Lu Yu didn't bother to haggle with him and said, "Okay, I'll take one."

"Just one?" Zhang Li frowned.

Had it not been for the necessity of completing the task, Lu Yu wouldn't have bought even one. The store had them, so why pay a higher price to buy from someone else?

Zhang Li said, "You spent over ten thousand contribution points to reward for the Qingming Stone, how come you only want one?"

"Your stones are too expensive. If it's 1000 per piece, I can buy them all," Lu Yu said.

Zhang Li felt deeply conflicted. At 1000 contribution points each, he would earn 700 less contribution points per stone. With 30 stones, he would lose over 20,000 contribution points, which is equivalent to over 20,000 spirit stones or more than 2 million gold.

However, the Qingming Stones had been lying in the corner of his storage space for a long time. To encounter someone who actually wanted such items was rare; keeping them would just let them gather dust, better to exchange them for contribution points.

Gritting his teeth, he said, "I'll sell them for 1300 each and throw in an ancient finger bone found along with the Qingming Stone."

1300 was slightly cheaper than 1500, and it wasn't impossible to buy them. As for the ancient finger bone Zhang Li included, Lu Yu didn't consider it important; he wasn't a collector.

If the ancient finger bone really had value, Zhang Li wouldn't offer it as a freebie.

"Alright, let's go to the Southern Heaven Hall," Lu Yu nodded and said, rising to go with him to the Southern Heaven Hall.

After Lu Yu modified the reward, Zhang Li handed over 30 Qingming Stones and an ancient finger bone and submitted the task, applying for task completion.

After confirming the items were correct, Lu Yu agreed to complete the task.

Unless it was an irreversible task, such as crafting spiritual weapons or treasures, repairing spiritual armor, or custom-building arrays.

Most tasks seeking certain items require the task issuer to verify before the task-completer can receive their reward.

The two walked out of the Southern Heaven Hall, Zhang Li cupped his hands saying, "Lu junior brother, see you next time."

"Goodbye," Lu Yu returned the gesture.

Zhang Li left with big strides, while Lu Yu took out that piece of finger bone from his backpack. Previously he thought it was useless, but upon receiving it, he found hidden mysteries within.

This seemingly ancient finger bone, even with full strength, Lu Yu couldn't crush it.

It's worth noting that Lu Yu's current strength could even snap fifth-grade spiritual weapons, yet he couldn't do anything against a mottled finger bone eroded by time; in terms of hardness, this finger bone is harder than Lu Yu's bones.

After careful sensing, he couldn't detect anything unusual, so Lu Yu assumed it was left behind by a martial cultivator in body refinement. He had obtained two martial cultivator bones before.

One suspected to be the Venerable White Bone's White Jade Spirit Bone, containing dense Yin Nether Cold Qi, with a bone strength reaching the peak of the iron bone realm, which even the Demon-Breaking Saber couldn't cut through.

The other was an ancient nameless finger bone, unknown in strength, which Lu Yu also didn't try chopping with the Demon-Breaking Saber.

Arriving at the cultivation hall, Lu Yu rented an Earth-grade cultivation chamber, consuming 2000 contribution points daily, with a base spiritual power concentration reaching five times normal.

He inserted his identity token into the control array of the seclusion chamber, the Earth-grade seclusion chamber adopts automatic fee deduction— even when the contribution points are exhausted in the identity token, the chamber can continue to be used until exiting.

However, once contributions are deducted, the spiritual power concentration in the Earth-grade chamber won't be maintained any further, reverting to normal concentration.

This is because users of Earth and Heaven-grade seclusion chambers are mostly elders, whose seclusion durations are hard to determine; some elders might stay secluded for several years.

It's inappropriate to disturb the elders in seclusion, interrupting the progression could be unforgivable.

So Earth and Heaven-grade chambers adopt automatic fee deduction, ensuring the corresponding spiritual power concentration is supplied.

The number of elders isn't large, and those who go into seclusion for several years are even fewer. Overall, the available Earth and Heaven-grade chambers suffice.

Lu Yu felt the surrounding spiritual power concentration and took a deep breath. In places with high spiritual power concentration, the air is fresher, making one's mind more agile.

He didn't add spirit stones to the Spirit Fusion Pool to increase spiritual power concentration; this time, he wasn't cultivating spiritual power, but focusing on the third level of Ice and Fire Body Tempering, so there's no need to consume a large number of spirit stones to boost concentration.

All 30 Qingming Stones were stacked in the room, and instantly the entire seclusion chamber became chillingly filled with Yin, especially when Lu Yu shattered all the Qingming Stones, releasing the Yin Nether Cold Qi.

The spiritual power in the air seemed to freeze under this frigid force.

The Ice and Fire Seven Layers Cultivation Technique circulated, drawing the dense Yin Nether Cold Qi into Lu Yu's body, making him feel bone-piercing cold.

It truly felt cold to the bone.

The Yin Nether Cold Qi penetrated into the Ice Crystal Jade Bone, ceaselessly refining it while also causing subtle changes to the flowing Blazing Blood Marrow under the extreme cold.

Upon using up the Qingming Stones, Lu Yu continually purchased from the store, increasing the quantity each time to sustain the body tempering effect of Yin Nether Cold Qi.

The seclusion chamber maintained a concentration higher than outside, also ensuring the Yin Nether Cold Qi wouldn't leak out. As the refinement progressed, Lu Yu needed an increasing concentration of Yin Nether Cold Qi, requiring more Qingming Stones.

For a consecutive seven days, Lu Yu stayed inside the chamber. Every day he would take some time offline to observe real-world situations, spending most of his time in the chamber.

On the seventh day, a purple-black pearl floated on his right side, with Purple Flame Demon Fire burning, the space was half occupied by this purple-black radiance.

The left side was enveloped in a blue-black mist, with Yin Nether Cold Qi dense enough to fog, occupying the other half of the chamber.

Extreme heat and cold alternated inside Lu Yu's body.

...

Three days later, Lu Yu stood on his home balcony. A black phone floated near his ear, as he listened, he looked down at several people on the street below.

A few demon hunters dressed in leather jackets, wearing helmets, and holding illegal knives.

"Hm, got it."

Lu Yu hung up the call, vanishing from the balcony, leaving behind a scorched footprint and a foot-shaped frost print.

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