Unrestricted Dao Lord

Of course, they couldn’t handle Zhang Su on their own either.

"I am not Jiang Taizhen. I will not make a move."

Dugu Jian said coolly.

In truth, he had many reasons to refuse.

But there was no need to state them.

It was a tacit understanding between him and the Five Elements Sect Elders.

"You..."

Dugu Jian hadn’t even bothered to find an excuse. He had just refused outright, even using Jiang Taizhen as an example.

Jiang Taizhen was dead.

And that was the Elders’ fault.

After all, it was the Elders who had sent Jiang Taizhen to fight in the first place.

As a result, that "Little Celestial Pride" had died at Zhang Su’s hands.

If they failed to secure the Hengshan County iron ore mine this time, these Elders would all face severe punishment upon returning to the Five Elements Sect.

Dugu Jian turned and left.

Leaving behind a group of Elders with grim expressions.

Although they were high and mighty Postnatal Realm Martial Artists with lofty status, there was truly nothing they could do about Dugu Jian.

Because Dugu Jian was not the same as Jiang Taizhen.

No matter how talented Jiang Taizhen was, even considered a Little Celestial Pride of the Five Elements Sect, he had no powerful backer.

So the Postnatal Realm Elders could naturally send Jiang Taizhen to deal with Zhang Su.

But the person behind Dugu Jian was Shi Buyi.

The one and only Celestial Pride of the Five Elements Sect, who had recently defeated the Guiyuan Sect’s Celestial Pride, Yu Hualong. His prestige was at its absolute peak.

Even the Elders had to bow their heads before Shi Buyi.

"Fine! So Dugu Jian won’t make a move. Does that mean we’re helpless? We’ll stick to the old plan: dispatch more Huajin Martial Artists to surround and kill Zhang Su! I refuse to believe he can be stronger than Han Guiyi!"

The other Elders nodded in agreement.

For now, this was the only method they could use.

...

Day by day, time passed.

The comparison to Han Guiyi didn’t affect Zhang Su; he continued to go out and fight every day.

However, ever since he killed Sikong Shuang and He Feng, his reputation had grown significantly.

The Martial Artists from the Five Elements Sect, whether they were at the Inner Force or Huajin level, would flee the moment they saw him.

Not a single one ever dared to face Zhang Su head-on.

However, Zhang Su’s Body Technique was very fast.

Especially since he had trained in many Martial Techniques this time, some of which were Body Techniques.

By using his Body Technique to hunt down those Martial Artists from the Five Elements Sect, Zhang Su’s own skill with it improved by leaps and bounds.

However, Zhang Su did not hunt them down endlessly.

He had no intention of sweeping through the entire Five Elements Sect.

Instead, with the idea of honing his own Martial Techniques, he killed only two Huajin Martial Artists each day.

This was equivalent to gaining two hundred merit points per day, occasionally killing some Inner Force Martial Artists as well.

It was enough.

It seemed he had returned to his old routine of killing one Inner Force Martial Artist per day.

During this period, Zhang Su never ran into Dugu Jian.

A few times, Zhang Su even thought about actively seeking out Dugu Jian.

But it was as if Dugu Jian was deliberately avoiding him. To this day, Zhang Su had not been able to fight him.

Dugu Jian, just like Zhang Su, had a daily routine of killing two or three Martial Artists from the Guiyuan Sect.

Whether they were at the Huajin or Inner Force level, it didn’t matter.

「In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.」

Zhang Su had already killed thirty Huajin Martial Artists and twenty Inner Force Martial Artists, earning three thousand six hundred merit points.

Adding the one thousand three hundred merit points he had before, Zhang Su’s total merit points now reached a staggering four thousand nine hundred.

He was just shy of five thousand.

This was an enormous number.

’No wonder Dugu Jian has been quietly fighting on the battlefield without trying to wipe everyone out... In his eyes, everyone from the Guiyuan Sect is just a source of merit points...’

Zhang Su couldn’t help but sigh. These merit points were indeed easy to earn.

But this was a special situation.

Normally, obtaining merit points was far more difficult.

However, over the past half-month, Zhang Su’s gains were far more than just merit points.

Zhang Su immediately focused his attention and began to check his information panel.

Host: Zhang Su

Cultivation: Inner Force (Early Stage)

Infinite Sword Scripture Extreme Sword Form: Compatibility 0 (Not entry-level)

Taiyin Divine Technique: Compatibility 100% (Minor Achievement)

Profound Yin Divine Technique: Compatibility 15% (Not entry-level)

Absolute Yin Divine Technique: Compatibility 15% (Not entry-level)

Compatibility Value: 10

In the past half-month, the fourteen Martial Techniques and Cultivation Techniques that Zhang Su had redeemed from the Instructor Pavilion had all reached Perfection.

He had found the opportunity for all of them.

The Compatibility of his Taiyin Divine Technique had also risen to 100%, currently at the Minor Achievement stage.

With the Centennial Cold Jade to assist his Cultivation, his progress could be described as advancing a thousand miles in a single day.

He still had ten Compatibility Value points left, and Zhang Su had been pondering how to use them.

If he poured them all into the Profound Yin Divine Technique, he could raise its Compatibility to 100%, but even with a five-in-one combination, he wouldn’t be able to achieve Embracing Pill.

He needed a six-in-one combination to reach Embracing Pill.

The other option was to pour all the Compatibility Value points into the Infinite Sword Scripture. Then, he would be able to master the Extreme Sword Form.

For a Swordsmanship to be named a "Sword Scripture," its power must be absolutely terrifying.

That was why Zhang Su was hesitating now.

Cultivation was indeed important—it was the foundation. Zhang Su was well aware of this.

But under the current circumstances, all signs pointed to Dugu Jian being incredibly strong.

Although Dugu Jian seemed different from Jiang Taizhen.

He hadn’t come looking for him.

He even shared a strange kind of "tacit understanding" with him.

Both of them killed a few Martial Artists every day to earn merit points.

But who knew when that understanding might be broken?

Right now, combat power seemed more important.

Zhang Su wouldn’t pin his hopes on Dugu Jian.

A Martial Artist could only rely on himself!

Besides, only an Innate Powerhouse could truly unleash the might of the Infinite Sword Scripture’s Extreme Sword Form.

Once he mastered it, he would never have to worry about its power being lacking or failing to keep up with his Cultivation.

In reality, the fact that Zhang Su had accumulated ten Compatibility Value points without using them earlier probably meant he had already made his decision long ago.

Thinking of this, Zhang Su hesitated no longer.

He directly poured all ten Compatibility Value points into the Infinite Sword Scripture Extreme Sword Form.