496: Chapter 496 The end-of-month assessment begins!!

Then, Qin Yan began his training for the Nirvana Spear Intent!

But immediately afterward, he frowned slightly.

Because after a full day, the progress of Nirvana Spear Intent had only increased by 3%!

At this rate, it would take more than thirty days—a full month—to reach 100%!

"Third-Grade Spear Intent is indeed different from fourth-grade; it's much more time-consuming."

Qin Yan lamented.

With the boost from his 0.17% Spear Dao Profundity, his fourth-grade Spear Intent could increase by 5 percentage points a day.

But with Third-Grade Spear Intent, it only increased by three percentage points a day.

This was the gap.

The higher the grade, the greater the difficulty of cultivation.

Of course, it wasn't that he had no way to speed up the progress.

That would be entering a room within Spear Mountain to train in an environment filled with Nirvana Spear Intent.

With the guidance of external Spear Intent and the support of a rich environment, his training efficiency would be much higher.

Increasing by four or five percentage points, or even five or six, wouldn't be a problem.

However, it was just too expensive.

It cost 5 taixuan points a day. He only had 30 points left; even if he used them all for cultivation, he could only train for six days.

After six days, he could at most push Nirvana Spear Intent to around 40%, which was still far from 100%.

For him, the gains did not outweigh the losses.

After all, increasing the progress wouldn't provide an immediate boost to his combat power.

He wasn't in a hurry to achieve a Breakthrough in Spear Intent; what he truly needed now was to raise his cultivation level, increase his blood qi, and enhance his overall strength.

What he needed was resources!

He lacked the resources to Breakthrough to Fifth Grade Peak, as well as resources for Body Refining, not to mention that "burden" of Mental Energy.

Cultivating Mental Energy required even more specialized resources.

"Sigh, I'm still poor."

Qin Yan couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Early the next morning, he went to spirit Mountain and exhausted all of his remaining thirty taixuan points.

Sitting cross-legged on the Golden Lotus Platform, he operated the Five Elements Primordial Scripture at full power, frantically absorbing the majestic Spiritual Qi.

Thirty taixuan points converted to forty-five minutes of cultivation time.

During those forty-five minutes, he barely paused, refining the Spiritual Qi pouring into his body without a moment's rest.

The True Qi surged through his Meridians and circulated around the five elements branches, causing the five branches to grow a bit more, with more luxuriant leaves and thicker stems.

The forty-five minutes passed quickly, but he still hadn't achieved a Breakthrough.

There was still some distance to go before reaching Fifth Grade Peak.

Qin Yan had expected this.

Let alone thirty points, even adding the welfare resources from next month might not be enough to achieve a Breakthrough!

The resources required for a Fifth Grade Peak Breakthrough were simply too many.

His Five Elements Primordial Scripture already required several times more resources than ordinary Cultivation Techniques; going from the Late Stage to the Peak was even more massive.

"It seems I'll have to go back to my old trade."

Qin Yan muttered to himself.

He was only at the fifth rank; after the fifth rank was the sixth, and after the sixth rank were Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, Venerable...

The path of martial arts was long and endless, and the resources required were also infinite.

He didn't have a massive background that would allow him to live a wealthy life where everything was handed to him.

Those prodigies from the Great Worlds had been piled with countless resources since childhood and never had to worry about them.

But for him, all resources had to be fought for with his own two hands!

If he relied solely on the welfare of his Disciple status, he would sooner or later be left ten thousand miles behind by those prodigies!

Fifty taixuan points and a few bottles of Medicinal Pills a month sounded like a lot, but when it came to actual use, it wasn't nearly enough.

A casual trip to Spear Mountain cost five points a day;

A casual cultivation session at spirit Mountain cost five points for every seven and a half minutes.

This bit of welfare was only enough to maintain basic cultivation; making rapid progress was simply impossible.

"But I should first Cultivate the Five Elements Primordial Scripture to the Fusion of three attributes, Breakthrough to a Sixth-Rank Martial Artist, and then put some points into Alchemy."

Qin Yan quickly cleared his thoughts.

Once he broke through to the sixth rank, the gap between him and those prodigies wouldn't be too large.

The sixth rank was the final Realm of a Middle-grade martial artist; upon reaching it, many prodigies would pause their advancement to focus on refining their Martial Arts Skills.

Furthermore, if he cultivated to the sixth rank, the Skill Points provided by his daily training would increase.

Right now, he could gain 80 points in four hours; at the sixth rank, it might even double.

That way, when he assigned points, his Alchemy would progress much faster as well.

It wouldn't take long before he could become a Sixth-Rank Alchemist.

Once he became a Sixth-Rank Alchemist, given the quality of a Sixth-Rank Alchemist on the panel, refining Sixth-rank pills would be well within his reach.

Then, he could eat Medicinal Pills like jellybeans every day!

He would never have to worry about cultivation resources again.

However, right now, he had no other choice.

The sixth rank was still far off, and so was Alchemy; what he needed to do now was keep his feet on the ground.

"Sigh, back to training. I need to prepare for the upcoming Monthly Assessment."

At this thought, Qin Yan picked up his long spear and resumed training.

With the Ink Abyss Spear in hand, he practiced the Ice Flame Spear Technique over and over again.

As the long spear swung, ice and fire intertwined, and cold and heat coexisted.

The Ice Flame Spear Technique became increasingly proficient in his hands, more and more effortless.

He had a premonition that in just a few more days, the Ice Flame Spear Technique would reach the Minor Achievement stage. At that time, his combat power would surely soar again.

Time passed slowly like this.

The days were simple yet fulfilling.

Soon, the date reached October 31st.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

Early in the morning, a series of sonorous bell tolls rang out.

The bell tolls were distant and long, echoing throughout the entire Taixuan Holy Land East Courtyard and reverberating among the mountains.

Every toll seemed to strike the heart, making one's spirit involuntarily lift.

All the new Disciples of the Taixuan Holy Land sprang into action, emerging one after another from their courtyards.

Some looked nervous, some were eager to try, some were calm, and some had their brows furrowed.

Everyone knew what day it was—the day of the Monthly Assessment.

Everyone headed toward the Square.

Qin Yan tidied himself up and walked out of his courtyard.

On the Second Peak of the Heaven District, figures emerged from various courtyards and headed down the mountain.

These were all Special Grade Disciples or First Grade Disciples; every one of them was a favored child of heaven, radiating a powerful aura.

By the time Qin Yan arrived at the Square, it was already filled with many prodigies.

It was densely packed, a sea of moving heads.

Of the thirty thousand new Disciples, more than half had already arrived.

The Square was a dark mass of people, with various auras intertwining to form a massive sense of pressure.

Qin Yan found a spot to stand and waited quietly.

"Qin Yan."

Just then, a cold voice drifted from the crowd.

Qin Yan turned his head and saw a light blue figure walking toward him.

It was a woman dressed in a light blue gown, the hem fluttering gently with her steps like a flowing spring.

She had long, light blue hair that draped smoothly over her shoulders, shimmering with a soft luster in the morning light.

Her eyes were also light blue, clear and deep, as if containing endless tranquility and gentleness.

Her features were delicate and soft, her skin as white as snow, and her entire being exuded an air of quiet, indifference, and detachment from the world.

She approached quietly, as if the surrounding noise had nothing to do with her.

The newcomer was none other than Lin Qingyue.

Qin Yan greeted her with a smile.

Then his gaze fell upon her, and sensing the powerful aura she emitted, he sighed inwardly.

fifth rank late stage.

Clearly, before coming to the Taixuan Holy Land, his Realm had been higher than hers.

At that time, he was at the Fifth-Rank Mid-stage, and she was at the Fifth-Rank Early-stage.

But now, both sides had leveled out.

Seeing this, Qin Yan couldn't help but recall the images of Lin Zhantian giving Lin Qingyue resources one by one.

Those Medicinal Pills, those spiritual materials, those treasures—stuffed into Lin Qingyue's Storage Ring one after another.

Even now, thinking of that scene made him feel envious.