Sword Sovereign of the Celestial Emperor-Chapter 98, First (first update, asking for initial subscription)

Chapter 98: Chapter 98, First (first update, asking for initial subscription)

The Task Elder didn’t pay much attention at first. He had seen the magic cores and beast ears brought back by those ranked in the top ten of the Cyan Yang List, with Qi Yang having the most, amounting to over four hundred thousand contribution points, which even made many Outer Sect Elders envious.

But when he opened the snakeskin bag and saw the magic cores and beast ears Chu Ming had collected, he was immediately stunned. Inside the bag were more than forty magic cores, quietly emitting a faint glow, beside which were countless beast ears.

"Did you collect all of this?"

The Task Elder asked with a moved expression. Chu Ming’s cultivation hadn’t broken through and was still at the Sixth Layer of the Transcendence Realm, but his "Fire Burning True Skill" had broken through to the First Layer, resulting in a significant increase in strength, which the Task Elder couldn’t discern.

"Yes, they are mine!" Chu Ming respectfully replied.

The Task Elder nodded and secretly speculated that Chu Ming’s cultivation had likely made significant progress.

He took out a stack of contribution point slips from a small locked cabinet and pulled out a few, placing them in front of Chu Ming.

"This is what you deserve!" Chu Ming glanced briefly at the amount on the slips. They should total about 1.1 million, exceeding his estimate by a hundred thousand.

"Thank you, Elder!" Chu Ming respectfully said as he put the contribution slips into his storage ring.

"Hmm!"

The Task Elder responded faintly and then closed his eyes to rest. Chu Ming, understanding the cue, left the Task Hall.

...

After leaving the Task Hall, he didn’t immediately return to his small courtyard but went to the second floor of the Martial Arts Pavilion. The "Blast Flame Fist" no longer satisfied the advancement of his "Fire Element Body Forging Chapter." This time, he wanted to exchange for a High Tier Profound Level Fist Technique.

At the same time, his body technique no longer matched his current strength. As for swordsmanship, if there was an appropriate one, he wouldn’t mind cultivating it too.

There weren’t many disciples on the second floor of the Martial Arts Pavilion, all quietly choosing their martial techniques.

Chu Ming approached the Martial Arts Skill Shelf for Profound Level Fist Techniques. There were only three High Tier Profound Level techniques available: "Black Death Fist," "Tiger Dominator Fist," and "Blood Killing Fist."

"Black Death Fist," a High Tier Profound Level technique, when cultivated to Great Success, a punch would have a faint black aura, confusing people’s minds. When perfected, the aura would move with the punch, capable of bewildering the opponent’s spirit.

Putting aside "Black Death Fist," Chu Ming picked up "Tiger Dominator Fist." The Cyan Yang Sect had two Top Tier Profound Level techniques, and just a dozen High Tier Profound Level techniques, having three fist techniques was already considered good, as some categories only had one.

"Tiger Dominator Fist," a High Tier Profound Level technique, dominant and fierce. When cultivated to Great Success, a punch could shatter rocks, capable of defeating ordinary Ninth Layer Transcendence Realm martial artists with one punch. When perfected, the fist would be as strong as diamond, able to tear apart fierce beasts.

Note: Cultivation requires one to possess the strength of fifty tigers.

Tiger Dominator Fist was good, aligned with the path of dominance and ferocity like the Tyrant Fist and Overlord Fist that Chu Ming had previously cultivated. However, being overly dominant could sometimes be a drawback, so Chu Ming didn’t immediately make a choice and picked up the last technique.

"Blood Killing Fist," a High Tier Profound Level technique, deadly in nature, capable of increasing punching power by consuming one’s life force. Note: The punching power is proportional to the amount of life force consumed.

"Blood Killing Fist" was considered a special technique because it could increase attack power by consuming the practitioner’s life force.

Life force to a certain extent did not equal one’s lifespan. A martial artist’s decline in life force would gradually cause aging, showing an elderly appearance, but their lifespan remained unchanged.

Chu Ming didn’t hesitate. For a martial artist, nothing was more valuable than survival. As long as one could survive, everything else could be discussed.

"Blood Killing Fist" alone required an astronomical number of contribution points, a terrifying 370,000.

Chu Ming made a copy of "Blood Killing Fist," then headed towards the shelf with body technique secret manuals. There were even fewer High Tier Profound Level body techniques, just two.

"Nine Clone Techniques" and "Cloud-Stepping Step."

"Nine Clone Techniques," a High Tier Profound Level body technique, swift as the wind. When cultivated to Great Success, one’s movements would be accompanied by lightning and thunder, dashing a hundred meters in an instant. When perfected, one could master nine clones to confuse the enemy.

Note: This technique is extremely difficult to master and should be practiced by those with extraordinary enlightenment.

Nine Clone Techniques was good, especially when perfected, allowing the practitioner to create nine clones to confuse the enemy. With the White Light Plate, Chu Ming considered his enlightenment extraordinary and believed cultivating the Nine Clone Techniques wouldn’t be a problem.

Without looking further at the Cloud-Stepping Step, Chu Ming directly made a copy of the Nine Clone Techniques. It required slightly fewer contribution points than Blood Killing Fist, only 320,000, but with two techniques, Chu Ming’s over a million contribution points were reduced to only 400,000.

Chu Ming wanted to exchange for a sword technique, but there were only two High Tier Profound Level sword techniques, and their contribution point requirements were astronomical.

"Seven-Star Swordsmanship" required 560,000 contribution points.

"Ice Eye Swordsmanship" required 470,000 contribution points.

Looking at his remaining contribution points, Chu Ming revealed a wry smile. Sword techniques had the highest value among these martial techniques. For instance, leg techniques, hand techniques, whip techniques, etc., only required 200,000 contribution points for a High Tier Profound Level technique.

Chu Ming put down the sword techniques and continued practicing "Thousand Leaves Swordsmanship" to the level of Mastery. Once performed, its power was not inferior to ordinary High Tier Profound Level techniques, so sword techniques weren’t urgent.

Having exchanged for two techniques, Chu Ming returned to his small courtyard. In two days, it would be time to challenge the Cyan Yang Tower, and he didn’t plan to waste this time, so he cultivated with middle-grade spirit stones in hand.

Two days passed quickly!

...

The next day, Chu Ming arrived early in front of Cyan Yang Tower. Even then, many Inner Sect Disciples were already in line ahead of him.

However, upon seeing Chu Ming, the Inner Sect Disciples in front of him stepped aside, and Chu Ming quickly moved to the front of the line.

"Senior Brother Chu, you go first!"

The Inner Sect Disciple at the front looked a bit nervous and cautiously said.

"Hmm!"

Chu Ming nodded. With his current strength, there was no suspense in being first on the Cyan Yang List, so entering first or later made no difference.

Stepping into the Cyan Yang Tower, the environment changed before his eyes. Chu Ming immediately raised his combat strength to the maximum.

First Layer, defeated in one strike!

Second Layer, defeated in one strike!

Third Layer, the Illusionary Body was shattered in just three moves.

In the span of two breaths, Chu Ming came out of the Cyan Yang Tower. His speed was so swift that the Inner Sect Disciples outside the tower began to doubt their own perceptions.

At the same time, a huge question emerged in their minds: what exactly did Chu Ming experience in the Cyan Yang Tower?

"Look at the Cyan Yang List!"

Trembling voices rose amidst the silence, causing the gathered players to look towards the Cyan Yang List.

They saw the name "Chu Ming," originally in seventh place, floating and glowing gold, rapidly pushing down the names above it.

Top five... Top three...

The golden glow faded, and finally, it stopped at the very top of the Cyan Yang List, slowly descending.

First place, Chu Ming!