meng Qi felt a bit relieved. Being familiar with similar cyclical worlds was one of his advantages; otherwise, with his current low martial arts skills, he would feel somewhat inferior when facing other companions.

"Mission completed, you can receive free treatment once."

A milky white light fell on Meng Qi, making him feel warm and comfortable, as if he were soaking in a hot spring. All the fatigue and soreness from before disappeared, and he felt refreshed and energetic.

"Wow, the injuries healed so quickly?" Qi Xia, who was also bathed in the milky white light, exclaimed. Her left shoulder, which was a bloody mess, was visibly healing at a rapid pace. In just a few moments, it was completely cured.

Jiang Zhwei, standing up and moving her legs, said with both joy and shock, "I am also fully healed. Even the Great Return Pill from Shaolin Temple might not have such an effect."

"Perhaps only the hands of a land-bound immortal at the Dharmic Body level or the corresponding immortal elixir could have such a miraculous effect." Zhang Yuanshan gathered his strength and found that the poison mist he had been affected by had been removed at some point. "Unfortunately, I have never seen such a divine figure in action, so I have no basis for comparison."

Meng Qi had heard from Xuan Xin that the major sects currently leading the martial arts world were all those that had once produced land-bound immortals at the Dharmic Body level. However, achieving the Dharmic Body is difficult, and it is not always the case that these sects have such divine figures. Most of the time, most sects do not have them, such as the current True Wu Sect, Xuantian Sect, Sword Washing Pavilion, and Great River Gang. Therefore, talents like Zhang Yuanshan, who are highly valued, have never seen the hands of Dharmic Body experts in action, while Shaolin, with its "Dragon Subduing Arhat," has become the implicit leader of the Great Jin Alliance.

Of course, these ancient and prestigious major sects, even without land-bound immortals at the Dharmic Body level, are not to be underestimated. They have various sect treasures—left behind by ancestors who achieved the Dharmic Body or obtained through fortuitous encounters. If peak Outer Scenario masters fight to the death, these treasures can exert power close to the Dharmic Body, such as the "Time Knife" of the Xuantian Sect, which is said to be forged by the Heavenly Emperor. Even in the evaluation of the mysterious "Master of the Six Realms," it is one of the top ten treasures on the first page, the first in terms of unpredictability.

It is precisely because of these treasures that the major sects do not fall into decline and ruin when they lack Dharmic Body experts. However, if these sects become corrupt from within and fail to produce peak Outer Scenario masters for several generations, the treasures will also be coveted by outsiders. Over the past two to three thousand years, the number of major sects that have declined or disappeared is not small.

From the conversations of Xuan Xin, Zhang Yuanshan, Jiang Zhwei, and others, Meng Qi roughly pieced together the cultivation levels in this world: after "Hundred Days Foundation Building" comes the "Qi Accumulation and Body Forging" (Zen Concentration and Qi Accumulation) stage. Once the hundred meridians are fully connected and qi accumulation is successful, one then cultivates the internal organs and acupoints, opening the nine innate acupoints, known as the "Acupoint Opening" stage.

After that, there is the "Outer Scenario" realm, which Meng Qi has not yet fully understood. Crossing the "Outer Scenario" realm leads to the "Dharmic Body" realm of land-bound immortals, with different Dharmic Bodies, Dao Bodies, and Golden Bodies, such as the Arhat Golden Body, the Tathagata Golden Body, the Bodhi Golden Body, the Supreme Dao Body, the Taiji Dharmic Body, and so on. It is said that the differences between different levels of Dharmic Bodies are as vast as the heavens and the earth, but to those of the previous realm, they are all equally powerful and unpredictable.

As for whether there are other realms beyond, Meng Qi does not know.

The milky white light slowly dissipated, and the "Master of the Six Realms" once again spoke in a cold, grand voice: "In the future, for each cyclical mission, if the main mission is completed, regardless of the severity of the injuries, as long as one is not dead, they can receive treatment without spending merit points. If the main mission is not completed, in addition to the corresponding penalties, requesting treatment will require the payment of corresponding merit points. The more severe the injuries, the more merit points required. The specific prices can be found in the Miscellaneous Items List."

"This is fair..." Qi Zhengyan muttered, the usually silent and taciturn man now slightly excited.

Meng Qi nodded. Indeed, injuries sustained during mission completion should be considered "work injuries," and if the mission is ultimately completed, they should be "reimbursed."

Thinking about this, he suddenly realized, "The ‘Master of the Six Realms’ seems to have great power. Could the strange and unusual thoughts in my mind, which do not belong to this world, be detected by him? If my ‘穿越者’ (穿越者 means '穿越者' in Chinese, which can be translated as '穿越者' in English, but in this context, it means '穿越者') identity is exposed..."

Thinking about it, he sighed. The ‘Master of the Six Realms’ has great power, and he was brought here without realizing it, so his soul might have already been searched and his memories examined.

"Ah, perhaps the ‘Master of the Six Realms’ already knows..." Meng Qi resigned himself, thinking with a touch of bitter humor, "To Ge Chongshan and others, we are also ‘穿越者’ (穿越者 means '穿越者' in Chinese, which can be translated as '穿越者' in English, but in this context, it means '穿越者'). What's so special about being a ‘穿越者’?"

"The ‘Yinhuang Fort’ mission evaluation: except for Jiang Zhwei, who is rated as ‘average,’ all others are rated as ‘ordinary,’ with no additional rewards. Jiang Zhwei also did not meet the standard for a lottery draw, only receiving ten merit points." The words of the ‘Master of the Six Realms’ made everyone pause. It turned out that in addition to the merit point rewards, there were also additional rewards and lottery opportunities?

Meng Qi's lips twitched. Is this considered a passing evaluation?

Suddenly, a jade book appeared in front of each person.

"This is a copy of the exchange list, which also records your merit point numbers. After selecting what you want, go to the central light column to exchange. Except for the jade book, which must be left behind, all items can be freely chosen to remain here or be taken back to your original world."

As the ‘Master of the Six Realms’ finished speaking, five white jade doors immediately appeared outside the statues of divine beasts and celestial birds, each with the names of Meng Qi and others written on them.

"Is there no personal storage space, uh, magical items?" Meng Qi asked based on his "experience," referring to a personal storage space.

"You need to exchange it yourself, in the Miscellaneous Items List." As the ‘Master of the Six Realms’ spoke, the jade book in front of Meng Qi flipped open by itself, stopping at an item similar to what he was looking for:

"Jiezi Ring, a unique item, the simplest spatial item, exchange price: three thousand merit points."

Meng Qi looked at the number of merit points displayed in the upper left corner of the jade book—“eighty”—and could only respond with a "hehe."

"Now, you can start exchanging." After saying this, the ‘Master of the Six Realms’ did not speak again, and the entire white jade square was silent.

Meng Qi, hearing this, felt excited inside. Finally, there was a chance to exchange for advanced martial arts!

The life in the杂役院 (Miscellaneous Service Hall) had whetted his appetite for martial arts, and he was completely unwilling to spend his life as a mundane servant monk!

"What should I exchange for?" Meng Qi knew too many divine martial arts, and his mind was a mess as he looked at the list of martial arts in the exchange list.

"《Six Pulse Divine Sword》, complete, exchange price: one thousand three hundred merit points."

"《Small Unparalleled Skill》, complete, exchange price: one thousand two hundred merit points."

"《Northern Mystic Divine Skill》, complete, exchange price: one thousand five hundred merit points."

...

"《War God Chart》, complete, exchange price: two thousand one hundred merit points."

...

Perhaps due to his mental state, Meng Qi only saw martial arts he was familiar with.

After being stimulated by these numbers, Meng Qi slowly came to his senses and laughed bitterly, "Why am I directly looking at Outer Scenario level martial arts? I don't have enough merit points!"

At the same time, he flipped through the pages and saw that the "Star Absorption Great Skill" was listed under the Acupoint Opening stage, valued at five hundred merit points, and saw many other familiar martial arts. He then speculated, "Most of the Golden Series martial arts are at the Acupoint Opening stage, with only a few, like the divine skills of the Free and Easy Sect and the 《Six Pulse Divine Sword》, listed at the Outer Scenario stage, and they are among the cheapest. In the Yellow Series, most of the top-tier divine skills are in this category, suggesting