Constant Trouble

"Two ways!" Zhou Xian gestured. "The first way is to spend one hundred Merit Points to exchange for a chance to visit Purgatory Mountain."

"Merit Points?"

Since entering the Azure Cloud Sect, Luo Zheng had heard people mention Merit Points several times.

For example, when participating in the Sea Trials, the old man told him that he needed Merit Points to enter that powerful pressure space.

Before participating in the Bloodcolor Trials, he had a dispute with a Wang Family disciple, and ultimately that Wang Family Inner Sect Disciple had one thousand Merit Points deducted.

"What exactly are these Merit Points? And how are they obtained?" Luo Zheng asked.

"Within the Azure Cloud Sect, we disciples have to deal with them in all aspects. It's indeed necessary to explain it to you in detail," Zhou Xian then explained to Luo Zheng and the others. "From Outer Sect Disciple to Inner Sect Disciple, we need Merit Points. To exchange for medicinal pills for cultivation, we need Merit Points. Even daily meals and accommodation require Merit Points! These Merit Points are recorded in your Disciple Token!"

"How do I get one hundred Merit Points? How long will it take?" Luo Zheng wasn't concerned about the various uses of Merit Points for now. He was concerned about how to get one hundred Merit Points to enter Purgatory Mountain and visit Luo Yan.

"Our mentor on Little Rain Peak releases missions every day. Completing these missions allows you to obtain Merit Points. The rewards for Outer Sect Disciple missions are very low. To accumulate one hundred Merit Points by completing missions, it takes about half a year. I've been in the Azure Cloud Sect for so long and have only accumulated less than one hundred Merit Points," Zhou Xian said with a smile.

"Half a year?" Luo Zheng frowned. This was too long; he couldn't wait. "Is there a faster way?"

"Yes, Merit Points can be bought. Two Square Crystal Stones can be exchanged for one Merit Point. One hundred Merit Points will cost two hundred Square Crystal Stones," Zhou Xiao added.

Hearing that he could buy them with Square Crystal Stones, Luo Zheng's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He didn't have much of other things, but he still had over a hundred Square Crystal Stones in his Sumeru Ring. However, upon hearing how expensive these Merit Points were, with two Square Crystal Stones only buying one Merit Point, Luo Zheng immediately felt a bit depressed...

According to this exchange rate, any Outer Sect Disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect could go outside and live as a rich man for a lifetime.

One hundred Square Crystal Stones could only be exchanged for fifty Merit Points. Where would he get the remaining fifty Merit Points?

If he did missions, it would take at least three months, but Luo Zheng wished he could go to Purgatory Mountain right now.

"You just said there were two ways to go to Purgatory Mountain. I want to know what the other way is?" Luo Zheng asked.

Zhou Xian chuckled, "It's simple. You intentionally violate the Azure Cloud Sect Rules and receive the appropriate punishment, and you'll be sent to Purgatory Mountain."

"..."

Luo Zheng was silent for a moment before bursting into laughter, "That's certainly a good method."

It was a good method, but ultimately just a joke.

He wasn't an Aristocratic Clan Disciple, nor did he have anyone to rely on in the Azure Cloud Sect. At this stage, there was no better way to enter, so he couldn't rush this matter and could only plan slowly.

Although Luo Zheng now wished he could grow a pair of wings and fly into Purgatory Mountain to rescue Luo Yan, he knew in his heart that this idea was too unrealistic.

In the following few days, Luo Zheng didn't rush to take on missions. He wanted to first digest the two cultivation technique manuals he had.

He had one Saint-tier cultivation technique and one Heaven-tier cultivation technique.

To fully understand and comprehend them in a short time was undoubtedly a pipe dream, impossible no matter how high one's talent was.

He roughly read through the Heavenly Devil God Fist once and immediately understood why the old man said this Saint-tier cultivation technique was extremely difficult to cultivate.

The most important point in cultivating the Heavenly Devil God Fist was to master Heavenly Devil True Essence!

When Luo Zheng cultivated the Rosewood Fist, purple light appeared all over his body when it was circulated. That was the True Essence of the Rosewood Fist.

Different cultivation techniques produced different True Essence.

Just like that Refiner Xie Lang, the cultivation technique he cultivated produced a lotus-shaped True Fire, which was also a type of True Essence.

Luo Zheng's comprehension was very strong. Back then, it only took Luo Zheng one day to generate a sense of Qi when cultivating the Rosewood Fist, and in three days, the first wisp of purple light appeared in his body.

Opening the first page of the Heavenly Devil God Fist, there was a diagram showing a Devil Race person in a strange pose.

Hands spread outwards, while legs bent inwards, and the waist straightened.

This movement felt very awkward for Luo Zheng.

After getting into position, Luo Zheng circulated the power within his body according to the mental method marked on the diagram.

After one cycle, his body was empty, with no reaction at all.

The first attempt was ineffective.

The second attempt still had no reaction.

The third attempt...

Luo Zheng was very patient. If he could cultivate such a Saint-tier cultivation technique all at once, that would be strange.

The fiftieth attempt...

The hundredth attempt.

The two hundredth attempt.

For three days, Luo Zheng cultivated repeatedly in his room without rest.

Ultimately, there was no effect at all.

After three days, a hint of doubt finally appeared in Luo Zheng's eyes.

Luo Zheng was already mentally prepared for the difficulty of cultivating the Heavenly Devil God Fist.

After all, this was a Saint-tier cultivation technique, and it came from the Devil Race. The circulation methods recorded in the mental method were contrary to many human mental methods.

For example, "Remaining strength in the front, then surging, remaining strength in the back, then floating upwards, up and down, without beginning or end, circulating repeatedly," this passage meant to repeatedly spread the power from the chest, circulating the power along the internal organs.

Just this point alone is something most people cannot achieve.

If one circulates energy according to this method, they will suffer internal injuries after just one cycle, and after two or three cycles, their ribs will likely break.

Fortunately, Luo Zheng's body is strong, so this little trouble is not a problem for him.

But Luo Zheng clearly circulated his energy according to the mental cultivation method described, yet he couldn't produce even a trace of Heavenly Devil True Essence?

Could it be that his cultivation method was wrong?

It's not scary to take a detour, but it is scary to take the wrong path. Luo Zheng decided to temporarily set aside the Heavenly Devil God Fist and instead study the Heaven-tier cultivation method, Spirit Shocking Thrust.

Compared to the Heavenly Devil God Fist, Spirit Shocking Thrust was much easier for Luo Zheng to cultivate. Although Spirit Shocking Thrust is a Heaven-tier cultivation method, its actual cultivation difficulty is not high. However, it has extremely high requirements for soul strength.

The Spirit Shocking Thrust cultivation method actually teaches Luo Zheng how to temporarily project his soul outwards and simultaneously form a long soul thorn, which can injure the opponent's soul like the Xing Tian Intent, causing the opponent to be caught off guard and fall into a brief daze.

Its advantage is that it is very practical. When fighting an opponent, using Spirit Shocking Thrust unexpectedly can often affect the battle due to the brief daze. If it is a life-and-death battle, it might even determine life or death!

However, Spirit Shocking Thrust has a fatal flaw: if the opponent's soul strength is stronger than one's own, Spirit Shocking Thrust is ineffective against them.

At this stage, there are probably not many people whose soul strength is stronger than Luo Zheng's.

With Luo Zheng's comprehension ability, his cultivation speed for Spirit Shocking Thrust was not slow. In three days, Luo Zheng comprehended the method of "soul projection" mentioned in Spirit Shocking Thrust.

Soul projection is very different from True Essence projection.

True Essence projection requires entering the Innate Secret Realm to transform one's innate True Essence into True Essence, which can then be manipulated to leave the body and attack the opponent.

However, soul projection is directly releasing one's soul outside the body. Therefore, the Spirit Shocking Thrust cultivation method has no requirements for realm, but its requirements for the soul are extremely high.

Because a person's soul is very fragile, once it leaves the body, it will be injured by external evil energy.

If someone with low soul strength cultivates this "soul projection" method, they will "damage their spirit" before long.

However, for Luo Zheng, this was not a difficult matter.

He managed to achieve soul projection, but the second step, "Transform Soul into Thorn," proved very tricky for Luo Zheng.

"Transform Soul into Thorn" sounds very simple; it's just transforming the soul into a sharp thorn.

Knowing is easy, doing is hard. When Luo Zheng actually cultivated it, he found it wasn't that simple. Every time he condensed his soul into a thorn, he felt an awkward sensation in his heart, and the result was naturally failure.

For the next ten-plus days, Luo Zheng was stuck on the "Transform Soul into Thorn" step. No matter how he studied it, he couldn't successfully condense it.

Finally, a bitter smile appeared on Luo Zheng's face. As expected, Heaven-tier cultivation methods are not that easy to cultivate successfully.

It was undoubtedly a pipe dream for him to conquer a Heaven-tier cultivation method and a Saint-tier cultivation method in a short period. The path of cultivation relies on accumulated hard work and comprehension over time; it's not something that can be rushed.

He had been in seclusion for so long and hadn't had a chance to properly explore Little Rain Peak. Today, Luo Zheng put these things aside and decided to go out and take a look.

He had just entered Little Rain Peak and immediately went into seclusion for half a month. Luo Zheng's unusual behavior attracted the attention of many Outer Sect Disciples.

Luo Zheng walked out of his small house and looked in the bronze mirror at the door. Looking at his disheveled appearance, he almost didn't recognize himself.

Just then, Mo Can passed by, so he pulled Mo Can to the bathhouse on Little Rain Peak for a bath.

On Little Rain Peak, there were bathhouses, dining halls, gardens, tea rooms, and all kinds of living facilities.

After a comfortable bath, the two went to the dining hall to eat.

In the dining hall, neat rows of tables and chairs were lined up. The vast dining hall was exquisitely decorated, comparable to the imperial palace's forbidden grounds, beautiful and magnificent.

As the two sat down, someone served them exquisite food.

The dishes were perfect in color, aroma, and taste. Even the rice was Dragon Tooth Rice specially supplied from the Eastern Region. This kind of rice is usually only enjoyed by core members of ordinary families. It is glutinous but not sticky, sweet but not greasy, and yet it is commonplace in the Azure Cloud Sect, where all Outer Sect Disciples can eat as much as they want.

As the two picked up their chopsticks and were about to start eating, six or seven people walked in through the dining hall entrance and headed straight for Luo Zheng and Mo Can.

"This seat is young master's, scram!" The leading young man looked at Luo Zheng with a sinister smile on his face.