Chapter 184

Jiang Fan sighed: "So he is Lu Ren. No wonder he looks so extraordinary."

"Brother Jiang, I'll take my leave!"

Xu Yang cupped his fists and soon arrived at the Merit Hall to receive tasks.

The Profound Heaven Sect had extremely strict requirements for outer sect disciples. Each month, one had to complete tasks worth at least ten contribution points. If there were no ten contribution points, the three Qi-Benefiting Pills would be confiscated.

If the contribution points were less than ten for three consecutive months, one would be cleared out. In short, it was to make the beasts of burden work hard to create value for the sect.

There were many people here, and there were many tasks: escorting, transporting, suppressing bandits, hunting down major criminals, and also capturing specific exotic beasts and collecting spiritual herbs.

These tasks basically had one commonality: they required leaving the sect, and they were all time-consuming.

Of course, the rewards were very high.

There were also some tasks such as alchemy assistants, organizing medicinal materials, etc., which required certain knowledge of medicinal materials, and some tasks were limited to women only.

Basically, these tasks that no one took had some problems; otherwise, they would have been snatched up long ago.

Xu Yang was soon attracted by a task: refining profound iron at the Lihuo Peak, for a period of one month. The reward was settled according to labor. If one refined one hundred jin of profound iron, one could get one contribution point.

The task introduction said that if one worked hard, one could get at least twenty contribution points at the end of the month, and a lunch with exotic beast meat was also provided.

He immediately found the deacon to take this task, but he didn't expect it to be an acquaintance, none other than Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua clearly remembered him, helped him register very readily, and handed over a plaque, saying: "Take this plaque to Lihuo Peak, and someone will guide you. If you quit halfway, three contribution points will be deducted."

Deduct contribution points for quitting halfway? The task introduction didn't say that at all.

It was only said after the task was registered. If Xiao Hua wasn't deliberately pitting him, then this task was not easy to do, which was why this point was not written in the introduction.

Of course, it also explained one problem: Xiao Hua didn't give Lin Cheng any face at all. A single reminder could have prevented him from stepping into a pit, but Xiao Hua didn't say it.

The wild ginseng worth one hundred taels was as good as fed to a dog.

"This disciple understands!"

Xu Yang took the plaque and turned to leave.

The Profound Heaven Sect occupied a vast area. With Xu Yang's foot speed, it still took him the time of one incense stick to walk from the outer sect to the foot of Lihuo Peak.

Of course, if he used the Flying Swallow Skill, it wouldn't take so long, but the Flying Swallow Skill likely came from the Cao family. If it was discovered by someone, Cao Rong would know that it was him who killed Zhang Si Shui, Guan Young Lady, and others.

He had already calculated that after he had enough contribution points, he had to exchange for a lightness skill.

He didn't fear Cao Rong, but the Cao family didn't just have Cao Rong in the Profound Heaven Sect. People from the Cao family had also ascended to the dragon and entered the Profound Heaven Sect in previous batches.

Showing the plaque given by Xiao Hua, the mountain-guarding disciples of Lihuo Peak led him up the mountain.

After walking for a while, the sound of "bang bang" hammering reached Xu Yang's ears. After walking for a while longer, the trees on both sides gradually became sparse, until the surroundings were all yellow sand, and a fire field appeared before his eyes.

Bursts of heat waves with suffocating temperatures struck. Xu Yang understood a bit why some people would take this task and then not do it. In this environment, it was not something ordinary people could bear.

Fortunately, his physique was strong, and these heat waves were nothing.

"Senior Brother Gao, an outer sect disciple has come to do the profound iron refining task." The disciple who led him here shouted.

Immediately after, a robust man with a bare upper body and skin like bronze walked out of a shed.

This person's muscles were knotted, like giant pythons wrapped around his body, and his neck was thicker than his head. He was the most robust person Xu Yang had ever seen.

"Take off your coat!"

Senior Brother Gao took him to a room and told him to take off his coat.

Xu Yang didn't hesitate and took off his outer coat as told, revealing a lean and strong body that was not exaggerated but looked like it was cast from iron.

"Your physique is tempered well. I hope you can persist."

After Senior Brother Gao finished speaking, he led him to a field.

There were huge furnaces everywhere, and more than a dozen bare-chested people were wielding iron hammers as big as human heads, working hard to forge red-hot iron blocks.

Looking at the appearance of those iron hammers, they were at least fifty or sixty jin or more. Every time a hammer fell, the iron block being hammered would jump out some impurities.

Senior Brother Gao said: "These are profound iron ores, containing a large amount of impurities, and need to be hammered repeatedly to obtain profound iron without impurities. After the refining is finished, the contribution points will be settled according to the weight.

Also, profound iron is precious; stealing is not allowed. Once discovered, your martial arts will be abolished and you will be expelled from the sect!

In the future, when entering Lihuo Peak, you can only come here; you are not allowed to walk around the peak."

For the same weight, profound iron is more expensive than gold. When Senior Brother Gao said this at the end, his eyes became a bit sharper.

Xu Yang cupped his fists and nodded, indicating he understood.

Senior Brother Gao walked to a furnace, took out a red-hot profound iron ore, placed it on the forging table, and said: "Watch my technique carefully. If you learn it well, it can make you get twice the result with half the effort."

He swung the iron hammer and knocked it down. A large amount of impurities jumped out. Xu Yang watched carefully and found that his technique was peculiar, containing a strange vibrating force.

"Don't hold the hammer too tightly; you must exert force back the moment you knock it down; otherwise, the counter-shock force will be very large. If you can persist, your physical body will improve greatly.

From now on, this is your position."

After Senior Brother Gao demonstrated for a while, he handed the iron hammer in his hand to Xu Yang and turned to leave.

"Good guy!"

Xu Yang took it and weighed it, finding that this hammer should be about eighty jin. With his strength, eighty jin was nothing, but it was terrifying to wield it all day long.

"Bang!"

He tried to strike the first hammer, only feeling his hands go numb, but only a little bit of impurities were refined out.

"Someone else has jumped into the fire pit. I bet he can't persist for two days!"

"It has to be at least three days."

"I bet he can persist. Haven't you noticed he's a new face? He should be a candidate for this year's examination. New disciples have no contribution points to deduct. Even if it's shit, they have to eat it."

Mocking voices came, but Xu Yang remained unmoved.

He recalled the techniques and movements taught by Senior Brother Gao and observed the techniques of the people around him. He gradually gained some insights, but the effect was still not very good. Every time, the impurities refined out were not as many as those around him.

The main reason was that he only had Qi Gathering Major Success cultivation, while everyone else was an expert at Qi Refining into Gang.

"It is indeed a fire pit!"

Half an hour later, Xu Yang was covered in sweat and exhausted. At this rate, let alone earning twenty contribution points a month, it would be good if he could earn three or five.

"It's been a long time since I've been this tired!"

Time seemed to return to when he first entered the Weiyuan Hall, when he would be covered in sweat after practicing for a while.

"This means my physique is not strong enough!"

Xu Yang had no sense of frustration; instead, he found the original intention of struggling to change his fate through martial arts when he first entered the Weiyuan Hall.

After resting for a while, he got up and picked up the big hammer again.

His mind sank into his body, and this time he operated the Diamond Body Technique, and the Diamond True Qi turned into a large net covering his whole body.

"Boom!"

With one hammer strike, more impurities were refined out. A counter-shock force came along the hammer handle, and his muscles and bones couldn't help but tremble together, his blood surging.

"Eh?" Xu Yang's eyes lit up.

He found that under the action of this counter-shock force, some Diamond True Qi dissipated and merged into his flesh and bones, and the efficiency of tempering his physique had significantly improved.

This discovery greatly lifted his spirits, and the fatigue seemed to have lessened a lot.

In the following time, he kept operating the Diamond True Qi. Not only did the efficiency improve a lot, but the body-tempering effect of the Diamond True Qi also became better.

As the sun set in the west, he dragged his exhausted body out of Lihuo Peak with more than a dozen outer sect disciples.

"Junior Brother Xu, this work is not for disciples who have just entered like you. If you are worried about having no contribution points to deduct, I can lend you some." Chen Chao said with a smile.

In the afternoon, Xu Yang also got to know a few people and only then learned that the task of refining profound iron could earn twenty contribution points a month was true, but it required at least Marrow Cleansing cultivation.

"Thank you, Senior Brother, for your kindness, but I want to persist for a few more days." Xu Yang cupped his fists and said.

Chen Chao shook his head: "Listen to Senior Brother's advice; this kind of persistence is meaningless. We all practiced the Mountain-Shaking Hammer before coming to do this task. You haven't practiced the Mountain-Shaking Hammer; you might not even be able to refine one hundred jin of profound iron in five or six days."

Mountain-Shaking Hammer!

Xu Yang's heart sank. No wonder he thought his technique was about the same as these people, but the refining effect was far inferior to theirs. It turned out there was a specialized martial art.

"If there is a need, I will definitely come to Senior Brother." Xu Yang still didn't plan to give up.

Where else could he find such a good way to practice martial arts? He would practice for a while first.

Chen Chao nodded: "Fine, if you want to borrow it then, you can come to me at any time. Just pay me back four contribution points later."

He naturally didn't intend to take care of his Junior Brother; he just wanted to "lend money."

In the following days, Xu Yang went out early and returned late, and most people started doing tasks, all becoming busy.

On the fifth day, Xu Yang finally refined the first piece of profound iron without impurities and handed it to Senior Brother Gao for weighing. It was one hundred and three jin.

A piece of ore the size of a human head was hammered until it was only the size of a bowl to be qualified.

"It's very good that you can refine one piece in five days."

Senior Brother Gao smiled and said: "Do you want to continue to persist?"

Xu Yang nodded: "Naturally!"