Spirit Moon Lake

In the eyes of Mortals, a Cultivator who had mastered the Spring Return Spell was hardly any different from an immortal capable of growing bones from white skeletons and restoring flesh to the dead.

These three spells were all exceptionally practical for Cultivators in the Mid Qi Refining Stage.

However, as Tier 1 Mid-grade Spells, they were also somewhat more difficult to cultivate.

They required more Spiritual Power, had more complex channels for casting Spiritual Power, more preliminary hand seals, and more ancient syllables in their incantations.

Of the three spells, the Fireball Technique was particularly the hardest to cultivate. Its hand seals had increased to three, while its ancient syllables had increased to ten.

Among all the rewards, the Magic Sword was likely the most valuable.

Though it was merely a Tier 1 Low-grade Magic Artifact, many Inner Disciples within the sect still had not obtained a Magic Artifact.

There were two ways for Inner Disciples to obtain Magic Artifacts. One was to place in the Inner Sect Grand Competition; the other was to accept Inner Sect missions, earn Spirit Stones, and exchange them at the sect shops.

However, Mid Qi Refining Stage Cultivators were still unable to control artifacts.

Only in the hands of Late Qi Refining Cultivators could Magic Artifacts display greater might—for instance, Sword Control Killing.

For now, Su Bai could only wield a Magic Sword like a mundane martial artist and cut down his enemies.

Furthermore, that bottle of Yellow Dragon Pills was also a fine reward.

The cultivation effect of Yellow Dragon Pills was considerably better than that of Essence Replenishing Pills.

Besides Spirit Rice, their refining ingredients also included genuine spirit herbs.

A bottle of Essence Replenishing Pills sold for one Spirit Stone on the market.

A bottle of Yellow Dragon Pills sold for ten Spirit Stones on the market.

This showed just how vast the difference in value between the two was.

"Thanks, Steward Su!" After inspecting the rewards, Su Bai grinned and hung the Storage Bag at his waist.

"Put the rewards into your own Storage Bag. Give this Storage Bag back to me!" Steward Su held out his hand toward Su Bai.

"Seriously? Is the dignified Outer Sect Affairs Hall really this stingy?"

Su Bai took out the rewards and placed the Storage Bag before Steward Su.

"Hmph. If we didn't pinch pennies, where would all the sect benefits come from?" Steward Su mercilessly put the Storage Bag away in the cabinet.

In addition, Steward Su gave Su Bai another Yellow Dragon Pill.

For Outer Disciples at Qi Refining Stage Four, the sect benefit was one Yellow Dragon Pill per month.

Considering that quite a few Mid Qi Refining Stage Outer Disciples accepted missions that took them beyond the mountain gates,

it did not matter if they lacked the time to collect them that month; they could accumulate them and collect them together later.

Moreover, there was no Upper Limit on the number of months that could be accumulated.

After bidding farewell to the impoverished Steward Su,

Su Bai went to Steward Lin, who handled Outer Sect missions on the other side of the Outer Sect Affairs Hall, and expressed his wish to look through suitable Outer Sect missions.

"I remember you. Su Bai, right? I didn't expect you to advance to Qi Refining Stage Four so quickly."

"Not bad, not bad. You have hope of becoming a true disciple in the future!" Steward Lin wore entirely different faces when dealing with talented Disciples and untalented ones.

Just before this, a Five Elements Spirit Root Outer Disciple who had risen from being a Labor Disciple had come to choose an Outer Sect mission, only to be met with his cold expression.

"Steward Lin, you flatter me. I wouldn't dare dream of becoming a true disciple. Being able to enter the Inner Sect would already be the fortune of three lifetimes." Su Bai said.

"Haha, you're being too modest. Entering the Inner Sect is only a matter of time for you." Steward Lin smiled and did not continue the subject.

He picked up the Outer Sect mission booklet and began looking through it. "A mission with ample cultivation time, generous rewards, sufficient safety, and opportunities to temper one's Combat Power..."

"Found one. There's a Spirit Moon Lake Garrison Mission here. It requires cultivation at Qi Refining Stage Four or above, mastery of at least three Tier 1 Mid-grade Spells, one of which must be the designated Water Escape Technique..."

Steward Lin rather overstepped his authority by directly handing Su Bai the page containing the mission details for him to inspect himself.

Su Bai looked up.

Beyond Jade Mist Sect's Qingyun Mountain gates,

there were other Resource Points outside the mountain gates as well.

Such as Spirit Stone Mines and Spirit Material Points.

Spirit Moon Lake was one of Jade Mist Sect's Spirit Material Points.

Spirit Moon Lake was located on the Qingshan Spirit Plain, less than a hundred li from Jade Mist Sect's mountain gates. The distance was close, making it an exceedingly safe location.

The water quality of Spirit Moon Lake was unusual. A kind of spirit herb that naturally grew at the bottom of the lake, the Spirit Moon Grass, was the primary ingredient in one of the sect's spirit pills.

Spirit Moon Grass could only grow at the bottom of Spirit Moon Lake. Jade Mist Sect Cultivators had once tried transplanting it, but all attempts had ended in failure.

Thus, they had no choice but to establish a Resource Point at Spirit Moon Lake and dispatch a certain number of Disciples to guard it, lest outside Cultivators seize it.

"The Qingshan Spirit Plain is nominally Jade Mist Sect's exclusive Spirit Plain, and Spirit Moon Lake is close to the mountain gates. Its safety is indeed much higher."

"Outside Cultivators basically wouldn't dare stroke Jade Mist Sect's tiger whiskers. Normally, they only need to drive away some low-rank Demonic Beasts that sneak in to eat Spirit Moon Grass." Su Bai pondered inwardly.

In the Qingzhou Cultivation World, there were three top Cultivation Sects led by Jade Mist Sect.

Apart from the large Spirit Veins occupied by those three Cultivation Sects, the remaining Cultivation Resources were basically concentrated in two great Spirit Plains.

The Qingshan Spirit Plain and the Yunhai Spirit Plain.

A Spirit Plain was an ancient spirit realm formed from countless tiny Spirit Veins converging together. It was characterized by abundant resources and vast territory, hence its name.

In Ancient Times, the Spiritual Energy within the Spirit Plains had been even richer, and many sects had established their mountain gates within them.

Thus, quite a few Secret Realms still existed within the Spirit Plains.

The Qingshan Spirit Plain lay close to Qingyun Mountain—or rather, Qingyun Mountain itself was one of the entrances to the Qingshan Spirit Plain.

And because Jade Mist Sect was domineering and powerful, the Qingshan Spirit Plain was monopolized by Jade Mist Sect.

The other two great sects of the Qingzhou Cultivation World jointly divided the Yunhai Spirit Plain.

Though the Qingshan Spirit Plain was nominally monopolized by Jade Mist Sect, its territory was incomparably vast, stretching across several Mortal Kingdoms.

There would always be many Disciples of small sects and even Rogue Cultivators entering the Qingshan Spirit Plain to search for Cultivation Resources.

Jade Mist Sect did not slaughter them all for this; it generally kept one eye open and one eye closed.

But if anyone touched the interests of Resource Points it had locked on to, Jade Mist Sect would essentially repay every grievance and eradicate evil to the last.

The rewards for the Spirit Moon Lake Mission were also generous.

Three bottles of Yellow Dragon Pills per year.

Each bottle of Yellow Dragon Pills contained ten pills.

Converted into Essence Replenishing Pills, three bottles of Yellow Dragon Pills amounted to three hundred pills.

Back when he was at Qi Refining Stage Three, with the sect benefits and the Spiritual Field Task combined, Su Bai received only 108 Essence Replenishing Pills a year.

Now, at Qi Refining Stage Four, if he accepted the Spirit Moon Lake Mission, then with the sect benefits and the Spirit Moon Lake Mission rewards combined, he would receive more than four hundred Essence Replenishing Pills a year.

The rewards had increased fourfold.

The only drawback was that Spirit Moon Lake was, after all, outside the mountain gates. Though it had a simple Spirit Gathering Array, the density of its Spiritual Energy still could not compare with Jade Mist Sect's mountain gates.

However, with such generous rewards, the deficiency in Spiritual Energy could be completely made up for.

After pondering for a moment, Su Bai decided to accept the mission.

Steward Lin nodded. "Good. The minimum term for this mission is one year."

"Within one week, you must set out for Spirit Moon Lake and hand over the mission with the Disciples stationed there."

Su Bai raised his brows. "Within one week... I may not be able to master three Tier 1 Mid-grade Spells."

Steward Lin smiled. "It's fine. You only need to first master the mandatory Water Escape Technique. I still have that much authority."

"This mission is highly sought after. It was only reported today. If you wait until you've cultivated the spells before coming to accept it, someone else will have long since chosen it!"

"Hehe, when Junior Brother Su becomes a true disciple someday, just don't forget the convenience Senior Brother Lin gave you today..."