My Cultivation Techniques Upgrade Automatically

Chapter 102: Chapter 101: A Rich Guy’s Special Effects

Refining Valley.

After passing through the main gate and walking for about a mile, one could see pavilions and houses built along the mountainside. The disciples’ residences covered the entire mountain, closely packed together in a rather spectacular sight.

Wu Chen scanned the valley and saw another mountain in the distance. A massive, pitch-black cave entrance had been dug into its base, leading down to an unknown depth.

A steady stream of what looked like blackish ore was being mined from underground, loaded onto horse-drawn carts, and transported to another area of the Refining Valley.

’It’s probably some kind of iron ore. It can be smelted into refined iron and forged into weapons.’

’This must be the foundation of the Refining Valley’s existence.’

Wu Chen paid this little mind. He dismounted and followed behind the Refining Valley disciple, Zhuang Bo, continuing on foot.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the group arrived at a pavilion built at the foot of a mountain.

Zhuang Bo led the two of them into a side hall. At his command, a disciple quickly brought them tea.

”Stone Ox, Young Master Wu, please wait here for a moment. I’m going to the Rewards and Punishments Hall to tally the number of fiends, and then I’ll take you to the Hundred Weapons Pavilion to redeem your rewards.”

The two had already briefly exchanged names on the way, which was how Zhuang Bo knew Wu Chen’s name.

”Alright.”

Wu Chen nodded. He naturally understood that there was a process for this sort of thing.

Moreover, judging by the reactions of the Refining Valley disciples outside, it wasn’t hard to tell that the number of fiend heads he had brought this time was not small.

Tallying them up and calculating the Contribution Points would likely take some time.

But just as Zhuang Bo was about to leave the side hall with the sack, Wu Chen thought of something and called out to him.

”Wait a moment...”

”Hm?”

Hearing the call, Zhuang Bo quickly halted his large frame and turned back, showing exceptional respect to this distinguished guest who had brought a sack full of heads.

”Is there something else you’re worried about, Young Master Wu? If you’re concerned that the Refining Valley might shortchange your Contribution Points, please don’t be. We would never do something so unscrupulous.”

He thought Wu Chen was afraid that the Refining Valley, like the government officials, would cheat him when it came to awarding Contribution Points for slaying fiends.

But Wu Chen just shook his head and said:

”I was hoping to ask your esteemed valley for a few registries of Blood Evil fiends, with portraits. The more detailed, the better. It would be convenient for identifying these fiends while traveling in the future.”

”Oh, that!”

Zhuang Bo nodded. ”Simple. I’ll have them sent to you shortly, Young Master Wu.”

He walked out of the hall and shouted to two disciples who happened to be passing by in the distance:

”You two, go to the Law Enforcement Hall, get the registries of Blood Evil fiends, and bring them to this side hall!”

When the two disciples who had been called over saw it was a senior brother of the Jade Bone Realm, they wouldn’t have dared to refuse.

They jogged the whole way, not even daring to catch their breath, and retrieved the fiend registries, delivering them to the side hall.

While waiting for Zhuang Bo to calculate the Contribution Points, Stone Ox idly ate some fruit and drank his tea.

Wu Chen, meanwhile, began to leaf through the fiend portraits on his own.

The fiend portraits that were delivered came in three volumes, corresponding to fiends of the Meridian Passage Realm, Jade Bone Realm, and Organ Refining Realm.

The Meridian Passage Realm volume was the thickest at nearly two hundred pages, while the Jade Bone Realm volume was only about a hundred pages long.

The Organ Refining Realm volume was only ten to twenty pages.

The foreword on the first page of the registry exhorted the lower-realm disciples of the sect to study these portraits in addition to practicing their Martial Arts.

If they encountered anyone who resembled a portrait while out and about, they should leave the area as quickly as possible to avoid disaster.

’To go to such lengths... this sect is certainly doing its best.’

Wu Chen nodded. He knew these fiend registries were likely the result of the combined efforts of the four major sects, not the work of just one.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE—

After flipping through a few pages, a look of surprise appeared in Wu Chen’s eyes.

’Whoa, as expected of a major sect’s resources. The artistry! They’re even in color!’

’The portraits in this registry must be about seventy percent similar to the actual people.’

’No wonder He Bai was able to recognize those people from the Blood Slaughter Sect at a glance that day.’

Wu Chen clicked his tongue in amazement.

’Still, there must be more members of the Demon Sect than just these. The portraits collected here are probably only of the more active ones, and the names might not even be correct.’

Wu Chen muttered to himself as he flipped through the thinnest volume, the one for the Organ Refining Realm.

He hadn’t turned many pages when his hands stopped, and his gaze sharpened as he looked closer.

”Is this Xue Hongling’s master? She’s worth quite a lot!”

The woman on this page bore a striking resemblance to the fiend who had taken Xue Hongling away in Black Stone City that day.

Below the portrait, it was labeled: Xue Hanyan, third-rank Organ Refining Realm, a Red-Robed Elder of the Blood Slaughter Sect, worth one hundred and sixty Contribution Points.

There were no other notations.

Wu Chen quickly finished flipping through the dozen or so thin pages. They were all Red-Robed Elders, with Contribution Point values ranging from one hundred and thirty to one hundred and seventy.

He soon finished the Organ Refining Realm volume and started looking at the portraits of fiends from the fourth realm of Martial Arts.

The Contribution Points for the head of a fourth-realm fiend were slightly lower, ranging from about fifty to one hundred and thirty.

As for the third realm, the Meridian Passage Realm, the value was even lower, with Contribution Points only ranging from twenty to thirty.

As he was looking, Zhuang Bo returned from outside, having tallied the Contribution Points.

He handed a valuable-looking, three-inch Jade Pendant to Wu Chen and said:

”This Jade Pendant has the condensed aura of an Organ Refining Realm Elder. In total, you have six hundred and fifty-three Contribution Points!”

”If you need to convert them into silver, that would be six thousand five hundred and thirty silver taels.”

”The exchange rate is one to ten. Converting to silver isn’t a good deal.”

Wu Chen nodded and accepted it. The Contribution Points were more or less what he had calculated from the registries. While exchanging for silver taels was still a loss, it was several times better than the rate offered by the government.

Although he didn’t know what treasures the Hundred Weapons Pavilion held, Wu Chen figured that exchanging for silver taels was definitely the losing option.

”It’s getting late. Would you prefer to have a meal first, Young Master Wu, or shall we go to the Hundred Weapons Pavilion?” Zhuang Bo was very polite, showing no signs of impatience despite bustling about.

”Let’s go to the Hundred Weapons Pavilion.”

Wu Chen put down the fiend portraits. He was now naturally curious about what his six hundred-plus Contribution Points could get him in the Hundred Weapons Pavilion.

”Alright! This way, Young Master Wu!”

Zhuang Bo immediately walked ahead to lead the way for Wu Chen.

The Hundred Weapons Pavilion wasn’t far. After passing a few houses and small buildings, a three-story pavilion with a plaque that read ’Hundred Weapons Pavilion’ appeared before them.

Right next to it was a money exchange, presumably for converting points into silver coins.

”Young Master Wu, the Hundred Weapons Pavilion is just ahead.”

Zhuang Bo led Wu Chen inside, stepping into the first floor of the Hundred Weapons Pavilion.

There were quite a few disciples on the first floor, about seventy or eighty of them.

They were all browsing the shelves, using the meager Contribution Points they had earned from working in the mines to select the most suitable items for themselves.

The items here were all common weapons, with prices ranging from one hundred to eight hundred silver taels, or ten to eighty Contribution Points.

”My Ink Blade is still serving me well. There’s no reason to replace it.”

After a lap around the floor, Wu Chen looked at all the different weapons and shook his head slightly.

Zhuang Bo, who was standing beside him, immediately took the hint. ”Young Master Wu, shall we check out the second floor?”

”Alright.”

The three of them then proceeded to the second floor of the Hundred Weapons Pavilion.

The items on the second floor of the Hundred Weapons Pavilion were much more varied than on the first, no longer limited to just weapons. However, the Contribution Point costs were also much higher, ranging from one hundred to three hundred points.

Because of the higher costs, there were only about ten disciples here, and judging by their attire, they were quite well-off.

Wu Chen wandered around for a bit before stopping at an area filled with iron ores that glowed faintly with various colors.

Not only did these ores emit a colorful luster, but their price was also astonishingly high, costing one hundred and eighty Contribution Points.

”Weapons forged from this Luminous Iron Stone... can they easily slice through armor?” Wu Chen asked Zhuang Bo curiously. Otherwise, why would they cost so many Contribution Points?

”They can’t...”

Wu Chen paused for a moment. ”Then why do they cost so many Contribution Points? Do they have some other magical property?”

”There’s nothing magical about them.”

Zhuang Bo smiled. ”It’s just that when forging weapons and armor, if you add this material, they’ll give off a corresponding glow. It looks quite nice.”

Wu Chen: ”...”

He fell silent. ’So after all this, it’s just for rich guys to add special effects.’

”Let’s go to the third floor.”

Wu Chen waved his hand, not having seen anything he wanted on the second floor.

Besides, based on the six hundred-plus Contribution Points he had and the value of the items on the second floor, he estimated he could probably afford a treasure from the third floor.