Hundred Mile Qi Convergence

As a place of inheritance, the Martial Arts Pavilion was one of the most important locations in the entire Wuji Sect, so its defenses were exceedingly strict.

As Lu Ming made his way through, he underwent another round of meticulous inspections before finally being allowed inside.

The Martial Arts Pavilion had three floors. The first stored Human-grade initial and middle-stage martial arts, while the second held high-stage and peak-stage martial arts.

The third floor stored Earth-grade initial-level martial arts.

Anything above that was not kept here.

Once inside, Lu Ming headed straight for the second floor with a clear goal in mind.

Last time, he had only visited the first floor. This was also his first time coming up to the second.

He swept his gaze around first and saw that the second floor was spacious, with more than a dozen large bookshelves.

They were filled with martial arts manuals.

Internal arts, movement arts, external arts, fist techniques, palm techniques, saber techniques, and more were sorted into categories and arranged upon them. The selection was extremely comprehensive.

At this moment, many disciples were quietly choosing their own manuals. Other than the sound of pages turning, no one made a sound.

After bowing to the elder guarding the second floor, Lu Ming headed straight inside.

The first bookshelf contained palm techniques: Five Dragon Palm, Rootless Palm, Thousand Jin Palm, Luo Yan Palm, Flying Cloud Palm, Six Yin Soul Transformation Palm, and so on.

There were dozens of them.

He browsed through them one by one, taking in the sights at a gallop, and discovered that these manuals contained only introductions. Clearly, this was to prevent disciples from secretly memorizing them.

At the same time, every palm technique had its required contribution points marked on it.

For example, a Human-grade High Stage Five Dragon Palm required one thousand contribution points to exchange for.

That should have been the lowest price. The others all cost more than a thousand, with some requiring several thousand or even over ten thousand.

For instance, Six Yin Soul Transformation Palm required a frightening eight thousand points.

Lu Ming did not know how many contribution points a single mission could earn, but it probably would not be much. Otherwise, martial arts would be far too easy to obtain.

Of course, this palm technique was also of a high grade, reaching Human-grade Peak Stage.

"What a pity. My entry benefit only allows me to choose a Human-grade High Stage martial art."

After looking through the palm techniques, Lu Ming did not rush to make a choice. Instead, he planned to continue looking through the other martial arts. Firstly, he would have more options; secondly, he could broaden his horizons.

The second row held leg techniques: Purple Cloud Leg, Hundred Poisons Seven Treasures Leg, Ten Paths Flying Crossing Leg, Chasing Wind Eighteen Kicks...

After reading through them all, he went to the third row. This row contained sword arts: Nine Palaces Sword, Flying Cloud Sword, Divine Illumination Sixty-Four Swords, and so on.

Once he had looked through each of them, Lu Ming made his decision. He intended to use his two opportunities to choose a movement art and an external art.

He had thought this through carefully. He already had the Heavenly Saber Saber Art for offense, and for close-quarters hand techniques, he could learn the [Tiger Fiend Claw] he had obtained from the Black Tiger Gang's leader.

If he then cultivated an external art, he would have offense, movement, and defense all covered.

Arriving at the movement arts bookshelf, he went straight for [Hundred Mile Qi Convergence].

This movement art was Human-grade High Stage.

Once mastered, it made the body as light as a swallow, allowing one to cover as much as two hundred meters in a single step. It was considered the finest among all Human-grade High Stage movement arts.

At the same time, it was exceptionally suited for long-distance dashes. Running a hundred li in one breath was nothing extraordinary.

That was also the origin of its name.

Lu Ming did the conversion. One hundred li was fifty thousand meters, and if each step covered two hundred meters, he would only need two hundred and fifty steps.

With his current cultivation, running two hundred and fifty steps in one breath was no problem.

Very reasonable.

Having chosen his movement art, Lu Ming went to the external arts bookshelf. External arts were also called body-strengthening cultivation methods. Advanced external arts did not merely cultivate the exterior; on the contrary, they worked from the outside inward, producing internal qi, true qi, and the like.

After all, Martial Artists could unleash Hidden Strength and shockwaves. Purely external defenses simply could not withstand such force.

Thus, he passed over things like Iron Shirt Art and Bronze Armor Art.

Instead, he chose an [Iron Elephant Art] that included qi cultivation. This art could not only temper the flesh until it was as hard as iron, but also form protective true qi within the body.

With this true qi present, it could effectively defend against attacks that penetrated the body's surface and entered the body.

The only problem was that this art was Human-grade Peak Stage, exceeding the scope of his entry benefit. But he had a solution.

So, carrying the introductions for the two manuals, he went to the elder guarding the floor.

There were people queuing here to exchange for martial arts, while others were copying them down. Original martial arts manuals could never be taken away.

"Alright, here is the fist manual for this technique. Take it over there and copy it down. Remember not to damage it. Also, the copy must be returned within one month."

"And do not privately pass on martial arts. Otherwise, the consequences will be severe."

The elder guarding the floor warned.

"Got it, Elder Kang. It's not like this is my first time exchanging for martial arts," said the disciple ahead of him with a grin.

Elder Kang remained stern. "It is better to give more reminders, lest someone grows careless and lax, then makes a mistake."

"A few years ago, a disciple harbored wishful thoughts. Not only did he privately pass on martial arts, he even sold them outside. Once he was discovered, not only was his cultivation crippled, but he was expelled from the sect."

The disciple's heart jolted when he heard that. He hurriedly said he would not, then went off to the side to make copies.

At last, it was Lu Ming's turn. He first handed over his identity token, then the jade tablet proving his entry benefits.

"This copy of [Iron Elephant Art] exceeds the value of your entry benefits."

Elder Kang looked at Lu Ming. From his expression, it was clear that he already knew of Lu Ming's existence.

Still, he asked the question because he wanted to know whether Lu Ming was the sort to grow arrogant over his talent.

Unhurried, Lu Ming took out [Tiger Fiend Claw] and [Heavenly Saber Art]. He intended to exchange them all for contribution points.

The Wuji Sect did not require disciples to hand over martial arts manuals they brought back from outside, though they could voluntarily exchange them.

When Lu Ming had come last time, he had been in a rush to cultivate and had not taken them out. This time, he could exchange them while he had the chance.

"Are you sure you want to exchange this martial art?"

Elder Kang took [Heavenly Saber Art] and gave it a glance, clearly astonished.

It was not as though no disciples had ever brought martial arts obtained outside to exchange before, but those had all been of relatively low grade.

Even Human-grade Peak Stage manuals were rare, let alone Earth-grade ones.

One might not see a single one in several decades.

Once a martial art reached the Earth-grade, it was already considered rare. An Earth-grade initial level cultivation method could even serve as the inherited art of a ninth-rank family.

Thus, after obtaining one, most people treated it with the utmost caution, regarding it as their own secret manual and rarely letting it leak out.

Even within the Wuji Sect, one needed to make tremendous contributions to learn an Earth-grade martial art.

For Lu Ming to bring one out now was truly surprising.

Lu Ming, however, did not particularly care. His true reliance was not [Heavenly Saber Art], but the mysterious Jade Pendant and his own talent.

Rather than keeping this saber manual, he might as well exchange it for more martial arts.

Besides, the Wuji Sect had treated him well. There was nothing wrong with exchanging it to the sect.

So he directly nodded. "I'm sure."

"Good. Come with me."

Seeing that there were too many prying eyes here, Elder Kang had a Steward Disciple handle the exchange of the other martial arts first, then led Lu Ming into a room.

Everyone was curious about what grade of martial skill he was exchanging that required him to go somewhere separately.

But no one dared discuss it here.

"This [Heavenly Saber Art] includes both an internal cultivation method and a saber technique, so it counts as two Earth-grade initial level martial arts."

"As for its specific quality, this martial art takes an unorthodox path. Its strength lies in the fact that, once cultivated to completion, its movement technique and saber speed are exceptionally swift."

"Its weakness is that the inner qi, true qi, and astral qi cultivated through it are not as heavy and powerful as those produced by other Earth-grade initial level martial arts."

"Therefore, among martial arts of this grade, its quality is above average. Of course, that is when the internal cultivation method and saber technique are considered together. Separately, their value would be greatly reduced."

After reading it through, Elder Kang gave his assessment.

"The sect will not take advantage of you. Martial arts of this quality are generally worth around twenty to thirty thousand contribution points. I'll make the decision and give you thirty thousand. In addition, I'll grant you one chance to choose another Earth-grade initial level martial art."

After hearing this, Lu Ming's breathing grew a little hurried. Never mind the contribution points—he could even choose another Earth-grade initial level martial art. This exchange had indeed been no loss.

"Don't underestimate this opportunity. No matter how many contribution points you have, if you have not earned the sect's recognition, you still cannot exchange them for Earth-grade martial arts."

Elder Kang said with a smile.

Lu Ming hurriedly thanked him. "Thank you, Elder."

"No need. If anyone else had come to exchange it, I would have done the same, because Earth-grade martial arts are simply too precious."

"With every additional one, the sect gains another portion of its heritage. Besides, whether it is the internal cultivation method or the saber art, this [Heavenly Saber Art] progresses step by step and is exceptionally suitable for training disciples."

As he spoke, he handed Lu Ming a token—the proof allowing him to exchange for an Earth-grade initial level martial art.

Lu Ming had no intention of using it yet. After all, he did not need a cultivation method, and even if he obtained martial skills, he would not be able to use them.

He would keep it for now.

"Oh, right. There is something else I want to ask you."

After recording Lu Ming's contribution points, Elder Kang spoke again.

Lu Ming was somewhat puzzled. "Please ask, Elder."

Elder Kang sized him up before saying, "What exactly were you thinking when you chose to exchange the martial art that established your footing for the sect?"