Flames entwined as Dongbo Xueying flew swiftly toward the north, simultaneously overlooking the scenery below.
The further north he flew, the colder it became, and the cities and villages on the ground became increasingly sparse.
"Whoosh~~~"
A vast expanse of white.
The expansive northern snowfield came into view. The five northern provinces all bordered the snowfield, which was extremely vast, stretching for tens of thousands of miles. This place was rarely visited by humans, but it was home to some unique snowfield creatures.
"Rumble~~~" A group of massive creatures, resembling small mountains, were running.
"Snowfield White-Haired Elephants?" Dongbo Xueying flew high in the sky, looking down. The group of massive creatures were over ten meters tall, with extremely thick and long fur. Even if Silver Moon Knights attacked with all their might, it would be difficult to pierce through the thick fur, let alone the thick layer of fat beneath it. Silver Moon Knights would almost never be able to kill a Snowfield White-Haired Elephant.
And they liked to live in groups! When a large group of Snowfield White-Haired Elephants ran, even titled knights dared not face them head-on. Human armies would be crushed no matter how many came.
"These Snowfield White-Haired Elephants are quite gentle," Dongbo Xueying smiled, as they were quite gentle and easy to tame.
The more ferocious creatures on the snowfield had long been exterminated by humans.
...
As he flew further north, the cold wind became more biting, like knives.
After flying for twelve thousand miles, he finally reached his destination.
The vast snowfield also had a range of high mountains, and on a mountain range stretching for thousands of miles, there was a Daoist temple.
"Whoosh." Dongbo Xueying transformed into a streak of light, diving from the sky and landing at the entrance of the temple.
"Dongbo Protector." A deep voice sounded.
Dongbo was somewhat surprised.
The temple was entirely made of dark gray metal, with winding carvings on its walls. On the left side was a strange bird pattern, and on the right side was a dragon pattern. The voice came from the dragon pattern, whose mouth was moving.
"Uh..." Dongbo Xueying was also taken aback; this was clearly not an alchemical creature, just a pattern.
"Ha ha, Dongbo Protector." A streak of light flew out from inside the temple and appeared at the entrance, a handsome and carefree man with a divine sword on his back. "Our entire Water Source Daoist Temple is a composite semi-artifact! And Senior Dragon and Senior Sparrow are both artifact spirits, existing since the temple was founded."
According to what he knew, normally only artifacts had artifact spirits! Semi-artifacts almost never had them.
And artifacts were of great importance to the entire Xia race, more so than the birth of a deity! Because the newly ascended gods did not know how to forge artifacts, every artifact the Xia race now possessed had been passed down from the divine realm or the Dark Abyss.
"Boy, practice well. I bet with Old Dragon that you will reach the Saint level within fifty years," Senior Sparrow said.
"Don't put pressure on the young man. If he can break through within a hundred years, that would be quite remarkable," Senior Dragon also said.
"Seniors, I need to guide Dongbo Protector, so I won't disturb you." The handsome man said, then led Dongbo Xueying into the temple.
The temple was quite peaceful, with winding mountain paths and snow on the ground. Occasionally, small courtyards could be seen on both sides, and titled knights and mages would bow respectfully when they saw Dongbo Xueying.
"My name is Gongliang Yuan, and I have just crossed into the Saint level," the handsome man smiled. "The temple is a place for quiet cultivation. Here, the highest level is the titled mortals. Normally, there are hundreds of titled mortals cultivating here, and they only return home when they feel they can no longer make progress."
"Extraordinary beings, generally at the Saint level or half-god, stay in the temple for deep cultivation."
"As for the flying level, there are very few in the temple. They are either in the Flame World or in the mortal world. Before the age of five hundred, most extraordinaries are quite attached to the mortal world, but as time goes on, they spend less and less time there."
Gongliang Yuan explained.
"Since this is your first time at the temple, the most important thing for you is to choose a qi technique and secret arts! As well as extraordinary weapons and source stones."
...
Walking through the quiet temple, Dongbo Xueying, led by Gongliang Yuan, first went to collect six hundred pounds of source stones! Then he went to select a qi technique.
"Dongbo, for ordinary extraordinaries, whether it's source stones, techniques, secret arts, or weapons... they all have to be exchanged for extraordinary contribution points!" Gongliang Yuan exclaimed. "Thinking back, we used to take on extraordinary tasks with all our might, sometimes even risking our lives, to earn extraordinary contribution points. Then we had to carefully calculate to exchange for techniques and secret arts. Compared to many extraordinaries, you, Dongbo, indeed have a lot of resources."
"I feel ashamed," Dongbo Xueying said.
"There's no need to feel ashamed. These resources are actually obtained by Saint-level experts and even half-gods through great effort. It's impossible for every ordinary extraordinary to get a pile of resources. If you want to get them, you have to earn them through your own contributions! Only a few exceptional geniuses like you can directly receive resources for cultivation." Gongliang Yuan explained.
Dongbo Xueying was very clear about this.
Source stones must be obtained in the extraordinary world! And to survive in the extraordinary world, one must at least have Saint-level strength. Saint-level experts risk their lives to obtain a large amount of source stones.
...
Qi Technique Pavilion.
A very ordinary three-story wooden pavilion, Dongbo Xueying entered and flipped through to find a suitable qi technique.
Qi techniques are very important, as they allow for more efficient cultivation and the advancement of qi to the divine level.
But they are not that important... every extraordinary would choose the best qi technique. If there were few extraordinary contribution points, they would rather exchange step by step. First, they would exchange for the flying level part of the technique. Once they reached the Saint level, they would exchange for the Saint level part.
"There are only two divine-level fire qi techniques, 'Starfire Qi Technique' and 'Fire Dragon Qi Technique'," Dongbo Xueying flipped through and pondered.
He could ignore the exchange price and choose any qi technique.
"Which one should I choose?"
"The 'Fire Dragon Qi Technique' is more fierce, while the 'Starfire Qi Technique' is more balanced in all aspects." After a moment's thought, Dongbo Xueying made his decision. "I'll choose the 'Starfire Qi Technique'."
Choosing a qi technique was relatively simple.
After all, the technique is for cultivation.
As for combat? It relies on skills, experience, realm, weapons, and secret arts.
Skills, experience, and realm are internal and need to be accumulated gradually.
Weapons and secret arts, however, can be chosen.
Why do the Earth Temple and Bloodblade Tavern have so many rules and restrictions, yet still have many extraordinaries join? Because they are the only ones with divine-level secret arts!
"Dongbo, choosing weapons and secret arts requires careful thought," Gongliang Yuan said. "You can only choose one secret art, and in the future, other secret arts will have to be exchanged for extraordinary contribution points! So you must think carefully, or you'll regret it."
"I understand," Dongbo Xueying was also very cautious.
"Should we choose the weapon or the secret art first?" Gongliang Yuan asked.
"Let's choose the weapon first. It's simpler to choose a weapon, and we can choose the secret art last! After all, secret arts are numerous and most important." Dongbo Xueying said. In terms of external conditions, secret arts have the greatest impact on strength, even more so than weapons! A divine-level secret art and a common secret art can make two extraordinaries with similar other aspects differ in strength by several times or even ten times!
One could be killed in one move!
This shows the preciousness of secret arts. If Dongbo Xueying cannot obtain a divine-level secret art, he will choose one as close as possible to minimize the gap with the Earth Temple, Bloodblade Tavern, and Demon God Society in terms of secret arts.
Of course, secret arts also require study. If one only reaches the beginner level with a divine-level secret art, while another has already mastered a weaker secret art to an incredible level, the latter can completely overwhelm the former.
But for the same person, naturally, the stronger the secret art, the better.
**
Back in the countryside, the update was a bit late.