"Elder Huang, I'm here to choose a cultivation technique... Let me get back to the Scripture Pavilion already."
Li Qiming looked around at the pitch-black darkness. He wanted to leave.
"Don't rush. I have a fortuitous opportunity to give you."
As he spoke, Elder Huang raised a finger. A streak of pale yellow light shot from his fingertip and vanished into Li Qiming's brow in an instant.
Li Qiming looked astonished.
That move... It was so familiar.
This time, his brain still hurt, but he felt as though he had gotten used to it.
After all, he'd been mentally prepared.
Soon, a manual appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.
<Kunlun Mountain Demon Extermination Blade Technique: General Outline, Volume One, Fragment>
Looking at the two identical manuals suspended in his Sea of Consciousness,
Li Qiming's expression turned peculiar.
After leaving the Scripture Pavilion, Li Qiming headed to the Weapon Hall.
Elder Huang had told him to come back once he had reached Entry Level in the Demon Extermination Blade Technique, and hadn't said anything else.
He'd acted as if he were keeping some profound secret.
Li Qiming didn't explain anything either. He left the Scripture Pavilion and went straight to the Weapon Hall.
"Weapons are divided into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, supreme-grade, and treasure weapons."
The portly steward slowly explained.
"Mm..." Li Qiming thought it over, then drew the curved blade at his waist. It had belonged to a Demon Sect warrior at the Bone Refining Great Perfection stage and was one of his spoils of war.
"May I ask what grade this weapon is?"
"This one? Probably mid-grade," the steward said after taking a look.
Li Qiming nodded, then looked toward the vast weapons vault. It seemed he'd have to choose a high-grade blade as his weapon. No, a supreme-grade one!
"Do you have any treasure weapons?"
Li Qiming thought about it and asked.
"Are you dreaming?" The steward's face turned pale.
The Weapon Hall had high-grade weapons at most. It didn't even have supreme-grade ones, yet this fellow had asked for a treasure weapon right off the bat?
"Besides the elders and the Pavilion Master, who's worthy of owning a treasure weapon? Even the eight true disciples can't get their hands on one!"
The steward explained.
"A treasure weapon is one that has developed a certain degree of sentience and can choose its own master!"
"You think you can use one just because you want to? Who do you think you are?!"
The steward rolled his eyes again and again.
Li Qiming sighed inwardly. He'd expected they wouldn't have any, but he still couldn't help asking. After all, what if they did?
"Heh. If you want to choose one, it's not like there aren't any... There's a blade here that the Old Ancestor once used. It used to be an extremely powerful treasure weapon, but it lost its sentience during a great battle and became a discarded weapon!"
"Even so, this discarded weapon is still a little stronger than a supreme-grade one! But the Blade Intent lingering on it will reject anyone else who tries to use it. Only the Old Ancestor, Long Yingtian, could wield it!"
The steward spoke disdainfully.
In truth, even the Pavilion Master, Long Wuhui, couldn't get a grip on the Old Ancestor's discarded blade.
After all, the Old Ancestor's terrifying Blade Intent still lingered on it.
Anyone who touched it would be attacked by the Blade Intent.
It was no pleasant experience.
The steward had done it on purpose, hoping to see Li Qiming make a fool of himself!
He deeply envied Li Qiming.
After all, Li Qiming had become the Chief Elite Disciple at such a young age!
"Oh?" This was the first time Li Qiming had heard of Blade Intent.
It sounded like a blade-path power stronger than Blade Momentum.
"Where's this discarded blade?" Li Qiming was quite interested.
Even he thought he probably wouldn't be able to wield it, but he still wanted to try.
"Here. If you've got the guts, pick it up. But I'm warning you: if you get hurt, don't blame me!"
The steward first made a point of washing his hands of responsibility.
As he spoke, he took a long box covered in dust from a corner.
He opened the box.
Li Qiming looked inside and saw a long blade, covered in rust, lying in the box.
He reached out and picked it up.
He pulled the long blade straight out.
Clang—
He drew the blade from its scabbard in an instant.
The blade was long and slender, but otherwise unremarkable.
There were even several notches along the edge.
It really was a discarded blade, battered and scarred.
"Hmm?" Li Qiming looked at the steward.
The portly steward had collapsed onto his backside, staring at him with his mouth agape.
"What's that look for?" Li Qiming asked, baffled.
"You... You... What did you do?!" The steward stammered, pointing at Li Qiming in shock.
"Didn't you tell me to try it? So I picked up the blade, drew it, and took a look," Li Qiming said.
"No, but why weren't you attacked by the Blade Intent?!"
"Oh?"
Li Qiming's eyes were just as bewildered. He hadn't felt any Blade Intent at all.
He'd nearly forgotten about it.
"Maybe there's no Blade Intent left in this blade, since it's been sitting around for so long," Li Qiming reasoned.
"Heh. In that case, this blade is mine!" The steward's eyes lit up with greed, and he reached out to snatch it.
But in the next instant,
the moment his hand touched the hilt,
a terrifying Blade Intent swept over the steward. His portly body flew backward, and he spat out a mouthful of blood with a retch!
"You... You tricked me!" the steward said, then promptly passed out, unable to catch his breath.
"So this is Blade Intent... In that case, this blade is mine." Li Qiming's eyes brightened. He put the long blade back in its scabbard, then turned and left.
Li Qiming returned to his room and trained furiously, swallowing pill after pill.
At last, on the seventh day, he had gained complete control over every ounce of his strength and Blood Qi.
Two days later, he broke through and became a Bone Refining martial artist.
"So this is Gang Qi?"
With a thought, Li Qiming felt an invisible layer of Gang Qi appear around his body.
He prodded it with a dagger. The Gang Qi was indeed incredibly tough.
Now, even an ordinary Blood Training martial artist couldn't hurt him in the slightest.
"After reaching the Bone Refining stage, the Blood Qi in my body doesn't seem as 'full' anymore."
Li Qiming thought about it, then focused his mind.
The Blood Qi cultivation-power entries stored on his panel slowly disappeared.
Soon, all the entries were gone.
His cultivation surged by fifty years!
His realm rose in turn, climbing from the early Bone Refining stage all the way to the middle stage!
He'd just saved himself years of arduous cultivation!
"Mm. Bone Refining is the process of activating the body's vital essence. I've only activated one-tenth of the vital essence in my bones!"
Li Qiming felt he still had a long way to go.
But his body had also reached its limit. A tearing sensation set in, and he couldn't continue pouring in Blood Qi cultivation power.
Another three days passed in the blink of an eye.
"No good. After reaching the Bone Refining stage, the disadvantage of my Inferior Root Bone has become too obvious. Training doesn't improve my strength much anymore."
"If I want to get stronger quickly, I still have to improve my Root Bone aptitude!"
Li Qiming pondered the matter. He still needed to loot corpses.
He arrived at the Contribution Hall.
Disciples could accept missions at the Contribution Hall.
As it happened, he spotted a familiar figure.
Wang Jie!
"Senior Brother Qiming, I heard you went into seclusion. Did you break through?"
When Wang Jie saw Li Qiming, he immediately brightened with joy.
"Mm. I made a little breakthrough..." Li Qiming nodded.
Then he seemed to remember something. "By the way, I said I'd take you on a mission last time. I'm planning to take one now, so come with me."
"I'll pass." Wang Jie shook his head. "Brother Qiming, I should be thanking you. Because you stood up for me and killed Wu Tianlong, all the senior brothers have been looking out for me."
"They've even been sucking up to me a little... They've all been willing to take me on missions, too. My contribution points have already reached five hundred during this time! It's all thanks to your reputation, Brother Qiming!"
Li Qiming froze.
He hadn't expected Wu Tianlong's death to have such a deterrent effect.
It made sense, after all.
No one wanted to offend a terrifying figure who could kill a Bone Refining martial artist with a single punch.
By standing up for Wang Jie, he had indirectly changed Wang Jie's fate.
In fact, every disciple around them had been doing their best to suck up to Wang Jie, all for Li Qiming's sake!
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