Chapter 598: What Is the Dao Source?

That night.

Inside the Sword Sect’s inner sect, a certain cave dwelling.

The door to the meditation chamber, used for seated contemplation, opened, and Zhou Kongming stepped out slowly, his aura calm and solid.

Spiritual light surged in his eyes, only to vanish the next instant.

He walked to the side, poured himself a cup of water, then sat by the window with the cup in hand.

Gazing out the window, he took a sip and placed the cup on the table before him:

“Finally adapted.”

After several hours of adjustment, he had finally alleviated the discomfort he felt during the mission and reacclimated to the dense, heavy laws of the Central Continent of Taixuan.

Tap tap!

He tapped the table with his fingers, hesitated briefly, then finally pulled out his phone.

Even if he ignored everything else, he still had to check in with Xiao Ling…

By now, she should be back, right?

Thinking this, he prepared to send a message—but before he could, a message popped up ahead of him.

Xiao Ling: “You there?”

Her avatar was a molten great hammer atop an anvil.

Xiao Ling was back!

Looking at the message from Qi Ling, Zhou Kongming’s face broke into a faint smile.

Kongming: “Here.”

Xiao Ling: “How many Ascension Points?”

Kongming: “Not many. This mission was poorly planned.”

Xiao Ling: “I got 189.”

Kongming: “...”

Kongming: “I got 159.”

After all, one was a weaponsmith, the other a sword cultivator specializing in sword arrays—so their chat was naturally plain and unadorned.

Xiao Ling: “?”

【Xiao Ling retracted a message】

Xiao Ling: “This mission type really isn’t favorable for sword cultivators.”

Xiao Ling: “So one failure doesn’t mean anything.”

“...”

Why did that consolation sound so odd?

Afterwards, the two chatted briefly about their experiences during the mission, the difficulties they encountered.

Of course, Zhou Kongming omitted some irrelevant details, like teaching the “Yin-Yang Qi Absorption and Union Marvel Art” and such trivial matters…

Cough cough!

He also casually marveled at the convenience of the Taixuan Immortal Net and the wonders of its auxiliary modules.

In the end, Zhou Kongming and Qi Ling brought up the matter of crafting a physical foundation for “Heng,” and set a time.

As for compensation…

Qi Ling initially refused—it was merely crafting a physical foundation for a Jin Dan-level artifact spirit; it was nothing more than child’s play.

But after hearing what Zhou Kongming offered…

She accepted.

A single strand of “Civilization Fire,” unique to Task World 1, originating from the dawn of pre-Qixing civilization.

As a weaponsmith, she simply could not refuse.

Xiao Ling: “If you have more, you can sell a strand to Senior Gao at a high price.”

Qi Ling added a reminder.

Kongming: “Nah, not worth it.”

He wasn’t short on Spirit Coins anyway…

Compared to that, Ascension Points, which could be exchanged for countless rare treasures, were truly precious.

Each point had to be used with utmost care.

Seeing this message, Qi Ling finally realized: Zhou Kongming had simply found an excuse to give her the “Civilization Fire.”

Xiao Ling: “How many Ascension Points?”

Zhou Kongming paused, then sighed with a wry smile.

Kongming: “Not much—just 0.1.”

After sending this, he seemed to think of something else.

Kongming: “I’ll organize the exchange list and send it to you—see if you need anything.”

No!

Kongming: “I can just post it in the group.”

Xiao Ling: “I can just post it in the group.”

Their messages were sent at nearly the same moment.

Since everyone’s exchange items differed, why not open the exchange center’s inventory to all? That way, there’d be more choices!

At that moment.

Ding dong!

Two messages popped up from the top of the screen—sent by the group “Whoever Gets Rolled Is Stupid *Use Real Names Only.”

Gao Wuwang: “@All Members”

Gao Wuwang: “How long did everyone take to max out their Ascension Points this mission?”

The two messages made Zhou Kongming’s eye twitch.

This guy had already jumped out to show off so quickly…

But…

What surprised Zhou Kongming was that Gao Wuwang had actually maxed out all the Ascension Points on a mission of this difficulty?!

Ignore him for now!

Zhou Kongming silently made his decision.

Gao Wuwang: “What? Why is no one answering?”

Gao Wuwang: “You can’t all still be out there.”

Gao Wuwang: “@Chen Xuanqing”

Gao Wuwang: “@Zhou Kongming”

Gao Wuwang: “I saw your group messages—get out here already!”

He’d spent twenty grueling years, exhausted himself to the bone, just to max out all the Ascension Points.

If he didn’t show off now, it would hurt more than death!

Others who saw the message were silently relieved they hadn’t posted anything in the group after returning—otherwise, they’d have been mocked mercilessly by this guy…

Chen Xuanqing: “/Your dad’s here”

Chen Xuanqing: “Shut up! Shut the hell up!”

Chen Xuanqing: “Someone might think you’ve merged with the Dao.”

Hmm…

Zhou Kongming quietly exited the chat interface and set his status to “Invisible.”

He was a calm, mature cultivator—he didn’t indulge in childish behavior.

He’d wait a while longer before exchanging the exchange lists.

…

…

In the blink of an eye, two days passed.

The departure time for the third batch of Ascension Envoys was drawing near.

Simultaneously, the final round of the “Immortal Sect Special Recruitment” was about to begin.

But relatively speaking, the third batch of Ascension Envoys would depart earlier.

This annoyed Chi Jiuyu.

She had hoped to watch Xiao Ye’s performance in the “Immortal Sect Special Recruitment”—but now it seemed she’d miss it…

Outside the Sword Sect.

Chi Jiuyu was seeing off Lin Xuanxuan.

The third batch of Ascension Envoys’ mission was about to begin.

“If I’d known your talisman art was already this advanced, I wouldn’t have had to make the trip to the Sword Sect.”

Lin Xuanxuan looked at the storage ring on her hand—inside were the Sword Qi Talismans Chi Jiuyu had prepared for her.

They included Jin Dan, Nascent Soul, and Soul Transformation grades, each of higher quality than the same-grade “Sword Qi Talismans” available on the market.

After all, Chi Jiuyu’s sword cultivation attainment…

Do you even understand the weight of mastering the “Classic Talisman Sword Scripture” to perfection in a single night?

Lin Xuanxuan even felt she could not withstand the lowest-grade, Jin Dan-level "Sword Qi Talisman".