Find a Helper

Zuo Xiaoqing watched Ye Xingchen bare his teeth and rub his aching lower back, a trace of something strange flashing through her eyes.

She said nothing, merely flipped her wrist again.

Whoosh!

Another jade bottle sliced through the air, carrying a piercing whistle as it shot straight for Ye Xingchen's face.

Ye Xingchen raised a hand and caught it steadily. A sweep of his divine sense revealed another five plump Blood-Coagulating Pills inside.

Together with the previous five, that made a full ten Blood-Coagulating Pills!

According to the system's conversion, that was a full 5,000 Source Points!

"Generous!"

"Junior Sister, feel free to call on me for this kind of 'back-breaking' work in the future. As long as the pills are in place, forget my back—I could train my kidneys until sparks flew."

This freeloading life really was sweet.

It might be a little hard on the body, but as long as he had enough Source Points to increase his physique, what the hell was this tiny injury?

Zuo Xiaoqing clearly did not understand the dirty joke in Ye Xingchen's words. Or rather, she had not considered it in that direction at all.

"Your hammer technique is very strong." Zuo Xiaoqing spoke in a cool voice. "In terms of pure explosive force, that hammer strike was not even weaker than a Foundation Establishment attack. But..."

Her tone shifted, and her gaze turned sharp as a torch. "In a true fight to the death, you would already be dead."

The teasing smile on Ye Xingchen's face faded somewhat. He tucked the jade bottle into his robe and said seriously, "I would like to hear the details."

"Charging up." Zuo Xiaoqing cut straight to the heart of it. "Your Chaotic Wind Hammer Method needs to stack force in order to reach its peak. Just now, I waited for you to charge up because I wanted to see your limit. But if it were an enemy..."

She sneered and drew a finger across her slender neck. "By the time you swung your third hammer, your head would have already changed addresses. No one would be foolish enough to stand there and wait for you to finish unleashing your ultimate move."

Ye Xingchen fell silent.

This was also the problem that had been giving him a headache all along.

The Chaotic Wind Hammer Method had originally been a combat art derived from forging. When he hammered iron, naturally, the iron would not run away. But people were alive.

In that battle just now, if Zuo Xiaoqing had not been overconfident and insisted on taking his strongest strike head-on, he would have lost long ago.

"Does Senior Sister have any brilliant advice?" Ye Xingchen asked humbly.

Zuo Xiaoqing pondered for a moment, then said earnestly, "Find a teammate."

"Huh?"

"Find a body cultivator with thick skin and tough flesh, someone with strong endurance, and make him your partner." Zuo Xiaoqing laid out her analysis with perfect logic. "Have him rush ahead to draw the fire and buy you those few dozen breaths of charging time. As long as you can swing the forty-ninth hammer, no one in the outer sect will be able to stop you."

After hearing that, the corner of Ye Xingchen's mouth could not help twitching.

Find a meat shield?

The suggestion sounded perfectly reasonable. It was like forming a party in a game: the tank pulled the monsters while the mage channeled a spell and dealt damage.

But the problem was...

"Senior Sister, I'm a lone wolf." Ye Xingchen raised a thumb and flashed a mouthful of white teeth. "That suggestion is excellent. Don't bring it up again next time."

Entrust his back to someone else?

In this immortal cultivation world where people ate people, he trusted no one except the dead. What if that "meat shield" got bought off and stabbed him in the back? That would be a truly unjust death.

"As you wish." Zuo Xiaoqing did not try to persuade him further. She turned and left, crisp and decisive. "Remember to heal your injuries. Next time, I will not suppress my realm."

"Take care, Senior Sister. Let's meet often!"

As he watched that graceful purple figure disappear at the end of the mountain forest, the smile on Ye Xingchen's face gradually vanished, replaced by a thoughtful look.

"Finding a teammate is impossible. I'll never find a teammate in this lifetime."

As Ye Xingchen walked back, he rapidly calculated in his mind.

"Since I can't rely on others to buy me time, I can only rely on myself. What if... there were two of me?"

A bold idea exploded in his mind.

Back when he watched anime in his previous life, that blond kid's Multiple Shadow Clone Technique had been an ultimate skill.

If he could cultivate some technique like an external incarnation and have the clone entangle the enemy while his true body stood behind it, crazily stacking buffs and charging up...

The instant the clone got blown apart, the true body would finish charging and teach the enemy how to behave with one hammer!

Just imagining the scene felt brutally satisfying.

"Shadow clones... clone techniques..." Ye Xingchen muttered, unconsciously quickening his pace. "Looks like I'll have to make another trip to the Technique Hall."

North Hall, main council chamber.

Huang Zhen was holding a cup of spirit tea, leisurely blowing away the floating tea leaves.

When he saw Ye Xingchen rush in like a whirlwind, he did not even lift his eyelids. A cold smile that said he had already seen through everything curled across his lips.

"What? Regretting it?"

Huang Zhen took a sip of tea and said unhurriedly, "This old man told you long ago that trash like the Origin Heaven Art is useless for anything except prospecting for mines. Did you find that your cultivation had stagnated after practicing it, and now you want to switch techniques?"

He wore the expression of someone saying, "If you don't heed an elder's words, suffering awaits right before your eyes."

Young people would not turn back until they hit the southern wall. Now that he had suffered a loss, he naturally knew to come back and seek help from this elder.

"Elder, you misunderstand."

Ye Xingchen casually pulled over a chair and sat down. He poured himself a cup of tea as well and drained it in one gulp. "The Origin Heaven Art is quite good. I'm cultivating it with great enthusiasm. I came this time to ask whether there are any techniques... that can create clones?"

"Clones?"

Huang Zhen paused, set down his teacup, and scrutinized Ye Xingchen suspiciously. "You want to learn an external incarnation? Those are profound divine abilities that only those in the Foundation Establishment Realm, or even the Golden Core Realm, can come into contact with. At the Qi Refining Stage, at most you can learn tricks like Phantom Traceless Movement to deceive the eye."

"A trick to deceive the eye works too! As long as it can produce a shadow to confuse the enemy." Ye Xingchen's eyes lit up.

Even if it had no offensive power, as long as it could fool an enemy for one or two seconds, that would be enough time for him to swing a few hammers.

"There is one."

"On the second floor of the Technique Hall, the Phantom Light-Splitting Art, a Black Tier movement technique. Once cultivated to great mastery, it can create three afterimages, so real and false become impossible to distinguish."

"That's the one!" Ye Xingchen abruptly rose to his feet. "Elder, lead the way."

Yet Huang Zhen remained completely still in his chair, watching him with the calm composure of an old god.

"Lead the way? Lead you where?"

Huang Zhen snorted. "Ye Xingchen, the sect has its rules. Newly initiated disciples only have one chance to choose a technique for free, and you already used yours to exchange for that Origin Heaven Art. Now you want a second one? Fine."

He held up three fingers and rubbed them together. "Exchange contribution points for it. Or buy it with Spirit Stones."

"How much?"

"One thousand contribution points, or ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

The tea Ye Xingchen had just swallowed nearly sprayed from his mouth.

Ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones? Why didn't you just rob me!

"Elder, considering our relationship..." Ye Xingchen rubbed his hands together, attempting to play the sentiment card. "You see, I'm the future hope of our North Hall. This little bit of money..."

"Even blood brothers settle accounts clearly, let alone us, who merely have an 'investment' relationship." Huang Zhen was utterly impervious, cutting him off. "If I set this precedent, then other disciples will follow suit. Will this old man still be able to serve as an elder?"

Ye Xingchen rolled his eyes.

This was rather awkward.

He had an ultimate-skill concept in hand, yet poverty had shackled his potential.

Seeing Ye Xingchen deflated, a sly glint flashed through Huang Zhen's eyes.

This kid was like a donkey that walked only when stroked and backed away when beaten. He had to give him a dose of bitter medicine and make him understand that the sect was not a charity hall.

However...

Huang Zhen changed the subject, lightly tapping the tabletop with a finger. "It doesn't matter if you have no money. The sect does not raise idlers. If you want resources, you have to earn them yourself."

"You haven't been to the Mission Hall yet, have you?"

Huang Zhen looked at Ye Xingchen meaningfully. "I heard that you work part-time as a First-Rank Artifact Refiner at the Artifact Refining Hall, and that old man Mo seems to think highly of you. Go take a look at the Mission Hall. There are quite a few artifact-refining missions there, and the rewards are generous."

Ye Xingchen's heart stirred.

Artifact refining?

"Right, how could I forget that? As long as I have materials, I can now refine Black Tier artifacts. An ordinary Black Tier artifact can casually sell for over a thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

Having figured that out, Ye Xingchen impatiently stood up and cupped his hands toward Huang Zhen. "Thank you for your guidance, Elder."

With that, he turned to leave.

Huang Zhen paused, then reminded him, "Ye Xingchen, you should remember what I told you when I brought you into the sect. North Hall is your backing, but you must also remember to contribute to North Hall!"

Ye Xingchen stopped and declared with burning conviction, "This disciple understands. As a person of North Hall in life, I will be a ghost of North Hall in death. I will certainly place North Hall first."

Huang Zhen was stunned for a moment, completely thrown off by Ye Xingchen's sincere attitude. He could only wave a hand. "All right, go..."

"This disciple takes his leave!"

Watching Ye Xingchen's departing back, Huang Zhen stroked the beard on his chin, anticipation appearing in his eyes.

"With a Medium-Grade Spiritual Root and skill in artifact refining... this kid might truly give me a surprise."