Chapter 53

3,000 sect contribution points were equivalent to three hundred thousand taels of silver.

Furthermore, Lu Ming needed one and a half catties of Blood Mist Rock, which meant that he needed four thousand and five hundred contribution points.

He only had 7,000 contribution points. In one go, two thirds would be gone.

“Young buddy, are you still going to make the exchange?”

The old man asked with a smile.

“I’ll do it, of course. I’ll exchange for it!” Lu Ming said through gritted teeth.

No matter how many contribution points it required, he would make the exchange. Regardless of how many contribution points he had, their true value would only manifest if he converted them into power.

If he simply hoarded them, they were just a bunch of numbers.

The old man was slightly taken aback. He noticed that Lu Ming was not very old, so he thought he could not afford it. He was surprised to think that Lu Ming could actually hand over so many contribution points.

Lu Ming took out his identity jade piece and passed it to the old man. “Senior, here’s my identity jade piece.”

“Mm!”

The old man took Lu Ming’s identity jade piece and placed it on a disk-like metal platform. The metal platform flickered brightly. Then, a row of words appeared. This was Lu Ming’s personal information.

When the old man read his personal information, he was slightly startled before breaking out into a grin. “So, you’re this year’s Apprentice Champion, Lu Ming. Haha, honored to meet you!”

“You’re too kind, Senior. Apprentice Champion is merely an empty title.” Lu Ming shook his head.

The old man nodded. Despite obtaining the Apprentice Champion position, Lu Ming was still modest. His impression of Lu Ming improved tremendously.

Following that, he swiped a few times across the metal platform. Lu Ming noticed that the words were changing. His 7,000 contribution points became 2,500 in an instant.

After the contribution points were deducted, the old man returned the identity jade piece to Lu Ming. Following that, he turned and disappeared into a door behind him. After a while, he returned with a metal box in his hand.

“The Blood Mist Rock is inside. There’s precisely one and a half catties. Have a look!” the old man said with a smile.

Lu Ming took it and opened the metal box in anticipation.

A fist-sized blood-red rock was inside, cut into a neat square. The strange thing was that above the rock, there was a floating layer of pale red mist.

‘The Blood Mist Rock! I’ve finally gathered the three most important treasures. I can cultivate the True War Dragon Technique to the Second Stage now.’ Lu Ming was filled with delight.

After keeping the Blood Mist Rock away, he added, “Senior, I need a few other things.”

Following that, Lu Ming listed out the other materials needed to cultivate the Second Stage of the True War Dragon Technique. These other materials were much cheaper. In total, they cost only 200 contribution points.

After some thought, Lu Ming asked, “Senior, do you have demonic beast blood essence?”

“Demonic beast blood essence? That’s a material needed by alchemists in refining pills and equipment. Are you actually an alchemist?” the old man asked, stunned.

Lu Ming shook his head. “No, I have other uses for it.”

“Mm!” The old man nodded and did not question further. He merely said, “What level of demonic beast blood essence do you need?”

“Fourth and Fifth Grade Second Level,” Lu Ming replied.

The old man said, “A portion of Fourth Grade Second Level demonic beast blood essence costs 50 contribution points while a portion of Fifth Grade Second Level demonic beast blood essence costs 100 contribution points,” the old man responded.

“It’s that expensive?” Lu Ming gasped in shock once again.

Fourth Grade Second Level demonic beast blood essence cost 50 contribution points per portion, which was equivalent to 5,000 taels of silver.

One should know that a single Superior First Level spiritual weapon was less than 5,000 taels of silver. This was truly outrageously overpriced.

The old man smiled and explained, “Young buddy, it’s actually not that expensive. You should know that once a demonic beast dies, the vitality of its blood essence will dissipate after an hour and lose its effect.”

“That’s right!” Lu Ming nodded. He was well aware of this. When his Spirit-devouring Worm blood meridian consumed the blood essence of demonic beasts or humans, it must be done within an hour of their death. Otherwise, the Blood Qi would evaporate and it would have no effect.

“Therefore, in order to preserve the demonic beast blood essence, a Spirit-sealing Crystal must be used. This crystal is a single-use item. Moreover, the higher the level of the demonic beast blood essence, the higher the quality of the Spirit-sealing Crystal must be. Thus, the price of the demonic beast’s blood essence is so expensive,” the old man continued his explanation.

Lu Ming nodded. He knew that this was the reason.

“Senior, give me ten portions each of Fourth and Fifth Grade Second Level demonic beast blood essence,” Lu Ming said with a clenched jaw.

In order to rapidly improve his cultivation in one month, he could only devour demonic beast blood essence.

As for going out into the wild to hunt down demonic beasts, it was too inefficient.

Previously, in their test venue, other than the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard, the highest level of the demonic beasts was only at Fourth Grade Second Level.

To hunt demonic beasts above Fourth Grade Second Level, he would have to head into further, more dangerous territory.

Even putting aside the level of risk, looking for a suitable demonic beast might take a long time and was not worth it at all.

Purchasing demonic beast blood essence directly was the most convenient method.

“Alright, I’ll prepare your demonic beast blood essence,” the old man said.

After a moment, he came back with the demonic beast blood essence, and 1,500 contribution points were deducted from Lu Ming’s account.

All at once, he was left only with 700 contribution points. His rate of spending was terribly fast, and Lu Ming felt a pang in his heart.

Still, being able to convert all this into more strength was worth it. Only by increasing his capability could he obtain more treasures and contribution points.

After putting the demonic beast blood essence and the Blood Mist Rock away, Lu Ming left the Contribution Hall and returned to his residence.

Upon his return, he did not immediately tackle the Second Stage of the True War Dragon Technique because his cultivation was not fully fortified. His Essential Qi was not pure enough.

Under such circumstances, it was difficult to cultivate the Second Stage of the True War Dragon Technique successfully. If he cultivated it recklessly, he might waste the precious materials that he had obtained through immense effort.

Therefore, if he cultivated it, he must ensure success within a single attempt.

Lu Ming continued to hone his True War Dragon Technique diligently.

After eight days, Lu Ming’s cultivation was fully stable at last. Even so, he spent two more days assimilating the Essential Qi in his body until it was incomparably refined.

Only then was he prepared to begin tackling the Second Stage of the True War Dragon Technique.

“Now I must prepare the materials!”

Lu Ming took out the Spirit-condensing Fruit, the blood of the Lightning Leopard, the Blood Mist Rock, and other materials. He measured them out and mixed these according to the steps listed out in the True War Dragon Technique.

Although he was not an alchemist, this was not a process of refining pills. It was a simple mixture that he could achieve easily.

After these materials were mixed together, they formed a blood-red liquid that gave off a wisp of fragrance.

“Begin!”

After the materials were prepared, Lu Ming sat cross-legged on his head, then swallowed the resulting blood-red liquid all in one gulp.

After swallowing it, this blood-red liquid seemed to erupt like a volcano, flaring up with waves of scorching energy that surged towards his meridian. Once it entered his meridian, it combined with his Essential Qi, and finally entered the Qi cyclone in his Dantian.

Buzz buzz…

This burst of energy was crackling with intense lightning as it started to refine Lu Ming’s Essential Qi.

Lu Ming mobilized the True War Dragon Technique at full force, working with this energy to charge towards the Second Stage of the True War Dragon Technique.