Zhou Tong's Provocation

Dongfang Yueming quietly left his residence. With his Perfection Gale Movement Technique and keen senses, he quickly gathered some information about the Xi Lang in the chaotic areas of Black Stone Fortress.

Back in his room, he sorted through the information he had gathered, his brow furrowed slightly.

' Xi Lang himself is only at the Tendon Transformation Greater Completion, which is good news. With my current strength in the Black Stone Fortress Glazed Jade Bones, plus my Perfection swordsmanship and movement techniques, dealing with him shouldn't be a problem,' Dongfang Yueming assessed in his mind. 'But the bad news is that this guy has an uncle who is a general in Blackrock Fortress, Xi Zhenyue, who is said to be a Blood Replacement Realm expert!'

Blood Replacement Realm! That's the sixth major realm of the Body Tempering Realm, the pinnacle of mortal Martial Dao! Its strength far surpasses the Tendon Transformation Realm!

'This is getting a bit troublesome...' Dongfang Yueming tapped her fingers lightly on the table. 'After dealing with the underlings, the old ones have arrived; this is the worst-case scenario. It seems we can't stay in Black Stone Fortress for long.'

He opened the terminal again and carefully browsed the list of military merits redemption, hoping to find the subsequent cultivation techniques.

He swiped his finger and searched directly for "Marrow Cleansing Method".

The list was refreshed, and the result surprised him somewhat.

[Basic Marrow Cleansing Method]: Required Military Merit Points: 2000.

That's all!

"Only one type?" Dongfang Yueming was puzzled. "Logically speaking, cultivation techniques should have different levels of skill, so why is the Marrow Cleansing Method only this most basic one?"

He suppressed his doubts and tried searching for "Blood Replacement method" again.

This time, the search results simply showed "None".

'As expected... cultivation techniques at the Blood Replacement Realm are even rarer.' Dongfang Yueming mused. ' The Black Stone Fortress's strongest force consists of those few Blood Replacement Realm generals. They probably don't want more competitors of the same level, so Blood Replacement techniques are strictly controlled, and they're not even open to the public for exchange.'

'Forget it, thinking that far ahead is useless.' He shook his head, pulling his thoughts back to reality. 'The most important thing right now is to deal with Xi Lang, this pressing problem. We must increase our strength as much as possible before Xi Zhenyue might get involved!'

He looked at his attribute panel again.

[Points:169]

'These points are useless to me; I might as well use them to improve my immediate combat strength,' Dongfang Yueming pondered. 'My swordsmanship and movement techniques are already Perfection. To improve further, I need higher-level martial arts. But the problem is, where can I get new martial arts? I only have 25 military merits left; I can't afford anything decent...'

Dongfang Yueming strolled out of his residence, intending to wander around the chaotic Black Stone Fortress and see if he could find any serendipitous opportunities.

Just then, in another secluded cultivation room, Zhou Tong suddenly opened his eyes, and an aura much stronger than before burst forth from his body! He had achieved Lesser Bone Tempering! Feeling the new power flowing through his bones, he couldn't help but smile, full of pride and satisfaction.

"Dongfang Ri!" A sinister glint flashed in Zhou Tong's eyes. "Let's see how arrogant you are this time! When I find you, I'll make sure you lose all face!"

Filled with arrogance and impatience, Zhou Tong strode out of the room. As he walked, he caught sight of the newcomers still struggling at the bottom, looking disheveled. His contempt grew even stronger, and he stood up straight.

Just then, a familiar figure entered his field of vision—it was none other than Dongfang Yueming, whom he had been longing to "teach a lesson"!

Zhou Tong was taken aback at first, then his face lit up with wild joy. His arrogance was almost overflowing, as if a hunter had finally locked onto his prey. He quickened his pace and went straight to meet it.

Dongfang Yueming naturally noticed Zhou Tong walking aggressively towards them, and the undisguised smug look on his face that seemed to indicate he had already secured victory.

His eyes One Flash slightly as he looked at this guy who had practically delivered himself to his doorstep. A thought flashed through his mind like lightning. 'Heh, I was just worried about not having a place to Point Allocation new martial arts skills... and here comes this pillow just because I'm sleepy?'