Yes, Yes, Your Junior Brother Lu Is the Most Handsome

Every swing of his sword brought a subtle adjustment, and every time he condensed Qi, he did it with greater precision and ease than before.

When his Law Technique experience was exhausted, the information on his panel had changed.

The Heavy Sword Technique had reached its maximum level!

Just like the Heavy Sword Instruction, its maximum was level five.

["Heavy Sword Technique" (Max level)]: Reduces the Spiritual Qi consumed when using the Heavy Sword Technique by fifty percent.

Lu Yang slowly opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing in their depths.

The maximum-level special effect cut Spiritual Qi consumption by fifty percent. On top of that, the maximum-level Heavy Sword Instruction had already shortened the condensation time by thirty percent and increased its power by fifty percent.

All of these added together amounted to a complete transformation in every respect!

He took out his dark-black heavy sword and used the Heavy Sword Technique.

With only a gentle push of the Spiritual Qi within him, a rich golden light erupted from the heavy sword in just half a breath.

The blade hummed. Its heavy, mountain-like pressure was more restrained than before, yet more dangerous.

The Spiritual Qi consumption was far lower than before, amounting to only about one fifteenth as much.

As for its power, Lu Yang glanced around and didn't dare test it here.

With both the Heavy Sword Instruction and the Heavy Sword Technique at maximum level, a single strike might just tear down his little house.

He'd better forget it.

As Lu Yang withdrew his Spiritual Qi, the light on the heavy sword faded.

With his Heavy Sword Technique now at maximum level, he could freely control and withdraw it.

With that, neither the Heavy Sword Instruction nor the Heavy Sword Technique could advance any further!

Lu Yang put away his heavy sword and looked out the window toward the far end of the sea of clouds, pondering his plans for the future.

Next, he would focus on raising his cultivation.

Once the auction began, he would spend a hefty sum of Spirit Stones, then use the Rebate Card to double them. Once he had saved enough Spirit Stones, he would exchange them for contribution points.

With contribution points, he could go to the Scripture Pavilion and exchange them for higher-grade Cultivation Methods and Law Techniques to cultivate.

Although the Heavy Sword Instruction was only high-grade Yellow-rank, its actual effect at maximum level was not much worse than low-grade or even mid-grade Profound-rank Cultivation Methods that hadn't been cultivated to a profound level. For now, it was enough.

Once he raised his outer sect ranking and gained higher exchange privileges, it wouldn't be too late to directly exchange for a high-grade or even supreme-grade Profound-rank Cultivation Method.

The same went for Law Techniques.

The Heavy Sword Technique would suffice for a while longer, but he currently had only one offensive Law Technique. He had yet to learn a defensive Law Technique or an escape technique.

He had to make it a priority to fill those two gaps.

After that, he would see whether the sect had any other Law Techniques worth cultivating.

With so many Law Techniques piled together, he would have enough to digest for quite some time.

The New Year was a little over two months away, and the outer sect assessment would take place at the end of the year.

But Lu Yang had heard Qin Nanyue mention before that outer disciples didn't have to participate in the assessment during their first year, so he didn't need to rush this year.

As long as he achieved a good result at the end of next year, he would have accomplished his goal.

It would be best if he could make it into the top hundred!

But Lu Yang also knew that would be extremely difficult.

The top hundred were practically all at Peak Qi Refinement. They had spent twenty or thirty years cultivating and honing themselves in the outer sect. How could a newcomer who had just joined the outer sect catch up so easily?

Still, he would work toward that goal and take things one step at a time.

He shook his head, put the matter out of his mind, and closed his eyes to cultivate.

Time slipped by like sand, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

During that half month, Lu Yang completed his daily tasks without fail.

His constitution, intelligence, and charm steadily rose by 0.1 points a day.

[Constitution: 6.3]

[Intelligence: 5.4]

[Charm: 5.3]

[Spirit Root: high-grade (1250/10000)]

This was his current basic panel.

The three basic attributes spoke for themselves. His physique had already left body cultivators of the same stage far behind, and his comprehension had certainly increased dozens of times over from what it had been at the start. His looks hadn't changed much for now, but his bearing improved with each passing day.

As for his Spirit Root, he unfailingly invested fifty points of Universal Experience in it each day.

Raising a high-grade Spirit Root to supreme-grade required ten thousand experience points. At this rate, he could accumulate enough in two hundred days.

Upgrading from a high-grade Spirit Root to a supreme-grade Spirit Root would take only two hundred days!

If word of this got out, the entire cultivation world would erupt.

After breaking through to a high-grade Spirit Root, Lu Yang cultivated several times faster than he had with a mid-grade one. With the added assistance of both the maximum-level Heavy Sword Instruction and Spirit Cuisine and pills, his cultivation improved every day.

At this rate, he was confident he could break through to Late Qi Refining before next year's assessment.

Going from Mid-stage Qi Refining to Late Qi Refining in a little over a year—at that speed, let alone ordinary disciples, even geniuses with supreme-grade Spirit Roots who lacked resources might not be any faster than him.

One morning, after completing his daily tasks, Lu Yang pushed open the door and left his little house.

Today was the opening day of the sect auction. It was tied to his entire plan for doubling his Spirit Stones, so of course he had to go.

Yesterday, Qin Nanyue and Lin Ying had already contacted him through their sect tokens and arranged for the three of them to go together, meeting at the outer sect square.

When Lu Yang arrived, he saw from a distance that Qin Nanyue and Lin Ying were already waiting beside the sword-testing stone at the edge of the square.

The two great beauties stood side by side. One was tall and slender, with a longsword on her back and a strikingly heroic bearing in her features; the other was delicate and gentle, as tranquil as a pool of spring water.

The mountain breeze brushed their sleeves and the hair at their temples, drawing frequent sideways glances from passing outer disciples. Some even slowed their steps.

Qin Nanyue spotted Lu Yang at once.

She folded her arms and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Lu Yang, why are you so late? Did something happen? The auction is about to start."

Lu Yang smiled. "Nothing happened. Cultivation just delayed me a little."

Lin Ying hadn't seen Lu Yang for half a month, and from the moment he appeared, her eyes had never left his face.

As she gazed at him, her eyes grew a little dazed. Her lips moved, and she murmured under her breath, "Junior Brother Lu seems even more handsome..."

Though her voice was soft, Qin Nanyue, standing close by, heard every word.

She glanced helplessly at the lovestruck Lin Ying and said irritably, "Yes, yes, your Junior Brother Lu is the most handsome~~ All right, let's go. The auction is about to start."

Lin Ying abruptly came to her senses. Only then did she realize she had spoken her thoughts aloud.

Her cheeks instantly turned bright red, and even the tips of her ears turned pink.

Seeing her embarrassed expression, Lu Yang's lips curved slightly, and he smiled at her.

His smile made Lin Ying's heart skip another half beat, and she hurriedly lowered her head.

The three wasted no more time and hurried toward the marketplace.

Because of the auction, the marketplace was more than a whole level livelier than usual today.

Crowds surged along the main bluestone street. Cultivators jostled shoulder to shoulder, and pedestrians came and went in an endless stream.

There were outer and inner disciples of the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect, cultivators from the major nearby Aristocratic Clans and minor sects, and Rogue Cultivators of every description—people of all sorts.

Hawkers' cries, the sounds of bargaining, and the calls of spirit beasts blended into a tumultuous roar.

When those Aristocratic Clan cultivators and Rogue Cultivators saw people dressed as Golden Rainbow Sword Sect disciples, they almost invariably stepped aside without thinking.

This was especially true of Lu Yang and his two companions. The man was handsome, and the women were beautiful; all three far surpassed ordinary people in looks and bearing. Anyone who saw them would think they were no ordinary disciples.

Wherever the three went, the crowd automatically parted to either side, sparing them the trouble of squeezing through.

Soon, they passed through the bustling streets and arrived before the tallest dark-gold pavilion at the very back of the marketplace.

The pavilion's upturned eaves gave it an imposing, solemn air. Above its main entrance hung a huge black plaque bearing the three golden characters "Golden Rainbow Pavilion," written in vigorous strokes with Sword Qi faintly flowing through them.

A crowd had already gathered before the building. Several lines stretched from the entrance all the way to the middle of the street, inching slowly forward.

Qin Nanyue took one look at the densely packed lines, her lips curling slightly as she chuckled. "I have a VIP Token. We'll take the VIP entrance."