Contribution Points

Lei Kongming looks up into the sky; the sun is still shining brightly. He decides to finish all his pending tasks, such as getting his clothes back from Lei Longwei and arranging to replace the bandit stronghold with a proper courtyard house.

Soon, Lei Kongming reaches the stairs leading down from the 8th peak. What appears in front of him is a bunch of broken stairs overgrown with meter-long grass. Looking further down the mountain, he can see that in some places where large sections of the stairs are missing, and he can also see thick tree roots wrapping around the steps.

"...Elder sister doesn't even maintain these stairs," Lei Kongming sighed at Su Zhiyuan's laziness and carefully walked down the stairs, which looked like part of some ancient ruins.

The first thing he decided to do was visit his Aunt Hu on the fourth peak. The outer door is very big, probably several times larger than the inner door, and trying to find Lei Longwei in it is no different from looking for a needle in a haystack. So, the best thing he could think of was to ask Aunt Hu about Lei Longwei's whereabouts.

Soon he reached the foot of the fourth peak, and looking at all the infrastructure, he felt like a poor kid entering a king's palace. The stairs were made of huge stones polished to perfection. He admired the beautiful buildings, lush gardens, and stunning architecture.

"Maybe it's not that elder sister is too lazy to maintain the stairs but instead that she is too poor to afford this kind of infrastructure."

Lei Kongming thought carefully, feeling that he had grasped Su Zhiyuan's reasoning, "It's better for people to say that we are lazy than to call us poor."

What Lei Kongming didn't know was that the reason the 8th peak was so barren of infrastructure was not only because Su Zhiyuan was poor, but also because she was too greedy and lazy to maintain it.

The previous palace master allocated funds from the treasury of Purple Cloud Palace to build basic facilities on the 8th peak so as not to damage the reputation of Purple Cloud Palace for having a barren peak in the inner door. However, the corrupt minister Su Zhiyuan embezzled most of the funds, and in the end, only basic stairs were built, which he didn't even bother to maintain over the years.

The only advantage the 8th peak has over the 4th peak is its Qi concentration. Lei Kongming could confidently say that the 8th peak has at least ten times the Qi concentration of the 4th peak.

After some basic inquiries from the disciples walking around, he found the place where Hu Ling's courtyard is located. There were some servants guarding the door. After answering some basic questions, one of them went inside to inform Hu Ling about him. Soon, the servant came back and invited him into the courtyard.

"Xiao Ming, you finally remembered that your aunt also lives in Purple Cloud Palace."

"Aunt Hu, it's not that I don't want to visit you, but you should also know that the 8th peak is... somewhat unique."

Hu Ling rolled her eyes and said, "Xiao Ming, you are still very good at finding excuses. You didn't even tell me when you broke through to the foundation building realm."

"Hahaha."

Lei Kongming gave an embarrassed laugh and said, "Aunt Hu, I just broke through to the foundation building realm yesterday. I also don't have your contact information in my identity token, so I was really unable to tell you about it yesterday."

"Alright, alright, I'll reluctantly accept your excuse."

Hu Ling reluctantly accepted Lei Kongming's excuses as she handed him a bottle containing a pill and said, "This is your congratulatory gift. It is a tiger bone pill, which is very good for body refining."

Lei Kongming's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Aunt Hu!"

'Finally, I can get some spirit stones after selling this pill,' he thought.

Hu Ling smiled at Lei Kongming's thanks, not aware of his thoughts of selling the precious pill she had gifted to him.

"Aunt Hu, since I am already in the foundation-building realm, where can I get a flying technique?"

"You can find most techniques in the book pavilion of each peak. Well... your 8th peak doesn't have a book pavilion, but you can ask Elder Su for it," replied Hu Ling in puzzlement.

Lei Kongming's mouth twitched as he thought, 'I don't want to raise another Gold Swallowing beast.'

"Aunt Hu, it is not good to disturb Elder Su for every small thing."

Hu Ling nodded with understanding and said, "Elder Su is a golden core realm cultivator, and it is indeed very tiring to talk to her."

Lei Kongming nodded in agreement and muttered to himself, "Yes, it's very tiring to get along with her."

What Hu Ling didn't know is that they were talking on different wavelengths. Hu Ling was thinking about the pressure people face when talking to a golden core cultivator, while Lei Kongming was thinking about the stupid teasing he always faces when he is with Su Zhiyuan.

"Xiao Ming, you can access other peaks' book pavilions, but you have to pay twice the contribution points."

"Contribution points?" asked Lei Kongming in puzzlement.

"Did Elder Su not tell you? Contribution points are a kind of currency used to exchange resources directly from Purple Cloud Palace."

Lei Kongming's mouth twitched again as he thought, 'How many more important things has Su Zhiyuan forgotten to tell me?'

Lei Kongming chooses not to ask Hu Ling about contribution points anymore to save some face for Su Zhiyuan. After all, he didn't want to make it seem like he was under an unreliable peak master.

Finally, Lei Kongming decided to ask about the main reason he came. "Aunt Hu, where can I find Brother Long in the outer door?"

"Walk down from the 4th peak and head towards the 7th peak. You'll find a large martial arts ground along the way. Just ask anyone there, and they'll tell you where his courtyard is."