The Timid Sixth Brother

The reason even alchemists, artifact refiners, and the like are required to take on demon-slaying missions is said to be because there are simply too many demons and ghosts, and the Five Elements Sect is spread too thin to handle them all.

On top of that, with more and more disciples choosing to study various side professions to avoid these demon-slaying missions, the sect's upper echelons decided to force these pampered alchemists, artifact refiners, and formation masters to accept some missions as well, under the guise of honing their martial arts and improving their self-preservation skills.

Of course, this is likely a way to increase the benefits for those disciples who actually specialize in demon-slaying.

After all, when faced with such tasks, most alchemists, artifact refiners, and formation masters are unlikely to go to the front lines themselves, and Qin Dongcheng is naturally one of them.

He would have to be out of his mind to travel a thousand miles away to slay demons; the time and energy wasted on the road alone would be enough for him to refine dozens of spiritual pills and earn a handsome sum of silver, not to mention the significant dangers involved.

The mission reward is only a hundred sect contribution points; he could earn far more than that just by refining a few extra pills.

Therefore, the moment he received this mandatory mission, Qin Dongcheng went straight to the Mission Hall, intending to hire other disciples to help him complete it.

To his surprise, as soon as he arrived at the Mission Hall, he spotted a familiar figure.

"Sixth Brother, you're at the Mission Hall too? Could it be because of the mandatory mission?"

Dong Hongyan spotted Qin Dongcheng first and immediately walked over with a group of younger sisters. Her small team consisted of four sisters who often took on various missions together.

Because Qin Dongcheng arrived the latest and was the youngest, he ended up being dubbed the "Sixth Brother."

Qin Dongcheng felt a bit speechless about this. Being inexplicably labeled the "Sixth Brother" in a sisterhood group always felt a little strange.

However, Dong Hongyan's other four sisters were all quite beautiful: the second sister Ju Xiaojing, the third sister Liang Qiuyue, the fourth sister Pan Yujie, and the fifth sister Dong Hongyu. Dong Hongyu was her biological sister, but because she was younger, she was ranked fifth, making Qin Dongcheng the sixth.

At this moment, the group gathered together, clearly also there for the sake of missions.

Dong Hongyan's voice was loud, and since their little group was composed entirely of beauties, they immediately attracted quite a few curious onlookers who glanced toward Qin Dongcheng.

They couldn't understand how a man had managed to blend into the famous sisterhood group of Bamboo Forest Valley.

Qin Dongcheng awkwardly walked up to greet them, then nodded and said, "It is indeed because of the mandatory mission. The task assigned to me is to go to Tongxin Village, a thousand miles away, to slay a group of Rat Demons. I don't intend to go, so I was looking to hire some official disciples to complete it for me."

"That won't do, Sixth Brother. Even if you are an alchemist, you should still master certain combat skills and gain experience. Otherwise, if you encounter another incident like the previous demon invasion, how will you defend yourself?"

Dong Hongyan patted his shoulder with a look of exasperation: "It just so happens that we are planning to take on more demon-slaying missions during this time. We'll take missions around Tongxin Village and bring you along to complete them, so you can properly hone your strength."

The other girls also chimed in, hoping to persuade Qin Dongcheng to join them.

"That's right. Luo Cloud Prefecture is becoming increasingly dangerous, and even Bamboo Forest Valley is no longer safe. Even with Big Sister's strength, she nearly had a mishap before. Sixth Brother, you really need to improve your combat abilities."

"Come train with us. With us protecting you, there certainly won't be any danger. You can go with peace of mind."

"You're a man, what are you afraid of? With us covering for you, there's nothing to worry about."

Seeing a group of older sisters trying to comfort him, Qin Dongcheng felt speechless. Had he known it would be this much trouble, he should have left the moment he saved Dong Hongyan, so that when she woke up, she wouldn't have known who saved her.

Now, being urged by a group of sisters to go out and fight, Qin Dongcheng felt it was all rather strange. Besides, having lived two lifetimes, he was no longer a sixteen-year-old boy.

He politely declined the sisters' good intentions and, under Dong Hongyan's look of disappointment, hurried out of the Mission Hall.

As for his mandatory mission, it was naturally taken on by the sisters as they went about their own business, telling him to just wait for them to turn it in. They didn't even want the mission rewards, which made Qin Dongcheng feel quite embarrassed.

He decided he would just have to refine more pills for them later as a token of his gratitude.

Watching Qin Dongcheng's hurried, somewhat pathetic departure, the sisters all shook their heads.

"Sixth Brother is great in every way—high comprehension, skilled at alchemy, good personality, handsome—but he is just too timid. He hides at home refining pills every day and doesn't dare to go out."

"That's true. After getting to know him, I sometimes feel like we are the men and Sixth Brother is the girl."

"No wonder Hongyu doesn't have feelings for him. Big Sister has tried to set them up several times, but she refuses. If my blind date were like that, I wouldn't agree to it either."

"To each their own. There's no need to force it. Since Sixth Brother likes staying home to refine pills, we shouldn't force him to go out and slay demons."

After a few comments, Dong Hongyan and the others stopped talking and began accepting various demon-slaying missions, planning to take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune.

The reason they came here was that they heard the Mission Hall was issuing many mandatory demon-slaying missions to alchemists, artifact refiners, and formation masters, leading these people to come to the Mission Hall to hire others to do the work for them.

Beyond the mission rewards themselves, there were additional payments offered by these alchemists, artifact refiners, and formation masters, making the compensation extremely lucrative.

It wasn't just them; many individuals and teams skilled in demon-slaying had flocked to the Mission Hall to accept work from these wealthy alchemists, artifact refiners, and formation masters.

The reason the sect assigned these missions to disciples skilled in side professions was to use them as a way to incentivize the combat-oriented disciples to resolve the demon chaos in Luo Cloud Prefecture as quickly as possible.

They hadn't expected to run into Qin Dongcheng immediately, who became the first person to try and hire them, though he offered no extra reward.

The sisters were still puzzled by Qin Dongcheng's stubbornness. Joining them to slay demons was such a great opportunity—not only was it safe, but he would also be accompanied by a group of beauties.

They weren't exactly ugly, and being with them was a treat for the eyes. Many disciples with cultivation levels far exceeding Qin Dongcheng's would give anything to join their group.

Unexpectedly, he had refused them outright without even a hint of hesitation. They could only conclude that Sixth Brother was too timid; after all, he was young and hadn't experienced much, so such cowardice was understandable.

However, some of the people around them who witnessed the scene began to mock and ridicule Qin Dongcheng, and they were far less polite than Dong Hongyan and her group.