Abandoning the Mission and a New Mission

The widely circulated Nine Provinces Map of old was extremely crude and riddled with errors. People often relied on such maps to cross the Nine Provinces, only to stumble into lands of death, lose their way, and narrowly escape with their lives. When cultivators traveled the Nine Provinces, what they relied on was often not maps, but cultivation.

A hundred years after Jiang Li ascended the Human Emperor throne, he decided to redraw the Nine Provinces Map. It should have been a good thing, yet it was obstructed by the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.

The reason was simple: the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion possessed detailed maps of the Nine Provinces and sold them to cultivators in separate sections at exorbitant prices.

There had once been mighty figures who wanted to redraw the Nine Provinces Map, but they had all been stopped by the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.

Though the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion was not one of the Six Great Sects, it held countless secrets. Many cultivators feared them deeply. If one provoked the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, they could spread secrets from one's cultivation journey, allowing enemies to easily find one's fatal weakness and bring about a deadly calamity.

Jiang Li, however, feared no such thing. At the time, he had already reached the Great Ascension Stage and was invincible throughout the Nine Provinces. What enemy would dare come looking for trouble with him? If Jiang Li did not come knocking at their door, they would already be burning incense in gratitude and praising the "Human Emperor's great virtue."

The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had no means to threaten Jiang Li, so they could only grit their teeth and let him redraw the Nine Provinces Map.

Jiang Li gathered the nine Imperial Dynasties, the Six Great Sects, the Four Seas Dragon Kings, and other major sects and nations to discuss the matter of the maps. They established standards for precision and had each party take responsibility for maps of its own territory, while the Human Emperor Palace filled in the remaining blank regions.

In the end, under Jiang Li's coordination, a Nine Provinces Map several times more detailed than that of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion was displayed before everyone.

Jiang Li was not stingy either. He had the Human Emperor Palace imprint the maps onto jade slips and sell them for a price only slightly above cost.

From then on, people no longer needed to worry about the dangers of faulty maps.

Afterward, the Daoist Sect told Jiang Li that this act of his was a great merit and that he ought to receive a baptism of merit. Yet Jiang Li received no merit at all, which was very strange.

Moreover, the Human Emperors of every generation had guarded the Nine Provinces. That too should have been a great merit, yet there was likewise not the slightest trace of merit.

The Daoist Sect guessed that merit originated from the Immortal Realm. After the Immortal Ascension Ladder vanished, the Nine Provinces lost contact with the Immortal Realm, causing merit to no longer descend into the lower realm. If Jiang Li were to Ascend Immortal Realm in the future, he might receive a baptism of boundless merit.

New mission issued: The once-every-five-years Tianqing Prefecture Martial Tournament is about to begin. You will represent the Cloud Transformation Faction in this competition. You have been assigned to the Foundation Establishment Early Stage Division. As the Cloud Transformation Faction has ranked near the bottom in every previous tournament and been mocked by other sects, please take first place in the Foundation Establishment Early Stage Division in this tournament.

This mission may be abandoned.

Mission reward: One opportunity to complete any incomplete manual, one Dragon-Tiger Golden Pill, and one Substitute Death Talisman.

Jiang Li discovered that the rewards for this mission were also extremely generous. Leaving aside the rather suggestive opportunity to complete any incomplete manual, the Dragon-Tiger Golden Pill alone could raise any cultivator's Core Formation success rate to eighty percent—a terrifying prospect.

Then there was the Substitute Death Talisman. Who could guarantee that they would not be plotted against while roaming the world? With a Substitute Death Talisman, it was equivalent to having an extra life. Its value was plainly demonstrated by the fact that one had once sold at auction for a sky-high price sufficient to make a Nascent Soul Cultivator empty half their fortune! And Substitute Death Talismans could only be used by cultivators below the Golden Core Stage.

The rewards were generous, so Jiang Li chose to abandon the mission.

"Abandon this mission."

Abandon this mission?

"Yes."

To prevent the host from misspeaking, this system will confirm once more: abandon this mission?

"Yes."

Abandon...

"Yes."

Jiang Li felt that this lousy Counterattack System was very much like the rogue software from his previous life.

Mission successfully abandoned.

After saying that, the system fell silent.

Jiang Li blinked and waited for quite some time, but no new mission appeared.

"System, where's the new mission?"

Please wait patiently, host.

Jiang Li was speechless. So abandoning a mission did not let him proceed directly to the next one.

"Hey, hey, hey, Jiang Li, are you there? I was so happy just now that I forgot to tell you something."

The Remote Communication Talisman lit up. Before Jiang Li could even answer it, the other party directly projected an image.

The Dao Sect Master's projection appeared before Jiang Li. Jiang Li thought to himself that this bastard was once again taking advantage of being the creator of the Remote Communication Talisman to forcibly control his talisman.

"What the hell do you want?" Jiang Li asked very politely.

"You're the Dao Sect Emissary, yet is that any way to speak to your sect master?" The Dao Sect Master pretended to be angry, but when he saw Jiang Li on the verge of erupting, he hurriedly changed the subject.

"The Yin-Yang Heaven Seal is about to undergo another refinement cycle. According to my observations, there is less than a year left. When the time comes, our Dao Sect will hold an Immortal Artifact Appreciation Conference. Do your brother a favor and have you, the current Human Emperor, come show your support."

Since it was serious business, Jiang Li's attitude improved somewhat, and he agreed.

"Then it's settled. I'll send you an invitation when the time comes and reserve you a seat in the special class."

The Dao Sect Master cheerfully disconnected the Remote Communication Talisman.

The Yin-Yang Heaven Seal was about to undergo another refinement cycle.

This truly was serious business—and major business at that. The Dao Sect would spend an entire year preparing for it, and Jiang Li might have been the first person to learn of it.

Some called the Dao Sect's Yin-Yang Heaven Seal the number one supreme treasure of the Nine Provinces. There was not a drop of exaggeration in that claim. At the very least, Jiang Li believed the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal fully deserved the title.

The founding ancestor of the Dao Sect was known as the Dao Ancestor. This title was unimaginably terrifying, sharing the same title as that figure in the Immortal Realm. He should have suffered heavenly condemnation for it, yet the Dao Ancestor himself remained perfectly unharmed. Thus, some guessed that the Dao Sect's founding ancestor was the true Dao Ancestor's reincarnation, or perhaps his incarnation formed in response to a tribulation, one of his three corpses, or something similar. In any case, he had an exceptionally close connection to the true Dao Ancestor.

The Yin-Yang Heaven Seal had been forged by this Dao Ancestor of the Dao Sect. From the moment it was refined, it had been an immortal artifact, its might boundless.

After the Dao Sect's Dao Ancestor Ascend Immortal Realm, he left the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal behind in the Nine Provinces as the sect's supreme treasure, suppressing and safeguarding the Dao Sect's fortune.

The wondrous aspect of the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal was that it could refine itself. With every refinement cycle, its power rose by an entire rank.

The last time it underwent a self-refinement was three thousand years ago. Everyone of note in the Nine Provinces had attended that grand event—it had been extraordinarily lively.

After three thousand years, how could Jiang Li miss the chance to witness an immortal artifact refine itself?...

Jiang Li did not leave Great Zhou. Instead, he entered seclusion where he was, cultivating to consolidate the gains from his previous Heavenly Tribulation.

Two months later, Jiang Li emerged from his meditative state. At last, the system stirred.

New mission issued: The Profound Mystery Realm is about to open. Only those under twenty-five in bone age and at the Foundation Establishment Realm may enter. The Cloud Transformation Faction has one spot. After defeating Yun Bo, you obtained this spot, but seeing that you are only at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, people from the other sects look down on you and even mock you. Please win first place in this excursion to the Profound Mystery Realm.

This mission may be abandoned.

Mission reward: Unlock the spatial teleportation function, unlock the Source Point Reading function, and receive a five-hundred-cubic-meter Storage Ring.

By Jiang Li's estimate, two months would be just enough for him to cultivate from the Foundation Establishment Early Stage to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

Seeing the rewards for this mission, Jiang Li smiled faintly. Just the spatial teleportation function alone meant he could not abandon this mission!