Summons

Placing his identity token into the groove on the wall of the cultivation chamber, the door slid open automatically.

"I'll come out to get some air every day. Don't mind me, and don't let anyone disturb me."

Fang Huai's expression was stern as he instructed the attending disciple.

Limited by the label's duration, he had to leave the cultivation chamber every six hours to swap out another Qi Refining disciple's [Spirit Absorption].

"Rest assured, Senior Brother," the attending disciple vowed earnestly. "This junior will see to it. If Senior Brother has any other requests, I'll be at your beck and call!"

Having finally latched onto a big fish like Fang Huai, he naturally wanted to maintain a good relationship.

Fang Huai nodded and, amid the attending disciple's flattery, strode into the cultivation chamber.

Compared to the crude setup of Servant Valley, this Outer Sect cultivation chamber was far more dignified.

The room was equipped with a small, attribute-less Spirit Gathering formation, the floor was covered with Ice Silk Cushions to aid meditation, and the incense burner held calming incense.

The layout was exquisite, carrying a hint of immortal aura.

Feeling the dense spiritual energy, Fang Huai was extremely satisfied.

Indeed, you get what you pay for. The spiritual energy here not only had fewer impurities but was also blended with White Sha that removed toxicity and negative effects, making it perfect for cultivating the Hundred Sha Technique.

Crossing his legs and sitting down, he entered a meditative state within a few breaths.

Five years of skinning, countless living-dead beasts processed by his hands, and the Soul Banner in his storage pouch had already absorbed dozens of beast remnant souls.

This cultivation of the heart through slaughter to prove the Dao deepened his understanding of the Hundred Sha Technique, making it ever more profound and penetrating.

On the fifty-sixth day of cultivation, a sharp pain in his sea of consciousness yanked him abruptly out of his meditative state.

The pain originated from the depths of his soul, as if some bond had been forcibly triggered.

His face turned ashen as he quickly removed the identity token from the groove.

At that moment, the token was slightly warm, emitting a dark golden light—

The sect was forcibly conscripting him.

Sinking his mind into it, several lines of mission information immediately appeared:

[Mission: Proceed to the affiliated family, Nanze Zheng Family, to collect annual tribute. Specific quantities have been separately notified to the team leader.]

[Participants: Lin Qian, Wu Sanli, Liu Xiange, Fang Huai]

"I didn't expect to be forcibly conscripted by the sect so soon."

Fang Huai was grateful that his recent days of cultivation had boosted his strength: "Luck seems to be on my side—I wasn't conscripted to the front lines. I just wonder if this Liu Xiange is the Liu Xiange I know."

The sect's compulsory missions were divided into four types, distinguished by color: White, Gold, Red, and Black.

White missions were routine logistics tasks, usually low-risk errands like running messages, manual labor, or capturing mortals.

Gold missions were mostly related to cultivation families.

Red missions primarily involved hunting demonic beasts or hostile cultivators.

Black missions were the battlefield conscriptions with the highest mortality rate.

[Hundred Sha Technique (Incomplete Scroll) Third Layer 92/100]

"Good, I'm only eight points away from completing the Third Layer of Qi Refining. I'll make up the remaining progress with Spirit Gathering Pills. Once this conscription is over, I'll immediately apply to leave the sect and find a place to shed my mortal skin."

Besides Spirit Gathering Pills, Fang Huai had exchanged for several low-grade Spirit Stones, some miscellaneous items, and three practical techniques—

Soul Pulling Technique: Controls the souls within the Soul Banner to assist in battle;

Light Body Technique: Attaches spiritual energy to the legs to enhance agility;

Yin Underworld Claw: Condenses poison Sha to attack opponents. Not particularly powerful, but when used for sneak attacks, it often yields unexpected surprises.

It wasn't that Fang Huai didn't want to exchange for the inherited Sha Arts of the Skinning Room, but with costs starting at hundreds of thousands of contribution points, he couldn't afford them.

Inside the Skinning Room, Wu Liu was worried sick about Fang Huai not showing his face for two months. When she saw him push the door open, her face immediately lit up with joy.

When she heard he had been conscripted, Wu Liu cursed the sect for being foolish, sending a First Layer of Qi Refining disciple out on a mission.

Fang Huai didn't explain. After exchanging for the techniques, he used spiritual energy to get a basic grasp of the three methods, but didn't replenish his spiritual power with Spirit Stones.

As a result, his current spiritual energy level was only maintained around the First Layer of Qi Refining.

"You're at the Third Layer of Qi Refining?" Wu Liu finally noticed the anomaly.

That Wu Liu, at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, hadn't seen through his cultivation at first glance surprised Fang Huai a little.

But thinking about it, it made sense. Without a spiritual root, his spiritual energy was restrained. After consuming it, he couldn't automatically absorb heaven and earth's spiritual energy to replenish it, so being misunderstood was only natural.

From this perspective, not having a spiritual root wasn't entirely a bad thing. At the very least, it was like having unconsciously cultivated an extremely crude concealment technique.

Three days later, Fang Huai arrived at the Outer Sect Hall.

"Senior Brother Fang, over here!"

As soon as he stepped through the hall's doors, a familiar voice called out.

"Junior Sister Liu."

A carved stone hairpin, black hair coiled into a bun, a red centipede head poking out from within—this was indeed Liu Xiange as Fang Huai knew her.

Several years had passed, and she had already reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining. She must have encountered some fortune of her own.

Standing beside Liu Xiange were two male cultivators—Lin Qian and Wu Sanli.

One was at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, the other at the fifth.

"Junior Sister Liu, you know him?" Wu Sanli's face had been fairly amiable at first, but upon seeing Fang Huai, it immediately turned cold.

His cultivation was far too low—barely at the third layer of Qi Refining.

For someone like this to come here was nothing more than making up the numbers.

Liu Xiange was about to explain when Lin Qian spoke: "Lowest cultivation, latest to arrive—you carry yourself with more airs than a Foundation Establishment uncle."

"I made some preparations and delayed the time. My apologies to you, Senior Brother." Fang Huai bowed in apology.

Lin Qian nodded and let the matter drop.

As the leader and the one with the highest cultivation, he naturally held the most authority.

With a wave of his hand, a massive bird covered in Sha Qi flew out from his spirit beast pouch.

"This Corpse Sha Bird was refined from a ninth-layer Qi Refining demon beast, the Wind-Assisting Bird. Though it has lost all its soul, it retains some of its former abilities and can travel one thousand three hundred li in a day.

Carrying the four of us to the Nanze Zheng Family will take only three days."

"As expected of a Senior Brother from Corpse Refining Peak—to possess such a treasure!"

No sooner had Lin Qian finished speaking than Wu Sanli rushed to flatter him.

Corpse Refining Peak was the main peak of the Corpse Sha Sect. Aside from the lineage directly under the Sect Leader, it held the most authority and the richest inheritance.

At the same time, its requirements for a disciple's aptitude and background were extremely strict.

"With Senior Brother here, this mission will be completed quickly and smoothly." Wu Sanli continued his flattery.

"This time, it all depends on Senior Brother Lin to lead the way."

"Lin Qian is unworthy. You flatter me too much!"

"..."

Fang Huai, however, frowned and remained silent.

With the war situation so tense, a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator like Lin Qian should have been assigned more important tasks.

If he was only going to collect the annual tribute from a cultivation family, that was far too great a waste of talent.

What Fang Huai didn't know was that Lin Qian was actually a coward who feared death. He had spent a great many Spirit Stones to secure a mission that kept him away from the front lines.

This trip to the Nanze Zheng Family was meant to be a chance for him to line his pockets.

Wu Sanli, already disdainful of Fang Huai for his low cultivation, saw him staying silent and sneered:

"Cultivation is lacking, and you don't know how to act. You've latched onto Senior Brother Lin's leg, yet you don't even think to thank him."

"Senior Brother Wu, Senior Brother Fang is..."

Fang Huai stopped Liu Xiange from continuing and bowed to Lin Qian and Wu Sanli, saying:

"This junior knows his cultivation is low and unworthy of great responsibility. I am willing to handle all the miscellaneous tasks on this trip.

If either of you Senior Brothers has any orders, this junior will certainly carry them out without fail."

Being weak in strength wasn't entirely without its benefits.

When real danger came, there was naturally a reason to hang back and avoid the sharp edge.

As for Wu Sanli's mockery, Fang Huai simply couldn't be bothered to care.

If he truly wanted to deal with scum like that, the methods hidden in his mind numbered more than ten thousand.