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Chapter 50  : Awarding Rewards

In the Vermillion Bird Hall, all newly accepted apprentices gathered on the training field.

Other than Xie Kuang, the guidance elder, there were a few other Vermillion Bird Hall elders and a Silver-robed Elder on stage.

Huge smiles were etched on each elder’s face.

“We won’t award you with your identity jade pieces. Your personal information and your sect contribution points will be in your identity jade pieces. You can use the jade pieces for your transactions should you need to use your sect contribution points.”

There was a jade piece in the Silver-robed Elder’s hand. He continued, “Even though our overall results weren’t great, Lu Ming managed to emerge as the Apprentice Champion for the first time after eight long years. He brought glory to the Vermillion Bird Hall, so this time around, we at the Vermillion Bird Hall will award him with another 2,000 sect contribution points in addition to his original rewards of 5,000 sect contribution points and a Spirit-condensing Fruit. Come claim your prize, Lu Ming.”

As soon as the elder was done, all eyes were on Lu Ming. Some gazes were envious, some were jealous, some full of admiration.

Amongst them, Yin Kai’s eyes dripped with malice. Only he knew what he was up to as his eyes continuously looked around.

Lu Ming walked up to accept his identity jade piece and another jade box.

As his consciousness sank into the jade piece, a row of words appeared before him.

Lu Ming: 15, citizen of the Fiery Wind City. Bronze apprentice of the Vermillion Bird Hall, the Mystical Sword Sect.

Residence: Room 1, Courtyard 29.

Sect Contribution Points: 7,000

The information was extremely comprehensive with their residence clearly marked out for them. Inside the jade box was the Spirit-condensing Fruit.

“Thank you, Elder!” Lu Ming cupped his fists as he saluted, then he walked down from the stage.

The other apprentices collected their identity jade pieces.

Once everyone was done, they parted ways and Lu Ming made his way to the Vermillion Bird Peak.

The majestic Vermillion Bird Peak stood tall beyond the clouds.

Forests and jungles covered the peak. With all the beautiful flora and fauna found in these woods, it was like heaven on earth.

Mid-peak, there was a space filled with countless exquisite courtyards. These were dorms for the Vermillion Bird Hall apprentices.

‘The spiritual energy here’s so rich and dense! It’s at least a few times thicker than the general apprentices’ area. No wonder everyone was fighting to become a bronze apprentice.

‘I heard that silver apprentices, some elders and hall masters live closer to the tip of the mountain and that the spiritual energy there’s even thicker than what it’s like now.’

Lu Ming pondered as he made his way to his residence.

The courtyards were numbered on the door, so he found courtyard 29 very quickly. It had quite a huge yard with a patio for cultivating martial arts in the middle. There were also three rooms.

The middle one was numbered “1” while the other rooms were rooms 2 and 3 respectively.

Lu Ming made his way to room 1 where the sight of a simple bed and a table greeted him. It was an extremely modest setup. There was a booklet on the table explaining the basic guidelines and happenings of the Mystical Sword Sect and the Blazing Sun Empire.

After flipping through it, Lu Ming kept the booklet aside. He walked out of the door as he heard footsteps approaching.

A beefy young man of about fifteen to sixteen years old walked in. He had big eyes and bushy eyebrows and he carried a sword wider than a palm on his back.

He gawked at Lu Ming and was quickly overjoyed. “Senior Brother Lu Ming, you’re assigned to courtyard 29 too. Haha, that’s great. We’ll be housemates now!” The beefy young man chuckled.

Lu Ming smiled faintly and said, “You’re too kind, brother. How do I address you?”

“My name’s Pang Shi. I’m a hunter from SeaFront City, ” the beefy youth introduced himself enthusiastically.

From his brief introduction, Lu Ming understood that Pang Shi was the son of a hunter’s family in SeaFront City and that he was supernaturally strong. Since he awakened his blood meridians when he was 14, his family sent him to the Mystical Sword Sect to be tested and enrolled. Pang Shi was successfully accepted, and he had passed the test to become a bronze apprentice.

Looking at this hunter’s lad, Lu Ming thought that Pang Shi was more than what met the eyes since it was not as easy for a normal hunter’s lad to be enrolled and pass the new apprentice test in one go.

“I’m a little dumb, so please show me around, Senior Brother Lu Ming,” Pang Shi said as he scratched the back of his head.

“Are you asking him to show you around? I think it’s better if you mingle with me.”

A green-robed, handsome looking youth walked in from the patio. This lanky young man was fair-skinned with long and narrow eyes. He had an air of untamed wildness that surrounded him.

The green-robed youth walked in and scoffed at Lu Ming without warning, “Remember this, Lu Ming. My name’s Hua Chi. You being the Apprentice Champion doesn’t mean anything here. Since we’re both new to the Mystical Sword Sect, I’ll surpass you in a year.”

“Starry-eyed fool? What an odd name,” Pang Shi replied in surprise, conveniently ignoring everything else Hua Chi said.

The green-robed youth stiffened. “What are you talking about, you big dumb buffoon? My name’s Hua Chi, Hua Chi! Not a starry-eyed fool.”

“It’s still starry-eyed fool, isn’t it, Senior Brother Lu Ming?” Puzzled, Pang Shi scratched the back of his head in confusion.

Lu Ming could not help but laugh, “You’re right, Pang Shi. I heard a starry-eyed fool too.”

“You... You hillbillies! Just you wait and see! My name, Hua Chi, will shake the entire Mystical Sword Sect and even the entire Blazing Sun Empire in no time!”

Confidence shone in Hua Chi’s eyes as he walked into room 2 with a huff, ignoring Lu Ming and Pang Shi.

Lu Ming smiled and excused himself from Pang Shi to go back to his room as well.

Since reaching the Master Realm, Lu Ming’s cultivation had risen as he devoured essences constantly. However, that caused his foundation to be a little shaky and his Essential Qi was tainted and unrefined.

He had to stop and spend time to set his base and cultivate his Essential Qi.

A shaky foundation was a huge problem that would affect his cultivation progress in the future. It would hinder Lu Ming from breaking through to the next level, and his cultivation journey would cease.

Even having a Spirit-devouring Word Blood Meridian to devour more essence would have been in vain.

Lu Ming exercised the True War Dragon Technique and the Qi cyclone in his dantian spun steadily, creating little streams of dragon-shaped Essential Qi, which flowed through his meridians, repeatedly refining the impurities in his Essential Qi.

After six hours, Lu Ming opened his eyes.

‘My cultivation will be firmer and more consolidated in ten days if this continues. Then, I’ll move on to the Second Stage of the True War Dragon Technique. My advantage in the Master Realm is decreasing. I can only obtain higher combat power if I reach the Second Stage in my True War Dragon Technique cultivation.

‘Other than Blood Mist Rocks, I’ve got two out of three essential ingredients required in the Second Stage True War Dragon Technique. I’ll go to the Contribution Hall in two days and see if they have any Blood Mist Rocks,’ Lu Ming reflected.

He pondered upon what had happened in the test. Then, he came to a conclusion about what he lacked and determined the direction of his cultivation going forward.