Chapter 445: Meng Qi's Choice

Meng Qi was a mess of emotions. He hated to let her go and was very worried. All sorts of feelings surged and swirled within him into an indistinguishable, tumultuous sea. “Zhiwei, isn’t two years too short? Even an amazing talent like Senior Su took three years to succeed. How about I lend you some of my Karma points to exchange for a few more months? I’ve already opened my nine apertures anyway, so I won’t really need to borrow any external strength. No matter how many moves I have, they’ll be hampered by my realm. Thus my main focus now is to become aware of heaven and earth and seek out my own path. I won’t be using that many Karma points for now.”

His words weren’t a total lie. Given his current realm, he had reached a stage where he could rely on himself instead of heavily borrowing others’ strength. However, he would finish all his Karma points all the same if he had them, and even then, still feel a little pinched. Ignoring the Exterior-level script for the Eight Nine Mysteries that he previously couldn’t afford and the intended improvement of Heaven Inflicted Pain, preparations for his Exterior-level sword strokes and Sword Blade Ambidexterity alone would be frustrating enough to deal with.

After obtaining the Dharmakaya move Five Thunder Bombardment of Sky, his bladesmanship had received comprehensive ‘advice’ again and surpassed his sword art by a significant margin. Additionally, the main enemies in their Samsara tasks were far stronger than their team, forcing them to fight as a group and closely cooperate with one another. They had to coordinate their movements so they know when to hold back and when to attack. The use of moves on the enlightened apertures level had dropped to the very bottom.

In terms of might, if it was restricted by his realm, raising his Precious Weapon’s level would only result in a limited effect. It would be much more effective if he strengthened his Dharmakaya move or Exterior-level fatal move instead. Then when it came to busting out his moves, he would definitely pick his Five Thunder Bombardment of Sky over Purple Thunder Bladesmanship, and Purple Thunder Bladesmanship over Heavenly Fairy. If he had to control himself and attack the opponent’s spirit, he would evidently select Ananda Oath-breaking Bladesmanship. As such, he felt that a precious sword like Flowing Fire wouldn’t be used to its full potential, and thus desperately needed to improve his sword art.

Not much had to be said for his Sword Blade Ambidexterity. Blades had always been blades and swords had always been swords to him for the longest time.

What Meng Qi had obtained was the Divine Nine-Annihilation, and not just the Gist of Trueness impartation of one form of the Five Thunder Bombardment of Sky. It was the same as Ananda Oath-breaking Bladesmanship, containing its own Primary Instruction and all its moves. However, the Gist of Trueness of the Nine Annihilation at Heavenly Nights was a little too lacking. This resulted in Meng Qi only being able to understand a bit of the Five Thunder Bombardment of Sky, but after making up for the missing sections, he wouldn’t need to separately exchange for another Primary Instruction (worth 30,000 Karma points).

The corners of Jiang Zhiwei’s lips curled into a small smile. It seemed to be one full of gratitude or happiness or a sigh. “It’s alright. Although I’ve always seen my Master as my goal and mimic what he does sometimes, I’m well aware that we’re not the same. He’s cold and apathetic, so whether he undergoes Life-risking Hermetic Training for one or three years makes no difference. On the other hand, I’m cheerful and resolute. If I can’t break through in two years, three or 30 years won’t change anything. If I lose my resolve, there’ll be nothing left for me but a silent death. Giving myself only two years to complete this challenge leaves no way out for me. It’ll end in either success or death.”

Meng Qi wanted to persuade her again, but when he gave it some thought, he realized her chances at a breakthrough would only diminish if he ruined her state of mind. Hence, he looked at Ruan Yushu, Qi Zhengyan, and Zhao Heng, who all stood in silence, appearing rather dejected. “Then let’s discuss what items we want to exchange for.”

As they were talking, Jiang Zhiwei had already exchanged for a year’s worth of time from Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms at the cost of 2,400 Karma points. Then she listened to the others discuss with a smile on her face, looking much more at peace and carefree than before.

Zhao Heng gave a bitter laugh. “The most important thing I want to buy is the True Emperor Seal. I don’t have to consider exchanging for anything else for now.”

He had already reached the stage of Oneness of Heaven and Men. Thus, his current objective was to adjust his heaven and earth and heighten his senses of the inside and outside to attain a flawless breakthrough. On top of that, he wasn’t lacking in any moves or Precious Weapons. Naturally, he could delay the exchange for items.

Seeing Zhao Heng’s helpless smile, Meng Qi readjusted his feelings before asking, “Old Zhao, you used your own secret treasure last time, yet you didn’t ask for more Karma points when we were distributing the points?

Throughout the entire mission, the one who had ‘used’ the most personal resources was unquestionably Zhao Heng.

“It’s not an issue. I was saving my own life anyway, and aren’t we all just using whatever we have on ourselves without being calculative about it? Last time, when your Buddha’s Lamp was destroyed, you didn’t ask for any compensation either, did you? Rewards that we reap together should, of course, be equally shared,” Zhao Heng plainly answered without holding any grudges.

“But I’d acquired the first form of the Buddha’s Palm…” Meng Qi thought. After that mission, he had begun truly accepting Zhao Heng as a member of their team. Qi Zhengyan, Ruan Yushu, and Jiang Zhiwei’s responses seemed to suggest that they felt the same way.

“Exchanging the True Emperor Seal with the Dominator will give us 5,000 Karma points. I’ll be straightforward. Consider the deal sealed if you give me an item worth 4,000 Karma points and a letter of recommendation.” Meng Qi stated his conditions.

To him, he could’ve improved the deal for Zhao Heng since the seal didn’t belong to him. However, because of how messy karma could get, it was better if he had a clear conscience and opted for a more balanced agreement. In any case, he had already given Old Zhao a pretty good deal.

Zhao Heng didn’t hesitate. He immediately produced a strange jade pendant that gave off a dark golden glow, claiming it was a jade when it looked more like metal.

“This Dragon-lined Pendant can die on your behalf once. Of course, the opponent’s strength can’t be greater than the Third Heaven of the Exterior. Dominator places its value at 2,300 Karma points and will exchange 1,200 points for it. What do you think the conversion rate should be?” Zhao Heng asked for Meng Qi’s opinion.

Meng Qi immediately answered, “2,000 Karma points. How can I take advantage of my own brother?”

“Own brother…” Zhao Heng suddenly understood the ‘exaggeration’ that Qi Zhengyan had mentioned and wiped his imaginary cold sweat. “Then I’ll give you another 2,000 Karma points. You can consider using it to buy some elixirs and items. As for the recommendation letter, I have pretty close ties with a few sects near Luoyang, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Uh, they’re not as prestigious as mainstream martial arts sects though. If you consider it beneath you, I’m also on rather good terms with an Elder from the Qingchen Sect. That should be good enough.”

Qingchen Sect, one of the mainstream martial arts sects and the Six Arms, belonged to the South of Great Jin Dynasty.

Meng Qi pondered for a moment and replied, “How about a recommendation letter from them all? When the time comes, Sikong Tu’s family can decide themselves, lest this matter becomes troublesome.”

“Sure.” Zhao Heng didn’t object to Meng Qi’s suggestion. He transferred 2,000 Karma points and the Dragon-lined Pendant to Meng Qi. Then he received the True Emperor Seal from Meng Qi. He caressed it over and over again with an almost feverish fervor burning deep in his eyes.

Holding the Karma points, Meng Qi thought about exchanging something for Sikong Tu’s son. He already had a life-preserving item, so he should definitely possess a Precious Weapon to serve as the basis of establishing a career and passing it on—actually, the recently-used Hornless Dragon’s Claw could work as well. However, that Precious Weapon was much too strange and worked better when its wielder had a corresponding blood lineage. Meng Qi always had the mentality of dutifully finishing what others had tasked him with. He was unwilling to go against his true intentions and just do any slipshod job.

Apart from the Precious Weapon, he also had to prepare elixirs for the enlightenment period, lest Sikong Tu’s son ended up with an average body potential and became one of those people who were neglected by the major sects. Similarly, he needed to prepare a set of enlightened apertures-level skills to aid Sikong Tu’s son in improving his body potential. Even if he was gifted, improving it would do no harm.

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Skills exchanged from Dominator could be passed on to others on the premise that only one person could use them. If it was passed on to other non-Samsara travelers, it would cost him an additional 50 Karma points for each person. This served as Dominator’s deterrence from the travelers leaking items to outsiders.

After a brief consideration, Meng Qi exchanged for the Taiyi’s Cloud Sword worth 1,200 Karma points, Nine Yin Divine Scripture Chapter of Muscle and Vessel Changing and Bone Forging, as well as one Heavenly Acumen Pill and one Heavenly Vision and Earthly Hearing Pill. He exchanged the remaining 80 points for recovery and antidote elixirs.

Only after he had tucked away his items did Meng Qi relax. Getting entangled with karma was never a good thing, and now he at least had some hope of getting out of it.

Zhao Heng, who was frantically scribbling away at the side, casually commented, “I intend to exchange my remaining Karma points for one month’s worth of time. Although I don’t harbor high hopes of breaking right through like He Jiu or Wang Siyuan, I definitely have to achieve a perfect Half-Step level by the next mission no matter what.”

Successes like that came by once or twice in several years. Moreover, the more active the Samsara traveler was, the lower his chances were. Most of the time, they wouldn’t be able to focus on thinking about their path due to the constraints of their tasks. They had to breakthrough before entering Samsara in order to survive.

“I have to increase my cultivation progress as well. I’ll strive to achieve the mastery level of the Purple Star River before our next mission,” Qi Zhengyan slowly spoke. It was as if he had been carefully considering the matter for a long time. “So I’ll need to exchange for an assistive item.”

The primary level of Purple Star River was at the level of nine apertures, while the mastery level meant achieving Heaven-man Connection. Finally, consummation could be attained at the Oneness of Heaven and Man stage.

“What item?” Meng Qi asked. He wasn’t surprised by Qi Zhengyan’s decision. Book of the Chaos cultivated a foreign kind of worldly force and its user was supposed to realize the Dharma and Logos contained in it. If there was an item that could gather such foreign forces, using it to assist him in his cultivation wouldn’t result in repercussions that were too severe. Everything would be fine if he increased his senses of heaven and earth to make up for it before opening the Hidden Latch at his mid-brows. This was a necessity for anyone who wanted to achieve Oneness of Heaven and Men.

Qi Zhengyan replied, “A Core of a Fallen Star.”

Cores of Fallen Stars weren’t cores of stars; their values were worlds apart. However, it still cost a decent 2,500 Karma points. It seemed like Qi Zhengyan had been eyeing it for long and was prepared to exchange for it once he had accumulated sufficient points.

“Using the Core of a Fallen Star to cultivate his Purple Star River is appropriate. It may not even delay your sensing of Dharma and Logos. However, it has fallen in the Green and Darkness. It carries with it the darkness and coldness of that place and overtones of Devil Path. You can easily suffer Qi-deviancy Derangement, so you must take great care,” Zhao Heng chipped in while continuing to write his recommendation letters.

Qi Zhengyan slowly nodded. “I’ll be careful. I’ll use Dragon Stripe Golden Sword to protect my Vital Spirit while practicing.”

Seeing that Qi Zhengyan had properly thought things through, Meng Qi didn’t say anything and watched him exchange for the Core of a Fallen Star.

“How about you?” Meng Qi turned to Ruan Yushu.

Ruan Yushu coolly responded, “I don’t lack any external items. My current focus is learning more zither pieces and grasping my own zither path to establish a foundation for the future. I shall still go for a zither score, uh, the Blue Sky Heavenly Tune.”

Meng Qi found that particular score and glanced through its introduction. Suddenly, he let out a soft gasp. “This is derived from Emperor Fu’s Longevity Music on Dragon Turtle?”

“Yes, my family’s Sky-splitting and Earth-changing Tune is also an impartation from Emperor Fu. Together with Longevity Music on Dragon turtle, they’re known as scores of life and death. If I attain Oneness of Heaven and Man, I’ll be able to understand the secrets of life and death,” Ruan Yushu explained. “I can’t even learn the basics of Sky-splitting and Earth-changing Tune, so I plan to start from Blue Sky Heavenly Tune instead. I want to see if I can comprehend the first tune using the second as an analogy.”

Emperor Fu was the emperor who came before Heaven Sovereign. He had ruled the region when Taoism’s three Primogenitors had slowly gone into hiding. It was rumored that he was adept at demonstrating heavenly secrets and musical rhythms, and possessed two Peerless Godly Weapons. One of them was the Emperor Fu’s Zither, while the other was the River Totem.

Blue Sky Heavenly Tune could adjust the vitality of heaven and earth to treat injuries, expel poison, and repress filth. It would significantly make up for their current weakness. Hence, Meng Qi couldn’t agree more with Ruan Yushu’s decision, even without her mentioning her own grander goals.

After exchanging for the tune, Ruan Yushu saved her remaining 160 Karma points for future use. She looked at Meng Qi and said, “It’s your turn. Are you going to exchange for Exterior-level sword moves?”

Flowing Fire’s strength couldn’t be fully unleashed, and everyone had witnessed that. Naturally, they would be able to guess what Meng Qi wanted.

Meng Qi contemplated for a while and then said, “I won’t consider an Exterior-level sword move for now, because I want to exchange my points for another item.”

During this period of time, he had reflected on his experience of grasping the Buddha’s Palm and vaguely understood why the first skill was Vajra Seal. It was because he practiced Golden Bell Shield—he naturally had to start with what he knew in terms of learning “I, the Unique and Righteous”. He would have to slowly comprehend it, before diverging to increase his reach.

In other words, it was likely that he would subsequently come to a realization about an Exterior-level bladesmanship or sword move. Heading up north to kill Wolf King meant that he would have little chance to use his sword and therefore it wasn’t a pressing matter. He had to spend the Karma points on his blade!

“What kind of item?” Jiang Zhiwei was somewhat uncertain.

Meng Qi smiled. “A 500-year-old Bodhi-seed to help me come to realizations about my moves.”

It wasn’t just for achieving awareness of an Exterior-level sword art. It would also help Meng Qi ‘obtain’ more skills to earn some much-needed Karma points for his Eight Nine Mysteries.