Three Days Later, Qingxia Peak, Grass Hut.
Zhao Heng woke up early, feeling energized, and walked out of his grass hut. He made his way to Yun Qingxue's cave residence to seek an audience.
The cave was quiet, and after a while, no sound came from within. He thought Yun Qingxue might not be home.
Just as he was about to leave, the cave door slowly opened.
Yun Qingxue stepped out. Though she appeared calm and composed, Zhao Heng noticed a subtle shift in her gaze, as if avoiding something.
"You... you came?"
Yun Qingxue took a quick glance at Zhao Heng.
"Senior Sister, I came to..."
Before Zhao Heng could finish speaking, a sharp glint suddenly appeared in Yun Qingxue's eyes.
"Hmm...?"
In the next instant, her figure flashed, and in a moment, she appeared in front of Zhao Heng, slapping her palm toward his chest.
Zhao Heng's pupils shrank, and his body instinctively retreated to avoid the strike.
"Senior Sister, what are you doing?"
"Less talking, take my palm with all your strength!"
Yun Qingxue didn't answer, and the palm, like a bolt of lightning, continued its pursuit.
Zhao Heng could feel that the palm strike was calm and harmless, with no malice.
He immediately circulated his energy and punched out.
"Bang...!"
The clash of palm and fist produced a loud sound.
Yun Qingxue remained unmoved, but Zhao Heng was pushed back several feet by a gentle yet overwhelming force.
"You've really broken through to the Bone Forging Realm!"
Yun Qingxue looked at Zhao Heng in disbelief.
Zhao Heng smiled sheepishly, "Hehe... yes, that's right. I came specifically to thank Senior Sister. Thanks to your Bone Forging Pill, I was able to break through."
Yun Qingxue was even more shocked.
"No, wait. Even if you took the Bone Forging Pill, how could you have broken through so quickly in just a few days?"
Zhao Heng gazed at her with admiration.
"Senior Sister, at first, I was also confused. But after thinking it over, it must be your superb alchemy skills that made the quality of the pill so exceptional, allowing me to break through so quickly."
"Is that so?"
Yun Qingxue herself couldn't believe it. When she thought of the Bone Forging Pill she had crafted a few days ago, she still felt a bit embarrassed and flushed.
These past few days, she hadn't even gone to the grass hut, and she might have been deliberately avoiding Zhao Heng.
But now, seeing Zhao Heng's eyes full of admiration, and observing that he indeed had reached the Bone Forging Realm, she couldn't help but believe him.
"This kind of medicinal power... maybe it can only be achieved by the so-called premium quality Bone Forging Pills that Master mentioned."
"Could it be that I truly have a gift for alchemy? That pill was plain-looking, but its quality was already at the premium level?"
"No, no. I need to go to Master in a few days to refine more pills and test it out."
"Achoo!"
At that moment, on Danquan Peak, an old man with white beard sneezed loudly. He tightened his robes and muttered.
"Recently, my luck has been bad. Small-minded people are constantly plotting against me. Could someone be trying to harm me?"
At the same time, Yun Qingxue finally accepted the fact that she had crafted a premium Bone Forging Pill.
She calmly spoke to Zhao Heng, "You don't need to thank me. Your rapid breakthrough into the Bone Forging Realm is thanks to both my pill and your own efforts."
"However, don't get too proud. I just tested your strength. Even though you're at the first level of the Bone Forging Realm, many of the outer sect disciples at the same stage are stronger than you. You need to work hard to catch up."
Zhao Heng nodded repeatedly, but in his heart, he thought, "Just now, I only used 30% of my strength, and I haven't even used my Middle-Grade Splitting Stone Fist or Low-Grade Bone Transformation Step yet."
However, Zhao Heng understood that humility was the best protection.
After sincerely accepting her advice, Zhao Heng continued, "Senior Sister, I came this time not only to thank you but also to ask about the process of being promoted to an outer sect disciple."
"Promotion to an outer sect disciple? You're right. Since you've reached the Bone Forging Realm, you do qualify to become an outer sect disciple."
Yun Qingxue explained directly, "Becoming an outer sect disciple is simple. As long as your cultivation and age meet the requirements, you can go to the sect's Ascension Hall to register. Then, you only need to complete a Human-Level Mission."
"Human-Level Mission?"
Yun Qingxue continued, "Previously, you were only receiving tasks at the Miscellaneous Peak, so it's normal that you're unaware of the specific rankings.
The sect's formal tasks are divided into several levels. Human-Level Missions correspond to cultivators in the Post-Heaven Realm, while Yellow-Level and above correspond to Innate Realm experts.
Completing a Human-Level Mission is the sect's way of testing outer sect disciples, and it can be quite dangerous.
Since you've just entered the Bone Forging Realm, your strength is still insufficient. When selecting a mission, it's best to choose simple tasks that are easy to complete."
"After all, every year, there are disciples at the Bone Forging Realm who die in the outer sect tests."
Zhao Heng took note of Yun Qingxue's words carefully.
"Thank you for the advice, Senior Sister!"
Yun Qingxue was pleased with his respectful attitude.
Normally, with her personality, even if she had owed Zhao Heng a favor before, she would have already repaid it, and wouldn't have said so much to him.
But things were different now. After all, Zhao Heng had broken through thanks to the pill she gave him.
It felt like she had raised a child, watching him grow strong, which made Yun Qingxue pay more attention to him.
"Alright, I'll head back now. If you need any more pills, you can come find me."
With a wave of her hand, Yun Qingxue gracefully left.
Zhao Heng couldn't help but feel a little awkward. He thought to himself, "Uh-oh, did I somehow give Senior Sister the wrong impression about my alchemy skills?"
…
That same day, Zhao Heng went to the Ascension Hall, located in the central area of the sect.
This hall was responsible for the promotion of disciples, and Zhao Heng had to undergo a test of his cultivation and age here.
He discreetly gave two of the inspecting disciples one Xuan Crystal each, and easily passed the inspection.
Next, he went to the task hall to receive a Human-Level Mission.
As long as he completed the mission and reported back to the Ascension Hall, he could be promoted to an outer sect disciple.
The Task Hall in the central area of the Nine Peaks had both an inner hall and an outer hall. The outer hall was exclusively for Human-Level Missions.
When Zhao Heng arrived, he saw that many people had already gathered there, mostly outer sect disciples. There were very few people dressed in the Miscellaneous Disciples robes like Zhao Heng.
He quietly stood at the back of the crowd, observing the task board on the wall.
He noticed that Human-Level Missions were further divided into three sub-levels: Upper, Middle, and Lower.
He also noticed a few black tokens with "ghost head symbols" clearly marked on the task board, standing out prominently.
Curious, he couldn't help but ask a nearby outer sect disciple.
"Excuse me, Senior Brother, what level of task is that black token?"
The disciple glanced at Zhao Heng's Miscellaneous Disciple robes and showed a hint of disdain. Nonetheless, he casually explained.
"Those are Human-Level Demon Extermination Orders, indicating that there are demonic cultivators causing havoc and terrorizing the region.
However, missions with Demon Extermination Orders have extremely high rewards but are also extremely dangerous. Even Profound Realm experts would hesitate to take them. These missions usually require the combined efforts of elites from different peaks."
"Someone like you, a newbie, should just run as far away as you can when encountering such places."
"Oh... I see now. Thank you for the clarification, Senior Brother!"
Zhao Heng had already encountered demonic cultivators before, like those from the Bone Transformation Sect and Liu Hong's group. Indeed, they were all vicious and difficult to deal with, so it was best to avoid provoking them.
He continued searching the task board.
The difficulty of the Human-Level Missions was considerable. Most required cultivation at the Bone Forging Realm or higher. Some involved hunting Xuan Beasts, others required the capture of traitor disciples, or searching for rare spiritual herbs...
After a thorough search, Zhao Heng's gaze finally focused on a mission token in the corner of the board.
"Clear out the Autumn Leaf City gang, Human-Level Lower Grade."
Zhao Heng squeezed into the crowd, took the token, and examined it closely. It turned out to be a team mission.
The task required four Bone Forging Realm cultivators, and the goal was to wipe out a gang in a small city. According to the mission details, the strongest member of the gang was only a Bone Forging Realm first level cultivator.
However, because the reward for the mission was low and would be split among four people, most outer sect disciples would avoid taking on such a mission.
But Zhao Heng's eyes lit up. His goal was simply to complete a Human-Level Mission, so the reward was secondary.
Additionally, since this was a team mission, if there were powerful members in the team, Zhao Heng could even participate without exerting too much effort, and avoid revealing his true abilities. It seemed like an ideal opportunity.
Without hesitation, Zhao Heng went to the task hall and signed up for the mission. He learned that he was the third person to register. The team would assemble at a designated location in three days to depart.
After noting down the details, Zhao Heng returned to his grass hut.
With three days until departure, Zhao Heng used the time to prepare for the journey.
In addition to the weapons and armor he would carry, he also packed plenty of lime, soft muscle powder, corpse powder, and the last remaining flash version Thunderbolt Orb.
Zhao Heng also prepared several newly concocted poisons—ones that could induce hallucinations, diarrhea, and other effects.
After making all these preparations, Zhao Heng still felt it wasn't enough. After all, this was his first Human-Level Mission. Even though the task itself didn't seem too difficult, it's always better to be overly cautious.
Although Zhao Heng's strength now was much stronger than most other cultivators at the first level of the Bone Forging Realm, and his techniques had improved, including his Splitting Stone Fist reaching the Middle-Grade and his Bone Transformation Step advancing to Small-Grade, he still felt like he lacked some backup options.
There were some special techniques that could allow him to temporarily unleash powers far beyond his usual strength. Such techniques were often vital in life-and-death situations.
After much contemplation, Zhao Heng finally picked up the Nine Lives Blood Burning Saber Technique.
This was one of the two martial techniques he had obtained after killing Liu Hong.
The Nine Lives Blood Burning Saber Technique was said to be a secret technique of the Blood Refining Sect. After obtaining the book, Zhao Heng had studied it many times and reached the conclusion:
This was a suicidal martial technique!
As the name suggested, Nine Lives Burning Blood involved using one's own blood to enhance the saber technique. For every blood ring that was formed, one percent of the practitioner's blood would be burned.
When Liu Hong used it, he formed three blood rings, which meant he burned three percent of his blood. It was almost as if he were playing with his life.
However, the technique's benefits were clear. The more blood that was burned, the stronger the battle power it would release. It was definitely a trump card.
Thus, even though it came from a demonic sect, Zhao Heng decided to cultivate it.
But before practicing, he first took out the Dao Seed Dice.
"This Blood Burning Saber Technique is a high-grade martial skill for mortals. If I want to master it quickly, I'll need to perfect it and possibly reduce the side effects!"
Not long ago, Zhao Heng had perfected the Bone Forging Pill, and he still had nearly three hundred Xuan Crystals left, enough to use once for a Perfect Transformation.
So Zhao Heng started shaking the dice.
The first few shakes resulted in random skills, which he accumulated together.
The chances of obtaining a useful treasure through random theft were too low. Zhao Heng had planned to save up a number of attempts and use quantity to make up for the lack of probability.
Moreover, the more random thefts he accumulated, the more Fortune Points he would have, which might help him create a miracle at a crucial moment.
After shaking the dice repeatedly, on the seventeenth shake, two dots appeared.
"Perfect Transformation!"
Zhao Heng immediately activated the skill and resolutely infused the Nine Lives Blood Burning Saber Technique into the transformation light...
[--------------------------------------------]
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