Great Accomplishment?
The Old Man was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
As he laughed, tears welled in his cloudy eyes. "Good, good, good! Heaven means to raise up Myriad Sword Pavilion!"
"To reach Great Accomplishment within a month—even the powerful bloodlines of the Top Body Cultivator Families of Ten Provinces could hardly manage that!"
"Looks like this old man can finally go in peace."
With a trembling hand, the Old Man drew a cultivation manual from his robe. It was wrapped in a Black Slipcase. He gritted his teeth softly, as if he had made up his mind. "I'll cultivate it. This old man will take a gamble too. If I die, those who come after me can still grow quickly and protect the sect's legacy. If I survive, then Golden Cauldron Sect, Wuji Immortal Sect—you'd better just wait..."
Yun Shu left the storeroom. After handing the letter to the Fat Steward, he headed to the Second Floor of Scripture Pavilion.
The same old Deacon received him.
The old Deacon glanced at Yun Shu and looked a little surprised. He still remembered him somewhat.
Back when Yun Shu had been an Outer Sect Disciple, he had come to ask about the value of an Immortal Art.
Who would have thought he'd become an Inner Sect Disciple so quickly?
There was a fundamental difference between Inner Sect Disciples and Outer Sect Disciples: an Inner Sect Disciple had to possess decent cultivation talent.
It was no exaggeration to say that every Inner Sect Disciple was a treasure of the sect.
There were only a little over two hundred disciples on each of the Nine Great Peaks. That showed just how difficult it was to become one.
"I never expected you to be promoted to Inner Sect Disciple so quickly. Congratulations! You were only at the Body Tempering Level back then, yet you've reached Qi Refining so soon. You must have excellent talent." The Old Man smiled kindly.
Yun Shu could barely suppress a laugh.
This might have been the first person who had praised his talent without knowing the truth.
He definitely hadn't achieved what he had through talent.
He had once hoped to rely on his talent too, but after two years, he had only reached the Body Refinement Second Layer.
The Body Refinement Second Layer!
A whole year just to advance by one level!
At that rate, becoming an Outer Sect Disciple was the limit of what he could hope for in this life. He hadn't even considered breaking through to Qi Refining.
Much less joining one of the Nine Peaks.
At the mention of it, Yun Shu felt rather wistful. "My talent isn't very good. I could only do more tasks than other people and put in more time cultivating. I practiced the techniques others cultivated a few extra times, and that's how I managed to achieve this little bit of progress."
Yun Shu also noticed that this Old Man, unlike the Fat Steward, couldn't see through his cultivation level at a glance.
Perhaps the Fat Steward had gone further along the path of cultivation.
The Old Man's strength was obscure to Yun Shu, but it didn't feel mysterious. He could still sense roughly where it lay: around the Qi Condensation Tenth Layer.
Qi Condensation had twelve layers in total, with the twelfth being the peak. But in truth, the tenth layer was already considered the peak.
At this level, Yun Shu was absolutely capable of punching him to pieces.
Of course, that was only a figure of speech.
He couldn't just go around hitting old people. That would be downright dishonorable.
The Old Man seemed very pleased with what Yun Shu had said. What a fine disciple—through sheer perseverance and hard work, he had made it to the Nine Peaks.
The Old Man even thought back to his own youth. He, too, had cultivated like a madman, taken missions, and gathered resources. But in the end, his talent had been too limited to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, leaving him to while away the years in the Scripture Pavilion.
"You came to exchange for an Immortal Art, right? Do you have enough Contribution Points?" The Old Man put his reminiscing aside and asked.
Generally speaking, Inner Sect Disciples were fairly well-off. After all, resources were heavily tilted in their favor, and most of the sect's resources ended up in their hands.
But a newly admitted Inner Sect Disciple probably wouldn't have much, especially since Yun Shu had only recently entered the Inner Sect the last time he came.
Thinking it over, the Old Man was rather surprised. Had Yun Shu advanced all the way without stopping?
"I don't have enough Contribution Points for an Immortal Art." Yun Shu shook his head lightly. "Do you have any offensive techniques? Are they just as expensive?"
"That's a different matter. Some Immortal Arts come with offensive techniques built in. You can go upstairs and take a look. Standalone offensive techniques don't cost nearly as much." The Old Man explained.
"Alright." Yun Shu cupped his hands slightly, then headed upstairs.
On the third floor, Yun Shu found quite a variety of things.
Several Deacons were keeping order there, and some were responsible for explaining the techniques and other manuals to the disciples.
It looked like a general store.
As soon as Yun Shu reached the third floor, a female Deacon came over to greet him.
She looked about thirty, with a slender waist. As a cultivator, she had an air of elegance about her.
"Young man, you look unfamiliar. Is this your first time here to choose a cultivation technique?"
"Mm." Yun Shu nodded slightly.
He thought the Deacons here were all quite pleasant. Compared with the overbearing Deacons from the Outer Sect and Inner Sect outside, these people were practically Bodhisattvas.
"What sort of thing are you looking for? I can help you find it." Seeing the Inner Sect Disciple Robe he wore, the female Deacon grew even more enthusiastic.
There was no doubt that she would receive a commission when a Spirit Art was sold. Inner Sect Disciples were always generous spenders.
"Do you have anything that can conceal the aura of the Martial Path?" Yun Shu asked casually.
The aura of the Martial Path?
The Deacon looked a little surprised.
Why would anyone need to hide their Martial Path aura? Once someone reached the Body Refining Ninth Level, there was hardly any room left for Body Tempering to have an effect.
If someone had already reached Qi Refining and wanted to hide their Martial Path aura, there was no need. The meager benefits of Body Tempering could barely support Qi Induction into Body; it was already being completely overshadowed.
"We do!" Though she had some questions, she didn't press him.
Almost none of the disciples who came here wanted to reveal their secrets. The Deacons simply helped them find Spirit Arts that suited their needs.
As for actual training, that was up to the sect's Transmission Elder. The Transmission Elder was essentially the teacher of all the disciples on a peak, answering questions and clearing up doubts at the Training Ground every day, and even devising customized Spirit Art plans for various disciples.
There were techniques here that could conceal one's aura.
"This is the Breath Concealing Art. It's for Inner Sect Disciples in the Qi Condensation Stage and costs five Contribution Points.
"Once you've concealed your aura, unless someone is two major realms above you, it'll be hard for them to see through you. Of course, you still have to be careful not to reveal any openings during a fight. The technique can help conceal your aura, but if you let it out yourself, it won't do you any good.
"In everyday situations, it can hide both your physical and Qi Refining cultivation levels. It's a fairly good one. There's another technique that can only hide your physical cultivation level, and that one costs just one Contribution Point."
Yun Shu pondered for a moment. "So if my physical cultivation level is at the Qi Refining Stage, someone would need to be at least at the Golden Core Stage to see through it?"
The female Deacon nodded, then shook her head. "In theory, yes. But first, you'd have to cultivate the Breath Concealing Art to minor mastery, which could take three to five years."
"What if I reach Great Accomplishment?" Yun Shu asked at once.
"Even experts in the Nascent Soul Realm might have a hard time seeing through your cultivation level. That could take decades, or even over a hundred years, and that's assuming you have enough comprehension. Besides, why would you be afraid of someone in the Nascent Soul Realm when you're only at the Qi Refining Stage?" The female Deacon laughed as she said this.
Yun Shu didn't laugh. He was thinking about whether this was worth so many Contribution Points.
He had worked himself to death killing a bunch of people just to earn the five Contribution Points for one B-grade Mission. Was he really going to spend them all on this?
But a moment later, he took out his Jade Token. "I'll take it!"
"Can I pay with something else, like Origin Nurturing Pills?" Yun Shu asked curiously.
"No." The female Deacon shook her head. "But the sect has a Donation System that lets you exchange things for Contribution Points."
"So I can still trade resources for them." Yun Shu smiled.
"That's true. But Contribution Points are meant to encourage disciples to take missions. The rewards may be a little small each time, but they're still decent." The female Deacon smiled along with him. "The Donation System is for disciples who urgently need Spirit Arts."
"If you have Spirit Stones, you can exchange them at a rate of one Contribution Point per Spirit Stone. As for Origin Nurturing Pills, it's ten pills for one point."
Yun Shu mulled it over.
That was fairly reasonable.
The price outside the sect was about the same.
But there was one difference: Spirit Stones could be used anywhere. Once exchanged for Contribution Points, they could only be used within the sect.
"Alright, then. I'll keep looking," Yun Shu said. "How many Contribution Points do offensive Spell Techniques cost here? Could you give me a few examples?"
"Something a little better than the offensive techniques paired with the five Spirit Arts the sect issues," Yun Shu added after thinking it over.
"Take a look at these." The female Deacon led Yun Shu over to the side. "These Spirit Arts cost around thirty Contribution Points. For example, this one, the Flowing Gold Killing Technique, uses the power of the Metal Attribute."
"In terms of power, it's mid-tier among offensive Spirit Art techniques at the Qi Condensation Stage," the female Deacon explained.
Yun Shu's eyes lit up.
This was clearly a powerful Spirit Art of the Metal Attribute, with solid quality.
After briefly looking over the description, Yun Shu gritted his teeth softly. "I'll take this one."
"Alright." The female Deacon nodded, her face breaking into a smile.
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