Chapter 258: The Harvest
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Frankly speaking, as he was about to exchange the “Buddha’s Lamp” for the Dominator of Samsara in the Six Realms, Meng Qi wondered what would happen next; for not only was it an inexplicable successor, but it also linked to Buddhism. He felt it was too dangerous to always be tangled up with Buddhism and Ananda!
Before this Death Task, he probably would have exchanged it for Karma points, but he had a different mentality now. He realized that his passive attitude towards the Samsara task was not sensible, and that when in trouble, it was best to bravely face it, not to avoid it. If he were really involved in Buddhism and Ananda, it had nothing to do with the Buddha’s Lamp. On the contrary, maybe he would have been in more danger, and more liable to be blamed with every move. Because of this, he thought that he had better keep the bluish white lamp. At any rate, it was a Precious Weapon which could help him defend himself and attack the enemy. With it, he was able to survive any danger. He would become stronger and stronger, making him deal with problems head on like a real man.
Heaven never seals off all the exits!
“All right!” He acted as the Dominator of Samsara in the Six Realms instructed. He used his Will-projector to sear the bluish-white lamp, shrinking it to a miniature statue the size of a large bean. Then, he plucked out a sliver of hair and tied it on the inside of his clothes in front of his chest.
Ruan Yushu first took out the colorful glass-like Sarira and put it into the Central Light Pillar.
“The Luohan Sarira, imperfect, is the remains of Luohan’s Golden Body after Nirvana. It is one of the Magical Arms. But this Luohan has been polluted by the Devil Qi and the Death Qi before its own death, disappearing for hundreds of years. During its Nirvana, it spent more than half of its supernatural power on purification and liberation. So, it is merely worth 7,500 Karma points. It can be used for activating the supreme art of Buddhism and used as the core position of a large battle array to suppress the Heterodox Doctrines. By wearing it, he could not only be very tranquil, but also resist the Outer and Yin evil invasion.”
“Of course, it can be made into a Buddha treasure with the appropriate materials. Then it can block all evil invasions and will have the Heavenly Knowing. The materials will cost 12,000 Karma points.”
Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu kept silent. In their eyes, it was because Meng Qi had brought the small jade joss to Holy Mountain, that he had the chance to obtain the lamp with the Rebirth Mantra and the horizontal board of the Big Leiyin Temple.
Without any hesitation Meng Qi said, “All of the exchanged Karma points from this Death Task will be equally divided among us except for the Buddha’s Lamp, because it had a striking successor.
Without companions, I would have been killed during the Death Task. It would have been impossible for me to get the horizontal board of the Big Leiyin Temple. Without it, how could I enter the Holy Mountain and pure land? So, how could I occupy the Luohan’s Sarira alone? That violates my principles.
If I turn it into a Buddha treasure as our teams’ trump card, I won’t have so many Karma points. However, if I use it as it is now, I won’t have the supreme art of Buddhism to activate it–Up until now, the use of the Ananda Oath-breaking Bladesmanship has already been against the Gist of Trueness of Buddhism. If I activate it with Buddha’s relics, the result will definitely turn out to be just the opposite of my wishes. Besides, since my Golden Bell Shield has just reached the consummate of the sixth pass, it is impossible for me to activate it to the Half-step Exterior Scenery.
Seeing that Jiang Zhiwei was about to say something, Meng Qi preemptively said, “We are teammates who braved death with each other in the Death Task, so each harvest comes from everyone’s efforts. I won’t ruin our friendship. What’s more, the stronger you are, the safer I am. And I will be more confident. Actually, I want to turn to you for help with another task.”
He took this opportunity to elicit the Mystery of the deceased Great Emperor Zhen Wu.
“What task?” Jiang Zhiwei was slightly astonished and wondered, “When did this little monk get another one?”
Even though Qi Zhengyan and Ruan Yushu showed less emotion, their faces had changed noticably.
Meng Qi briefly told them the stories of the Black Fur and the Deceased Great Emperor Zhen Wu. Upon first hearing his words, Jiang Zhiwei was shocked, and then she chuckled, “You do have a number of adventures. Is this one due to the small jade joss? Hehe, but now you do not have it, you are the same as us.”
She also experienced two or three adventures in the World of Samsara, but compared to Meng Qi, her adventures were not worth mentioning. That is why she made the joke.
Qi Zhengyan soon came to his senses. He seemed to be used to Meng Qi’s adventures.
“That was an adventure, but itwas also an implication as well as dangerous.” Yan Yushu said calmly. In her eyes, Meng Qi had no control over himself or the adventure. All of them seemed to have been arranged by others, which might not really be a blessing, just like his Ananda.
Hearing what Ruan Yushu said, Meng Qi sighed with emotion, “That’s why I’d like to ask you to explore Zhen Wu’s Decoy Grave with me and share my worries.”
Qi Zhengyan raised an issue, “With the Black Fur and the Samsara talisman, you can go to the field of Zhen Wu’s Decoy Grave, but we can only go to the field of Samsara where we once went.”
This was what Meng Qi was worried about too, so he hurried to the room to find the Black Fur and put it in the light pillar to ask the Dominator of Samsara in the Six Realms.
“This interlinked task will be shared, at most, by five people.” The Dominator of Samsara in the Six Realms answered indifferently.
“Phew…” Meng Qi uttered a long sigh of relief. He immediately shared the task of exploring “Zhen Wu’s Decoy Grave” with Qi Zhengyan, Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu.
“Then when are we going?” Jiang Zhiwei asked.
Meng Qi had already planned it well. He said, “Since we have just experienced the Death Task, everyone is worn out. We need some time to have a good rest. Therefore, we’d better digest our harvest first. Let’s make it in three months’ time, gathering at this square and clanging the Samsara talismans as a sign.”
“Good idea.” Jiang Zhiwei agreed without any hesitation. After the Death Task, she had become more active.
Ruan Yushu twisted her mouth saying nothing to resist Meng Qi. It was the same with Qi Zhengyan.
They quickly fixed a specific time and appointed to start exploring “Zhen Wu’s Decoy Grave” together.
During this episode, Jiang Zhiwei and the other two did not object to exchanging the Luohan Sarira for Karma points.
There was a flash of light, and Meng Qi seemed to hear the sound of countless coins falling into a bag. They obtained 75,000 Karma points, the largest amount of Karma points they had ever harvested.
Afterwards, Ruan Yushu put the other items into the Central Light Pillar.
“The large hammers of the Black Wolf Demon, a Refined Weapon of the highest order, is worth 550 Karma points…”
“The iron stick of the Tawny Lion Spirit, made of special materials, is a perfect Refined Weapon that can be exchanged for 800 Karma points…”
“The Monster-breaking Core of the Tawny Lion Spirit deserves 320 Karma points…”
“Three Wrought Copper Sticks of the Yellow Bull Spirit made from Red Copper, are worth 500 points each as ordinary Refined Weapons, for a total of 1,500 Karma points.”
“The Calculus Bovis of the 300-year-old Yellow Bull Spirit, in perfect condition, can uproot hundreds of poisons and collect people’s thoughts. It deserves 800 Karma points. It can be turned into the relative elixirs or weapons…”
“The Calculus Bovis of the Yellow Bull Spirit, damaged,… can be exchanged for 350 Karma points. There are two pieces of them here…”
“The bull horn of the Yellow Bull Spirit, a single horn, … is worth 200 Karma points…”
“The Long Spear of the Red Bird, broken, …deserves 350 Karma points…”
“Murky’s steel fork, which can nearly be regarded as a Precious Weapon, can go for 800 Karma points…”
“The Karma points for Murky’s Golden Chain Mail Shirt, fake, a Phoenix-feathered Cap, fake, lotus-fibered Cloud-walking boots , fake, and the other small items amount to 1,000.”
“Murky’s scales and fishskin can be exchanged for 800 Karma points. They can be made into tight-fitting soft armor…”
These large sums of Karma points astounded Meng Qi. It really deserved the title of the Death Task! However, if their team stayed intact, the Karma points to be divided among them would not be as plentiful.
Thinking about the deaths of Zhang Yuanshan and the others, his heart suddenly sank. Trying to keep in high spirits, he then said, “Shall we have the scales and fishskin to make soft armor, and a piece of broken Calculus Bovis to make some Uprooting-poison elixirs?”
“With these items, we would not be afraid of fierce battles, nor ever in rags…” Meng Qi thought initially.
“No problem,” said Jiang Zhiwei.
Qi Zhengyan said as calmly as usual, “We are supposed to do as you suggest.”
Ruan Yushu just chewed her dried dragon fish and said nothing.
Therefore, Meng Qi left the scales, fishskin and the piece of the broken Calculus Bovis behind and exchanged all the other items for Karma points. In all, they received 14,700, including the 7,500 from the Luohan Sarira, making him feel that he made a great fortune overnight.
Later, he spent 200 Karma points on making the scales and fishskin into four sets of soft dark armor, which were as thin as cicada wings and light as a feather. Although very soft, they could resist blades and spears. Then he spent 200 Karma points to buy the extra materials, and another 200 Karma points to turn the Calculus Bovis into four elixirs.
“Concentration and Anti-poison Pill, Elixirs, Aprooting Hundreds Poison Medicine, Astonishment Relieving Pills, Lost Soul Healing Medicine…”
Putting away the Concentration and Anti-poison Pills, Meng Qi divided the remaining Karma points among them. Each of them received 3,380 plus their rewarding karma points. In the end, they each obtained 4,380 karma points, which was more than they had earned before. Maybe the harvest of the following tasks would be as much as this one.
Jiang Zhiwei spoke first, “Little monk, what are you going to exchange for?”
Meng Qi did not answer but instead asked, “What about you, Zhiwei?”
“With more than 4,000 Karma points, I’d like to exchange for the Twenty-three Swords Skill and upgrade the Sword of the Sun-Penetrating Rainbow to a Precious Weapon. I may not be able to afford them at the same time, so I’ll have to think twice.” Due to this task, Jiang Zhiwei realized that without a Precious Weapon she would be helpless when she met with flying enemies. That was why she wanted to upgrade the Sword of the Sun-Penetrating Rainbow.
But she had been dying to possess the Twenty-three Swords Skill for a long time. It was a kind of tyrannical sword art.
Meng Qi laughed, “Why not wait for the remainder of our Karma points, which perhaps could make up the amount you require.”
Before Jiang Zhiwei answered him, he proactively said, “I have a lot of items to exchange: First, my ‘Whisper Sword’ is broken, so I need another Long Knife. If I were to choose a good Refined Weapon, I might as well exchange a slightly inferior Precious Weapon, which has a more freeing Knife Qi.”
This time around, he had to return the Purple Decease Sword to the Ye family.
“Next, I have to exchange the Left-right Support in Fight. After I am proficient in it, I would consider the unique skill of the combination of the blade and sword… my Eight-Nine Mysteries has also just reached the Ear Apertures level, which needs to be improved. So, I have to exchange the seventh pass of the Golden Bell Shield to cultivate the Eight and Nine Apertures…”
“In addition, I want a skill of the Exterior with its heart sutras, and a kind of Kung Fu to temper my spirit. When it comes to these, I am still a bit hesitant. With ample Karma points, perhaps I will exchange them at the same time. If not, I am still bound to choose one of them.”
The Transformation Strategy was to stimulate the Primal Aperture at Mid-brows and had little effect on cultivating the Vital Spirit; the ability of the Immortal Pressing Art attached more importance to the body and hand pressing arts, which was used to communicate on the inside and outside. It could not lead the spirit cultivation. Going through a few instances of the spirit drying up, he naturally thought of Kung Fu to temper his spirit, which would contribute to his breakthrough of the Half-step Exterior Scenery.
“The Left-right Support in Fight costs 500 Karma points, and the seventh pass of the Golden Bell Shield takes 600 Karma points. If you want to exchange a blade of the Precious Weapons, a sword move of the Exterior and an arcane skill to cultivate your spirit, I’m afraid that you’ll need to look for them to the tune of about 1,000 karma points,” Jiang Zhiwei said thoughtfully.
Qi Zhengyan expressionlessly said, “According to our cultivation, whether it’s a fine Precious Weapon or an inferior one does not make a difference.”
“It makes sense.” Meng Qi was looking for the Precious Weapons at a price just above 1,000 karma points.
To be honest, for the Exterior sword to move with the heart sutras and Kung Fu to temper the spirit, he had an idea in mind, but he was not sure whether he could afford them with his karma points. The most important thing he needed was a Precious Weapon.
“Heavenly Fairy”, which was a unique skill belonging to the Baiyun Castellan, Ye Gucheng, was just at the edge of the Exterior, costing 1,000 karma points.
“Supernatural Power of Shaking Heaven and Hitting Earth”, a supreme art belonging to the Huang Sect’s secret Buddhism Kung Fu, was a magic one aimed at cultivating the spirit. Its price was 1,000 Karma points!