An Old Acquaintance Comes Calling, Dao Merit Missions

Seclusion made one lose all sense of time.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

Over those half a month, Lu He had scarcely left the cultivation chamber. Whenever he grew weary, he would lean against the Spirit-Gathering Jade-Marrow Bed and rest briefly.

With the dual enhancement of the third-tier Immaculate Heart Ape and the Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel, he cultivated with all his might.

In just three days, he had completely mastered the basics of the Layered-Origin Tide Breath-Absorption Method, which that senior brother had claimed was extremely difficult to begin.

By the eighth day, he had reached the proficient stage!

At that point, Lu He felt the Layered-Origin Tide Breath-Absorption Method was sufficient for now. Letting it continue to occupy the Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel would be more loss than gain, so he decisively used up his last five jin of spirit gold, erased the Qi-Feeding Method dao patterns from the treasure wheel, and inscribed the Summon Mist as Soldiers Art anew.

As for the Little Crimson Burning Art, as well as the Wave-Treading Body-Escape Art he had purchased afterward, he relied solely on cultivation while in the Immaculate Heart Ape state. Their progress was likewise extremely fast.

It simply was not as outrageous as the Summon Mist as Soldiers Art.

This day.

Void Mirage Realm, Dao Demonstration Platform.

Lu He stood at the center of a spacious arena.

Thirty meters ahead stood a humanoid puppet forged from bronze.

Suddenly, he rapidly formed seals with one hand. The deep, heavy Dharma power within him surged forth in an instant, flowing along his fingertips as it swiftly traced an incomprehensibly profound dao pattern.

In the flash of lightning and spark of flint.

A dark flame shot forth at tremendous speed. Following Lu He's will, it streaked like a meteor and struck the puppet squarely in the chest.

Boom—

The dark-red flames exploded, and a shockwave carrying terrifying impact and searing heat swept in all directions. Wherever it passed, the air warped from the burning heat.

When the flames dispersed, only half a melted, broken bronze puppet remained.

Immediately afterward, the mist surrounding the Dao Demonstration Platform surged over, and the bronze puppet was restored to perfect condition in an instant.

At the same time.

A line of small words condensed from mist before Lu He, then swiftly faded away.

[Spell Evaluation: Six Marks]

[Reference: The average spell power of an ordinary first-layer Qi-Feeding cultivator falls within the range of four to five marks.]

"Only six marks for the Little Crimson Burning Art?"

Lu He gave a startled cry.

Although the power unleashed by this spell had already slightly surpassed the level of an ordinary first-layer Qi-Feeding cultivator, it still failed to satisfy him.

After all, as far as he knew.

These so-called ordinary first-layer Qi-Feeding cultivators—

Referred to those who had not opened a flawless Vermilion Essence Spring, cultivated inferior-grade Qi-Feeding methods, and had mastered their spells to the proficient stage.

After a long while.

"Sure enough, forcibly using water-aspected Profound Nether Heavy-Origin Dharma Power to cast the Little Crimson Burning Art greatly weakens its power. I'll just treat it as one more emergency measure."

A trace of helplessness appeared on Lu He's face.

Then.

The Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel within his dantian spun without cease.

His gaze sharpened slightly. With a point of one hand, waves of white mist surged forth before him, swiftly condensing into a pitch-black longsword that slashed through the air, releasing a terrifying sword light—cold and dim.

Without a sound.

A white line appeared before Lu He, passing straight through the bronze puppet thirty meters away and extending deep into the dense mist.

Bang!

The puppet split into two halves and collapsed to the ground. A faint layer of dark Dharma power clung to the cut, refusing to dissipate for a long while.

The small misty words appeared before him once more.

[Spell Evaluation: Twenty Marks]

"Now that's more like it."

Seeing the power erupted by the Summon Mist as Soldiers Art, which had reached the great mastery stage under the treasure wheel's enhancement, a smile rippled through Lu He's eyes. He nodded in satisfaction.

His gaze unconsciously shifted to the Golden Book in his vision.

[Name: Lu He]

[Cultivation: First Layer of Qi-Feeding]

[Methods: Layered-Origin Tide Breath-Absorption Method · Proficient (11%)

Summon Mist as Soldiers Art · Mastery (37%)

Wave-Treading Body-Escape Art · Proficient (3%)

Little Crimson Burning Art · Beginner (11%)]

"Compared to when I entered Ancient Demon Pass last time, my strength has risen more than four or five times over. I wonder which Demon Pass I can reach now?"

Lu He was eager to try.

A powerful intuition suddenly arose within him—the second and third Demon Passes ahead would not be able to halt his footsteps!

But at that moment.

As though sensing something, Lu He willed it, and his figure vanished directly from the Void Mirage Realm.

Boom—

Before the cave residence gate had even fully opened, a bold, hearty laugh rang out from beyond the door.

"Haha, Brother Lu truly has been cultivating inside his cave residence."

"Brother Deng, Brother Zheng, and this gentleman—"

Lu He narrowed his eyes slightly. His gaze swept over the three people standing side by side outside the cave residence, finally settling on the tall, slender man at the far right.

For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

Lu He remembered him.

He was precisely that unlucky fellow from Arena Three at the Medicine Garden tea gathering—the one who had tried to ambush him, only to be knocked unconscious by dozens of Lu He's punches and end up taking ninth place.

Yet even now, Lu He did not know the man's name.

Across from him.

The tall, slender man seemed to realize this as well, and embarrassment immediately flashed across his face.

He straightened his back at once and introduced himself.

"Brother Lu, my surname is Hu, and my given name is Changting. Regarding what happened at Arena Three last time, Hu was discourteous. I hope Brother Lu will not hold it against me."

With that, he cupped his hands and bowed again.

"So it's Brother Hu. Everyone, please come in!"

Lu He nodded in understanding and gestured them inside.

"Then we'll impose upon you, Brother Lu." Deng Huo, who stood at the front, likewise cupped his hands.

Not long after.

Inside the cave residence hall.

"So you mean... you want to invite me to take on a Dao Merit mission with you tomorrow?"

Lu He rubbed his chin with his fingertips, surprise showing on his face.

"That's right, Brother Lu."

Deng Huo nodded from across the room, looking at Lu He with eager anticipation. "We've already picked out the specific Dao Merit mission."

"Which one?" Lu He was interested.

"It's Mission Ding-Seventy-Nine. The danger level isn't high, and if our luck is good, the Dao Merit we earn from this trip should be quite substantial."

Hu Changting beside him answered without hesitation.

"Mission Ding-Seventy-Nine?"

A thoughtful glint passed through Lu He's eyes.

He had some impression of this mission. It seemed to have been issued by a senior brother from the Heavenly Craft Tower and required them to travel to the Earth-Vein Caverns to gather a treasure called Blood Sand.

The price offered was not low—fifty Dao Merit per liang.

They were purchasing it long-term.

For that very reason, Lu He had specifically looked into it before.

Blood Sand was extremely troublesome to collect. It existed only at the roots of certain Blood-Marrow Flowers, and even then, there was very little of it.

What was more troublesome was that Blood-Marrow Flowers were exceptionally difficult to find, and Flame-Armored Demon Ants would inevitably be present around them.

Flame-Armored Demon Ants were lower-ranked demons. Individually, they were generally around the first layer of Qi-Feeding and not particularly strong, but whenever they appeared, they came in dense swarms.

Thus, Lu He had directly abandoned the idea.

Coming back to himself.

"Just the four of us? If we encounter a swarm of Flame-Armored Demon Ants in the Earth-Vein Caverns, I'm afraid they'll be difficult to handle."

Lu He looked directly at Deng Huo.

In truth.

With his Profound Nether Heavy-Origin Dharma Power, the Wave-Treading Body-Escape Art at the proficient stage, and the Summon Mist as Soldiers Art at the great mastery stage—

Even if he could not defeat a swarm of Flame-Armored Demon Ants, he would still be able to protect himself.

However, Lu He wanted to see exactly what trump card Deng Huo had that gave him the nerve to accept this mission.

Upon hearing that.

"Brother Lu has looked into this mission as well? All the better!"

A faint smile crossed Deng Huo's face.

"To be honest, besides the four of us, Chen Zhengchu from Beast Pavilion will also be joining us. He passed the third Demon Pass just yesterday. His strength is formidable, and he is a top genius ranked within the top one hundred and thirty of the Scorching Sun Golden Ranking."

"Our families have been friends for generations, which is why we were able to invite him."

"Besides, Brother Lu, I've also passed the second Demon Pass! With our little team, we have more than enough strength to protect ourselves against Flame-Armored Demon Ants, so rest assured."

"In that case, count me in."

Lu He nodded in agreement.

It happened that after half a month of hard cultivation, his Dao Merit had also been nearly exhausted.