CH 49

Chapter 49 – Hanging Moon Valley

TL Note: Identity jade slip → jade identity tablet

Xu Disheng put down that jade slip and picked up another one, his brows furrowing in the process.

These missions were all very dangerous, and it could be said that not a single one of them was easy. If it wasn’t monsters, it was demons, and he could deal with neither of those given his current capabilities.

After going through several jade slips, Xu Disheng still didn’t find any suitable missions. He looked up at the sect affairs disciples behind the massive table. A thought arose in his mind, and he made his way around the table.

“Excuse me, Senior Martial Brother. Are there any missions that a Cleansed Meridian stage outer disciple can do?” Xu Disheng approached them and asked with a polite greeting.

One of the sect affairs disciples among them heard what he said and shot him a glance. He said in a well-meaning tone, “You’re a disciple who recently entered the Outer Region, right? Don’t even think about it. Even the most ordinary of those missions have very few people who are willing to go do them. People only do them because they are forced to do several a year once they officially join a Mountain Range. Other people avoid these missions like the plague, but you actually want to go out of your way to do them? It’d be better for you to just hurry back and cultivate to the Sea of Qi realm first.”

His words weren’t entirely accurate, however. While most people were indeed this way, there were some proud sons of heaven who were eager to perform more missions and heroically forge ahead by earning resources to boost their strength. Mingxin Mountain had several tens of thousands of official disciples, so there was no way that every single one of them would be so perfunctory and cower away from these missions.

Nonetheless, this sect affairs disciple had good intentions, so Xu Disheng thanked him. Just as he was about to turn around, another sect affairs disciple said in an indifferent tone, “Are you troubled about not having enough spirit stones? For daring to come here to choose a mission as a mere outer disciple, your bravery is rather commendable. Go take a look at the several jade slips on the east side. You might find the one you want there.” Judging by his tone, he had clearly once experienced a shortage of spirit stones himself, so he thoroughly understood what it was like.

Xu Disheng gazed intently at the disciple who just spoke. It was an attractive-looking youth who was dressed in white clothes. After he finished speaking, he was no longer looking in Xu Disheng’s direction.

Xu Disheng expressed his gratitude, then walked over to the eastern side of the massive table. Each jade slip had dozens to hundreds of missions listed in them. Xu Disheng picked up one of the jade slips and found that almost all of the missions within were more or less the same. They were all medicinal plant gathering missions.

“Pick 20 Beauty’s Demise Herb in the Floating Moon Valley and turn them in at the Botany Hall’s branch on Mingxin Mountain. Reward of 15 spirit stones. Note: There may be a half-transformed wolf demon roaming about the area. Also, this mission can be undertaken multiple times.”

“Collect low-grade spiritual medicines and spirit fruits on behalf of the sect. In the territory of Mingxin Mountain, harvest about 80% of the spiritual medicines and spirit fruits being grown in the village near the Zhaojiang Coastal Area and turn them in at the Botany Hall branch on Mingxin Mountain. Reward of 50 spirit stones, time limit of 1 year. Note: You may borrow a high-grade storage ring-type Spirit Tool and a Spirit Cloud. Upon completion of the mission, they must be returned to the sect. Also, there may be monster attacks.”

“Pick 5 Jade Corals from the Zhaojiang River Basin and turn them in at the Botany Hall branch on Mountain Mountain. Reward of 30 spirit stones. Note: You may be attacked by monsters in the Zhaojiang waters.”

“… …”

These missions were almost all put out by the Botany Hall, and this was a major source of their spiritual medicines and spirit fruits. The common point between all of these missions was that they were slightly safer than the other types, but this so-called safety was totally dependent on each person’s luck.

If their luck was good, they would finish picking the required medicinal ingredients without running into anything. They would then be able to return safely and receive several tens of spirit stones. But this was also exactly the point that people bemoaned. If they were unlucky and their strength wasn’t sufficient, they would get attacked by a monster or demon and die a gruesome death in the wilderness, their corpses left to dry under the sun.

Xu Disheng continued looking for a while and eventually decided to accept the mission that involved going to the Floating Moon Valley to pick Beauty’s Demise Herb. The reward amount was always proportionate to the level of danger, and in comparison to the other missions, the amount of spirit stones this mission gave really wasn’t much. But this precisely meant that the mission itself wasn’t that dangerous.

As long as he was a little careful and avoided the half-wolf demon that was potentially roaming about, his chances of successfully completing the mission wouldn’t be small by any means.

Having made up his mind, he took out his jade identity tablet, then received the mission from the record jade slip into his own jade identity tablet. The detailed information regarding the mission showed up on his jade identity tablet.

“Floating Moon Valley, located on the outer edges of the Mingxin Mountain Range. Its specific location has been recorded on the map in the jade slip. The half-wolf demon is a Feral Wolf that gained spiritual awareness for cultivation, and has been seen wandering the Floating Moon Valley. It has the head of a wolf and the body of a human, walks on two legs, and has extraordinary strength. It is proficient in 3 types of Demonic Spells, and has strength equivalent to the Sea of Qi stage.”

Once the information finished, small glowing icons in the shape of a blade of grass appeared on the identity jade tablet, marking the locations for the Beauty’s Demise Herb that he needed to pick.

Xu Disheng came out from the Sect Affairs Hall. After a moment of pondering, he went straight to Spirit Origin Hall. Spirit Origin Hall was the biggest subordinate palace hall underneath the Affairs Hall. Inside Spirit Origin Hall, there were three pavilions, which were the Spirit Weapon Pavilion, the Spiritual Medicine Pavilion, and the Cultivation Method Pavilion. Even though this Spirit Origin Hall was just the branch located in the Mingxin Mountain Range, it was all-inclusive and had everything one could think of.

Xu Disheng recalled what Liu Dian had said last time about picking a cultivation method the next time he visited. He entered Spirit Origin Hall, then went to the left side, towards the palace room where the Cultivation Method Pavilion was located.

“Your jade identity tablet.” An affairs disciple in black clothes said coldly upon seeing Xu Disheng approaching. He was standing in front of the pavilion with a jade slip in hand, letting off a peak Sea of Qi aura.

Xu Disheng handed over his jade tablet.

The affairs disciple roughly swept his through the jade tablet, then handed it back. “Outer disciple Xu Disheng, you may select three cultivation methods of your own choosing. If you want to pick more than that, you must pay with spirit stones. At this time, you have not yet selected any cultivation methods.”

Xu Disheng nodded and took back his identity jade tablet, then began to make his way into the pavilion.

The affairs disciple lifted his gaze and said, “It looks like you might still be unfamiliar with this place. Are you a disciple who just entered a Mountain not long ago? Let me give you some advice. Even though the first three cultivation methods are free of charge, don’t pick them all at the beginning. For now, pick one, and only come back to pick another one once you master it. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, otherwise you will suffer the consequences.”

Xu Disheng stopped walking and turned around. “Thank you for your guidance, Senior Martial Brother,” he said.

The affairs disciple still had the same cold expression as before. “Go on then. This is just my duty, no need for thanks.”

After he saw Xu Disheng walk into the pavilion, his eyes gleamed with a curious light. He muttered to himself, “The profound qi around his body has the faint aura of water energy. Could it be the aura of Azure Ocean? But that cultivation method is the exclusive cultivation method of that lord…”

When Xu Disheng entered the pavilion, his vision was filled with a myriad of jade slips on display, dimly emitting light. As far as his eyes could see, there were several tens of thousands of neatly arranged wooden shelves, each containing a jade slip.

He looked up at the directions sign hanging above. These cultivation methods were displayed in 4 different areas categorized into Attack, Defense, Deception, and Control, which were the four general attributes for cultivation methods overall.

Displayed below each jade slip was the price that was required to purchase it. These prices were terrifyingly expensive. Each and every one of them was easily several dozens of spirit stones, and deeper within the pavilion, there were even some cultivation methods that were priced at hundreds or even thousands of spirit stones.

After picking a cultivation method jade slip, the selection would have to be confirmed using the jade identity tablet, and then the cultivation method from the jade slip would directly appear in one’s mind. These cultivation methods were strictly only for one’s own cultivation, and couldn’t be passed on to others.

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In this aspect, the Sacred Sect’s treatment of its disciples was really quite good. After all, most of these cultivation methods jade slips were priced at tens to hundreds of spirit stones, but they still allowed their disciples to pick and cultivate three of them free of charge. In the future when they wanted to pick more cultivation methods, they would have to purchase them with spirit stones, but nonetheless, each disciple would have been able to save hundreds of spirit stones on their first three cultivation methods.