Reaching Level 40

Huo Shengsheng stepped out from the shadows and walked up to Ning Rongrong, scrutinizing the person before her for a long time. Reason told her that the person in front of her was indeed Ning Rongrong, the very same girl she had threatened a few days ago, but her intuition insisted that this person was not the same Ning Rongrong. Perhaps she had encountered some fortuitous event, or perhaps she had been possessed; regardless, this person was dangerous, and it was best not to make contact.

"Is there something you need from me?" Ning Rongrong asked, looking somewhat puzzled.

Hearing Ning Rongrong speak this way, Huo Shengsheng became even more certain that the person before her was not the one from a few days ago. If it were truly that Ning Rongrong, unless she had encountered some incredible opportunity, she would have already been preparing to bolt.

Of course, this was a trivial matter to her.

She clapped her hands and said nonchalantly, "Nothing much. Congratulations on becoming the new Seventh Elder of the Holy Spirit Sect."

As she spoke, her gaze drifted unintentionally to the side.

Ning Rongrong followed her line of sight but saw nothing. She then realized the remark was directed at her, which only deepened her confusion: "I became the Seventh Elder? Is your Holy Spirit Sect always this casual?"

Lu Ma actually knew about this; it was written in the item description. He just didn't know the logic behind the Holy Spirit Sect, and asking this way was a test to see how the game's internal logic functioned.

Huo Shengsheng nodded and said, "The Holy Spirit Sect is just like that. We generally don't meet using our real identities, so everyone usually doesn't know who the others are. However, since Elders are a relatively important group within the sect, they possess an Elder Token to facilitate identity verification. Under this system, since you have the Seventh Elder Token, you are undoubtedly the Seventh Elder."

As she spoke, Huo Shengsheng sighed and continued, "I just didn't expect that after only a few days, you would go from being that person hiding in a wooden crate to a Holy Spirit Sect Elder, a rank even higher than mine. Oh, and by the way, I am the handler for the Holy Spirit Sect. My duty is to assist and supervise the work of the Seventh Elder and the Eighth and Ninth Associate Elders. Now that the Ninth Associate Elder has died at your hands and the Eighth Associate Elder has such a strange personality that he doesn't require a handler, in other words, all my work now revolves around you. I came here just to see who the new Seventh Elder was; I didn't expect it to be you."

Huo Shengsheng gave Ning Rongrong a meaningful look.

"A wooden crate... forget it, I don't feel there's any need to discuss that matter." Lu Ma thought for a moment and, controlling Ning Rongrong, said, "Then, can I request that you not be my handler, like Yu Xiaogang did?"

Huo Shengsheng looked at Ning Rongrong in surprise: "Who is Yu Xiaogang? That Associate Eighth Elder?"

"It seems you don't know who he is."

"Of course not, he doesn't have an Elder Token. Handlers only have the ability to sense the location of Elder Tokens, not the ability to sense the location of the Elders themselves." Huo Shengsheng replied as if it were obvious. "Now that I've told you, since you have an Elder Token, you have no power to refuse."

"Then what if I give the Elder Token to someone else?"

Huo Shengsheng smiled and said, "You can certainly do that; the choice is yours. But what if I told you that the Elder Token can bring you quite a few benefits?"

"Oh?" Lu Ma's interest was suddenly piqued. "Holy Spirit Pills, Holy Spirit Scrolls?"

"You know quite a lot. But then again, you've already dealt with two Elder or Associate Elder-level figures. You guessed correctly; by relying on the Elder Token, these items can indeed be obtained. However, the procedures might be a bit complicated, and you'll need to raise your rank. I don't know much myself, so you'd best save those questions for the next meeting and ask the other Elders. Yes, a meeting—that is the main reason I came to find you. There is a meeting in a week. Yes, that's it. I don't know much about the Elders' meetings, but you don't need to worry about it. When the time comes, the Sect Master will teleport all of you there."

Huo Shengsheng thought for a moment and realized there was nothing else.

Seeing that Ning Rongrong was still deep in thought, she decided to stay and listen to what the other had to say.

"By the way, do you have any Holy Spirit Pills or Holy Spirit Scrolls on you?"

Lu Ma pondered for a long time before posing this question.

Logically speaking, both the Seventh Elder and the Ninth Elder had Holy Spirit Pills and Holy Spirit Scrolls, so the Eighth Elder should certainly have them as well.

Yet Yu Xiaogang was still at level 29; either his talent was truly abysmal, or he hadn't used the Holy Spirit Pills and Holy Spirit Scrolls at all.

Where those items went was the question.

Lu Ma thought for a long time and felt that the handler in front of him might know something.

Huo Shengsheng's face showed confusion, then surprise, then hesitation, and finally, she spoke: "I do have one set here, which in theory was meant for the Eighth Elder. But since the Eighth Elder doesn't need a handler, I have no obligation to give it to him."

She rummaged through her clothes and produced a pill and a scroll.

"If you want them, then I'll give them to you," she added.

The joy on Ning Rongrong's face became impossible to suppress.

She reached out, took the two items, placed them in her backpack, and replied, "Thanks. Nothing else, you can go back now."

"Mm." Huo Shengsheng nodded and walked away.

Before long, she disappeared from Ning Rongrong's sight.

[Holy Spirit Pill: Stockpile 3]

[Holy Spirit Scroll (Part 5): Automatically destroyed after uses are exhausted 3/3]

"This harvest is surprisingly rich. I need to find a place to use these two items."

As Ning Rongrong spoke, her gaze was drawn to the inn before her.

Wasn't this inn the perfect place? Besides, since her father and the others had just left, there must be rooms available.

With that thought, she strode inside.

"I'd like a room."

Some time later, in a room at the inn.

Spread out before Ning Rongrong were the two newly acquired scrolls; one had already been opened—it was the scroll with only one use remaining.

Immediately, two streams of energy, one cold and one warm, surged into Ning Rongrong's body. Her martial soul emerged, and from the very bottom layer, a purple light began to glow, followed by the second layer. However, compared to the purple light from the bottom layer, the light emitted by the second layer was negligible.

Level 34, breakthrough!

Level 35, breakthrough!

Level 36, breakthrough!

Level 37, breakthrough!

Level 38, breakthrough!

Ning Rongrong could feel that the power within the scroll had been completely exhausted. There was no need for her to even sense it; the scroll itself had already turned into fly ash, vanishing into thin air before her eyes.

But how could a level advancement be brought to a grinding halt just like that?

With this thought, she reached out, grabbed another one, and activated it.

Two more surges of energy poured into her body, and the purple light on the second level of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda continued to brighten until it shone as intensely as the first. Consequently, the purple light naturally began to emanate from the third level.

Level 39, breakthrough!

Level 40, achieved!

The very moment she broke through to level 40, the heavens and earth underwent a drastic change.

A bolt of lightning flashed over Suotuo City.

The hotel manager was startled; he stepped out of the building, gazed up at the sky, and muttered, "The weather is so fickle today. Is it about to rain?"

As his voice trailed off, a light, drizzling rain truly began to fall over Suotuo City.