The Mission Hall

From then on, Lu Yang's life was quite full. At dawn, he sat atop a mountain peak with his five hearts facing the sky, bathing in the morning light. In the morning, he honed his swordsmanship, nurturing his sword with his heart. At noon, he lay in a tree and dozed for a while. In the afternoon, full of energy, he sparred with puppets—and got beaten by them. After dinner, he read by candlelight and finished the lessons the Eldest Senior Sister had assigned him.

A year passed like this, and Lu Yang's cultivation steadily improved.

"Look! Is that Lu Yang, the Sect Master's fourth disciple, the one with a Sword Spirit Root?"

Inside the Mission Hall, Lu Yang stood in a white robe, his eyes bright and alert. A red tassel tied to the pommel of the sword at his waist caught the eye.

Anyone who saw him couldn't help praising him as a fine young talent.

Most of the Ask Dao Sect's disciples knew one another. That was especially true in places like the Mission Hall: whenever they encountered someone unusual, they would always exchange a few words, just for the novelty of it.

Lu Yang had placed first in the entrance trial, possessed a Sword Spirit Root, won over the easygoing River Spirit and Dai Bufan, become a disciple of the Sect Master, and received personal instruction from the Eldest Senior Sister. All these things had made him shine among the latest crop of disciples, and he was famous throughout the sect.

Even Tao Yaoye, with her celestial beauty, was no match for Lu Yang's fame.

"That Lu Yang the Eldest Senior Sister personally trained? Hey, it really is him."

"I heard he entered the sect a year ago and only became a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator a few days ago."

"He's reached Foundation Establishment Realm? No wonder he's here at the Mission Hall. Looks like he's taking on a mission to put himself through his paces."

Lu Yang was already used to the way people around him stared at him as though he were a rare animal.

His senior brothers were right. Seven days ago, he had successfully reached Foundation Establishment. He then spent another seven days consolidating his cultivation before finally coming out of seclusion. As the Eldest Senior Sister had instructed, he was getting out more.

At the Mission Hall, Lu Yang saw all kinds of missions and was left amazed. They ranged from slaying old devils in the Body Integration Realm who had left mountains of corpses and rivers of blood in their wake, to helping find cats and dogs. There was nothing they didn't have.

One mission Lu Yang was looking at, for example, requested a dual-cultivation technique. A respectable one.

Dual-cultivation techniques came in two kinds: respectable and disreputable. There was no need to say much about the respectable ones; they were simply about men and women helping one another and harmonizing yin and yang.

There was even less need to say much about the disreputable ones.

The mission had been posted by a fox demon registered with the Ask Dao Sect.

Although the Ask Dao Sect's duties included subduing demons and vanquishing devils, that didn't mean they killed every demon they saw without asking questions. They didn't subdue demons of verified identity who had no intention of harming anyone. On the contrary, they registered such demons and granted them legal status.

This fox demon was one such case.

The fox demon was named Su Yan. She had been an ordinary little fox living in the deep mountains and forests. While playing, she had gotten caught in a hunter's trap, but a scion of an Aristocratic Clan, out playing in the mountains, had rescued her. The hunter had spent the whole day waiting for nothing.

Later, Su Yan ate a shape-shifting fruit in a hidden cave somewhere, awakening the bloodline hidden in her body and becoming a fox demon.

Grateful for the kindness she had received, Su Yan took human form and went to repay the scion of the Aristocratic Clan.

By then, he had become the family's current patriarch. He had seen countless women, but none was as beautiful as Su Yan.

The two naturally married.

Then the problem arose.

Fox demons were born with enchanting bodies and absorbed yang energy uncontrollably. When the couple made love, the husband was always the one whose yang energy got absorbed.

Fortunately, yang energy could be restored, so it wasn't fatal. They just needed to cut back on how often they were intimate.

But they were newlyweds, and neither of them wanted to limit how often they made love.

If they did it too often, the husband grew increasingly haggard, and rumors could easily start to spread.

So Su Yan hoped to cultivate a proper dual-cultivation art that would let her control her fox-demon physique.

The mission had been posted for a long time, but nobody had taken it.

It wasn't that dual-cultivation arts were especially rare. It was just that whoever took the mission would be implying that they possessed a respectable dual-cultivation art. Once people knew you had a respectable one, they couldn't help wondering whether you also had a disreputable one.

When your fellow disciples asked you for a disreputable dual-cultivation art, would you say you had one or not? Would you give it to them or not?

What would your senior sisters and junior sisters think of you?

"This mission looks good. I'll take it."

Someone spoke from behind Lu Yang. From the voice alone, he knew it was Meng Jingzhou.

Meng Jingzhou was the most suitable person to take this mission. With the Meng family's status, he certainly wouldn't lack dual-cultivation arts. And with his Pure Yang Spiritual Root, he surely wouldn't have any disreputable ones.

Even if Meng Jingzhou had a disreputable dual-cultivation art, all he could do was stare at it.

Meng Jingzhou had reached Foundation Establishment before Lu Yang. This was the third mission he had taken.

"You've reached Foundation Establishment too?" Meng Jingzhou asked with a grin. They both had Mutated Single Spirit Roots, and their cultivation talents were about the same. Lu Yang reaching Foundation Establishment a little later than him was somewhat unexpected.

Thinking of the past year of torment at the Eldest Senior Sister's hands, Lu Yang sighed. "I finally made it."

"Once we finish the mission, let's have a proper feast. My treat." Meng Jingzhou offered generously; he had plenty of spirit stones.

After Meng Jingzhou left, Lu Yang continued browsing the missions posted on the wall.

"Traces of a demonic cult ritual have possibly appeared in the north. Golden Core Realm cultivators and above are advised to investigate. The mission reward is four hundred contribution points. Additional rewards will be given for any extra information uncovered."

"Daoist Li Hong of Shanhai Pass has lost a pet. Someone is needed to find it."

Lu Yang paused, thinking this mission looked promising. Looking for cats or dogs didn't sound dangerous. Then he looked further down.

"Lost pet: a two-winged fierce tiger with a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivation. Find it to receive a mission reward of five thousand contribution points."

Lu Yang shrank his neck. A Nascent Soul Realm beast, and a two-winged fierce tiger with ancient blood flowing through its veins at that. It was the very source of the saying, "a tiger with wings." He didn't even qualify to be a toothpick for it. Next, next.

"At the moment day and night trade places, unusual spiritual energy fluctuations occur at Mount Kunwu. An undiscovered pocket dimension is suspected. Investigation required. Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators and above are advised to go. The mission reward is eight thousand contribution points. Additional rewards will be given if the pocket dimension is valuable."

Another mission that had nothing to do with Lu Yang.

Out in the wider world, a Qi Refining cultivator could roam the martial world and be called an expert; a Foundation Establishment cultivator could dominate a small region and establish a family that flourished for a hundred years; and a Golden Core cultivator could call themselves a True Person and found a sect.

But in the Ask Dao Sect, any random passerby was in the Golden Core Realm. You could toss a brick and hit a whole crowd of them... and the disciples would throw the brick back.

Every Ask Dao Sect disciple was an elite chosen from thousands. Before Lu Yang's cohort of newly recruited disciples arrived, the sect had not even had any Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment cultivators. Its least advanced disciples were already in the Golden Core Realm.

No matter how impressive you were in the outside world, once you returned to the Ask Dao Sect, you had to behave yourself.

As a result, there weren't many missions suited to Foundation Establishment cultivators. Lu Yang looked through several in a row; they all required either Golden Core Realm or Nascent Soul Realm cultivation.

He also noticed a special mission.

"Long-term mission: Collect cultivation techniques not yet recorded by the Ask Dao Sect. Rewards will depend on the contents of the technique."

"Also: Senior Sister Yun Zhi, please do not accept this mission. The Scripture Depository has already set aside a Yun Zhi section. Senior Sister Yun Zhi can place any cultivation techniques she has written directly in that section."