Chapter 60: Various Inside Stories, Greatly Benefited

“All the essence of the Qingcheng Sect lies within the Ancestral Hall!”

Dongliu Cangshui lowered his voice and spoke with a hint of mystery.

“If you receive any sect rewards in the future, you must choose the option to enter the Ancestral Hall for training.”

Ye Rong was not hearing about the Ancestral Hall for the first time. If he wanted to upgrade his incomplete version of the Lesser Yang Divine Thunder to the complete version, he needed to enter the Ancestral Hall. However, judging by Dongliu Cangshui’s tone now, it seemed the Ancestral Hall’s function did not stop there; there were more inside stories.

“Please, Brother Dongliu, do share the details.”

“Our Qingcheng heritage is definitely not inferior to Emei. Apart from Kunlun, no other sect can surpass us. But in reality, whether in advanced mental cultivation methods, flying swords, or magic treasures, both Qingcheng and Kunlun lag far behind Emei. During the Closed Beta, countless players speculated and deduced, and finally reached a conclusion: other sects also have hidden methods, but the Closed Beta period was too short to fully develop them all.”

“If Emei were overwhelmingly dominant, it wouldn’t align with the game company’s philosophy. The hidden method for Qingcheng to catch up is the Ancestral Hall, while for Kunlun it is the Thirty-three Heavens Ancient Path! Whether it’s Divine Thunder spells, various Forbidden Spells, or even increasing the level cap of the Qingcheng Qi Refining Method, all can be achieved in the Ancestral Hall. During the Closed Beta, I only entered twice: once to learn the Lesser Yang Divine Thunder, and another time to raise the Qingcheng Qi Refining Method’s cap to twenty-five layers!”

Ye Rong’s heart shook violently. He had only thought the Ancestral Hall allowed one to learn the Lesser Yang Divine Thunder. Who knew it held so many secrets? Even if Dongliu Cangshui hadn’t told him, he would have found out eventually, but it would have taken many detours. This time, he truly owed him a huge favor.

Forget other things for now; just the ability to increase the Qingcheng Qi Refining Method’s level cap alone was enough to make all Qingcheng Players go crazy with desire.

This single aspect could change the Qingcheng Qi Refining Method’s weakness and shortcomings compared to Emei’s Purple Mansion Elixir Book, unleashing even greater power.

“So, how does one qualify to enter the Ancestral Hall?”

“First, you need to become an Inner Hall Disciple. Then, you use a massive amount of Sect Contribution to exchange for the qualification to enter the Ancestral Hall once.”

“Inner Hall Disciple?”

Ye Rong showed a strange expression. Was there a rank above Formal Disciple called Inner Hall Disciple?

“Correct, the Inner Hall Disciple.” Dongliu Cangshui said seriously. “I suppose you know that there will be minor competition assessments every month from now on. The winners qualify to enter the inner hall. The prerequisite for learning all high-level spells in Qingcheng is to become an Inner Hall Disciple. And the grand sect competition will only take place among Inner Hall Disciples; ordinary Players simply don’t have the qualification to participate.”

Ye Rong nodded silently, carefully memorizing every sentence and every piece of information Dongliu Cangshui said.

Although his current status in the sect was higher than Dongliu Cangshui’s, his game experience was far inferior to this Closed Beta expert. There were many areas where he could learn and seek advice.

“So, the minor competition assessment that Senior Brother Chen Taizhen mentioned is for selecting Inner Hall Disciples. This status also comes with so many benefits. It seems I must secure it and not let anyone else take it!”

Ye Rong secretly made up his mind, already regarding the position of Inner Hall Disciple as his own exclusive property.

“Brother Dongliu, could you tell me what derived spells the Qingcheng Qi Refining Method has later on? They won’t still be auxiliary spells, will they?”

Ye Rong voiced the question that made him most uneasy. Although he knew the importance of his sect’s mental cultivation method, if the Qingcheng Qi Refining Method remained so weak, it would diminish his motivation to cultivate it. Moreover, it wasn’t like he didn’t have other options; the Chongxu True Scripture was still there, waiting for him to practice.

“Don’t worry, the later spells definitely won’t be as useless as the Fluorescence Microscopy Technique; they will certainly be practical spells.”

Through their questions and answers, Ye Rong gained an understanding of many hidden pieces of information about Qingcheng, and he felt more confident about his future development path.

I’ve revealed so much information to Yijian Kurong. Even if he doesn’t join my side in the future, at least he probably won’t oppose me.

Dongliu Cangshui thought to himself. He was willing to tell so much because he saw potential in Ye Rong’s future development.

But he was open-minded and generous. If it were someone like Houdao Xiaosheng, he would outright try to recruit you. If you refused, he would use various means to suppress you, even gathering his subordinates to kill you repeatedly, forcing you to quit.

It was precisely because of this character that Dongliu Cangshui, though not the strongest in strength or the most skilled in methods, had the best reputation among the Seven Great Disciples of Qingcheng.

“Boss Dongliu, we found the Iron-Armed Battle Ape!”

“Good, let’s go kill the BOSS first. We can find time to talk more later!”

“Okay.”

The player responsible for scouting and tracking was Dongliu Cangshui’s right-hand man. He had several pieces of equipment that increased speed, especially a banner-type Magic Treasure. According to Bapi Choujin, it could add several hundred to flight speed. Earlier, when they were using Sword Flight, this person was also flying at the very front, no slower than Manzhu Lver.

Dongliu Cangshui didn’t have many subordinates, so he had to carefully utilize every bit of Strength, not wasting any resources.

With thunderous force, they quickly eliminated the few wandering Spiritual Monkeys nearby, then led the team charge onto the mound where the Iron-Armed Battle Ape was located.

“Bapi, your team deals with the Four-armed Silverback Apes. Fengxing, your squad takes care of the Gangbei Horned Oxen! Yijian, the few of us will handle the Iron-Armed Battle Ape!”

Ye Rong immediately received the “Player Dongliu Cangshui invites you to join the team” System Notification and clicked confirm.

The Iron-Armed Battle Ape wouldn’t summon underlings, but there were still eight Four-armed Silverback Apes and four Gangbei Horned Oxen on this mound. Even if they killed them all, they would quickly respawn, which could have a significant negative impact on a high-intensity BOSS battle.

It was better to simply split into two teams to focus on eliminating these monsters, creating the best conditions for the main fighters to kill the BOSS.

The Gangbei Horned Ox looked similar to a normal water buffalo, except it had a single, large plate-like piece of armor covering its back from head to tail. When it stomped its hooves, several sharp stone pillars would shoot out from the ground directly in front, turning unlucky Players into skewered meatballs.

The two teams of Players each shot out their Flying Swords. Under their leaders’ commands, they targeted one monster at a time. Amid the chaotic Sword Light, they were almost instantly killed.

Only the Gangbei Horned Ox with its hard shell could withstand a few more hits, but it still didn’t fare well and soon let out a mournful cry, falling into a pool of blood.

“What a majestic monkey!”

Ye Rong praised. The Iron-Armed Battle Ape was nearly ten meters tall, clad in a set of gold-studded steel armor. In its hand was a Prajna Madness Staff, painted with numerous eerie and terrifying ghosts and monsters, which looked vivid and frightening.

Its large mouth opened, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. Droplets of saliva dripped down, making it look extremely fierce.