"I've been looking for you for a long time." Mo Wuji had just left the Sutra Pavilion when someone called out to him.

Cen Shuyin, he didn't even need to see her face; just hearing that voice, Mo Wuji knew who it was.

Mo Wuji turned around and, as expected, saw Cen Shuyin walking towards him. Even though Mo Wuji had nothing to trade with Cen Shuyin, he still couldn't deny that seeing this woman, with her pure and natural beauty, was a pleasure in itself.

"Senior Sister Cen, I really have no way to exchange that lightning-attributed body tempering technique with you." Mo Wuji said helplessly. He knew Cen Shuyin was very eager for his non-existent lightning-attributed body tempering technique.

Cen Shuyin said calmly, "I really need your lightning-attributed body tempering technique. I can trade with you. Were you stopped from reading in the Sutra Pavilion just now? If you're willing, I can exchange Sect contribution points with you."

If he could, Mo Wuji would have exchanged with Cen Shuyin without hesitation. He really didn't want to do any damned missions; he wanted to seize every opportunity to cultivate and then advance. But he really didn't have a lightning-attributed body tempering technique.

Seeing that Mo Wuji didn't speak, Cen Shuyin continued, "I searched from the Immortal炼塔(Xian Lian Ta/Immortal Refining Pagoda) to the Outer Sect Peak, then to the Teaching Hall, and now to the Sutra Pavilion…"

As she said this, Cen Shuyin bit her lip. Perhaps this wasn't intentional, but this action only made her beauty even more vividly revealed.

"Because this lightning-attribute tempering is really important to me…" Cen Shuyin took a breath; she had never spoken so much at once. Especially to a male cultivator she barely knew.

Mo Wuji was very helpless. He hesitated for a while and then suddenly said, "Since you know I went to listen to the lecture, then I'll ask you a question based on what I heard today. If you can answer it correctly, I'll give you the lightning-attributed body tempering technique."

"Okay, ask away!" Hearing Mo Wuji's words, Cen Shuyin's face showed extreme joy. Her expression made Mo Wuji seem to see a little girl cheering for candy.

At that moment, he actually thought of Xia Ruoyin. When Xia Ruoyin was young, she wasn't as cold and reticent as she was later. In fact, Xia Ruoyin was very lively when she was very young. Her most common action was cheering happily like Cen Shuyin just now. Sometimes it was for candy, sometimes just to make Mo Wuji happy.

"Junior Brother Mo, ask away." Not waiting for Mo Wuji's question, Cen Shuyin reminded him again.

Slightly distracted, Mo Wuji came back to his senses. Because of the sudden memory of Xia Ruoyin, Cen Shuyin's perfect image seemed to suddenly disappear. The Cen Shuyin in front of him was just a female cultivator asking him for a deal for her own benefit.

"Normally, even the most talented cultivators can only open up ninety-nine spirit channels when opening the spirit in the Meridian Opening Realm. But there are also a very few cultivators who can open up one hundred, or even one hundred and one spirit channels. Now I ask you, if you have already opened up ninety-nine spirit channels, how would you open the hundredth spirit channel?"

Mo Wuji tried his best to put his emotions aside and solemnly asked the question he most urgently needed to know the answer to.

He was sure that Cen Shuyin had no way to answer this question. No matter how powerful Cen Shuyin was, she was only talented in cultivation. She couldn't possibly be more knowledgeable than Dai Zhu, who specialized in researching spirit channels, right?

Cen Shuyin nodded, her expression becoming serious and composed. "In the ancient cultivation world, opening up the hundredth spirit channel wasn't actually a rarity. Not to mention the hundredth, some people even opened up one hundred and one spirit channels. The hundredth and hundred and first spirit channels are both called储元络(Chu Yuan Luo/Essence Storage Channels). There is only one way to open up the hundredth spirit channel, and that is to advance to the tenth level of the Meridian Opening Realm. At the tenth level of the Meridian Opening Realm, use the天络花(Tian Luo Hua/Heavenly Channel Flower) to build the spirit. Because building the spirit with the Heavenly Channel Flower can only be done at the tenth level of the Meridian Opening Realm. At the moment of building the spirit with the Heavenly Channel Flower, you can open up the hundredth spirit channel…"

Mo Wuji was stunned. Originally, he wanted to ask a question to make Cen Shuyin back down. The idea was that he wasn't selling the technique to her, but that she couldn't answer his question.

Before asking the question, Mo Wuji had absolutely not expected that Cen Shuyin could even answer this kind of question. Cen Shuyin's answer was exactly what he was going to the Sutra Pavilion to find! Mo Wuji had even prepared for the possibility that he wouldn't find the answer in the Sutra Pavilion, but he didn't expect to get it so easily now.

The Heavenly Channel Flower can be used to build the spirit at the tenth level of the Meridian Opening Realm, and at the moment of building the spirit at the tenth level of the Meridian Opening Realm, the Heavenly Channel Flower can be used to open up the hundredth spirit channel.

The answer was that simple. Dai Zhu, the master who studied spirit channels, didn't know, but Cen Shuyin happened to know.

Seeing that Mo Wuji didn't speak, Cen Shuyin felt a little anxious. She was worried that Mo Wuji wouldn't keep his word, so she added, "I also know that there is only one place in the entire Lost Continent where the Heavenly Channel Flower grows, and that is the 失落天墟(Shi Luo Tian Xu/Lost Sky Ruins)."

"Lost Sky Ruins? Where is that?" Mo Wuji asked subconsciously.

Cen Shuyin said, "Yes, Lost Sky Ruins. In fact, there is a basis for why our five great empires are called the Lost Continent by people from other regions. That basis is the Lost Sky Ruins. Legend has it that the Lost Sky Ruins are the battlefield of the ancient gods. This place has many treasures. Because of this, the Lost Sky Ruins are included in the mission trials of every sect. However, even true god experts cannot guarantee a safe return after entering."

Cen Shuyin finished speaking in one breath, her hands clenched into fists. The total number of words she had spoken in a year was perhaps less than what she had spoken to Mo Wuji today for this lightning-attributed body tempering technique.

Seeing that Mo Wuji still didn't mention the technique even after she had answered so many of his questions, Cen Shuyin frowned slightly.

"Senior Sister Cen, I have a sword technique inheritance crystal ball. How about I give you this inheritance crystal ball?" Mo Wuji really couldn't come up with a lightning-attributed body tempering technique, so he could only offer his Formless Sword.

He had never opened this sword technique inheritance since he got it.

Cen Shuyin's face darkened, but she didn't say a word. She never made enemies with people, but she didn't want to be teased like this either.

Seeing that Cen Shuyin didn't speak, Mo Wuji knew that he couldn't avoid telling the truth. But it was absolutely impossible for him to reveal the matter of the meridian opening liquid.

After hesitating for a moment, Mo Wuji simply said, "Senior Sister Cen, it's not that I'm unwilling to give you this technique. It's just that this is only a lightning-attributed technique called 天雷七式(Tian Lei Qi Shi/Seven Sky Lightning Strikes)…"

Mo Wuji had no choice but to use the Seven Sky Lightning Strikes as an excuse.

Cen Shuyin said calmly, "Keeping promises is the most basic virtue. Since you promised, even if it's a technique, you have to exchange it with me."

Mo Wuji raised his hand, stopping Cen Shuyin's words. "Senior Sister Cen, there's another reason why I don't want to exchange it with you. That is, these Seven Sky Lightning Strikes are deadly. I almost got burned to death because of cultivating the Seven Sky Lightning Strikes."

Saying this, Mo Wuji simply handed the incomplete first move of the Seven Sky Lightning Strikes to Cen Shuyin. "Here, take this. I cultivated it in an extremely cold place, which is why I avoided death. Otherwise, I would have died long ago."

Mo Wuji said this because he was worried that Cen Shuyin would cultivate it casually and die. Telling Cen Shuyin that she could avoid death in an extremely cold place was also a hope that Cen Shuyin would cultivate it in an extremely cold place.

"Give me your disciple identity plate." Cen Shuyin took the incomplete fragment of the Seven Sky Lightning Strikes from Mo Wuji and glanced at it, not knowing if she believed Mo Wuji's words.

"No need, just take this. I'm not in such a hurry for contribution points now." Mo Wuji knew that Cen Shuyin wanted to give him contribution points to exchange for it. He really didn't want to take advantage of her, as the first move of the Seven Sky Lightning Strikes was truly worthless to him.

Cen Shuyin didn't answer, directly grabbed Mo Wuji's disciple identity plate hanging on his waist, and took out her own identity plate. The two identity plates touched each other and swiped. Then, she turned around and left.

Mo Wuji subconsciously looked at his disciple identity plate and found that it had an additional one thousand contribution points. Mo Wuji shook his head. Since she had given it, he couldn't refuse.

……

With contribution points, Mo Wuji lost interest in the Sutra Pavilion. What he wanted to know most now was the Heavenly Channel Flower. To find out about the Heavenly Channel Flower, he had to go to the Mission Hall.

The first thing Mo Wuji noticed when he entered the Mission Hall was not the various contribution point missions, but a huge ranking board, the 問天階(Wen Tian Jie/Heavenly Stairs) ranking board.

Mo Wuji had climbed the Heavenly Stairs before, reaching the eighth level. The highest on this ranking board was actually the ninety-first level.

The person ranked first was called 勾子翰(Gou Zi Han/Hook Zi Han), which was a somewhat strange name. As Mo Wuji looked down the list, he even found someone he knew, Cen Shuyin, ranked fiftieth, with a level of fifty-four.

Mo Wuji was very puzzled. Although Cen Shuyin's cultivation was much higher than his, he was sure that Cen Shuyin had not entered the Yuan Dan Realm. A cultivator who had not entered the Yuan Dan Realm could obtain the fiftieth rank on the Heavenly Stairs ranking?

Mo Wuji quickly stopped a cultivator next to him and asked, "Excuse me, Senior Brother, does the higher the cultivation on the Heavenly Stairs, the higher one can climb?"

The cultivator sized up Mo Wuji and knew at a glance that Mo Wuji was new. Then, he said in an educational tone, "You're new here, aren't you? The higher the cultivation on the Heavenly Stairs, the harder it is to climb. The older the bone age, the harder it is to climb. The 問天学宫(Wen Tian Xue Gong/Heavenly Learning Palace) has proven over countless years that it is extremely difficult for those over a hundred years old to climb the Heavenly Stairs again."

"Then may I ask Senior Brother, if two people climb the same Heavenly Stair at the same time, how do you distinguish the ranking?" Mo Wuji asked again.

The cultivator said indifferently, "I've already told you that the Heavenly Stairs is also a place to test bone age and potential. For people on the same level, naturally, the younger the age, the higher the ranking. Look at Martial Uncle Gou, who is younger than me and already at the eighth level of the Yuan Dan Realm, and has climbed to the ninety-first level. That is a true prodigy."

After saying that, the cultivator was too lazy to pay attention to Mo Wuji, but there was a look of admiration in his eyes.

(Second update seeking monthly tickets!)