Chapter 43

"Immediate return."

As these gray characters appeared, the firebrand in the secret passage went out without any wind, and the dense darkness once again enveloped the place. With Meng Qi's current senses, he could neither hear any sound nor see his own palm.

The light shone, and a white jade square, resembling a fairyland, appeared before everyone.

"Main mission completed, free treatment begins."

The solemn and indifferent voice of the Master of the Six Paths sounded, and a series of milky white lights enveloped Meng Qi and the others.

Wounds wriggled, and his internal organs felt cool. The injuries accumulated by Meng Qi, who had repeatedly traded minor injuries for major ones, healed at a visible speed. The Iron Shirt technique, which had been broken by Tang Shun's palm, quickly recovered, and his skin and muscles regained their thickness and tightness.

The healing light disappeared, and Meng Qi moved his limbs, feeling refreshed and full of energy. He secretly marveled, "If it weren't for the Master of the Six Paths' treatment, the minor injuries I accumulated would eventually add up, leaving behind irreparable hidden dangers."

During this time, Meng Qi had been reading about the legends and stories of external martial arts techniques like the Iron Shirt in the bottom two floors of the Sutra Pavilion. He found that most martial artists who mastered these techniques died in pain in their old age, with only a few breaking through to the Enlightenment stage.

The reason for this was that external martial arts techniques lacked profound cultivation methods, and in battles, they would absolutely choose to trade minor injuries for major ones. Although the minor injuries were not severe and could be quickly healed, the human body is precious and can be particularly fragile at times. If one did not wait for complete recovery before engaging in another battle, the accumulation of minor injuries would eventually leave hidden injuries in the body, which over time would become irreversible hidden dangers and aftereffects.

Therefore, Meng Qi was quite worried about his current fighting style, but fortunately, the Master of the Six Paths had a healing ability even more terrifying than a high-level cultivator.

Among the four, Meng Qi was the least injured. After moving his limbs, he noticed that Jiang Zhwei, Zhang Yuanshan, and others were still enveloped in milky white light. His thoughts drifted to the strange stone door at the end of the secret passage.

"'Righteousness, benevolence, and kindness, do not enter this door'... It doesn't sound like a good place... The secret passage in the main world leads to a place where demons and monsters are suppressed. What about here? There shouldn't be any demons or monsters in this world..." Meng Qi knew that with his current strength, he absolutely should not try to push open that stone door, as just touching it with his right hand made him feel as if he were trapped in a demonic prison, unable to extricate himself.

"Only when I step into the Outer Scenery can I go behind the stone door to 'see'..." With this thought, Meng Qi opened the jade book in front of him and, as expected, discovered that if he paid 100 merit points and an item called 'Reincarnation Token,' he could choose to return to a previously experienced Reincarnation World for a month. The more merit points paid, the longer the stay.

However, the 'Reincarnation Token' was not listed in the exchange catalog and could only be obtained through Reincarnation missions or as a reward for a mission evaluation of "Excellent."

"The mission evaluation: Zhang Yuanshan, Jiang Zhwei, and Qi Zhengyan 'Average,' each rewarded with 20 merit points; Zhen Ding 'Good,' rewarded with 30 merit points and a chance to draw a lot. The range of the draw includes all things below the Outer Scenery."

At this moment, Jiang Zhwei and the others had also completed their treatment, and the Master of the Six Paths gave the mission evaluation.

Meng Qi raised an eyebrow, as expected, exploring secrets was one of the important criteria for mission evaluation.

"Draw a lot?" Hearing that Meng Qi could participate in this new activity, Jiang Zhwei came over with great interest.

Meng Qi was a bit excited and deliberately rubbed his hands together. "All things below the Outer Scenery? This range is too broad. If I draw something like the Arhat Fist or an ordinary iron sword, I'll just be disappointed."

Jiang Zhwei saw the white smoke rising in front of Meng Qi, supporting a dusty lot tube, and smiled lightly. "What's there to fear? It's unexpected wealth anyway."

The inside of the lot tube was dark and deep, and nothing could be seen.

Zhang Yuanshan and Qi Zhengyan also came over, watching Meng Qi draw the lot with great interest. Zhang Yuanshan even encouraged him with a chuckle, "Junior Brother Zhen Ding, you are a monk, and drawing lots is your forte. You should be able to draw something good."

Meng Qi's face twitched. "You're overestimating me. I've never won a prize in my life, not even a consolation prize, except for a few five-yuan wins from scratch-off tickets."

He picked up the lot tube and shook it vigorously. A light curtain covered the opening, and various images of objects kept changing and flashing. With Meng Qi's current eyesight, it was hard to see clearly.

After shaking for a while, Meng Qi saw Jiang Zhwei also shake her head, indicating she couldn't see clearly. He then gave it a hard shake and placed the lot tube on the white smoke that seemed like a solid surface.

The images slowly rotated, and Meng Qi first saw a long sword with a cold, piercing light, which made him instantly happy. This was likely a weapon of the Sharp category, but it eventually turned slowly, and a dusty secret manual appeared, titled "Thirteen Life-Taking Swords."

"This is a good thing!" Meng Qi was overjoyed, but the "Thirteen Life-Taking Swords" manual finally disappeared at a snail's pace, and three blue-and-white porcelain bottles appeared.

"Lingzhi Qi Pills..." Qi Zhengyan immediately recognized the pills he had exchanged before.

Meng Qi exhaled, not feeling disappointed or particularly happy. This result was average. Although it didn't match the "Thirteen Life-Taking Swords" or a Sharp-level long sword, if he hadn't drawn the lot, he would have chosen to exchange for these pills, as he didn't want to rely on the Master of the Six Paths to enhance his power again. After all, opening the dantian had already been done with the help of the Master of the Six Paths, and a shaky foundation could lead to serious hidden dangers if repeated.

Therefore, before recondensing his dantian, Meng Qi chose to use the pills to help him quickly reach the peak of the Qi Accumulation stage.

"Lingzhi Qi Pills" were among the best pills for the Qi Accumulation stage, capable of transforming true qi from meat and vegetables, with fewer impurities, making them very easy to absorb and cultivate, and the fastest way to increase internal strength.

The lot tube and white smoke disappeared, leaving three blue-and-white porcelain bottles on the ground. Meng Qi bent down to pick them up, opened one, and saw twelve pills like lotus flowers, with a fragrant aroma that invigorated the spirit and made the body feel light.

"Truly excellent pills." Meng Qi praised, sealed the bottle, and put it in his pocket, deciding to take one every five days to reach the peak sooner.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhwei smiled and said, "Little monk, you saved 30 merit points, becoming even wealthier."

She guessed that Meng Qi originally intended to exchange for "Lingzhi Qi Pills."

"Of course, if you lend me merit points, it won't be nine out of thirteen, but ten out of twelve." Meng Qi also joked.

In this Reincarnation mission, he gained 50 merit points for the main mission, 20 for participating in killing the "Versatile Scholar," 50 for participating in killing the "Palm of the Universe," 100 for completing the second main mission, and 30 for the mission evaluation, totaling 250 merit points.

Jiang Zhwei chuckled, "I have more merit points than you, so if anyone needs to borrow, it's you from me."

She gained 50 merit points for the first main mission, 30 for participating in killing the "Versatile Scholar," 20 for participating in killing the "Palm of the Universe," 100 for participating in killing General Duercha, 100 for the second main mission, and 20 for the mission evaluation, totaling 320 merit points.

Meng Qi thought to himself, "The 'True Intent' inheritance is quite valuable, even though I can't recite it now and exchange it with the Master of the Six Paths."

He looked at Zhang Yuanshan and Qi Zhengyan and said with a smile, "Senior Brother Zhang, Senior Brother Qi, you must have more merit points than me, right?"

Qi Zhengyan, after his injuries were healed, resumed his taciturn state and nodded slightly. "I have 260 merit points, plus the remaining 20, totaling 280."

After exchanging for the "Mother and Son Soul Separating Dart," he had 20 merit points left. In this mission, he gained 50 merit points for the first main mission, 10 for participating in killing the "Versatile Scholar," 80 for participating in killing the "Palm of the Universe," 100 for the second main mission, and 20 for the mission evaluation.

"I probably have the most merit points, as 20 of them are from Junior Sister Jiang." Zhang Yuanshan said humorously, "I currently have 310 merit points."

He gained 150 merit points for the main missions, 50 for killing "River Luo" Guan Haoran, 50 for participating in killing General Duercha, 20 for participating in killing the "Versatile Scholar," 20 for participating in killing the "Palm of the Universe," and 20 for the mission evaluation.

After everyone honestly shared their merit points, Zhang Yuanshan stopped smiling and said solemnly, "We need to decide what to exchange. The next mission may not have a helper like Master Xin Ji, and there won't be anyone like Gu Xiaosang entering unexpectedly, so we need to rely on ourselves as much as possible."

"I need to repair the 'White Rainbow Piercing Sun Sword' first, otherwise, I can't explain it." Jiang Zhwei stroked her beloved sword.

It had many fine cracks from General Duercha's palm.

Meng Qi and the others nodded, not interfering with Jiang Zhwei's decision. Saying they would discuss together was just for exchanging opinions, not for forcing decisions. Moreover, Jiang Zhwei was a natural swordsman, and a good sword would greatly enhance her abilities, so prioritizing the repair of the sword was reasonable.

"My long sword was also broken by Tang Shun, but it's just an ordinary hundred-refined steel sword, and I can get a new one when I return to the mountain." Zhang Yuanshan smiled at Jiang Zhwei, "Junior Sister Jiang, besides this, what else are you interested in?"

Jiang Zhwei's face seemed to glow. "I roughly browsed the 'Exchange Catalog' last time. Apart from those I can't afford for a long time, there is one sword technique that is quite interesting. The first 22 moves are at the Enlightenment level, with the affectionate part worth 200 merit points and the unaffectionate part worth 600."

"But at the 23rd move, it suddenly rises to a very good level among the Outer Scenery sword techniques, requiring thousands of merit points to exchange. According to the Master of the Six Paths' description, I think even my master would praise this move. It's hard to imagine such a fundamental leap in a sword technique."

Talking about sword techniques, she was incomparably beautiful.

"Miss Jiang, what sword technique?" Hearing about the 23rd move, Meng Qi suddenly thought of something and asked in shock.

Seeing Meng Qi's expression, Jiang Zhwei understood that he had read the introduction to this sword technique and nodded with a smile, "As you thought, the 'Holy Spirit Sword Technique.'"

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