Chapter 154: Catching Up

"I can't believe it's you! You came out of the Raging Mountains in one piece!" an incredulous voice spoke with wonder.

In Elder Hua's personal workroom, several people gathered and sat around, surrounded by some bubbling cauldrons. Ming Yue was currently talking with Yong Jing, who was the eldest disciple of Elder Hua's student, Fu Yuan. In other words, Elder Hua was Yong Jing's grandmaster and Ming Yue was her Martial Aunt. However, Ming Yue found this to be unsuitable and asked to just be addressed by her name.

Yong Jing was a year or so older than Ming Yue. She had a very gentle bearing and a sense of fragility to her. Contrary to her looks, her purple colored eyes showed a strength in them. Her experience in the outside world tempered her mind, still she could not help but be surprised by Ming Yue's appearance.

When news of an Ignited Titan appearing in the Raging Mountains reached the towns, Yong Jing had thought the girl she met in Blue Willow Town was dead. After all, an Ignited Titan was already strong enough to destroy cities at birth and it took a large group of Earth Realm Cultivators to kill the one in that danger zone.

But Ming Yue was alive and in Heaven's Gate too.

As the two conversed, Ming Yue could not help but ask about Blue Willow Town. She wanted to know if the people were doing well.

"Oh yes, the people are in good health. We stopped by not too long ago. Most of the destroyed buildings were rebuilt and are much sturdier too. Along with that Willow Tree, it's become quite a popular place to visit", Yong Jing answered nonchalantly.

Ming Yue was glad, she left after treating the townspeople and never went back to check on the town. Having suffered a natural disaster, the town was in a miserable state. It was good to know that they were doing well.

The two conversed a bit more before separating. Yong Jing as well as her fellow disciples were going to become official members of Heaven's Gate so they were going to see each other often. As for their teacher, Fu Yuan, he was going to stay as an assistant elder to Elder Hua.

Ming Yue did not make more medicine that day but instead went to trade it away. With her spatial ring at hand, she stored enough medicinal bandages to heal a hundred people and brought them to a densely packed hall.

Rather than a plaque, a large banner hung from the top of the ceiling of this hall with the words "Contribution Hall" painted on it. Underneath were three marble counters, each with several figures behind them wearing light gray uniform and etched with the title of "Administrator". At the front of each counter, words were carved, denoting the purpose of each one.

The Contribution Hall is one of the largest halls in Heaven's Gate as they follow a point system. One can rack up points by contributing through missions or exchanging materials and treasures. When using those points, they can then use thousands upon thousands of these points to rent a place to work or cultivate for months or even years.

To the right was the Exchange Counter, the left was the Mission Counter, and at the center was the Services Counter.

Of these three, the Service and Mission Counter were subject to hundreds of visitors every day. Some came to rent out cultivation rooms and the like, others arrived for the purpose of accepting and turning in missions for points. Most of the time, people would go to both.

The Exchange Counter was not as filled but it had its fair share of people. Most were there to exchange materials and items for points and in reverse, these items could be bought by others.

Ming Yue waited in line for the Exchange Counter in order to turn in her bandages for contribution points. With those points she would be able to continue using her workroom as well as the equipment.

The line slowly moved along until it was Ming Yue's turn at he counter. Sitting at the counter, a middle aged man looked at her and smiled.

"Ah, Ming Yue, back again with more medicine, I see", he spoke quietly but just loud enough for her to hear.

"Yes Administrator Hui, these are Bone Setting Bandages. It has already been approved by the Medicinal Elder and here is a description of its effects."

Ming Yue slowly began transferring the bandages to the middle aged administrator, who counted the them one by one.

"Let's see. There's a hundred of them right here and ten is worth 15 contribution points. That's 150 points in total. Will you be dividing it as before?" Administrator Hui transferred everything into a small box while Ming Yue handed him her badge.

Under his control, the badge hummed and projected an image, revealing the total amount of points she had gathered.

"Yes, thank you", Ming Yue replied as she watched him work.

The badge showed that she only had 200 points and of the 150 that she exchanged for, only 10 of it went to her. As for the remaining 140 points, 40 went to her living space while the rest went to continue renting her medicine making room. With the numbers done, Administrator Hui gave back the badge and smiled again.

"That's another week for both the workroom and your personal quarters. Is there anything else you would like to do?" he asked.

Ming Yue shook her head and left quietly. She looked at the ashen colored badge before wearing it on her wrist.

If it wasn't for the benefits of that badge, she would not have been able to skirt by with such an amount. In fact, it would've costed a little more than double what she had just paid. But she could not do anything about it. She had just started out and needed to improve on so many things. Of the many aspects, she needed to work on, the most important was to break through to the Earth Realm. Once she grew in strength, she could start taking on difficult missions and partake in competitions to win points.

She quickly left the Hall and walked to Elder Shen's hall for cultivation.

Upon her departure, Administrator Hui looked at the small box that carried Ming Yue's bandages. His colleagues gave a quick look at him before starting a mental conversation with him.

"Shouldn't you be giving her more points for those bandages?" one said.

"Maybe 20 or even 25 points is worth it. These are pretty popular items with the general disciples."

"I know," Administrator Hui answered, "They're a much cheaper alternative to medicinal pills and their effectiveness is a bit weaker. These bandages are pretty much a godsend for them. But in the grand scheme of things, they are useless for the Elite Disciples and Inheritors. Even if they're popular, these points are based on how useful they are. After all, these only work on external injuries."

Indeed, these bandages of Ming Yue's had become quite a hot item. At first, no one even gave it a look but some poor disciples had no other choice but to take a couple on a dangerous mission. Upon their return, they spoke many good things about Ming Yue's product. It was well-made and worked quickly.

Soon, it gained notoriety among many of the lower students as being cheap and reliable. It was a good alternative to medicinal pills. Some had even inquired about the producer of these bandages but not a word was revealed.

Now, the girl quietly cultivated under Elder Shen's supervision.

As she slowly cycled her energy, she could feel it gathering at the center of her body. It moved about and drifted around like smoke. With each cycle, it began to solidify into a a scene where clouds drifted above a floating island. But it was barely a solid piece and could easily break with a single breath. By the time she reached the 98th cycle, her body barely felt anything. There was nothing left to improve.

Her constant training led to a sturdy foundation and Elder Shen helped with her cultivation. She feel that she was just a step away from breaking through but between her and that final step is an endless chasm.

She stopped cultivating and opened her eyes, looking at Elder Shen.

"You can feel it can you not? The limits of the human realm..."