Chapter 29: Attractive Rewards

　　Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

　　Lu Ming followed the rest as they made their way out of the sect and headed towards the Midnight Hills.

　　With a thousand apprentices running on the road at the same time, it caused a constant rumble of dust and dirt along the journey.

　　There was a whopping hundred kilometers between the Mystical Sword Sect and the Midnight Hills. Even though most of them were blood meridians martial artists with a fairly high cultivation level, the hundred-kilometer run still got them sweating buckets and panting like dogs.

　　Nevertheless, Lu Ming was still doing okay. Although he was panting a little, he had not reached his limit yet.

　　When the Vermillion Bird Hall apprentices arrived at the Midnight Hills, the people from the White Tiger Hall were already there, and there were 1,500 of them, about 500 more than those from the Vermilion Bird Hall.

　　The White Tiger Hall had grown stronger over the years, and they were unabashedly the strongest of the four halls, so they also had the most apprentices who chose to enter the White Tiger Hall.

　　“Alright, take a break, everyone!” Xie Kuang hollered.

　　The Vermilion Bird Hall apprentices took their places, sat down, and began their mediation to recover their breath.

　　Rumble!

　　The earth rumbled as the Azure Dragon Hall and the Onyx Turtle Hall arrived soon after.

　　According to Lu Ming’s observation, the Azure Dragon Hall had 1,300 people. The Onyx Tortoise Hall had 1,200 people, which left the Vermillion Bird Hall with the least at only 1,000 people.

　　There were 5,000 people combined.

　　Swoosh! Swoosh!

　　Air piercing whistles came from the silhouette of a few people flying towards them at an alarming speed. Yes, they were flying without mounting any flying beasts.

　　“Those are Leader Realm powerhouses!” a cry of surprise rang out, and everyone looked enviously towards the sky.

　　Lu Ming also looked at the skies enviously with a tinge of yearning.

　　Who would not yearn to soar like eagles, looking down on mountains and valleys?

　　“I’m gonna reach that place one day!” Lu Ming clenched his fists tightly.

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　　Three white-haired elderly men in silver robes swooped in at groundbreaking speed, and it only took them three breaths to reach above everyone’s heads where they remained floating in the air just like that.

　　They were the Mystical Sword Sect’s Silver-Robed Elders.

　　Upon his arrival, the Silver-Robed Elder in the middle spoke in a loud voice, “Now, I’ll announce the rules of the test.

　　“This time, we’ve placed metal pieces on some demonic beasts in the Midnight Hills. These metal pieces will have 1, 2, 5, and 10 points carved on them.

　　“There are 5,000 one point pieces distributed amongst First Grade First Level to Sixth Grade First Level beasts.”

　　“2,000 2-point pieces on Seventh Grade First Level to Ninth Grade beasts.”

　　“400 5-point pieces and 200 10-point pieces on the First Grade Second Level to Third Level beasts.”

　　“You’ll need ten points to pass the test and be upgraded to be a Bronze apprentice. You have twenty days before we return to this place to harvest your results.”

　　“Ten points to pass?” Lu Ming’s eyes flickered.

　　Ten points might not seem like a lot, but it was extremely difficult to accumulate since demonic beasts had a different strength scale than ordinary beasts.

　　A First Level demonic beast was likened to a Warrior Realm martial artist while a Second Level demonic beast would be likened to the Master Realm martial artists.

　　Each Level was divided into nine Grades and was no different from the martial artists’ Realm.

　　5- and 10-point pieces were available from Second Level beasts, far beyond the reach of an ordinary newbie.

　　Those with cultivation below the Master Realm could only get the 1 point and 2-point metal pieces.

　　According to the numbers the Silver-robed Elder gave, they were all snapped up. In total, 5,000 1-point pieces, 2,000 2-point pieces, and including the 5-point and 10-point pieces only added up to 13,000 points.

　　When 13,000 points were divided by ten, that meant, on average, only at most 1,300 apprentices could pass the test.

　　On average, only 1,300 out of 5,000 on average. The competition was undoubtedly fierce.

　　“Also, there’s gonna be a handsome reward. The first place will get 5,000 sect contribution points and a Spirit-condensing Fruit.

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　　“The second place will get 4,000 sect contribution points.

　　“The third place will get 3,000 sect contribution points.

　　“Fourth to tenth place will get 1,000 sect contribution points.

　　“Eleventh to hundredth place will be rewarded accordingly. Lastly, I might as well tell you that there’s actually a 500-point metal piece on some demonic beast that’s for you to find. Right then, that’s all for the rules. Take a breather and be on your way.”

　　Chaos erupted right after the Silver-robed Elder finished his announcement. The chatter was mostly about how attractive the rewards were.

　　The Mystical Sword Sect’s sect contribution points were used to exchange anything from pills, spiritual weapons, and martial arts techniques to gems, treasures, and many more.

　　One sect contribution point was equivalent to a hundred taels of silver. The reward for first place was 5,000 sect contribution points, which was equivalent to 500,000 taels of silver.

　　Who would not want that?

　　“Spirit-condensing Fruit!”

　　The fruit was as attractive to Lu Ming as the sect contribution points.

　　To an ordinary martial artist, the normal use of a Spirit-condensing Fruit was to condense Essential Qi to raise their cultivation.

　　However, it meant more than that to Lu Ming.

　　To cultivate the Second Stage of the True War Dragon Technique to achieve Essential Qi condensation that was twice as thick, a few rare and precious ingredients were needed. One of the most precious ones was the Spirit-condensing Fruit.

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　　‘I must get that Spirit-condensing Fruit!’

　　Lu Ming’s eyes shone like the sun.

　　Apart from him, some of the stronger talents amongst the 5,000 also displayed the same burning desire.

　　“You’re Lu Ming, aren’t you?” A clear, crisp voice rang out.

　　There was a girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looked dashing with her sword on her back, and she wore a body-hugging fencing uniform that showed off her curves in all the right places.

　　“Who are you?” Lu Ming frowned at the sight of the girl. He did not know her although she recognized him. Had she also been sent by the Duanmu Family?

　　The young lady smiled as if she sensed his hesitation. “Lu Ming, my name is Feng Wu. Big Sis Mu Lan sent me to look for you.”

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　　“Mu Lan!” Lu Ming’s eyes gleamed. He lowered his guard and asked, “How may I help you, Miss Feng Wu?”

　　“Big Sis Mu Lan sent me to team up with you in case the Duanmu Family tries anything funny in the test. What do you say? Shall we work together?” Feng Wu replied.

　　Lu Ming gave it some thought and nodded. “Alright!”

　　He had complete trust in Mu Lan. Besides, he was new to the Mystical Sword Sect, so he was not familiar with the things that were happening. Therefore, Lu Ming thought that as he teamed up with someone else, he could find out more.

　　“That’s great! There’re three others in our team. I’ll introduce you.”

　　Feng Wu smiled. She turned around and walked as Lu Ming followed behind her.

　　Three young men were leaning on a huge rock.

　　“Everyone, let me introduce you to our newest member, Lu Ming.” Feng Wu pointed at Lu Ming and introduced him to the three young men.

　　She then pointed at the two lankier ones and said, “Lu Ming, this is Zhou Hao and Zhou Xu.”

　　Both Zhou Hao and Zhou Xu nodded nonchalantly as a form of greeting.

　　“Lu Ming, this is Yuan Chong,” Feng Wu pointed to a rather handsome young man and presented him to Lu Ming.

　　“Feng Wu, why did you include just anybody in our team? We don’t need a laggard,” Yuan Chong jeered as soon as Feng Wu finished.

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