Second-Tier Resources

"Yang Chen is quite impressive. There is no longer any suspense about Area 8 taking second place this month."

Lin Chuan looked at Yang Chen's name, growing more satisfied the longer he looked. As if recalling something, a smug smile curled across his lips. "Let's see how that crazy woman can still climb all over me!"

The crazy woman he spoke of was the manager of Area 5. Among the Outer Sect disciples of Hidden Sword Peak, practically everyone knew of her.

For ordinary people, risking one's life was a final desperate gambit. But for that crazy woman, risking her life was merely the opening move.

Yet her talent was astonishing, and her background even more unimaginable. Thus, almost no one at Hidden Sword Peak dared provoke her.

There was a wager between the two of them. Its terms were simple: during the year that the cultivation rankings remained in place, if Area 8 surpassed Area 5 and took second place, then Area 8 would win.

The stakes were 5,000 spirit crystals!

Even for people like them, who were about to break through to the Transcendent Realm, that was no small sum. But the spirit crystals were secondary. The most important thing was making that crazy woman suffer a setback—that was what truly delighted Lin Chuan.

At the thought of that crazy woman flying into a rage in her Training Ground right now, Lin Chuan felt as comfortable all over as if he had swallowed an immortal pill.

He had already made up his mind. Once he received the 5,000 spirit crystals, he would keep half for himself. Of the remaining 2,500, he would give half to the disciples on the Rankings Board and distribute the other half to the bottom-tier disciples.

He would vent his anger and still take 2,500 spirit crystals for himself. Yang Chen and the others on the Rankings Board would get a share of the benefits, while the bottom-tier disciples would get to drink the soup as well. They might not be overwhelmed with gratitude toward the sect, but at the very least, they would not harbor much resentment. It could truly be called a win on many fronts.

As for those old disciples who had caused trouble, if they wanted someone to blame, they could blame the ranked disciples of their own generation for not working hard enough and failing to raise up Area 8's glory.

While the outside world was abuzz, Yang Chen had already completed two rounds of cultivation in his residence.

After finishing his cultivation, he summoned the panel:

[Host: Yang Chen]

[Realm: Blood Martial First Level, Punching Force: 18,586]

[Daily Spirit Crystals: 10]

"After breaking through, the boost brought by the Eight Directions Body Refining Technique is greater than it was in the Qi Martial Realm. But correspondingly, the time it takes for my body to reach its limit has increased considerably."

He had broken through that very morning. Naturally, he was delighted by the breakthrough, because his daily spirit crystals had increased tenfold, allowing him to ride smoothly through the Blood Martial Realm.

But he still had not forgotten to cultivate diligently. After finishing his first cultivation session, he discovered that his Punching Force had increased several kilograms more than it had in the Qi Martial Realm, while the time required for each session had also increased significantly.

Overall, however, the gains from daily cultivation in the Blood Martial Realm were far greater than in the Qi Martial Realm. Then again, breaking through in the Blood Martial Realm was no ordinary matter either.

To rise from Blood Martial First Level to the second level, the required power of qi and blood, when manifested as Punching Force, amounted to a full 5,000 kilograms.

A minor realm apart meant a difference of 5,000 kilograms of strength. From this, one could see just how enormous the gap in strength became as martial artists advanced further in their cultivation.

Without resources to assist them, relying solely on bitter cultivation, even a single minor breakthrough would take at least three months.

And that was for those with sufficient talent who cultivated diligently. For those with slightly poorer talent and less diligence, they would need to add at least another two months.

When advancing from Blood Martial Third Level to the fourth level, the required qi and blood would be equivalent to increasing one's Punching Force by 10,000 kilograms. A single minor breakthrough would then take at least half a year.

This was why so many disciples could not advance into the Outer Sect. Reaching the peak of the Blood Martial Realm within five years—how could that be so easy?

That night, Yang Chen unusually gave himself a day off. It was perhaps the earliest he had slept in ten months. It was not that he did not want to cultivate; his pockets were simply too empty. Those ten spirit crystals would not be issued until tomorrow.

The next day arrived quickly. Yang Chen immediately contacted Wang Feng and bought one Qi and Blood Pill from him.

Wang Feng looked somewhat regretful when he left. In the past, Yang Chen had bought Qi Strength Pills two bottles at a time. Now, he was buying them one pill at a time.

Yang Chen had hardships he could not put into words. Now that he had broken through to the Blood Martial Realm, first-tier resources helped him far less. To maintain rapid cultivation, he had to use second-tier resources.

Qi and Blood Pills were second-tier medicinal pills, and also the most suitable pills for Blood Martial Realm martial artists. But they were expensive. A single pill had cost him four spirit crystals, and he still needed to save a few spirit crystals to ask the dining hall about second-tier Fierce Beast Meat.

But this situation would soon ease. After a few more days, the spirit crystals in his hands would become quite considerable. He would not have to worry about being unable to afford second-tier resources.

After returning to Spiritual Field No. 8 and making a round of inspections, he hurried into the wooden hut to cultivate. Once he had cultivated to his limit, he swallowed the Qi and Blood Pill and began absorbing its medicinal power.

Half an hour later, he looked at the panel, delight flashing in his eyes.

[Realm: Blood Martial First Level, Punching Force: 18,672]

After only one cultivation session, his strength had increased by a full 86 kilograms. By that calculation, his strength could increase by at least 130 kilograms each day. If he supplemented it with other second-tier resources, the strength he could gain each day would be even greater.

He immediately began calculating. He now had as many as 300 spirit crystals available each month. Before dawn, he had gone to the dining hall to ask about second-tier Fierce Beast Meat. Eighty kilograms of Fierce Beast Meat cost five spirit crystals. At the rate of ten kilograms per day, he would need to pay roughly 0.8 spirit crystals daily.

Qi and Blood Pills were sold by the bottle. One bottle cost fifteen spirit crystals and contained four Qi and Blood Pills, amounting to less than four spirit crystals per day.

Together, the two cost less than 140 spirit crystals a month. The extra spirit crystals could be spent on other resources.

For example, he could arrange for Spirit Calming Incense and Muscle Relaxing and Vitality Pills every day. Even counting ninety spirit crystals a month for those, he had also learned of a second-tier spirit fruit called the Nine Leaf Profound Spirit Fruit. This fruit grew on the Nine Leaf Profound Spirit Tree, ripened once every ten years, and could increase a martial artist's qi and blood without any hidden drawbacks.

The Nine Leaf Profound Spirit Tree only grew in places abundant with spiritual qi. Each time it bore fruit, it produced ninety-nine fruits, and every one cost five spirit crystals. It was said that Hidden Sword Peak had a treasured tract of land specifically used to grow precious trees from across the world. Inner Sect Uncle-Masters stood guard there year-round, and it was one of Hidden Sword Peak's important industries.

He could not afford to eat one every day, but eating one every three days was not a problem. With all these resources piled together, he could gain qi and blood equivalent to no less than 200 kilograms of Punching Force each day. In that case, his cultivation speed in the Blood Martial Realm might even surpass that of the Qi Martial Realm.

Thinking of this, Yang Chen was filled with excitement.

At this rate, he did not dare claim he could take first place on the Newcomer Cultivation Ranking, after all, only three months remained.

But as for who among his generation would be the first to advance into the Outer Sect, he felt that he could compete with Huang Tianyu and the other two.

Amid that excitement, more than a day quickly passed.

After completing his final inspection task of the day, Yang Chen headed toward the residential area. Today was the end of the tenth month since he had entered the sect. In the past two days, three more people had broken through to the Blood Martial Realm. He did not want to be squeezed out of the top ten, so today he had to make a showing at the Testing Stele and stabilize his ranking.

He had only walked a short distance when someone he had never expected appeared on the path he had to take back.

"Zhou Han!"

A cold light appeared in Yang Chen's eyes, and his entire body immediately tensed.