"Two ways!" Zhou Xian gestured. "The first is to spend one hundred points to exchange for a chance to visit Purgatory Mountain."
"Points?"
Ever since entering Azure Cloud Sect, Luo Zheng had heard people mention points several times.
For example, when he participated in the Sea Trials, that old man had told him that he needed points to enter that powerful pressure space.
Before participating in the Bloodcolor Trials, he had gotten into a dispute with that Wang Family disciple. In the end, that Inner Sect Disciple from the Wang Family had been deducted one thousand points.
"What exactly are these points? And how do I earn them?" Luo Zheng asked.
"Inside Azure Cloud Sect, we disciples deal with them in every aspect of our lives. I really should explain it to you in detail." Zhou Xian then began explaining to Luo Zheng and the others in an unhurried manner. "We need points to advance from Outer Sect Disciples to Inner Sect Disciples. We need points to exchange for pills used in cultivation. Even our daily meals and lodging require points! These points are recorded on your Disciple Tokens!"
"How can I earn one hundred points? How long will it take?" Luo Zheng was not concerned about the various uses of points for the time being. What concerned him was how to obtain one hundred points and enter Purgatory Mountain to visit Luo Yan.
"The mentors at Little Rain Peak issue missions every day. Completing these missions earns points. The rewards for Outer Sect Disciple missions are very low. To accumulate one hundred points by completing missions would take at least half a year. I've been in Azure Cloud Sect for so long, yet I've only managed to save up less than one hundred points." Zhou Xian smiled.
"Half a year?" Luo Zheng frowned. That was far too long. He could not afford to wait. "Is there a faster way?"
"There is. Points can be bought. Two Square Crystal Stones can be exchanged for one point, so one hundred points will cost two hundred Square Crystal Stones." Zhou Xiao continued.
When he heard that points could be purchased with Square Crystal Stones, Luo Zheng's heart gave a sudden jolt. He did not have much of anything else, but there were still over a hundred Square Crystal Stones in his Sumeru Ring. But when he heard the price, he immediately grew depressed. It actually cost two Square Crystal Stones to buy a single point!
At that exchange rate, any Outer Sect Disciple from Azure Cloud Sect could walk out into the world and live as a wealthy man for the rest of his life.
One hundred Square Crystal Stones could only be exchanged for fifty points. Where was he supposed to get the remaining fifty?
If he completed missions, it would take at least three months at the fastest. Yet Luo Zheng wished he could head to Purgatory Mountain right now.
"You said there were two ways to go to Purgatory Mountain. I want to know what the other way is," Luo Zheng asked.
Zhou Xian gave a sly laugh. "Simple. Deliberately violate the Sect Rules of Azure Cloud Sect. Once you receive the punishment you deserve, you'll be sent to Purgatory Mountain."
"..."
Luo Zheng remained silent for quite some time before breaking into an incredulous laugh. "That really is a good method."
It was a good method, but in the end, it was nothing more than a joke.
He was neither an Aristocratic Clan Disciple nor did he have anyone to rely on within Azure Cloud Sect. Since he had no better way to enter for the time being, he could not rush this matter. He could only proceed slowly and plot his course carefully.
Although Luo Zheng currently wished he had a pair of wings so he could fly to Purgatory Mountain and rescue Luo Yan, he understood that such a thought was far too unrealistic.
Over the next few days, Luo Zheng did not rush to take on missions. He wanted to thoroughly study the two cultivation technique manuals in his possession first.
He had one Saint-Ranked Technique and one Heaven Rank Technique.
To fully comprehend and master either of them in a short time was undoubtedly a fool's dream. Even someone with the greatest talent could not do it.
He gave the "Heavenly Devil God Fist" a rough read-through and immediately understood why that old man had said this Saint-Ranked Technique was extremely difficult to cultivate.
The most important thing in cultivating the Heavenly Devil God Fist was mastering the Heavenly Devil True Essence!
When Luo Zheng cultivated the "Rosewood Fist," streams of purple light were produced throughout his body as it circulated. That was the true essence of the "Rosewood Fist."
Different cultivation techniques produced different true essences.
It was like the weapon refiner Xie Lang. The cultivation technique he practiced produced a lotus-shaped true flame, which was actually another form of true essence.
Luo Zheng's comprehension was extremely strong. When he had first cultivated the "Rosewood Fist," it had taken him only one day to develop a sense of qi. In three days, the first wisp of Purple Light had appeared inside his body.
When he opened the first page of the "Heavenly Devil God Fist," he found a diagram depicting a Devil Race person striking a strange pose.
Both hands were spread outward while both legs bent inward, and the waist was then lifted upright.
Luo Zheng found the movement extremely awkward to perform.
After assuming the pose, Luo Zheng circulated the power within his body according to the mental cultivation formula marked on the diagram.
After one cycle, his body was empty, without the slightest reaction.
The first attempt was ineffective.
The second attempt was still completely unresponsive.
The third...
Luo Zheng had plenty of patience. If he had mastered such a Saint-Ranked Technique in one try, that would have been the strange thing.
The fiftieth attempt...
The hundredth attempt.
The two hundredth attempt.
For three days, Luo Zheng cultivated in his room without rest or sleep, repeating the process over and over.
In the end, there was not the slightest effect.
Three days later, a trace of confusion finally appeared in Luo Zheng's eyes.
He had already been mentally prepared for the difficulty of cultivating the "Heavenly Devil God Fist."
After all, this was a Saint-Ranked Technique, and it came from the Devil Race. The circulation methods recorded in its mental cultivation formula ran counter to many of humanity's techniques.
For example, the passage that read, "Retain strength in front, then surge it forth; retain strength behind, then let it rise upward. Up and down, without beginning or end, cycling back and forth," required one to repeatedly spread one's power from the chest, circulating it along the five viscera and six bowels.
Most people could not accomplish this alone.
Circulating power in this manner would cause internal injuries after a single cycle. After two or three cycles, one's ribs would probably break.
Fortunately, Luo Zheng's body was exceptionally tough. This small trouble did not count as trouble to him.
But although Luo Zheng was clearly circulating his power according to the mental cultivation formula above, he could not produce even a trace of Heavenly Devil True Essence.
Could there be something wrong with his cultivation method?
He was not afraid of taking a winding road; he was afraid of taking the wrong road. Luo Zheng decided to set the "Heavenly Devil God Fist" aside for the time being and study the Heaven Rank Technique, "Spirit Shocking Thrust," instead.
Compared to the "Heavenly Devil God Fist," the "Spirit Shocking Thrust" was much easier for Luo Zheng to cultivate. Although it was a Heaven Rank Technique, its actual cultivation difficulty was not high. However, it placed extremely high demands on the strength of one's soul.
The "Spirit Shocking Thrust" was essentially a technique that taught Luo Zheng how to release his soul outside his body for a short time and transform it into a long soul thorn. Like Xing Tian Intent, it could pierce an opponent's soul, causing them to fall into a brief daze before they could react.
Its advantage was its tremendous practicality. In a battle between enemies, using the "Spirit Shocking Thrust" unexpectedly could often affect the outcome of the fight because of that brief daze. If it were a battle to the death, it might determine life or death itself!
However, the "Spirit Shocking Thrust" had one extremely fatal weakness. If the opponent's soul was stronger than his own, the Spirit Shocking Thrust would be ineffective against them.
At the current stage, there were probably only a few people whose souls were stronger than Luo Zheng's.
With Luo Zheng's comprehension ability, his cultivation of the "Spirit Shocking Thrust" progressed fairly quickly. After three days, he grasped the method of "releasing the soul outside the body" described in the "Spirit Shocking Thrust."
Releasing the soul outside the body was vastly different from releasing true essence outside the body.
To release true essence outside the body, one had to enter the Innate Secret Realm and transform one's innate true qi into true essence. Only then could one freely manipulate true essence outside the body to attack an opponent.
Releasing the soul outside the body, however, directly released one's soul from the body. Thus, the "Spirit Shocking Thrust" had almost no requirements regarding cultivation realm, but its demands on the soul were astonishingly high.
That was because the human soul was extremely fragile. Once it left the body, it would be injured by the evil aura outside.
If someone whose soul was not strong cultivated this method of "releasing the soul outside the body," it would not take long for them to suffer soul damage.
For Luo Zheng, however, this was not a difficult task.
He had managed to release his soul outside his body, but the next step, "Transform Soul into Thorn," left Luo Zheng in a difficult position.
"Transform Soul into Thorn" sounded very simple: it meant transforming the soul into a sharp thorn.
Knowing was easy, doing was hard. Once Luo Zheng truly began cultivating it, he discovered that it was not so simple. Every time he condensed his soul into a thorn, an awkward feeling arose in his heart, and the attempt naturally ended in failure.
For more than ten days afterward, Luo Zheng remained stuck at the "Transform Soul into Thorn" stage. No matter how he studied it, he could not successfully condense the thorn.
At last, a bitter smile appeared on Luo Zheng's face. Sure enough, Heaven Rank Techniques were not so easy to master either.
To overcome a Heaven Rank Technique and a Saint-Ranked Technique in a short time was undoubtedly a fool's dream. The path of cultivation relied on painstaking practice and painstaking comprehension accumulated day after day. It was not something that could be rushed.
He had been in seclusion for so long that he had not even had the chance to properly look around Little Rain Peak. Today, Luo Zheng put all of this aside and decided to go out for a look.
He had just stepped onto Little Rain Peak and had already gone into seclusion for half a month. Luo Zheng's strange, unorthodox behavior had attracted the attention of quite a few Outer Sect Disciples.
Luo Zheng walked out of his little house and looked into the Bronze Mirror by the entrance. Seeing his disheveled appearance, he could hardly recognize himself.
As luck would have it, Mo Can happened to pass by. He pulled Mo Can along to the bathhouse on Little Rain Peak for a soak.
Little Rain Peak had every kind of living facility one could need: a bathhouse, dining hall, gardens, and teahouse.
After soaking comfortably in the bath, the two of them went to the dining hall to eat.
Inside the dining hall, tables, chairs, and benches stood in neat rows. The enormous hall was decorated with exquisite beauty, rivaling the Imperial Palace's inner court. It was magnificent and resplendent.
After the two sat down, someone brought them an exquisite meal.
The dishes were perfect in color, aroma, and flavor. Even the rice was Dragon Tooth Rice specially supplied from the Eastern Region. Ordinary Lineages allowed only their core members to enjoy this kind of rice. It was soft and sticky without being cloying, sweet and fragrant without being greasy. Yet in Azure Cloud Sect, it was nothing unusual at all, and all Outer Sect Disciples could take as much as they pleased.
Just as the two raised their chopsticks and were about to begin eating, six or seven people entered through the dining hall's door and headed straight toward Luo Zheng and Mo Can.
"This seat belongs to me, kid. Get lost!" The young man at the head of the group stared at Luo Zheng with a savage grin.
Before you continue