Chapter 301: Arrogance to Deference
“Small Perfection State…I had only utilized it at half-strength and it is already equivalent to the full power state of the past. Looks like the holy might have really been infused into it.”
Xiao Chen studied the thunder clouds in the sky and said indifferently, “Let’s try again. Let’s see if there is any improvement in the might of a Martial Technique infused with the state. Wukui Breaks the Heavens!”
Without hesitation, Xiao Chen exhibited a peak Small Perfection State and executed the Wukui Saber Technique, Wukui Breaks the Heavens.
The ancient and divine Wukui Tree above him grew quickly. When the tree sprouted leaves, blossomed, and bore fruit, a startling roll of thunder immediately descended from the sky. For seemingly no reason at all, Xiao Chen’s aura increased.
“Hu Chi!”
A resplendent pillar of light lit up on the saber blade, and grew longer. In the blink of an eye, the horrifying pillar of light grew two thousand meters. The mountain peak at the end of the saber light was shaved in half.
In the next moment, the pyramidal peak collapsed with a crash.
Xiao Chen sheathed his saber and pushed off the ground. His body flew through the air and landed on the recently shaved peak.
When Xiao Chen looked at the smooth surface, a faint smile appeared on his face, “Although the might only increased by twenty percent, the density of the saber light has increased by fifty percent. If I encountered Murong Chong’s Parting Clouds Revealing Sky again, I would be able to break his saber light easily.”
Xiao Chen was overjoyed when the merger of his state with his Martial Technique was successful. However, he was not overly proud.
In the following days, aside from consolidating and getting familiar with his holy might infused state, Xiao Chen would practice the Wukui Saber Technique.
To truly master a Martial Technique, one must first be familiar with the movement and the circulation method of the Martial Technique. Next was to merge his own state into the saber move. Finally, one had to comprehend the state contained within the Saber Technique itself.
Only by combining the three factors can one truly practice a Martial Technique to Consummation; mastering the Martial Technique via a comprehensive study of the related topics. Only then could the full power of a Martial Technique be brought out.
Xiao Chen had already completed the first two steps. Now, he was just short of the final step of comprehension. Once he did that, he could merge the three factors, and the Wukui Saber Technique would reach Consummation.
---
The days went by, one by one. Xiao Chen began his cultivation session tirelessly. In the day, he would practice his Saber Technique. At night, he would cultivate the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation, making his preparations to break through to the fifth layer.
Then, Xiao Chen would use the remaining time on the Dragon and Tiger Body Sculpting Art. His Dragon and Tiger Body Sculpting Art had already reached the peak of the fourth layer. He was only one layer short of reaching the realm of Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone, Pulling Mountain and Rivers, a realm where his body would be born again.
Aside from experiencing difficulties during cultivation, there was also an unbearable loneliness; cultivating was all he did. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Chen had already spent two months cultivating on his desolate mountain.
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“Ha!” Xiao Chen shouted, and his entire body gave off a penetrating sound. From the top to bottom, it was like making popcorn, popping without stopping.
A prolonged aura rus.h.i.+ng up, piercing through the sky, a huge patch of clouds was scattered.
Xiao Chen stopped circulating his energy and said, “The Dragon and Tiger Body Sculpting Art has already stepped through the threshold of the fifth layer. I should be reaching Small Perfection very soon. By then, I should be able to open all the acupoints on my right hand.”
The results of the last two months were somewhat different from what Xiao Chen had initially imagined. His Saber Technique did not improve, he only managed to consolidate it further.
Instead, the Dragon and Tiger Body Sculpting Art experienced a rapid improvement. Xiao Chen pondered on this, and was of the opinion that the comprehension of the Wukui Saber Technique’s state could not be done by solitary cultivating. It required a vast amount of combat experience.
“I should go out for a while. Coincidentally, today is the day the Hall of Contributions issues the high-level missions. I should go and take a look, see if there are any missions worth doing.”
After Xiao Chen ascertained the direction of the Heaven Viewing Platform, he pushed off the ground and shot through the air like an arrow. In the blink of an eye, he moved five hundred meters, leaving behind shockwaves.
---
After two hours, Xiao Chen reached the bottom of the towering Heaven Viewing Platform. Like in the past, there were many cultivators with flying Spirit Beasts trying to attract customers who were going up the mountain.
Xiao Chen smiled gently. This time, he no longer had to hide his cultivation. He immediately used the Gravity Spell and flew up. He had already revealed many of his trump cards during his fight with Murong Chong. There was no need to keep hiding them.
The Gravity Spell was an entry grade Immortal Spell in the Compendium of Cultivation. However, its potential was startling. Now that Xiao Chen was a Martial Saint, he was extremely proficient at using it.
Its speed was high and the amount of Essence used was small. Such advantages guaranteed it would be useful forever. Aside from needing more time to activate, when one got more familiar with it, it would not be a big problem.
After five minutes, Xiao Chen arrived at the bustling Heaven Viewing Platform. He made his way to the Hall of Contributions confidently.
“Ye Chen! It’s really Ye Chen! What is he doing at the Heaven Viewing Platform?”
“Today is the day high-level missions are issued. He should be going to the Hall of Contributions. There will probably be no objections to him taking high-level missions this time.”
“That is certain. After he defeated Murong Chong, he is now the strongest person amongst the younger generation. I heard that several elders value him greatly.”
Along the way, many people recognized Xiao Chen. Their gazes were no longer doubtful or suspicious. They were now gazes of respect and reverence.
Xiao Chen ignored these comments. He had always been calm and controlled. When his strength was low, he was not affected by the mockings of others. Now that he was strong, he would not feel proud because of their praises.
Xiao Chen maintained his usual state of mind. However his state of mind was in the past, it was the same now. Never mind the gossiping of others, I just have to be at peace with myself.
Xiao Chen paused in front of the Hall of Contributions. Then, he took a big stride inside.
“Xiu!”
When Xiao Chen stepped into the Hall of Contributions, everyone in the great hall was gathered on him.
Like before, the aisle was very quiet. Everyone was waiting for the core disciples to distribute the high-level missions before making their choices
However, when Xiao Chen stepped in, no one dared to say a thing. This was a very stark contrast to the first time he came, when he was threatened with sabers. This was the deterrence brought by strength.
When he stepped onto the second floor, the great hall started to become noisy again. Someone laughed and said, “That group of core disciples probably did not expect Ye Chen to come this time. They are still discussing how to distribute the high-level missions.”
“I wonder what kind of expression they will make when they discover they were taken away by Ye Chen while finished discussing.”
“That group of people has always been monopolizing our high-level missions. Seeing them suffer a disadvantage like this feels good, too! This can be considered as Ye Chen standing up for us!”
“I wonder if they will dare to confront Ye Chen later? He was already accosted by someone the last time!”
The people in the great hall were all none-core disciples of the sect. They were never able to obtain a high-level mission. In the past, when Xiao Chen was weak, they stayed silent and waited to see Xiao Chen make a joke of himself
When Xiao Chen became strong, their att.i.tudes immediately changed. Instead, they praised Xiao Chen for what he had done. It can only be said that the mentality of man was very strange.
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On the second floor, Xiao Chen directly went to the counter for receiving missions. He directly handed over his ident.i.ty token. The name ‘Ye Chen’ was clearly engraved on the golden token.
Coincidentally, the cultivator who managed the counter was also the same one as Xiao Chen’s first visit. This person remembered the trick he played the first time and felt incredibly embarra.s.sed. He took out a list of missions and smiled, “Hero Ye, I was not the person who made the decision the previous time. I hope you will forgive me.”
Xiao Chen smiled to himself, he knew what the man was talking about. It was referring to him taking out the dangerous missions that no one wanted and hiding the list with the decent high-level missions.
However, this was an insignificant matter of the past, Xiao Chen could not be bothered with it. Furthermore, Xiao Chen had gained many benefits from it.
Xiao Chen received the list and said, “Just make sure not to do it again.”
That person heaved a huge sigh of relief. Perhaps most of the disciple does not know and could only guess that Ye Chen was highly regarded by the upper echelons.
However, he had some inside news. He was certain that the ninth elder of the Elders’ a.s.sembly looked favorably upon Xiao Chen; he even wanted to take Xiao Chen as a personal disciple.
Who exactly was the ninth elder? He was a member of the Elders’ a.s.sembly, a person with a lot of authority. One word from him could get a disciple kicked out of the Heavenly Saber Pavilion. Hence, he had no choice but to be respectful to Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen took the list and looked it over carefully. He discovered that there were none of the dangerous difficulty missions on it. It seems like these were the true high-level missions.
After carefully looking at it for a long time, Xiao Chen discovered that there were different ranks for high-level missions: Black, Yellow, Green, and White. The black Rank was the highest, followed by yellow, and so forth.
The rewards of Black Rank Missions were about a thousand contribution points. This was a very large sum. Even Xiao Chen felt tempted by them.
Without changing anything else, he could exchange one thousand contribution points for fifty Medial Grade Spirit Stones.
No wonder those core disciples were desperately hogging those high-level missions, not willing to distribute them to others.
There was much profit to be gained here. If one high-level mission was completed every month, the much-needed fifty Medial Grade Spirit Stones needed for cultivation would be obtained. Furthermore, there would be enough left over to purchase other things.
However, the black rank missions were too difficult. Xiao Chen took a rough look. The simplest one was to kill a Medial Grade Rank 6 Spirit Beast.
With a three-man team, regular Martial Saints would not be able to accept this mission. However, to Xiao Chen, this was not a difficult task.
First, Xiao Chen took all the Black Rank missions that did not have time restrictions. Then, Xiao Chen selected five Black Rank missions that had a time restriction of three months.
In total, Xiao Chen took about twenty Black Rank missions, about two-thirds of all of them.
If Xiao Chen could complete them, the rewards would be astonis.h.i.+ngly high: A total of thirty thousand contribution points.
After Xiao Chen finished selecting the missions, he handed the list back to the person in charge. That person took a look at the missions Xiao Chen had chosen and his expression could not help but change.
Xiao Chen had actually taken twenty high-level missions in one go. At this rate, how was he going to give an account to the remaining core disciples?
“What’s wrong? Is there a limit to the number of missions that can be accepted?” Xiao Chen asked.
The person-in-charge recovered his wits and smiled, “There isn"t. However, if a Black Rank mission is failed, there will be severe consequences. Not only would the reward be withheld, they will even deduct your contribution points.
“As for Black Rank missions with time limits, the penalty for failing them is even higher. I am just reminding you out of kind-heartedness. Hero Ye, can you really complete so many missions?”
Xiao Chen said indifferently, “Thank you for reminding me. I guarantee that I can complete them all.”
Xiao Chen did not casually select the Black Rank Missions. He had done many calculations and comparisons with his own strength first. He only took them if he had at least an eighty percent chance of succeeding.