Sect Mission

PS: Brothers, the recommendation votes are truly too few.

Sweating like rain with a bare back, even my shorts soaked through, this old pig is here to beg you brothers for recommendation votes, collections, and clicks!

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Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of fists was like thunder, and leaves fell like rain.

In a secluded forest of Iron Branch Pine, Ye Zhen shifted his body with agility. His fist techniques were wide and sweeping, moving like lightning and stopping like a mountain. With a single strike, an Iron Branch Pine as thick as a bowl snapped in two.

Compared to the hardships of his days as a Menial Disciple, it was now effortless for him to topple an Iron Branch Pine with his current cultivation.

"Hah!"

With a sharp shout, Ye Zhen unleashed a Five Peaks Sky-Breaking strike at an Iron Branch Pine. A wave of blood energy surged through his entire body, following the force of his punch, and a presence as steady as an abyss and as towering as a mountain suddenly emerged.

Crack!

Amidst the snapping sound, the Iron Branch Pine before him shattered instantly. However, Ye Zhen's fist was still a full foot away from the broken tree. Seeing this, a look of joy suddenly appeared on his face.

"It's done. I've finally mastered the external force of the Five Peaks Divine Fist."

It had been half a month, and Ye Zhen's Five Peaks Divine Fist had finally achieved some success. However, Ye Zhen did not stop immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes to contemplate the sensation of that last punch, and holding onto that feeling, he began to practice even more intensely.

After throwing over a hundred punches in a row, aside from the first few which were hit-or-miss, for the dozens that followed, the fist force arrived before his actual fist did every single time.

Only when the blood energy in his dantian vortex was completely exhausted did Ye Zhen stop and slowly sit cross-legged on the ground, circulating the Essence Blood Origin Body Art to recover his internal blood energy.

After a long while, Ye Zhen slowly stood up and closed his eyes again to recall the feeling of practicing just now. The intent of the fist was now familiar; the next step was to continue hard training to master the ability to unleash and retract that intent at will.

However, Ye Zhen dared not practice the Five Peaks Divine Fist any further today.

There was no other reason: before breaking through to the True Essence Realm, a martial artist consumes a massive amount of blood energy during training. This energy comes from the body's essence blood, and if depleted too much, it could damage one's health.

It was fortunate that the food for Outer Disciples was excellent, with all kinds of meat provided without limit until one was full, and one could even pack some away. Otherwise, under such high-intensity training every day, Ye Zhen's body would be near collapse even if it hadn't already.

After resting for a while, Ye Zhen's body trembled, and he began to move like a snake, starting his practice of the Snake-Wandering Steps.

His figure moved like a roaming serpent. Amidst the hissing sounds of his exertion, Ye Zhen moved eerily around a large tree, occasionally feinting with a move from the Five Peaks Divine Fist.

This was Ye Zhen practicing how to coordinate the Five Peaks Divine Fist with the Snake-Wandering Steps for combat.

From time to time, Ye Zhen would slam his shoulder hard into the tree. The moment of impact, his body would vibrate in a strange way, and the counter-force from hitting the tree would instantly diminish by several fractions.

This was a method within the Snake-Wandering Steps for borrowing and discharging force, known as the Slippery Snake Style. It could discharge a certain degree of force, and it is said that if mastered, it could make an opponent's attacks slide off without purchase, using their own strength against them in a bizarre and unpredictable way.

Hiss!

While moving, Ye Zhen's body suddenly coiled like a snake king. With a strange rhythm, his body suddenly sprang forward like an arrow—the Snake-Wandering Steps: Snake Springing Grass!

Ye Zhen's body landed six meters away, and a look of frustration immediately appeared on his face.

Half a month ago, Ye Zhen had chosen two secret manuals from the first floor of the Scripture Depository. The Five Peaks Divine Fist had yielded quite good results; by today, he had developed external fist force, which counted as minor success.

But for these Snake-Wandering Steps, Ye Zhen had practiced bitterly for half a month, spending even more time on them than on the Five Peaks Divine Fist, yet his progress was minimal. He had mastered the basic footwork to the point of familiarity, but techniques like Snake Springing Grass and Slippery Snake Style remained elusive.

He could barely discharge a little force with the Slippery Snake Style, but he hadn't even entered the door for the Snake Springing Grass; a single spring only covered six meters.

With Ye Zhen's current cultivation and strength, a casual leap could exceed five meters, and with a little effort, jumping over six meters was no problem. Under these circumstances, the Snake Springing Grass was of no use.

To be considered mastered, a single spring should cover at least ten meters. According to the manual, if the Snake Springing Grass were brought to great success, a single spring could cover at least twenty to thirty meters.

"Could it be that, as the old deacon at the Scripture Depository said, these Snake-Wandering Steps are not something an Outer Disciple can master?" Ye Zhen felt a bit discouraged.

Immediately, however, Ye Zhen began to practice bitterly again. "I don't believe it. If I put in the hard work, I won't be able to master these Snake-Wandering Steps."

After practicing for a while, seeing that it was nearly noon, Ye Zhen, who still had no progress with the Snake-Wandering Steps, prepared to return to East Arrival Peak to eat.

The benefit of being an Outer Disciple was right here: daily meals were provided by the sect, with meat served at every meal without limit. Even his clothes were washed by the Menial Peak, which consisted entirely of female menial disciples, so the Outer Disciples didn't have to worry about a thing.

Compared to Menial Disciples, an Outer Disciple was a master, while the other was a servant!

It was noon, and many Outer Disciples were returning to the peak to eat. Having practiced all morning, Ye Zhen was starving and walked very quickly.

Suddenly, a figure cut across and blocked Ye Zhen's path firmly.

Ye Zhen's face sank, thinking it was someone looking for trouble again. Just as he was about to shout, he saw that the person blocking his way was Steward Liu, the deacon of Guan Peak at East Arrival Peak.

"Ye Zhen greets Steward Liu." Ye Zhen hurriedly offered his respects.

Steward Liu snorted through his nose, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. "Ye Zhen, I'm asking you, have you completed your Sect Mission for this month?"

"Sect Mission? Ah!" Ye Zhen slapped his forehead. "I'm sorry, Steward Liu. I've been too focused on my training these past few days and forgot about it. I'll go do it right after I eat."

"Hmph, in all of East Arrival Peak, you are the only one whose Sect Mission I have to remind. There are two and a half days left. If you don't complete a Sect Mission within these two and a half days, don't even think about collecting your pill supply for next month!" the black-faced Steward Liu said.

What else could Ye Zhen do? He could only keep apologizing and promising, which finally made Steward Liu's dark expression soften slightly.

"Remember, this is the first and last time I will remind you to complete your monthly Sect Mission. If there is a next time, your pill supply for the following month will be deducted directly. See to it yourself." With a cold snort, Steward Liu flicked his sleeves and left. Ye Zhen, left standing there, could only smile bitterly; he had actually forgotten about this.

After eating, Ye Zhen rushed toward the Sect Main Hall where Sect Missions were posted. Just kidding—if his sect pill supply were deducted for a month, that would be a massive loss.

Perhaps because he hadn't taken it seriously before, when Ye Zhen arrived at the Sect Main Hall and checked the missions available to Outer Disciples, he realized that things were looking bad. Sect Missions were not as simple as he had imagined, nor could they be completed on a whim.

For example, the mission to collect spider silk from the Magic Pattern Spider in the back mountains was a mid-level mortal-grade task, rewarding fifty Sect Contribution Points, and was suitable for an Outer Disciple like Ye Zhen.

But according to the Sect Deacon, among the sect disciples who had completed this mission in the past, the fastest one had taken five days.

Other tasks suitable for Outer Disciples included patrolling the Back Mountain Spirit Herb Garden, heading to the village at the foot of the mountain to help villagers hunt down fierce beasts, or temporarily managing Menial Peak for a few days while a steward was away.

At the very least, these tasks would take eight to ten days to complete, and some even required half a month.

Ye Zhen did manage to find a few Sect Missions that could be completed in a day or two, but those tasks either involved hunting Monster Beasts or gathering spirit herbs in areas where Monster Beasts roamed, with a difficulty level of at least mid-grade human rank, which only Inner Disciples had the ability to complete.

Ye Zhen could not help but feel deeply annoyed; had he been too careless? Was he really going to have his Sect medicinal pill supply for next month deducted?

Ye Zhen flipped through the Sect Mission list with some reluctance, trying to find a single task that could be completed within a day or two.

Just as he reached the last page of the Sect Mission list and was about to give up, Ye Zhen's eyes suddenly lit up; a task with no difficulty rating that anyone could complete appeared as the very last item on the list.

And the person who had posted this no-difficulty Sect Mission that anyone could complete was none other than Fairy Caiyi, whom Ye Zhen had met once before!