Exchange and Advancement

After putting away the eerie head, Zhou Yi looked at the three people slumped over the table. Walking over and seeing that their bodies were still rising and falling, he used Blood-Stopping Talismans on them as well. Then Zhou Yi left the courtyard and sent a Signal Talisman into the sky.

Soon afterward, Du Wei rushed into the courtyard. When he saw that it was Zhou Yi who had sent the Signal Talisman, he sized Zhou Yi up and found that he had not suffered any serious injuries. Only then did Du Wei's heart settle, and he asked Zhou Yi what had happened.

Zhou Yi told Du Wei what he had seen, while concealing the details of the battle.

Du Wei did not pursue the matter further. He merely patted Zhou Yi on the shoulder and said, "Continue your patrol. I'll handle things here."

Zhou Yi nodded, then carried the eerie head out of the courtyard.

After completing his final patrol round, the sky was already beginning to brighten. Zhou Yi did not rush home. Instead, he took the items dropped by the eerie creature to the Provincial Governor's Office. After exchanging them at the exchange counter outside the Scripture Repository, he finally returned home. Having gone through two battles, Zhou Yi was somewhat exhausted. He fell onto his bed and began sleeping soundly.

He slept until noon. Upon waking, Zhou Yi picked up the talismans on his desk and headed for the Treasure Pavilion.

After arriving at the Treasure Pavilion, Zhou Yi went straight to the fifth floor and directly toward the talisman section.

After telling the clerk behind the counter what he wanted, Zhou Yi was brought into a very small room. A wooden partition stood in the middle, with only a small window exposed. Even that window was covered by a curtain, making it somewhat like a pawnshop.

An aged voice came from behind the wooden partition.

"May I ask what the customer wishes to exchange?"

Zhou Yi did not answer the voice's question. Instead, he asked, "Is this wooden partition for protecting privacy?"

The voice continued, "It seems this is the customer's first time exchanging items at the Treasure Pavilion. But as the customer says, it is indeed meant to protect customers' privacy. After all, many customers do not wish for others to see their faces."

Zhou Yi immediately understood. He passed the talismans on his person through the curtain and said, "How much silver can these be exchanged for?"

The person behind the partition accepted the talismans from Zhou Yi's hand, then fell silent for a while, presumably appraising them.

Then the voice sounded again from behind the partition.

"The customer's talismans are worth four hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver. Does the customer wish to exchange them?"

Hearing the price quoted for the talismans, Zhou Yi agreed without hesitation. For him, this was equivalent to spending ten thousand taels of silver in costs and earning four hundred and forty thousand taels in profit.

Drawing talismans was difficult for others, but for him, it could not have been easier. Nor did he need to worry about the success rate.

After receiving the banknotes, Zhou Yi walked outside and arrived at the spiritual skill section on the fourth floor. After exchanging for the incomplete Seven Great Limits, Zhou Yi still needed a saber—a good saber.

Zhou Yi then went to the weapon section on the fifth floor, specifically to the area selling sabers. He looked over the many different sabers displayed on the weapon racks.

In the end, he selected a saber similar in style to a Tang saber, though its blade was somewhat longer.

The blade shone with a snowy white gleam, while its hilt was wrapped in black silk floss. The saber appeared utterly ordinary, but its blade was exceptionally tough.

Seeing that he still had three hundred thousand taels of silver left, Zhou Yi planned to buy some more spiritual skills. As the saying went, one could never have too many skills. As for cultivation methods, Zhou Yi planned to exchange for those at the Scripture Repository. The two eerie creatures from last night had provided him with a full thousand eerie points.

After arriving on the fourth floor, Zhou Yi began slowly browsing the spiritual skills. His greatest reliance at present was still his physical strength, so he lacked a movement technique and a fist technique.

After entering the spiritual skill section, Zhou Yi did not hurry to choose anything. Instead, he intended to browse the entire section first. Last time, because he had no money, he had only looked at saber techniques. This time, he would start with fist techniques.

"Hm?"

Zhou Yi discovered a new subsection beside the fist techniques. The sign read Body Refining, yet there was not a single person beside the Body Refining Techniques. Zhou Yi walked over in confusion. He had always thought that only the Strength Channeling Realm had Body Refining Techniques. He had not expected the Vitality Realm to have them as well.

Arriving before the counter, Zhou Yi asked the clerk inside, "Why are there so few people in the body refining section?"

To his surprise, the clerk gave a bitter smile and said, "Body refining consumes too much time. Those in the Strength Channeling Realm cultivate it to improve the quality of their Vital Energy, so they need to practice it."

"But once one reaches the Vitality Realm, the Vital Energy that Body Refining Techniques can add is not worth mentioning compared to cultivation methods. Moreover, practicing a Vitality Realm Body Refining Technique takes twenty years at a stretch. Though the physical body becomes powerful in the end, one's Vital Energy cannot keep up. Others can break through to the Mid-stage Vitality Realm in only ten years, while body refiners are still tempering their physical bodies."

After hearing the clerk's words, Zhou Yi asked, "Can't one cultivate both at the same time?"

The clerk said, "With the time spent cultivating Body Refining Techniques, others would have already broken through to a higher realm. That is why they are unwilling to cultivate them."

After hearing the clerk's explanation, Zhou Yi nodded. This was indeed a difficult problem for others. Cultivating Body Refining Techniques consumed far too much time, so even those seeking to break through the Vitality Realm would generally only cultivate two Body Refining Techniques while in the Strength Channeling Realm. That alone already consumed too much of their time, which was why they were unwilling to learn Body Refining Techniques after reaching the Vitality Realm.

Zhou Yi turned his gaze toward the counter. There were only a scant few Body Refining Techniques inside, and their prices were pitifully low compared with other spiritual skills.

With a grand sweep of his hand, Zhou Yi bought all five Body Refining Techniques in the counter. This cost him only fifty thousand taels of silver.

The clerk was puzzled. Zhou Yi clearly knew how arduous it was to cultivate Body Refining Techniques, so why was he still buying them? But he was merely a clerk. Since a customer wanted to buy them, naturally he would sell them.

After receiving the manuals, Zhou Yi finally headed toward the fist technique section. For a fist technique, he chose a spiritual skill called Azure Wave Fist. Next came the movement technique. Zhou Yi had not expected movement-type spiritual skills to cost nearly twice as much as other types. He looked at the banknotes in his hand. Mm, he still had two hundred thousand taels. It should be enough.

In the end, Zhou Yi spent all the silver on him to exchange for a movement technique called Thousand Mechanisms Steps, which was exceptionally suited for darting and maneuvering within a small area.

After buying everything he needed, Zhou Yi did not return home. Instead, he once again came to the Scripture Repository, preparing to exchange for the cultivation method most important to him.

After entering the Scripture Repository, Zhou Yi headed straight for the cultivation method section. Compared to other manuals, cultivation methods were far fewer in number. Twenty boxes sat upon the shelves.

Every cultivation method possessed its own characteristics. Some could rapidly restore Vital Energy, some increased one's speed, while others enhanced physical strength...

In the end, Zhou Yi selected a cultivation method that could increase physical strength, named Hundred Refinements. When Vital Energy covered the physical body, it could raise physical strength by nearly thirty percent.

It seemed he was walking farther and farther down the path of a berserker.

This cultivation method cost Zhou Yi a full five hundred eerie points.

Once he saw that everything he needed was prepared, Zhou Yi returned directly home.

Sitting on his bed, he flipped through every manual he had exchanged for. The panel before Zhou Yi immediately became crowded. Zhou Yi decided to first fuse techniques of the same type, beginning with body refining. After merging the five Vitality Realm Body Refining Techniques into his Indestructible Golden Body, the Indestructible Golden Body instantly became beginner level, while his Yin Energy decreased by two hundred and fifty points.

Zhou Yi then carried out a series of fusions, merging techniques that had already reached perfection in the Strength Channeling Realm into Vitality Realm spiritual skills. His Azure Wave Fist and Thousand Mechanisms Steps immediately became beginner level.

Then came the fusion of cultivation methods. After fusing them, Hundred Refinements rose to the beginner level.

After that round of fusion, Zhou Yi had only one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine points of Yin Energy remaining.

Zhou Yi then began upgrading his cultivation method, raising Hundred Refinements to the minor mastery level. Raising the cultivation method to minor mastery could only increase physical strength by ten percent, while adding twenty points of Vital Energy to Zhou Yi. However, Zhou Yi's Vital Energy had undergone a transformation. Its color had begun to fade, evolving toward the Origin Qi his master had once mentioned.

After raising the cultivation method to minor mastery, Zhou Yi did not continue upgrading it. For a cultivation method to advance to major mastery, one's Vital Energy first had to reach its current limit. Then, materials required for the breakthrough were needed.

Because he had left in such haste today, Zhou Yi only learned after returning and looking through Hundred Refinements that he needed something called Pure Spirit Bone to assist with his breakthrough.

He wondered whether the Scripture Repository had it. Zhou Yi decided to take a look tomorrow. If it did not, he would have no choice but to go to the Treasure Pavilion.

He then began upgrading his spiritual skills. First, he raised Thousand Mechanisms Steps and Azure Wave Fist to perfection. Then Zhou Yi began upgrading two saber techniques among the Seven Great Limits. One was called Mountain, while the other was called Sea.

After upgrading those two saber techniques, Zhou Yi's Yin Energy decreased by another two hundred points.

Finally, Zhou Yi began upgrading the Indestructible Golden Body. The fused Indestructible Golden Body had directly fallen to the beginner level, yet his Vital Energy had actually increased by one point.

Seeing that he still had one thousand two hundred and ninety-nine points of Yin Energy on the panel, Zhou Yi focused his thoughts on the plus sign beside Indestructible Golden Body. Its level instantly became minor mastery, while it also provided Zhou Yi with five points of Vital Energy. Seeing that the plus sign remained, Zhou Yi knew he had enough Yin Energy to continue upgrading it, so he tapped it again.

After a round of upgrades, the Indestructible Golden Body once again reached perfection. At the same time, Zhou Yi's muscles became even firmer, as though they had been forged from copper and iron.

Zhou Yi opened the panel.

Name: Zhou Yi

Race: Human (10%)

Vital Energy: 100 (cannot be increased)

Spirit: 50

Cultivation Method: Hundred Refinements (Minor Mastery) (Pure Spirit Bone)

Techniques: Body Refining, Saber Technique, Fist Technique, Movement Technique, Other

Divine Ability: Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill (First Layer)

Yin Energy: 399

Exotic Qi: Qi (25)

Seeing that the perfected Indestructible Golden Body had only added forty points of Vital Energy, Zhou Yi could not help but sigh. Even at minor mastery, the Hundred Refinements cultivation method had provided him with twenty points of Vital Energy, while the Indestructible Golden Body was the result of fusing five Body Refining Techniques.

Fortunately, those forty points of Vital Energy had brought him exactly to his limit. As long as he found Pure Spirit Bone tomorrow, he could break through to the Mid-stage Vitality Realm.

Zhou Yi got down from the bed, and the bones throughout his body immediately crackled and popped as he sensed the strength of his physical body.

The current Zhou Yi could match the strength he had possessed when using his divine ability in the past without even using the Indestructible Golden Body.

Put simply, Zhou Yi felt that he was at least five times stronger than before, even without using the Indestructible Golden Body.