Not having Spirit Concentration Pills was a problem.
Wu Yu had been cultivating for too short a period of time, and temporarily had no stash. The few Spirit Concentration Pills that he had accumulated were not enough for his own consumption, let alone to build a bank.
Two Spirit Concentration Pills a month was quickly exhausted.
However, at least he had reached the third realm of the Inner Vajra Buddha.
Just in terms of raw physical power, he had improved enormously.
When he clenched his fist, the bones of his hands cracked loudly. The innocuous sound awakened other disciples who had been cultivating.
Soon, they were all looking at Wu Yu.
They knew that Wu Yu had received an inheritance from a servant named Sun Wudao that could strengthen his corporeal body and process Spirit Concentration Pills. This was his transformation, and others could not copy him.
At least in the Heavenly Sword Sect, there were not many immortality arts which trained the body so rigorously.
Perhaps in the past, they would be envious or admiring. But with an imminent crisis on hand, they all stood on the same side. Wu Yu had improved significantly. Just like with the last time, when Wu Yu had defeated Jiang Junlin, they wished that Wu Yu could be just that little bit stronger.
Perhaps he could protect them. And once the Bipo Mountain Range was doomed, he could leave safely, perhaps to stage a comeback for the sect.
Wu Yu looked around him. He was deeply moved. The Heavenly Sword Sect had never been more united than in that moment. Seeing him achieve a breakthrough, all eyes on him were kindly.
"The Heavenly Sword Sect is our common home. All our brethren are like kin; brothers and sisters!"
Thinking thus, Wu Yu broke into a smile. He would dare one thing - open his mouth and ask for Spirit Concentration Pills!
"My honored senior brothers and sisters, Wu Yu here urgently needs 20 Spirit Concentration Pills. I wonder if anyone has spare. Wu Yu will guarantee that if we can defeat these strong enemies and live on, I will return all of it within a year!"
His tone was sincere, and he gazed at the crowd, eyes burning.
This was an unprecedented test. Spirit Concentration Pills were everyone's treasure. At this juncture, they were important to everybody.
Even in a normal situation, much less such troubled times, would there be anyone so benevolent as to lend him some?
But the moment Wu Yu spoke, the disciples around him started to laugh.
Knowing laughs.
"Junior Brother, my finances are in an embarrassing state, so I can only lend you one. Remember to return it to me. I am called Wang Dongyang, and I reside at Dongyang Peak.
"I'll lend you two."
Very quickly, people appeared before Wu Yu, pressing Spirit Concentration Pills into his hands. Some even refused to give their names, asking for no return. But Wu Yu would remember their faces. He would definitely find them.
"Five." Night Wishes for Snow passed him the Spirit Concentration Pills, saying, "Remember to return them to me. All of us must live until you can pay this debt back."
"Senior Brother, rest easy," Wu Yu said with conviction.
Night Wishes for Snow was not hard up for the five Spirit Concentration Pills. Rather, he wished that all of them could live until the day when Wu Yu would repay them!
"Junior Brother, take this." Mo Shishu had come to the call as well.
"Junior Brother." Su Yanli had also handed two over. She added softly, "I will remember this as well. You must return them to me."
Finally, even Qing Mang hurried forwards. All she had were two Spirit Concentration Pills, and she gravely handed one to Wu Yu. "This is a loan! You have to return them, you hear me!"
Wu Yu's heart was overflowing with warmth.
He realized that he had fallen in love with the Bipo Mountain Range, fallen in love with the Heavenly Sword Sect, and fallen in love with these sword cultivators.
"Brothers and sisters, if the time comes and Wu Yu cannot pay up, we will string him up naked from the tree. Who's with me?!" Mo Shishu guffawed.
"Alright!"
Everyone broke out into laughter. The cheer dissipated much of the gloom that had been hanging around the Bipo Mountain Range, replacing it with an indomitable will!
Perhaps to these people, the loan today was merely a hope for victory. But for Wu Yu, it was a debt that he would remember for life!
He could not forget that it was Feng Xueya, Sun Wudao, and the Heavenly Sword Sect that had made him who he was today!
It was these brethren who had been generous, unselfishly giving up the Spirit Concentration Pills that were important to everyone!
They had paid for these with their own sweat.
Looking upon the many familiar faces, Wu Yu felt more charged up than he had in a long time. Unlimited energy seemed to well from within him, carrying him along the path to immortalhood!
"Cultivate Dao, form bonds, destroy enemies, no regrets!"
He sat cross-legged on the floor, looking at the heavy pile of Spirit Concentration Pills in his hands. There were close to 30, enough for him to activate his sixth spiritual source.
He began to quieten his mind and focus, reminding himself silently not to let down the goodwill he had been granted.
The sixth meridian was known as the Curved Lake Meridian. It was at the elbow, and needed both hands to be clasped to form a complete spiritual source.
With his Inner Vajra Buddha at the third realm, he could rapidly process the Spirit Concentration Pills without any difficulty. Wu Yu's body was terrifyingly tenacious. His internal organs, muscles, and bones had all been refined under the fire of the sutras, broken down and built back up thousands of times. They were fortified to a maximum, metamorphosing into a state of near perfection. It was as though a huge Buddha was closeted within his body, pressing down on his blood vessels. Although the Spirit Concentration Pills were awesome, too many would tear the body apart, causing one to descend into madness. But Wu Yu could rapidly digest the Spirit Concentration Pills and process them, rapidly accumulating them in his Curved Lake Meridian, constantly refining his vortex of spiritual power.
The complete Great Way of Immortality Art had already begun to create the vortex of spiritual power from scratch. It built it step by step, and by the time it was completed, close to 12 Spirit Concentration Pills had been consumed. Everyone could see that Wu Yu was devouring Spirit Concentration Pills like a god, and his body seemed completely unaffected.
"Just how resilient is his body?!"
They could not help but be amazed.
The fact that his body was even stronger than that of a demon was shocking!
However, everyone knew that Wu Yu could only make such improvements because of the constant pain and torture that he had suffered for two consecutive months. Reward was proportional to effort.
Qi Condensation Realm, sixth tier.
Ever since he had begun his path of dao, he had constantly improved at a furious rate!
Wu Yu did not stop. He continued to absorb the Spirit Concentration Pills, forming his next source. However, even the third realm of the Inner Vajra Buddha had its limits. The spiritual power was saturating Wu Yu's body. If he continued to refine Spirit Concentration Pills, then he might overcharge and lose control. He desisted for the moment, continuing to strengthen himself via the Inner Vajra Buddha Sutra.
As time passed, Wu Yu could feel that his rate of improvement was beyond his imagination.
It was a miracle.
But Feng Xueya and the others were fighting the Ninth Spirit, and the other disciples were cultivating as well. They did not pay much attention to Wu Yu. Given another few years, perhaps Wu Yu would be of use in the fight, but now....
Time was too tight....
Day after day, the disciples looked towards the Stone Gate of a Thousand Swords. The commotion at the 10,000 Swords Formation grew larger and larger, and their fears grew proportionately. Outside, the demons and ghostly cultivators must’ve been rubbing their hands, their preparations complete.
"I have to acquire a new dao technique."
Wu Yu realized that the amount of dao techniques he knew was comparatively lower than others.
With Feng Xueya fighting their enemies, Wu Yu did not bother him. Instead, he tidied up, then headed for Dao Querying Pagoda. There were still people challenging the Dao Querying Pagoda, so it had not closed.
When he reached the Dao Querying Pagoda, the Lone Elder was obviously not there, and the disciples on guard were also dispirited. Wu Yu shouldered his Demon Subduing Staff and charged in, beginning from the first level. This time, he wanted to reach the eighth level!
That's right. Wu Yu felt that he was ready to challenge the martial cultivator at the ninth tier of the Qi Condensation Realm!
The Invincible Vajra Body and the Great Way of Immortality Art had helped him power through the levels.
After defeating the first four stages - the Flying Wooden Tiger, the Flying Metal Dragon, and the Five Affinities Giant Bear, he reached the fifth level. It was said that there were no more mechanical beasts from this point forward. After all, making such strong mechanisms was very difficult. From the fifth level onwards, disciples stood guard. Wu Yu easily defeated the disciple at the fifth tier of the Qi Condensation Realm, and then consecutively passed two more. The middle-aged disciple at the seventh tier of the Qi Condensation Realm fell easily to Wu Yu as well.
He had not expected that Wu Yu would be this powerful.
The news that Wu Yu had creamed Mo Xiudao had spread throughout the Bipo Mountain Range, but the rumor was that his victory had been hard-fought.
He had thought that Wu Yu would enter the Scripture Holding Depository on the seventh level, but Wu Yu instead headed for the stairs, and the eighth level.
"There's no one on the eighth level. The elder guarding it has been in reclusion for a while, ostensibly cultivating to condense his ninth spiritual source.
Cultivating a spiritual source was not that easy. After the prime decades of one's life passed, one's body would begin to age and wither. Cultivating spiritual sources became extremely difficult.
"I want to challenge the eighth Tier. What should I do?"
The person pondered for a moment, then said, "Under these emergency circumstances, I'll go find an elder for you. Perhaps it might work."
After all, Wu Yu was a personal disciple, and rules could be broken.
Wu Yu therefore ascended to the eighth level of the Dao Querying Pagoda to wait. Before long, there was a huge commotion below him. Wu Yu listened carefully. Many people were swarming up together towards his position.
Before long, there were about 30 people on the eighth level, but no elders - all of them were young disciples. They were the batch that had trained with Wu Yu on Yanli Mountain. The only two at the ninth tier of the Qi Condensation realm were Night Wishes for Snow and Lan Boli.
"First Senior Brother, what has happened?" Wu Yu was startled.
Night Wishes for Snow smiled slightly. Amidst cheers, he came up close to Wu Yu. "The elders are preparing for war, and the only ones at the ninth tier of the Qi Condensation realm standing free are myself and Boli. For such a momentous occasion, I'm sure you would not prefer Boli to be the one to test you, right?"
Wu Yu understood now.
Night Wishes for Snow would be the guardian for this level!
Of course he was qualified.
Out of all the disciples, he had an impressive reputation, and was unquestionably the foremost disciple in the Heavenly Sword Sect. Feng Xueya himself could directly appoint him as an elder, or perhaps even higher.
And for the moment, Night Wishes for Snow was practically Feng Xueya's heir. He was the future leader of the Heavenly Sword Sect.
He was the first disciple!
Wu Yu naturally held him in high regard.
But respect was respect. Wu Yu wanted to surpass all of them, even Feng Xueya himself!
That was why when Night Wishes for Snow spoke thus, Wu Yu broke out into a smile, saying, "If that's the case, then Junior Brother here will risk the insult."
"No need to hold back. We are all family. If you surpass me, that is a moment of great joy for our sect. I, Night Wishes for Snow, will accept it with all my heart!"
Amongst them, the most conflicted one was Su Yanli. She had seen Wu Yu climb step by step from the very bottom. It had been a mere two years!
She was a genius, yet had only improved by one tier in these two years.
Whereas Wu Yu was the real genius who had flown ahead!
The legendary first disciple, Night Wishes for Snow, and the up-and-coming Wu Yu, who had even slain Mo Xiudao. Who was stronger?
The disciples were inflamed with passion.