Chapter 267: Chapter 242: Fourth-level Master, Twenty-Five Streams of Inner Strength_1
About five days later, the rewards were distributed.
This time, the total merit points awarded for exterminating the ancient battlefield’s demon were two hundred.
It was clear that Lu Yan and Chu Hongye contributed the most, followed by Wang Guangyao, while Li Chengkong and Zhang Ling’er equally shared the last place.
So, out of the two hundred merit points, Lu Yan and Chu Hongye both received fifty points, Wang Guangyao received forty, and Li Chengkong and Zhang Ling’er got thirty each.
While this distribution was obviously not totally fair, it was roughly equitable, and considering that they had all faced life-and-death situations together, there were no quarrels over such trifles.
The real jackpot was the reward for the Martial Spirits.
Liu Boguang’s reward was also included in this category.
Not only had they killed several Martial Spirits of third-level Master and above, but they also discovered the traitor, Tu Yu.
If the traitor had not been exposed, the consequences could have been unimaginable, potentially causing severe harm. Considering this, the reward was naturally generous.
Furthermore, they had killed a high-ranking sixth-level master Martial Spirit from the enemy side.
These factors combined awarded them a thousand merit points in total, five times more than for exterminating the demon and ten times more than what was awarded for foiling Lingdong’s six counties from Spirit Sect’s plot.
According to the contributions reported, Chu Hongye had the greatest merit and consequently received seven hundred merit points.
Lu Yan and Wang Guangyao received about the same amount, each getting a hundred merit points.
Li Chengkong and Zhang Ling’er each received fifty.
"For killing the demon, your contributions were equal to mine. I won’t take advantage of you. Out of the 700 merit points, I will deduct 100, splitting the remaining 600 evenly. Let me know what you need, and I can redeem it for you," said Chu Hongye when she arrived at Lu Yan’s residence after the awards were distributed.
Lu Yan wasn’t surprised as they had discussed this in advance. Chu Hongye would claim the merit for killing the Martial Spirits and cover for Lu Yan.
As for the rewards, they would divide them privately later.
"I want third-level martial pills. Please redeem all of them for third-level martial pills." Lu Yan nodded.
After all, he still had a hundred and fifty merit points on his account that he could use later if needed.
The merit points Chu Hongye had would all be converted into third-level martial pills to rapidly increase his Cultivation Level.
"Sure. Also, I will give you the guidebook and Divine Intent Diagram of the Four-pole Divine Sword in a few days," said Chu Hongye and then turned around to leave without further ado.
The following day, she brought three hundred third-level martial pills to Lu Yan.
"I wonder if these three hundred third-level martial pills are enough for me to breakthrough to the fourth-level Master.." Lu Yan thought to himself.
He estimated that it probably wouldn’t be enough.
When he was going from the first to the second-level Master, he had used eighty martial pills, along with a large amount of third-level Martial Food.
Breaking through from third to fourth-level Master would undoubtedly require more energy.
And he currently only had twenty-one strands of Inner Strength.
When breaking from second to third-level Master, he had been able to do it quickly thanks to practicing two Top Martial Arts techniques to achieve the Unity of Man and Martial Arts, obtaining a gift from the world, and twice raising his Cultivation Level.
After reaching third-level Master, there won’t be another raise in Cultivation Level.
If there really isn’t enough, he would use the remaining one hundred and fifty merit points to exchange for martial pills. Paired with third-level Martial Food, that should be enough.
In the practice room, he swallowed a martial pill and started to cultivate.
A few hours later, the energy from the martial pill had been completely absorbed.
Instead of continuing with the martial pills, Lu Yan took some third-level martial food to aid in his cultivation.
In the blink of an eye, ten days passed.
On this day, Chu Hongye again found Lu Yan and directly handed him a delicate iron box.
When Lu Yan opened it, he found the guide to the Four-pole Divine Sword along with the Divine Intent Diagram.
Lu Yan couldn’t help but admire Chu Hongye’s approach.
"Try to comprehend it as soon as possible and return it to me in three months. Don’t tell me that with your insight, you still can’t understand it after three months," Chu Hongye said.
"I can only do my best. As I’ve said, I’m only compatible with Thunder Nine Sounds, not necessarily with the Four-pole Divine Sword," Lu Yan said.
"Be careful I don’t spill the beans when I’m drunk."
Chu Hongye left Lu Yan with a proud image and left elegantly.
Lu Yan opened the sword guide and examined it carefully. After memorizing the guide, he took out the Divine Intent Diagram to comprehend it further, with considerable ease.
In the following days, Lu Yan devoted himself to comprehending the Four-pole Divine Sword in addition to his usual martial arts practice.
Although he was only familiar with the Wind Chasing Life-taking Sword technique, he already had five advanced Martial Arts techniques that achieved the Unity of Man and Martial Arts as his bottom line. Whether it is experience or vision, few people in the true body realm could rival him, let alone the Masters.
So it didn’t prove too difficult to comprehend, and in two and a half months, he had successfully comprehended the introductory stage, and had returned the sword guide and the Divine Intent Diagram to Chu Hongye.
"Two and a half months?"
Chu Hongye was surprised.
If it were any other person, mastering an advanced sword skill in two and a half months would be an envious achievement.
But Lu Yan’s previous extraordinary performance led Chu Hongye to think that he had been slow, rather than fast.
In her mind, Lu Yan’s understanding could surpass even Wang Tianyu’s.
For Wang Tianyu, getting an advanced martial skill in hand, he could get started in half a month.
Could it be because Lu Yan is indeed very compatible with Thunder Nine Sounds?
After Chu Hongye left, Lu Yan took out a piece of Dao Food for the Dao Book to devour, intending to boost the progress of the Four-pole Divine Sword.
However, the energy in these Dao Food was far from comparable to that in Immortal Bones. The two most dense pieces were only equivalent to ten merit points worth of Immortal Bone energy. So after all of Lu Yan’s Dao Food was depleted, the Four-pole Divine Sword only reached Mastery, not the Peak of Perfection.
Lu Yan was deciding whether to use merit points to exchange for Immortal Bones and boost the Four-pole Divine Sword to the Unity of Man and Martial Arts.
If it’s elevated to the Unity of Man and Martial Arts now, there would be both pros and cons.
The advantage is of course that practicing the Acquired Martial Body would garner a gift from the universe, increase the amount of inner strength, and should be able to advance his Cultivation Level a bit.
The downside is, the more inner strength increases, the harder it is to breakthrough.
An increase in inner strength will enhance the difficulty of a breakthrough. However, I can either choose to improve my cultivation level or to maintain the status quo. Which option would enable me to break through to the fourth-level master faster?
The final judgement is, if I can cultivate the Four-pole Divine Sword to the Unity of Man and Martial Arts level, my cultivation level would improve, which might allow me to break through to the fourth-level master faster.
Because the gift from heaven and earth equates to twenty-one inner strengths, upgrading them together would save a significant amount of Martial Food.
Having understood this, Lu Yan quickly went to the Merit Hall, spent fifty meritorious points, and exchanged them for two pieces of Immortal Bone, one for twenty meritorious points and the other for thirty.
He returned to the Practice Room of his private residence, and without delay, fed the Dao Book a thirty-meritorious-points piece of Immortal Bone.
The progress of the Four-pole Divine Sword soared quickly.
After he exhausted it, the Dao Book swallowed the other twenty-meritorious-points piece of Immortal Bone.
When the Dao Book finished refining this piece of Immortal Bone, the Four-pole Divine Sword barely achieved the Unity of Man and Martial Arts.
Now that the Acquired Martial Body was built, the gifts from heaven and earth descended.
After a round of cultivation, his bodily speed continued to climb, and the cultivation level steadily advanced, coming closer to the peak of the third-level master.
The increase in Inner Strength amounted to four.
His total amount of inner strength had now reached twenty-five.
"It has increased by roughly twenty percent."
Lu Yan made a silent judgement. The amount of improvement was indeed diminishing.
By keeping two to three top Martial Arts at the Unity of Man and Martial Arts level, the improvements would be completely lost.
After swallowing multiple pieces of the Immortal Bone consecutively, the Dao Book finally showed change again.
Lu Yan went to the outskirts of the city for a test and found that the number of avatars that could come out was still three, but the distance had increased by double, allowing them to be up to twenty miles from the main body.
Twenty miles was a good distance. It made their use much more handy.
Following the Four-pole Divine Sword’s upgrade to the Unity of Man and Martial Arts level, Lu Yan put down his Martial Arts and devoted himself to improving his cultivation level.
Consuming Martial Pills daily and preparing Martial Food, the days flew by quickly.
Soon, it was time for the annual Hidden Dragon Camp Challenge.
This time, Lu Yan didn’t even bother watching the lively event and stayed at home to cultivate.
Later, he heard that Shang Wuyang and Mo Wenzhuo had fought over 500 moves with Mo Wuzhuo narrowly winning by one move due to his Body Refining Martial Arts’ incredible endurance.
Many people speculated that the number one seat would change in next year’s challenge.
Daily cooking of Martial Food, consuming Martial Pill, and cultivation made his days dull but fulfilling.
In the blink of an eye, almost a year had passed again.
In about ten days, another annual Hidden Dragon List Challenge was coming up.
In the Practice Room of Lu Yan’s private residence, Lu Yan sat cross-legged with twenty-five inner strengths swirling around him like vibrantly colored ribbons, deep and thick.
"Finally reached the peak of the third-level master. Now, I can strive for the fourth-level master."
Lu Yan’s eyes gleamed brightly.
More than a year of diligent cultivation, not only had he finished all 300 of the third-level Martial Pills Chu Hongye gave him, but he had also spent all of the remaining hundred meritorious points on exchanging for Martial Pills. This allowed his cultivation level to reach the peak of the third-level master.
If he had not received a gift from heaven and earth during that period, he would not have reached such a realm.
"Let’s breakthrough."
At that thought, the twenty-five inner strengths all flowed towards his lungs.
One day later...
In the Practice Room, the wind from his palm whistled, and the frosty atmosphere turned the room into a winter land.
After a while, his hand movement stopped.
"Finally, before the Hidden Dragon List Challenge, I have broken through to the fourth-level master."
"Considering that this is my fifth Hidden Dragon List Challenge since I joined the Hidden Dragon Camp, with my cultivation level at the fourth-level master, I should be able to make a move."
Lu Yan clenched his fist.
At the fourth-level master, without exposing any drastic cards, I should easily enter the Hidden Dragon List, and receive a reward every month.
"Lu Yan, are you there?"
A figure walked into Lu Yan’s private residence.
Needless to say, it must be Chu Hongye.
A few months ago, Chu Hongye started seeking Lu Yan for Swordsmanship practice. As soon as Lu Yan revealed his mastery in the Four-pole Divine Sword, Chu Hongye came to practice with Lu Yan from time to time.
Keep in mind, Chu Hongye practiced the Four-pole Divine Sword for over twenty years and only reached perfection. He was stuck at the peak of perfection and couldn’t breakthrough to Reaching the Peak of Perfection.
Lu Yan came out and asked, "What, is your Swordsmanship about to breakthrough?"
"Correct, I will surely breakthrough before the Hidden Dragon List Challenge."
Chu Hongye revealed a strong confidence.
"Let’s get started."
Lu Yan unsheathed his longsword, a shiny silver treasure sword, a high-grade Divine Weapon. Chu Hongye gave it to him, and it was worth 150,000 silver.
Clang!
Chu Hongye also unsheathed his longsword and lunged at Lu Yan.
Two sword lights, like two crossing dragons, but after over ten moves, there was still no collision.
Both of them were looking for flaws in each other’s swordsmanship.
It wasn’t until the fifteenth move when the swords finally met. The sword qi was domineering, breaking a stone table in the courtyard in half.
"Did your cultivation level break through?"
Chu Hongye was surprised.
"Indeed, it just broke through recently."
Lu Yan nodded.
"The cultivation speed of top Martial Arts at Unity of Man and Martial Arts really does make one envious."
Chu Hongye said.
