Panel Update, Accepting Quests

At first, Ning Ri's practice was still a bit clumsy because he had few skill points.

But I have to say, Ning Ri's talent in swordsmanship was too great.

Soon, he was no longer clumsy, becoming more and more proficient, more and more powerful. The seemingly clumsy greatsword in his hands was as agile as if it were about to fly. With just a casual swing, the wind would howl through the room, striking awe into people's hearts...

Ning Ri remembered very clearly that after becoming a cultivator at the Third Stage Qi Refining, he had taken on a job—

To perform swordsmanship for disciples of a major sect!

These disciples grew up in major sects and had never seen mortal swordsmanship. Since birth, all they had seen were the swordsmanship of cultivators. To put it bluntly, it was all pre-fabricated, and they had never seen anything so authentic.

And Ning Ri was responsible for providing authentic mortal swordsmanship.

Ning Ri originally thought the disciples of the major sect would mock him, but unexpectedly, their attitude towards Ning Ri was quite good. There was no arrogance or extravagance, and they praised Ning Ri's swordsmanship—

They said it was rare to see traditional swordsmanship these days!

There was also a ten-year-old boy from the Lingxi Immortal Sect, who was so excited that he kept circling Ning Ri and wanted to become his disciple. He thought Ning Ri was too cool.

Ning Ri just stared at this ten-year-old boy, who was at the Eighth Stage Qi Refining, and said that children's energy should be focused on cultivation, not on these flashy things.

In addition, there were a few older disciples with stronger cultivation who sighed repeatedly—

Youngsters of seventeen or eighteen nowadays, once they cultivate, would never be like this.

Who would bother honing these real, hard-hitting skills?

They would directly use cultivation methods!

Cultivation methods have predetermined circulation routes; one just needs to use their spiritual sense to control flying swords and flying daggers.

If your spiritual sense is not agile enough, there are even magic treasures to assist in control...

To put it bluntly, they have no soul!

It's rare to find someone like Ning Ri these days!

Ning Ri outwardly agreed, but in his heart, he thought, I want to have no soul too, but my strength doesn't allow it!

Later, Ning Ri received a reward of a few spirit stones from that performance. With his savings, he had the opportunity to seek masters in various sects. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to travel to so many sects.

Now, finally able to settle down at the Heaven Defying Sect, Ning Ri let out a long sigh and stopped, his gaze shifting to the cool moonlight outside the window. A slight smile curved his lips—

This is a good start!

After pausing for a moment, Ning Ri's body started moving again, and his swordsmanship began to feel clumsy once more...

He had respecified his points!

But with his outstanding talent in swordsmanship, he quickly became proficient again...

After practicing swordsmanship without sleep for fourteen hours, Ning Ri gained 28 skill points, plus the original 4 skill points in swordsmanship.

The total skill points in his hand reached 100.

This allowed him to max out the formal techniques of artifact forging and various miscellaneous artifact forging arts directly.

Swish—

[Compendium of Qi Refining Stage Artifact Forging Techniques]: 10 (Maxed Out) (Respecifiable).

Swish—

[Blazing Heaven Chapter]: 10 (Maxed Out) (Respecifiable).

Swish—

[Subtle Art]: 10 (Maxed Out) (Respecifiable).

After maxing out all the skills, Ning Ri let out a long sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead:

"Staying up all night to grind, I've really worked myself hard!"

If he wasn't going to find Zhou Hai to give him an answer, he would have liked to grind for a while longer.

After all, he didn't have any skill points on hand to reach the peak of Qi Refining at any time.

However, just as Ning Ri was about to close the Panel and leave his small room for the Pillars of Cultivation Pavilion, his eyes suddenly sharpened—

Responding to the requests of countless readers, we are now launching the VIP member ad-free feature.

Click to view.

No!

He saw that all the techniques related to artifact forging on the Panel had actually merged together...

Finally, it formed:

[Heavenly Craftsman - Incomplete Version]: 100 (Maxed Out) (Respecifiable).

Seeing the brand-new skill appear, Ning Ri was stunned for a moment, then began to examine himself...

After checking for a long time, he found that after all the artifact forging techniques merged, they hadn't brought him any new changes. Of course, he hadn't lost anything either.

But Ning Ri felt it wasn't that simple. It couldn't be that all the skills merged just to save some word count, right?!

After pondering for a moment, Ning Ri felt it might be because his level was not high enough.

I might need to collect more artifact forging techniques to perfect the [Heavenly Craftsman], and only then will new changes occur.

Afterward, Ning Ri left his small hut and headed straight for the Pillars of Cultivation Pavilion.

Pillars of Cultivation Pavilion.

As soon as Ning Ri walked in, before he could even see Zhou Hai, Zhou Hai's cheerful voice echoed, "Have you made up your mind?"

As the words fell, Zhou Hai's figure emerged from within the Pillars of Cultivation Pavilion.

"Greetings, Elder Zhou," Ning Ri said, bowing before stating seriously, "Disciple has made up his mind. I've decided to forgo the second choice."

For some reason, there was no surprise on Zhou Hai's face. He merely asked curiously, "Why?"

Ning Ri said solemnly, "Disciple believes that since I've already joined the Heaven Defying Sect, and with all the elders shielding me from hardship, I don't need to worry about my livelihood. Therefore, I can try to forge ahead on my own. If I truly fail, then we'll discuss it then!"

Zhou Hai chuckled, "The human heart is unpredictable and ever-changing. What if you achieve nothing in the future, and we decide not to help you anymore? What will you do then?"

Ning Ri pondered, "Then... then disciple might regret it for a couple of days before moving on."

Zhou Hai burst into laughter, "Hahaha."

"Very well. Since you don't wish to choose, we won't force you. However..."

At this point, Zhou Hai paused and continued seriously, "Even if you lose, you needn't fear. Most people are failures on the path to immortality; it's merely a matter of losing sooner or later."

Ning Ri was slightly taken aback by his words, then said earnestly, "Thank you, Elder Zhou!"

Zhou Hai waved his hand, then took out a jade slip. "I gave you two choices, and you chose neither. In that case, I'll give you a third choice."

"This choice is: I'll give you a mission. Upon completion, you will receive a copy of the [Heaven Defying Foundation Establishment Method], which is the most expensive Foundation Establishment cultivation method in the outer sect's Pillars of Cultivation Pavilion."

With that, he handed the jade slip to Ning Ri.

Ning Ri took the jade slip, and as his spiritual sense swept over it, he saw the words within:

[Heaven Defying Foundation Establishment Method: Build a Solid Heaven Defying Foundation]

[The following content will be unlocked after the mission is completed]

[Mission Content: Travel to Master Chen Xingfeng's Craftsmanship Tower and forge a set of artifact treasures for the Qi Refining stage. The quality of the treasures must be recognized by the artifact refiner Chen Xingfeng.]

[Artifact forging materials will be provided by Master Chen Xingfeng.]

Ning Ri's expression turned to surprise. "Elder Zhou, this... is this a reward for me?"

The mission content seemed like a gift to him.

And the [Heaven Defying Foundation Establishment Method] was even more so.

Ning Ri didn't yet understand how difficult it was to earn outer sect contributions, but judging by Zhou Hai's tone, he knew that normally, acquiring this cultivation method wouldn't be so simple...

But Zhou Hai said speechlessly, "Reward? Besides you, which outer sect disciple could even take on this mission?"

"Of course, if you insist on calling it a reward, you can."

"Because I originally intended to send this mission to the inner sect. Only inner sect disciples could handle it."

"However, given your own efforts and choices, I've decided to make an exception and entrust this mission to you. I hope you won't disappoint my expectations."

Ning Ri immediately said seriously, "Yes!"

"Thank you, Elder Zhou!"