Mysterious Expert

Riding along the road, the horse's hooves clopped against the ground, leaving behind clear tracks.

Jiang Dali wore a conical hat and a blue robe. His burly frame carried a long saber wrapped in strips of cloth. At a glance from horseback, he looked like a valiant saber-wielding warrior, imposing indeed.

He had been immersed in his insights into the Iron Cloth Skill for quite some time. Only after a long while did he come back to himself, feeling as though he had gained some insight, yet also as though he had gained nothing at all. He felt rather conflicted.

However, he quickly cast off that feeling. He knew his martial arts had not yet reached the required level, which was why his insights remained hazy.

Once he had more Potential Points next time, he could directly raise the Iron Cloth Skill to the sixth realm, outstanding among its peers. Then his insights would naturally become clear.

"Potential Points and Cultivation Points still aren't enough. Although the players have given me at least a thousand Cultivation Points and Potential Points over the past two days, it's still a little too slow.

But more players have joined the stronghold now.

Once I fatten up these new players, I'll have them learn martial arts from me and hand over more Cultivation Points and Potential Points. Then I can break through comfortably."

Jiang Dali thought to himself with delight.

The first batch of old players had already been squeezed dry by him. There was no more profit to wring from them, and they needed time to recover before he could squeeze them again.

But the new players joining at this time were another fertile field of leeks about to ripen.

By preliminary estimates, after forty-two new players each completed the invitation-delivery mission once, they would receive fifty Cultivation Points and Potential Points apiece.

Then they would hand over those Cultivation Points and Potential Points to him by learning martial arts.

That way, he would directly obtain 2,100 Cultivation Points and Potential Points.

That many Cultivation Points would be nearly enough to bring him to the brink of breaking through the Outer Qi Realm.

And more than 2,000 Potential Points would probably be enough to push the Iron Cloth Skill to the seventh realm, the pinnacle of perfection.

"Unfortunately, my current cultivation cap is 300. Every increase of 1 cultivation requires 10 Cultivation Points, meaning I need 3,000 Cultivation Points to advance.

And the maximum amount of Cultivation Points and Potential Points I can offer players in daily missions is fifty.

Even to offer the maximum reward, the mission's difficulty and danger must meet the corresponding standard.

Otherwise, I could simply issue a mission rewarding players with tens of thousands of Cultivation Points and Potential Points, then harvest them all back in one go. I'd soon become invincible under heaven. Unfortunately, that's impossible."

Jiang Dali flicked his whip and urged his horse onward, feeling regretful as he indulged in wishful thinking.

Although he was now an NPC who could issue missions and have players work for him,

the reward standards for the missions he issued were also restricted.

Missions whose rewards did not match their difficulty could not be issued successfully.

Unless the mission rewarded physical items.

For example, if he took a liking to a player, he could deliberately issue an extremely simple mission, then give that player a huge sum of money or some Divine Weapon.

He could offer such gift missions, but when it came to intangible rewards like Cultivation Points, Potential Points, and reputation, he could not simply hand them out at will.

As he pondered, a grove of swaying bamboo came into view at the end of the road ahead.

After riding for most of the day and covering more than sixty li, he had finally arrived at a small Green Robe Pavilion outpost nearby.

As he drew closer, he saw a simple yet elegant bamboo building nestled among the low hills of the bamboo grove, harmonizing with nature. Faint strains of string and wind instruments drifted out from within.

Outside the bamboo grove, several figures were actually wandering about.

"Hm? Three players?"

Jiang Dali was somewhat surprised. With one glance, he recognized the three figures lingering outside the grove as players. All had black usernames above their heads, and one player named Wanderer in the Red Dust especially caught his attention.

"Wanderer in the Red Dust, the top gold-medal assassin of Green Robe Pavilion in my previous life. I didn't expect to see him here now. It looks like he got wind of Green Robe Pavilion long ago and came here to join it."

Jiang Dali pondered as he rode to the edge of the grove and dismounted.

Wanderer in the Red Dust and the other two also noticed Jiang Dali, dressed in blue and wearing a conical hat. When they saw the three dark-green question marks that flashed above his head, all their expressions changed slightly.

"This is a very powerful NPC. He looks like an assassin from Green Robe Pavilion too," one of them said quietly.

"You don't need to tell us. We can see that ourselves. We've been guarding outside this bamboo grove for two days. Not only can't we get in, but no one has come out either. Now that we've run into one, should we approach him?" another asked.

Wanderer in the Red Dust pondered. "Not yet. Let's see if he can get in and figure out the pattern."

While the three discussed it, Jiang Dali merely glanced at them before walking straight into the bamboo grove.

Within the grove, the sound of string and wind instruments suddenly changed, becoming mournful and lingering, yet filled with a sensuous air. It was as though the seven emotions and six desires flowed within it, and hearing the music made one burn with lust.

Yet Jiang Dali's steps remained steady. He stabilized his mind and paid no heed to this crude probing through musical attacks, continuing toward the bamboo building atop the small hill.

As he rounded the bend onto the path before the bamboo building, a flash of sword light shot from the bamboo shadows on his left like a venomous snake.

Jiang Dali knew this sword strike was merely a test. As long as he showed his Iron Character Killer token, he could pass safely.

However, he had encountered similar situations twice before. This time, he wanted to test himself. He immediately chose not to reveal the token. A bluish tint flashed across his face as he flicked out two fingers.

Bang!

The sword light was struck by a tremendous force, producing a metallic tremor. In an instant, it flickered and twisted, transforming into a streak of snow-bright radiance that attacked from the side.

Jiang Dali snorted. With a slight turn of his body, he sent out an ancient, unadorned palm strike like lightning. Before the force reached its target, qi arrived first at his joints, striking the side of the blade with perfect precision.

Clang!

A lean figure grunted and retreated with his sword. After a few steps, he withdrew behind a bamboo stalk, his cold gaze fixed tightly on Jiang Dali from beneath his conical hat.

"Your strength has improved very quickly!"

Jiang Dali smiled faintly. "You simply haven't improved at all."

He slowly took out an iron token. "I came this time to advance."

The music inside the bamboo building returned to normal. A woman's faint voice drifted out from within. "Come in. Green Robe Pavilion needs outstanding assassins like you, who improve so rapidly."

Jiang Dali turned around.

"An outstanding assassin never exposes his back to an enemy," the assassin in the bamboo grove said coldly, staring fixedly at Jiang Dali's back.

Jiang Dali paused mid-step toward the bamboo building. "Is that brain of yours fully ripe? If not, let it grow a little longer, or you won't get another chance."

A sharp gleam burst from the assassin's eyes as he tightened his grip on the sword hilt. But when his gaze fell upon the massive saber on Jiang Dali's broad, ridge-like back, his pupils contracted. He flashed away, retreating once more behind the bamboo.

"How incredible! Who is that expert? Even that powerful mysterious Bamboo Forest Swordsman wasn't his match?"

Wanderer in the Red Dust and the other two had witnessed the battle in the grove in its entirety. One of them sucked in a breath and spoke.

Another said, "I think this mysterious expert may be much stronger even than the Black Wind Stronghold Master."

Though the battle had ended in only three seconds, the sight of Jiang Dali driving back the mysterious assassin with a casual palm strike had dealt the three an enormous visual and psychological blow. They could only feel that there was always a higher mountain in the martial world.

The mysterious swordsman who could kill the three of them in seconds had not even been able to withstand a single exchange against this even more mysterious expert.

Fanatical fervor rose in Wanderer in the Red Dust's eyes. "The Black Wind Stronghold Master is only a bandit chief, and Black Wind Stronghold is merely an ordinary bandit force. It's far inferior to Green Robe Pavilion.

Green Robe Pavilion truly has experts everywhere. Any random person is a powerhouse. Now I want to join Green Robe Pavilion even more."

Brother Dali asked me to ask you whether the brains of those who haven't voted are fully ripe. Smart brains know to vote.