Chapter 34

Huff!

Letting out a long breath, Ye Zhen slowly opened his eyes, a layer of disappointment floating in them.

"Still no breakthrough..."

It had been three months, just three days short of a full three months.

For nearly three months, Ye Zhen had been almost completely confined to his room, diligently cultivating to complete the sect's tasks. To obtain the high-quality human-grade cultivation technique promised by Instructor Liao, Ye Zhen had already started to push himself to the limit.

Just a single copy of the Human-grade Lower Rank Essence Blood Primordial Body Technique had allowed Ye Zhen to taste the benefits of a high-level cultivation technique. The allure of a Human-grade Upper Rank cultivation technique, which inner disciples rarely had the chance to obtain, was unimaginable.

In the past three months, Ye Zhen had been working hard, and the bottle of Condensing Essence Pills given by Liao Feibai had long been consumed. The stone marrow spirit liquid accumulated over nearly three months was almost entirely used up.

Not only that, the 200 contribution points Ye Zhen earned from completing sect tasks over the past three months, plus the 350 contribution points he had left over, were all used to exchange for Condensing Essence Pills, which cost 100 contribution points each. Now, only 50 points remained.

Just now, Ye Zhen had taken the last Condensing Essence Pill he had exchanged for, but still failed to completely convert his blood qi into true essence, and break through to the True Essence Realm.

It was just the final step. If Ye Zhen could convert the blood qi vortex in his dantian into true essence, the essence blood qi in his body would be completely transformed into true essence, allowing him to fully break through to the True Essence Realm.

But this final step had cost Ye Zhen three Condensing Essence Pills, and after six or seven days, there was still no progress.

"It seems I've hit a bottleneck..."

Whenever one encounters a bottleneck, merely locking oneself away to cultivate intensely cannot solve the problem. Generally, there are two methods to break through a bottleneck.

One is combat, battling against the sky, against people, against beasts. Perhaps after a thorough and intense battle, the bottleneck can be broken.

The second is mental state. Perhaps a single word from a wise teacher, a casual remark from a child, or a sudden enlightenment can clarify one's mind and break through the existing bottleneck.

However, for the current Ye Zhen, the mental state aspect is still somewhat profound. The best way for Ye Zhen to break through his current bottleneck is through combat.

A thorough and intense battle.

Originally, Ye Zhen's intense cultivation was not only to obtain Instructor Liao's reward but also for other reasons, such as beating someone up!

If one were to talk about the most bustling place on Eastward Peak of Qiyun Sect, it would be the dining hall during the three daily meal times. Apart from the outer disciples who were out completing sect tasks, almost 90% of the outer disciples would come to the dining hall for meals at these times.

Therefore, in the dining hall, which covers more than a thousand square meters, some very passionate things would sometimes happen, like now.

Ye Zhen swallowed a large bowl of beef and potato stew, drank all the soup, and slowly wiped his mouth. His gaze swept around and found his target in the vast dining hall.

Whoosh!

With a flick of his wrist, the pair of chopsticks in Ye Zhen's hand whistled through the air, shooting rapidly toward a table a hundred meters away.

Hearing the sharp whistling sound, all the outer disciples in the path of the chopsticks quickly ducked. This kind of thing happened every day in the dining hall, and they were already used to it.

Of course, those who were not used to it would either have their plates knocked over by the chopsticks or be pierced through by them.

Ye Zhen's target, Ma Hui, immediately recognized that the chopsticks were aimed at him from the distance.

However, Ma Hui remained seated calmly. When the chopsticks shot toward him, he swiftly extended his chopsticks to block them.

Ma Hui's chopsticks accurately intercepted the pair of chopsticks Ye Zhen had thrown, but at the moment of impact, his hand trembled uncontrollably.

What a powerful force!

Snap!

The terrifying force contained in the chopsticks Ye Zhen threw turned Ma Hui's skillful move into a brute force, and the chopsticks were instantly broken.

The broken chopstick spun and quickly pierced into the bowl of soup in front of Ma Hui.

Bang!

The tremendous force was like a hoof stomping on the bowl, causing the soup to splash everywhere.

Caught off guard, Ma Hui was drenched in soup from head to toe, looking extremely狼狈 (embarrassed).

Whoosh!

The outer disciples who were watching immediately burst into laughter.

Ma Hui's face turned green as he stood up, wiping the soup off his face, ready to curse, but at that moment, Ye Zhen's voice rang out.

"Ma Hui, dare you fight me, Ye Zhen?" Ye Zhen pointed at Ma Hui, whose face was covered in soup, and slightly curled his finger.

"What's there to fear! Ye Zhen, I'll f*** your ancestors..."

"I'll be waiting for you at the arena. By the way, you'd better wash your face first." Without waiting for the furious Ma Hui to finish cursing, Ye Zhen casually threw out a sentence and turned to leave.

"Ye Zhen, I'll tear you to pieces!" Ma Hui, completely enraged, rushed off to chase Ye Zhen's disappearing figure after hastily removing his outer clothes and rinsing off the soup.

The thousands of outer disciples in the dining hall also hurriedly followed Ye Zhen and Ma Hui to the arena, as their experience told them that the more noise a challenge made, the more intense and exciting the battle would be.

These energetic and carefree outer disciples loved excitement.

Among them, Jin Yuanbao was the fastest, his plump body darting left and right, quickly leading the crowd and rushing to the arena.

This is an opportunity, a chance to make money!

Last time, when Ye Zhen and Li Xuelong fought at the arena, the disparity was too great, and he didn't open a betting booth, regretting it deeply. If he missed this opportunity again, he might as well give up.

"My iron booth is open, fellow disciples can place your bets. Small bets can bring joy, large bets can bring wealth, no bets mean poverty for a thousand years. Come and place your bets.

Ma Hui, ranked 308th on the Earth List, odds of 4 to 1. Ye Zhen, a rising star who has been an outer disciple for only four months, odds of 2 to 1.

Come and place your bets, small bets bring joy, large bets bring wealth, no bets mean poverty for a thousand years..."

In the past few months, Ma Hui's ranking on the Earth List had risen significantly.

By the time Ye Zhen reached the arena, Jin Yuanbao had already set up his booth.

Jin Yuanbao's reputation was well-known, and people were placing bets one after another. In just a short time, more than a hundred people had already placed their bets.

"I bet 500 taels on Ma Hui."

"I bet 300 taels on Ye Zhen."

"Why are you betting on Ye Zhen? He was originally a servant disciple, and his talent is not great. Even if he became an outer disciple, what can he do in just four months? His greatest achievement is defeating Li Xuelong.

Ma Hui, on the other hand, has been an outer disciple for over two years. Half a year ago, his cultivation broke through to the Fifth Level of Blood Cultivation, and he has already condensed a significant amount of true essence. How can Ye Zhen possibly win?"

"You don't understand. I'm betting on the underdog. If he wins, I'll double my money in no time, making a small fortune. Even if Ma Hui wins, how much will you earn? Only 100 taels."

"I'm making a sure profit, equivalent to a bargain. Just throw in 500 taels, and I'll earn over 100 taels."

"Ma Hui's strength over the years is not to be underestimated. I'm betting on Ma Hui!"

"I'm betting on Ma Hui!"

"I'm betting on Ye Zhen. This kid dared to challenge publicly, so he might have some tricks up his sleeve."

In no time, Jin Yuanbao's iron booth was surrounded by people. Although a small number of people bet on Ye Zhen winning, most bet on Ma Hui. Due to the large number of people betting on Ma Hui, Jin Yuanbao boldly changed the odds to 5 to 1.

After cleaning up, Ma Hui was the first to jump onto the arena, shouting at Ye Zhen below, "Ye Zhen, you want to fight, come up here."

"Are you eager to die? Just wait." Ye Zhen rolled his eyes at Ma Hui, noticing that fewer people were placing bets, and walked over to Jin Yuanbao.

***********

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