A Drop in Intelligence Was Unavoidable

After casually scanning the information on the many task boards, Chu Tian spotted an unclaimed task on a nearby board.

He reached out and tore it down, never bothering to be too selective.

[Task Name: Slay one mid-stage Qi Refining demon beast]

[Task Location: Azure Origin Mountain Range]

[Cultivation Requirement: Mid-stage Qi Refining]

[Task Reward: Contribution Points]

This task was fairly simple and would not take too much time.

As Chu Tian thought this, a glint of coldness flashed in his eyes. After all, he did not have that much time to spare.

"Leave after accepting your task."

Just as Chu Tian finished reading the task details, an aged voice sounded beside him. It belonged to one of the outer sect elders of the Task Hall.

Everyone in the outer sect knew about this elder's temper.

It was said that an outer sect disciple had once lingered in the Task Hall, picking and choosing tasks while refusing to listen to advice. He had been blasted out with a single punch and spent half a year bedridden.

Thus, Chu Tian tried his best not to provoke this elder. He respectfully bowed to him before leaving.

Outside the Task Hall, he could occasionally hear outer sect disciples discussing their tasks.

"None of the tasks this time are easy. I thought I could snatch a task like hunting demon beasts."

"There are some, but they're too far away. It's ridiculous. They could clearly send us to the Azure Origin Mountain Range, yet they insist on setting the location in the Azure Cloud Mountain Range."

"Who knows? I've looked several times, but I haven't found a single task in the Azure Origin Mountain Range."

"Forget it, forget it. I still have to complete my task, so I won't keep talking."

There were no tasks in the Azure Origin Mountain Range?

Standing in a corner as he waited for Fatty Wang, Chu Tian frowned slightly and glanced at those disciples.

Then he looked at the task in his hand.

The task was right there. Were those people blind?

No. One person might be blind, but two or three of them probably were not.

All sorts of information gathered in Chu Tian's mind. The timing of this task was very wrong.

And this task...

Was there some sort of scheme behind it?

Once that thought arose in his heart, Chu Tian could no longer cast it aside.

All of this seemed to be directed at him.

It was not because he had a persecution complex, but because...

"Hehe, please wait, senior brothers."

After pondering for a moment, a faint smile appeared on Chu Tian's face as he walked toward the group that had been talking.

The few people who had been preparing to leave paused and turned to look at Chu Tian, their faces carrying a hint of confusion.

"Does junior brother need something?"

One of them was a tall, muscular man with a face full of flesh. Even when he smiled, he did not look the least bit approachable.

"Junior brother has something he would like to ask senior brother to help with."

Chu Tian sighed, looking as though something weighed heavily on his mind.

"It's like this, senior brother. My parents in the mortal world have just passed away, and I wish to return to a mortal city to pay them my filial respects."

"But as you know, senior brother, outer sect disciples cannot leave without permission. Junior brother originally wanted to take a nearby task and go home for a visit, but... sigh."

A lonely expression appeared on Chu Tian's face. His emotions seemed sorrowful, and he looked to be in poor spirits.

Hearing this, the fleshy-faced man understood what Chu Tian wanted.

To exchange tasks.

This was actually quite common in the outer sect. Disciples often exchanged tasks with others for personal reasons.

"Junior brother, it's not that senior brother doesn't want to..."

The fleshy-faced man was about to say something when his words halted. His gaze landed on the task information in Chu Tian's hand, and he abruptly changed his tone.

"Junior brother's filial devotion is admirable, but senior brother, I..."

"I'll add ten spirit stones."

"Deal."

Neither of them wasted words. Both had their own calculations, so everyone was satisfied.

After receiving that task slip, Chu Tian finally let out a long breath.

That task in the Azure Origin Mountain Range was extremely strange.

It just so happened that there was only one task on that board. It just so happened that so many people had not seen any task in the Azure Origin Mountain Range.

Everything was too coincidental.

If there was nothing wrong with this, then he had lived all these years for nothing.

"Was this his doing?"

Chu Tian's eyes were especially cold, killing intent flickering within them, though he concealed it well.

This outer sect mission was likely going to be troublesome.

Inner sect, Third Elder Hall.

"Father, will Chu Tian believe it?"

Fu Chengqin stood before his father and spoke after a brief moment of thought.

At this moment, Gu Yuan had heard their plan from beginning to end.

"As long as there's nothing wrong with his brain, he'll definitely notice the problem with that task slip. He will certainly exchange it."

Fu Tianming chuckled and patted his son on the shoulder.

"But he'll also notice the danger."

"Yes. He should realize there's a scheme at work and know that we won't give up easily, but so what?"

"We never intended to act in the Azure Origin Mountain Range, and there's no ambush in the mortal city either."

"Qin'er, let me teach you an unwritten rule. Within Cangyuan Palace, you must never make a move. But once you step outside Cangyuan Palace, the line between life and death becomes uncertain."

Fu Tianming continued speaking.

"Even the Vice Palace Master and the Grand Elder have done things like this plenty of times."

Listening to the two of them, Gu Yuan could not help but admire how strictly these people followed the rules.

At the same time, he rather admired Fu Tianming's psychological warfare.

Well then, make the other party think they would strike at the mission location, then slaughter him the moment he left the gates.

Wait?

No, that was wrong.

Gu Yuan, who had just been admiring them, was instantly rendered speechless.

Damn it, he had just praised these people for having brains, yet this intelligence-dropping wish-fulfillment novel was apparently unavoidable.

Chu Tian clearly had no idea anyone was targeting him, but Fu Tianming's stunt would only alert the enemy.

There was no need for it at all.

No matter how he looked at it, this layered scheme from before seemed utterly pointless.

They were going to kill him once he left anyway. Striking when he was unaware might even have given them a higher chance of success.

He truly could not understand how these cultivators thought.

Could there really be an intelligence-reducing aura at work somewhere in the shadows?

They had seemed quite smart at first.

Of course, even if he could not understand their thoughts, Gu Yuan could not interfere for now. He did not have much energy left, so saving even a little was worthwhile.

As for Fu Chengqin, Gu Yuan had always maintained the belief that it was enough for him to stay alive.

After all, he truly needed a great deal of energy at the moment, and he could only obtain energy through Fu Chengqin.

Then again, he wondered whether other people could cultivate him at the same time.

If he could obtain the energy of two people, or even thousands upon thousands of people, perhaps he might evolve some sort of ability.

Becoming freer was not just a dream. One had to have dreams, after all.