Hundred Li Qi Merging

The Martial Arts Pavilion, as a place of inheritance, is one of the most important locations in the entire Wuji Sect, hence its extremely strict defenses.

Lu Ming walked through, undergoing repeated, stringent checks before finally being allowed inside.

The Martial Arts Pavilion has three floors. The first floor stores Human-grade, initial and intermediate stage martial arts, while the second floor houses high and peak stage martial arts.

The third floor is where Earth-grade, initial stage martial arts are kept.

Anything above that is not stored here.

Upon entering, Lu Ming had a clear objective and headed directly for the second floor.

Last time he was only on the first floor; this was his first time coming up to the second.

He first swept his gaze around, noticing that the second-floor space was vast, with over a dozen large bookshelves.

All of them contained martial arts.

Internal arts, Lightness Skills, external arts, fist techniques, palm techniques, saber techniques, and so on, were all categorized and placed on the shelves, making it very comprehensive.

At this moment, many disciples were browsing individually. It was very quiet; apart from the sound of turning pages, no one made any other noise.

Lu Ming bowed to the guarding Elder on the second floor before heading straight inside.

The first bookshelf contained palm techniques, including the Five Dragon Palm, Rootless Palm, Thousand Jin Palm, Rosy Cloud Palm, Flying Sunset Palm, Six Yin Soul Transformation Palm, and more.

There were dozens of them.

He skimmed through them one by one, discovering that these secret manuals only had brief introductions, clearly to prevent disciples from memorizing them.

At the same time, each palm technique was marked with contribution points.

For example, a Human-grade, high stage Five Dragon Palm technique would require one thousand contribution points to exchange.

This was likely the minimum point value; others required a thousand points or more, some even several thousand or tens of thousands.

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

Lu Ming didn't know how many contribution points a single mission yielded, but he figured it wouldn't be too many, otherwise, martial arts would be too easy to obtain.

Of course, this palm technique was also of a high level, reaching Human-grade, peak stage.

"Unfortunately, my introductory benefit only allows me to choose Human-grade, high stage martial arts."

After looking through the palm techniques, Lu Ming didn't rush to choose. Instead, he decided to continue browsing other martial arts, both to have more options and to broaden his knowledge.

The second row was leg techniques, including the Purple Cloud Leg, Seven Treasures Hundred Poisons Leg, Ten Paths Flying Crossing Leg, Chasing Wind Eighteen Kicks, and so on.

After looking through them all, he moved to the third row. This row contained sword techniques, such as the Nine Palaces Sword, Flying Cloud Sword, Divine Illumination Sixty-Four Swords, and others.

Then came the fourth row, the fifth row...

After reviewing them all, Lu Ming made his decision. He planned to use his two opportunities to choose a Lightness Skill and an external art.

This decision was well-considered. He already had the Heavenly Saber Technique for offense, and for hand-to-hand combat, he could learn the Tiger Fiend Claw obtained from the Black Tiger Gang's Sect Leader.

By learning another external art, he would then have complete offense, movement, and defense.

Arriving at the Lightness Skill bookshelves, he went straight for a technique called Hundred Li Qi Merging.

This Lightness Skill was Human-grade, high stage.

Once mastered, it would make him as agile as a swallow, with each step capable of covering up to two hundred meters, making it the best among all Human-grade, high stage Lightness Skills.

It was also extremely adept at long-distance pursuits, making running for a hundred li as easy as breathing.

This was also the origin of its name.

Lu Ming did some calculations: one hundred li was equal to fifty thousand meters, and with each step covering two hundred meters, it would only take two hundred and fifty steps.

Given his current realm, running two hundred and fifty steps in one go was no problem.

It was quite reasonable.

After choosing the Lightness Skill, Lu Ming went to the external art bookshelves. External arts, also known as body-strengthening techniques, did not primarily focus on the exterior in their advanced forms. Instead, they worked from the outside in, generating Inner Qi, True Qi, and so on.

After all, for a Martial Artist capable of unleashing Hidden Strength and shockwaves, pure external defense was insufficient.

Therefore, he dismissed techniques like Iron Shirt Art or Bronze Armor Art.

Instead, he chose the Iron Elephant Art, which included Qi cultivation. This technique not only hardened the skin and muscles like iron but also formed protective True Qi within the body.

With this True Qi, attacks that penetrated the surface could be effectively defended against.

The only issue was that this technique was Human-grade, peak stage, exceeding the scope of the introductory benefit, but he had a solution.

He then took the introductory descriptions of the two manuals to the guarding Elder.

There was already a queue of people exchanging martial arts, and some were copying them. Martial arts manuals were not allowed to be taken away.

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

"Also, unauthorized transmission of martial arts is forbidden, or the consequences will be severe."

The guarding Elder instructed.

"Understood, Elder Kang. It's not my first time exchanging martial arts," a disciple ahead of him replied cheekily.

Elder Kang remained serious. "It's better to remind you more, to avoid oversight and mistakes."

"A few years ago, some disciples, harboring a sliver of hope, not only privately passed on martial arts but also sold them outside. When they were discovered, their martial arts were crippled, and they were expelled from the sect."

The disciple's heart tightened upon hearing this, and he quickly assured them he wouldn't, then went to the side to start copying.

Finally, it was Lu Ming's turn. He first handed over his identity token, then the jade token that proved his entry benefits.

"This [Iron Elephant Art] is of a higher grade than your entry benefit."

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

However, he still asked the question because he really wanted to know if the other party was someone who was arrogant due to his talent.

Lu Ming calmly took out the [Tiger Fiend Claw] and [Heavenly Saber Technique], intending to exchange them all for contribution points.

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

Lu Ming had been in a hurry to cultivate during his last visit, so he hadn't brought them out. This time, he decided to take the opportunity to exchange them.

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

Elder Kang took the [Heavenly Saber Technique] and glanced at it, looking very surprised.

He knew that it wasn't that disciples hadn't exchanged martial arts obtained from outside before, but they were all of relatively low grades.

Even Human-grade, peak stage was rare, let alone Earth-grade.

Not a single one had been seen in decades.

A martial art reaching Earth-grade was already considered rare. An Earth-grade, initial stage cultivation method could even serve as the inherited technique of a ninth-rank family.

Therefore, most people who obtained one would be extremely cautious, treating it as their own secret manual and rarely leaking it.

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

Lu Ming bringing it out now was truly astonishing.

Lu Ming, however, was indifferent. His true reliance wasn't the [Heavenly Saber Technique], but the mysterious jade pendant and his talent.

It was better to exchange this saber manual for more martial arts to have on hand.

Besides, the Wuji Sect had treated him well. There was no issue with exchanging it.

So, he nodded directly and said, "I'm sure."

"Alright, follow me."

Seeing the crowd and the many eyes around, Elder Kang called a steward disciple to handle the martial art exchange first, then led Lu Ming to a room.

Everyone was curious about what grade of martial skill the person was going to exchange that required a separate location.

However, they dared not discuss it here.

"This [Heavenly Saber Technique] includes both internal cultivation and saber techniques, making it two Earth-grade, initial stage martial arts."

"As for its specific quality, this martial art takes a unique path, excelling in incredibly fast footwork and saber speed once cultivation is successful."

"Its drawback is that the Inner Qi, True Qi, and Aura Qi cultivated are not as substantial as those cultivated by other Earth-grade, initial stage martial arts."

"Therefore, its quality at this level is considered mid-to-upper tier. Of course, this is the quality when the internal cultivation method and saber technique are combined; they would be significantly discounted if separated."

Elder Kang made his assessment after examining it.

"The sect won't take advantage of you. Generally, martial arts of this quality are worth around twenty to thirty thousand contribution points. I'll make the decision to give you thirty thousand. Additionally, I'll give you an opportunity to choose another Earth-grade, initial stage martial art."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming's breathing quickened. He didn't even mention the contribution points; being able to choose another Earth-grade, initial stage martial art meant this exchange was definitely not a loss.

"Don't underestimate this opportunity. No matter how many contribution points you have, you can't exchange for an Earth-grade martial art without the sect's approval," Elder Kang said with a smile.

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

"No need. If it were anyone else, I would do the same, because Earth-grade martial arts are too precious," Elder Kang waved his hand and explained, "Every additional one means the sect has one more legacy. Moreover, this [Heavenly Saber Technique], whether it's the internal cultivation method or the saber technique, progresses step by step and is extremely easy to use for cultivating disciples."

After speaking, he handed Lu Ming a token, a voucher for exchanging an Earth-grade, initial stage martial art.

Lu Ming didn't plan to use it now. After all, he didn't need the cultivation method, and he couldn't even use the martial skills he had.

He decided to keep it for now.

"Oh, right, I still need to ask you something."

After recording the contribution points for Lu Ming, Elder Kang spoke again.

Lu Ming looked puzzled, "Please ask, Elder."

Elder Kang sized him up and asked, "You chose to exchange this foundational martial art of yours with the sect. What exactly is your intention behind it?"