Rising to Fame

Dawn broke, and the morning sun slowly climbed over the peaks of Azure Cloud Sect.

After last night's turmoil of false accusations and framing, the sky had fully brightened.

Shen Yuan and Wang Dong bade Elder Zhang farewell and walked side by side back to the outer sect disciples' quarters. Quite a few sect disciples were already out early, cultivating or carrying out their duties. News of Liu Er being expelled and Zhao Kun being punished with half a year of wall-facing meditation had spread through the entire outer sect overnight as if it had grown wings.

Along the way, disciples who saw Shen Yuan pass by stopped in their tracks and turned their gazes toward him.

There was admiration, curiosity, and a measure of wariness.

"That's Shen Yuan. Not only did he take first place among the outer sect disciples, he also exposed Zhao Kun's scheme last night and saved Wang Dong." "Zhao Kun used to be so impressive. This time, he fell hard and can only go meditate facing a wall for half a year." "But I heard Zhao Kun has backing in the inner sect. This matter may not be over yet."

Whispers drifted continuously into their ears.

Wang Dong rubbed the bruises on his face that had yet to fully fade and said to Shen Yuan in a low voice, "Your name has truly spread throughout the outer sect now. Quite a few disciples want to befriend you. Several groups already sent people to pass along messages on the way here, saying they wanted to visit and bring gifts."

Shen Yuan shook his head calmly. "Social obligations can wait. Right now, the most important thing is preparing for the Azure Cloud Sword Formation Inner Sect Test in twenty days."

The two returned to Shen Yuan's small outer sect courtyard. Sure enough, three or four outer sect disciples were already standing outside the gate, each carrying a box of pills as they waited to pay their respects.

Standing at the courtyard gate, Shen Yuan directly declined them.

"I appreciate everyone's goodwill, but the Inner Sect Test is drawing near. I need to enter seclusion and cultivate diligently, so I have no time for social calls. Please take your gifts back. If there is an opportunity in the future, we can speak of friendship then."

Seeing Shen Yuan's resolute attitude, the disciples could not continue pestering him and could only leave dejectedly with their gifts.

Once the courtyard gate was shut, the courtyard finally became quiet.

The meditation room in the small courtyard was clean and simple. A stone cushion sat in the middle of the room, while low-grade spirit stones and healing pills issued by the sect were placed in a corner—the rewards for taking first place in the outer sect.

Wang Dong bolted the courtyard gate and let out a sigh of relief. "We finally got rid of those people. People fear fame as pigs fear growing fat. You're in the spotlight now. Some truly admire you, but plenty are merely opportunists who want to use your connections to cling to the inner sect."

"I know." Shen Yuan walked over to the stone cushion and sat down, slowly closing his eyes as his consciousness sank into his sea of consciousness.

The Martial Arts Heavenly Stele floated silently. Deducing the course of events last night had consumed 7 Martial Dao Points. After the many fierce battles of the outer sect assessment and deducting last night's expenditure, his current Martial Dao Points stood at 35.

Shen Yuan examined his own body inwardly.

After the many bloody battles in the outer sect, along with the intermittent nourishment of Dragonblood Grass, more than half of the fractures in his damaged innate bones had healed. Yet invisible, minute cracks still remained. The barrier to the Body Tempering Ninth Stage was close at hand, but the true challenge was breaking through Body Tempering and entering the Meridian Opening Realm.

The Body Tempering Realm tempered flesh, muscles, bones, and sinews. The Meridian Opening Realm required one to open the eight primary meridians throughout the body, allowing true qi to arise naturally and freeing one from the stage of relying purely on physical strength and blood qi in battle.

But his body, whose innate bones had suffered severe damage, was his greatest obstacle.

Ordinary disciples could follow the Azure Cloud Heart Method passed down by the sect and naturally attempt to break into the Meridian Opening Realm. But Shen Yuan's innate bones still bore old wounds and cracks. When using ordinary breathing and circulation routes to force open his meridians, he could easily trigger those old injuries, perhaps even shattering the innate bones that had only just begun to heal.

I'll try simulating a breakthrough using the ordinary Azure Cloud Heart Method's route first, Shen Yuan thought.

With a thought, his consciousness entered the Martial Arts Simulation Space.

He replicated every aspect of his physical condition. The tiny cracks in his innate bones and the damaged areas of his meridians were all simulated exactly as they were, then he loaded the original Azure Cloud Heart Method's breakthrough process.

His virtual self sat cross-legged and mobilized his blood qi to assault the barrier of the Meridian Opening Realm.

The first simulation.

His surging blood qi rushed toward the first primary meridian. Just moments into the assault, the cracks from the old injuries in his innate bones suddenly widened. The simulated body's meridians ruptured outright, and a mouthful of blood gushed forth. The breakthrough failed.

[Breakthrough simulation failed: The innate bones could not withstand the blood qi impact of the conventional route. Old injuries flared up.]

The second attempt adjusted the output of his blood qi and slowed the pace of the assault.

But once the force was lowered, it became insufficient to break through the Meridian Opening Realm's barrier. He remained stuck at the bottleneck, unable to advance any further for a long time. Another failure.

The third attempt, the fourth attempt...

Seven consecutive breakthrough simulations all ended in failure.

With every failure, his soul bore a portion of the pain from the injuries, leaving Shen Yuan's divine soul throbbing and heavy.

After withdrawing from the Martial Arts Simulation Space, Shen Yuan slowly opened his eyes, his brows tightly furrowed.

"As expected, it won't work. The original technique's breakthrough route does not suit my current physique. Either the force is too strong and tears apart my innate bones, or it is too weak to break the realm's barrier."

Seeing Shen Yuan's grave expression, Wang Dong hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Did you run into trouble while trying to break through?"

Shen Yuan nodded and briefly explained the difficulties he had encountered in the simulated breakthroughs.

After hearing this, Wang Dong's round face also showed worry. "That's troublesome. Only twenty days remain before the Inner Sect Test. Passing through the Azure Cloud Sword Formation is a completely different matter at the Body Tempering Ninth Stage than at the Meridian Opening Realm. At the Meridian Opening Realm, true qi can protect the body and withstand the flying swords' lethal power. At the Body Tempering Ninth Stage, you can only rely on your physical body to endure it. The sword formation's seven layers are full of deadly dangers, and the risks increase severalfold."

At that point, Wang Dong's eyes shifted as though he had thought of something.

"Right! I remember that the outer sect warehouse's exchange list has several spirit medicines specifically used to nourish innate bones and assist in breaking into the Meridian Opening Realm. Things like Meridian-Coagulating Flower and Scarlet Blood Vine. But those herbs require a great deal of sect contribution points to exchange for. You may have received a batch of contribution points for taking first place in the outer sect, but you're still far from having enough to gather both herbs."

Sect contribution points could be earned by completing sect missions or achieving high assessment rankings, and they could be used to exchange for pills, spirit medicines, and cultivation methods. Shen Yuan's rewards were enough to exchange for ordinary healing pills, but high-grade breakthrough herbs were extremely expensive.

"Not enough contribution points." Shen Yuan pondered. "Going out to take missions and earn them would take far too much time. Twenty days is simply not enough."

Wang Dong rubbed his plump hands together, a glint flashing through his eyes. "Leave this to me. I've spent so long among the menial workers and at the bottom of the outer sect that I know quite a few merchant disciples who travel in and out of the sect. Some of them keep spirit medicines hidden away, and we can trade goods for goods instead of necessarily using contribution points. I'll find a way to take your spare spirit stones and the spoils of battle to the market at the foot of the mountain and try my luck. Maybe I can trade for Meridian-Coagulating Flower and Scarlet Blood Vine."

Shen Yuan looked at Wang Dong. Wang Dong did not possess exceptional cultivation talent, but his skills in business, gathering intelligence, and bartering were indeed difficult for others to match.

"The risk is not small. Xiao Wuji is still watching us. Be extremely careful when you go out, and do not act alone," Shen Yuan solemnly warned.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Wang Dong patted his chest. "I'll find several people to travel with me to the market at the foot of the mountain. I won't be alone. The moment I get the herbs, I'll return immediately."

After discussing the matter, Wang Dong made some simple preparations, took the spare spirit stones Shen Yuan gave him along with several weapons seized from the arena, and prepared to head to the market at the foot of the mountain to seek his fortune.

Only Shen Yuan remained in the small courtyard's meditation room once more.

Shen Yuan closed his eyes again and reentered the Martial Arts Simulation Space.

"Since the ready-made breakthrough route won't work, then I'll spend Martial Dao Points to deduce a Meridian Opening breakthrough method specifically suited to my damaged innate bones."

To pass through the perilous Azure Cloud Sword Formation, reaching the Meridian Opening Realm was imperative.