At night, cool breezes blew.
Ou Yangming sat cross-legged and visualized the snow mountain in his spiritual world. This had become one of his daily compulsory lessons.
The snow mountain grew taller bit by bit. It was not fast, but it was unusually stable. Ou Yangming was a very persistent person. Otherwise, he would not have been able to rely on the Heavenly Phoenix Fire to go from being a mayfly to a roc.
Candle lights flickered, giving the room a bit of warmth.
He took out a Volcanic Ore and forcefully squeezed it. His power that could split stone steles was only able to change the shape of the ore.
Ou Yangming was amazed. He kept trying. If it was not for the fact he was at the Seven Stars Sect, he would have tried to refine an interspatial bag.
After an hour, his heart guarded his soul, and he fell into silence.
The next morning, a crisp chirping of a sparrow sounded from outside the door. Ou Yangming slowly opened his eyes, and he felt clear and bright. It was obvious that his cultivation had improved a little.
He walked out of the room and looked down.
The mountains and rivers were beautiful and vast. They stretched as far as the eye could see, and the gullies in his chest were magnified infinitely.
Ling Yue’s figure flashed, and he had already arrived beside Ou Yangming. He said softly, “Brother Yu, let’s go! Master is calling for you.”
“Brother Ling, thank you for your trouble.” Ou Yangming cupped his hands.
Ling Yue’s expression darkened, and he did not say anything. Clearly, he felt that Ou Yangming had no hope of entering the Big Ruins this time. He had seen with his own eyes the speed at which Gu Gengren was absorbing the Volcanic Ores. It could only be described as “monstrous” as the young man was much faster than many top-grade Spiritualists.
Ou Yangming did not know what he was thinking. Together, they arrived at Wen Zhou’s small courtyard.
When the 2 of them arrived at the hall, the others had not arrived yet. This was a part of Ling Yue’s plan as he knew that his master did not like to wait for others.
Wen Zhou stood up from his chair and laughed heartily. “Young friend, you’re really punctual!”
Ou Yangming was respectful. His tone was calm and slow. “Aren’t you too, Elder Wen?” After saying that, he even blinked his eyes.
Wen Zhou’s voice was even more cheerful, and he exclaimed, “I didn’t expect you to be such a wonderful person.”
As soon as he finished, he pointed his finger, and a green stream of light flew out from the gap between his fingers. He explained, “This is a Xueru Stone. As long as you gently brush your Volcanic Ores on it, your contribution points will be recorded. If you have enough contribution points, you can even enter the Spiritual Vitality Tower to cultivate for a few days.”
Ou Yangming quickly did a fist salutation and expressed, “Thank you, Elder Wen!”
Wen Zhou waved his hand and responded, “This isn’t considered a precious item. Moreover, it’ll depend on which of the 4 of you gets more contribution points later. I won’t be biased towards this slot to enter the Big Ruins so everything will have to be seen through.”
Ou Yangming immediately nodded in agreement.
Ling Yue’s eyes also revealed a look of satisfaction. He knew while the Xueru Stone was not precious to his master, it was not something that could be easily obtained by others. To put it simply, as long as one carried the stone and traveled outside, at least half of the rogue cultivators would not dare to do anything to one. This was because the stone represented the Seven Stars Sect, which was the strongest sect in Zhangzhou.
Not long after, Zuo Fengyu and Deng Pan arrived at the same time.
Zuo Fengyu forcefully suppressed the bitterness in his heart and said with a bright smile, “Brother Wen, you have a better spirit.”
“Brother Zuo, you’re being too polite. Judging from your spirit, you must’ve gained a lot from this trip, right?” Wen Zhou’s finger lightly tapped on his chair.
Zuo Fengyu laughed bitterly and sighed. “Brother Wen, you have no idea. The God-favored one from the Tianxuan sect isn’t simple at all. This time, I won’t have the chance to get the spot.”
Wen Zhou gasped in surprise. His eyes were burning with anticipation.
Deng Pan was also thinking the same thing as Zuo Fengyu. He also knew he was probably going to be a sparring partner this time.
Sunlight shone in through the window. Under the sunlight, Jian Chengzhe followed Gu Gengren into the hall. A flattering look could be seen on his face.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Wen Zhou cupped his hands and said in a deep voice, “First of all, congratulations to the 4 of you on your successful return. I’m a straightforward person, so I won’t say much. This time, the spot will be determined by each person’s contribution points.” As soon as he was done, 3 pieces of Xueru Stones flew out and landed in the hands of the 3 powerhouses that arrived later. This time, the elder did not say that he was giving them away. Since he was not giving them away, they would have to return the stones. The difference between this and how Ou Yangming was treated was clear to see.
Even though Zuo Fengyu and Deng Pan knew they would surely lose this time, they still wondered, ‘What if… What if we succeed?’
This was especially true for Zuo Fengyu. His cultivation had reached that of a top-grade Spiritualist but because he was a rogue cultivator, his foundation was too weak. He did not dare to trigger the Heavenly Disaster. As such, he could only go to the Big Ruins to look for opportunities to see if there was a chance for him to solidify his foundation. If not, perhaps he could obtain a piece of equipment that could resist the disaster. Therefore, this slot to enter the Big Ruins was very important to him and was his only hope.
With a flash of thought, Ou Yangming raised his hand and took out a green Volcanic Ore.
He gently brushed it across the Xueru Stone, and his spiritual power entered the stone. A set of data instantly appeared in his spiritual world.
[Name: Xueru Stone]
[Contribution Points: 1]
‘So a green Volcanic Ore is worth 1 contribution point,’ Ou Yangming thought to himself. At this moment, he had many yellow Volcanic Ores and even white Volcanic Ores in his interspatial bag. Nonetheless, he was not so stupid to take them all out. Even so, due to Wen Zhou’s kindness, he decided that he would take out more.
This was Ou Yangming’s way of dealing with the world. He was willing to suffer losses.
In his words, as long as he did not suffer losses in the big things, he could do as he wished in the small things. Even if he suffered a little loss, it would not matter.
Nevertheless, superficial losses might not necessarily bring him no fortune in the end. Perhaps in other places, his returns would be far greater than what he gave.
All of a sudden, Gu Gengren’s fingers moved. He took out 5 yellow Volcanic Ores in one breath, and a faint fluorescent light scattered in all directions. It shattered the fighting spirit that Zuo Fengyu and Deng Pan had gathered with great difficulty. They could only sigh and wonder, “Is this what a God-favored one is like? He’s indeed too terrifying, and we’re really not on the same level.’ Their courage was gone.
The energy contained in a yellow Volcanic Ore and its value was almost 100 times greater than that of a green Volcanic Ore.
Even if they were exchanged for contribution points, they were still 1 to 100. Similarly, for white Volcanic Ore and even legendary red Volcanic Ores, their values increased by 100 times each.
Ling Yue also had a look of regret in his eyes. He felt regretful for Ou Yangming.
He knew Ou Yangming’s hope of obtaining this spot was almost zero.
Wen Zhou’s eyes were burning, and the speed at which his fingers tapped on his chair became faster as if a ball of raging flames was burning in his heart. He never would have thought that the Advanced Spiritualist would be so generous. With just one move, the young man took out 5 yellow Volcanic Ores. The elder had been a great elder in the sect for many years, but he had only encountered this situation 3 times.
One of the 3 people later became a Venerable One. Wen Zhou had been in his position for many years, so he had helped several powerhouses. He had a wide network of friends, and even top-grade Spiritualists did not dare to offend him.
Needless to say, he was not worried that someone would cheat on the Volcanic Ores.
This was because Volcanic Ores could be exchanged for contribution points, which were the foundation of the Seven Stars Sect. No one would be willing to sell them.
Even a rogue cultivator could join the Seven Stars Sect and receive protection when their contribution points reached a certain level. This was the brilliance of the Seven Stars Sect’s methods.
1, 2, 3…
Gu Gengren took out his ores neither fast nor slow. There was a hint of arrogance in his eyes, and his expression was calm as if nothing could make him feel perturbed. He was dressed in white, and his temperament was out of this world. There was a faint sense of pride in him.
Ou Yangming was the same. He took out 100 green Volcanic Ores and 2 yellow Volcanic Ores. As a result, his contribution points reached 300 points.
Despite that, Gu Gengren surpassed Ou Yangming by a lot. He had taken out 230 green Volcanic Ores and 16 yellow Volcanic Ores, so his contribution points reached 1,830 points. The difference was simply indescribable.
Ling Yue was already in despair. With such a huge gap, there was no way Ou Yangming could turn the tables.
Gu Gengren stopped what he was doing and said with a smile, “Brother Yu, this time, I’m afraid you’ll lose.”
“Oh,” Ou Yangming uttered softly, then he shook his head and replied to him, “That might not be the case.”
Gu Gengren smiled and did not say anything.
At this moment, everyone including Ling Yue felt that Ou Yangming was trying hard to hold on.
Wen Zhou felt a little displeased. He did not like people who tried to hold on to their egos and were not willing to suffer losses.
Zuo Fengyu and Deng Pan were already feeling hopeless. They no longer had the intention to fight for this spot. Instead, they felt relieved.
Deng Pan snorted and said, “Hmph, you’re still not willing to admit defeat at this point. Over 1,000 contribution points are something that many Advanced Spiritualists can’t obtain even after more than 2 months. You… Heh!”
He could tell that the white-clothed man in front of him would surely have limitless achievements in the future, so he decided to step on Ou Yangming to win the man’s favor.
Jian Chengzhe was so happy that he wanted to laugh out loud but because of his previous experiences of getting slapped in the face, he did not say a word.
As time passed, the gap between Ou Yangming and Gu Gengren grew larger.
“Almost there?” Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up, and he let out a breath of turbid air. The first part of his contribution points was a big gift for Wen Zhou, which was his way of returning the favor of being given the Xueru Stone. Following that, it would be his counterattack. He was determined to get the spot, and he could not afford to lose it as the calling to him grew stronger. The young fellow had to enter the Big Ruins to find out what was going on.
With that, he tapped his interspatial bag with his finger, and a scorching white light instantly spread out.
In an instant, it suppressed all the light in the hall. This white light was so holy, beautiful, and wonderful.
“This!” Wen Zhou’s pupils suddenly contracted. He made a small guess in his heart, but he did not dare to confirm it because it was too bold. It was so bold that even with his identity, he did not dare to confirm it easily.
Ling Yue sucked in a breath of cold air and was terrified but elated at the same time. ‘Could this be a white Volcanic Ore? But it’s impossible, right?’ He quickly suppressed the thought. Even Wen Zhou did not dare to confirm it, so how could he be sure? Similarly, he felt that his thought was too bold.
The light was incredibly striking and when it fell…
A crystal-clear white Volcanic Ore lay quietly in Ou Yangming’s palm.
Silence—absolute silence…
Everyone looked at the white Volcanic Ore. Only a single thought remained in their minds. ‘How’s this possible? A white Volcanic Ore is much more precious than a yellow Volcanic Ore.’
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