Missions

Seeing Lin Xuan about to leave, the handsome youth suddenly stopped him. "Hold it!"

"What is it? Does Junior Brother Duan have something else to say?" the young steward asked.

"Senior Brother Liu, wait a moment. I still have a few words to say to Junior Brother Lin," the handsome youth said.

Without waiting for the young man's reaction, he spoke directly to Lin Xuan. "One Yellow Tier high-grade sword art in exchange for that move of yours. And once you join the Battle Group, I guarantee no one will dare touch you!"

"Sorry, I'm not interested," Lin Xuan said flatly. His father had passed that move down to him; no matter what, he would never teach it to anyone else.

The young man shrugged, then led the newcomers away, leaving only the handsome youth and Tang Yu standing where they were.

"Tang Yu, are you very familiar with that kid?"

"Not at all!" Tang Yu said angrily. "Duan Fei, I'm warning you—don't get any ideas about him!"

"Don't worry. I'm not interested in a single sword move." A faint smile curled on Duan Fei's lips, yet a trace of chill lingered in his gaze.

The young steward first led Lin Xuan and the others to collect their identity plaques and register their identities. After explaining a few matters, he allowed everyone to move about freely.

Most of these new disciples came from prominent families. Quite a few had brothers or sisters in the Profound Heaven Sect, and once they were dismissed, they all went off to seek out their own small factions.

Lin Xuan only knew Tang Yu in the Profound Heaven Sect. Tang Yu had originally invited him to join the Battle Group, but after seeing the handsome youth's attitude today, he no longer wanted to join. Holding the basic handbook in his hand, Lin Xuan headed toward the Mission Hall.

Within the Profound Heaven Sect, all resources had to be exchanged with contribution points and Spirit Stones. For example, a Yellow Tier low-grade sword art required 100 contribution points and thirty Spirit Stones to exchange for it.

Contribution points, meanwhile, were earned by completing missions issued by the sect.

Some missions were simple but offered few contribution points. Those with high rewards were mostly fraught with extreme danger; danger and opportunity went hand in hand.

Lin Xuan's strength was at Meridian Condensation Stage Three. From what he knew, Meridian Condensation Stage Three was considered middling among the outer sect disciples, while Stages Four and Five were considered superior. To take part in the inner sect test three months from now, he had to first reach Meridian Condensation Stage Five. Only then would he have enough certainty.

"Mm, raising my cultivation by two stages in three months... I need pills, cultivation arts, weapons, Spirit Stones..." The more Lin Xuan thought about it, the more his head throbbed.

"I can only fight for contribution points with everything I have." Lin Xuan made up his mind and began browsing the missions hanging on the wall.

These missions were divided into nine levels, from Level One to Level Nine. The difficulty increased with each level, as did the danger. Naturally, the contribution point rewards also grew larger and larger.

Ordinary outer sect disciples only took the first four levels of missions. Lin Xuan had just arrived and wanted to take on something simple to familiarize himself with the place. He spotted a mission to gather Purple Night Herb. Each Purple Leaf Herb was worth ten contribution points, which was considered quite high.

Before he could accept it, a large group of people swaggered in. A crescent moon was embroidered on all their sleeves, and their expressions were exceedingly arrogant.

Leading them was a dark-faced youth with a knife scar across his face, making him look savage and terrifying. He walked up to the mission wall and swept out his hand, tearing down all the low-level, high-reward missions. Among them was the Purple Leaf Herb mission Lin Xuan had taken a liking to.

Lin Xuan was annoyed, but he did not make a move. It was only a mission—not worth his intervention. However, to his surprise, he spotted Zhang Bin among those people.

Zhang Bin saw Lin Xuan as well. He froze for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "You actually passed the test? What dog-shit luck!"

Seeing Zhang Bin's expression and recalling the Red-Spotted Bamboo Forest Guard from before, Lin Xuan quickly guessed that Zhang Bin had certainly been pulling strings behind the scenes.

"With Zhang Bin's strength, there's no way he has that much influence. There must be someone behind him," Lin Xuan guessed inwardly.

"Ah Bin, what's going on?" the scar-faced youth asked.

"Nothing. Just a Sword Slave who luckily passed the outer sect test." Zhang Bin did not want to reveal his history with Lin Xuan in public, so he could only say bitterly, "Kid, you'll soon learn that this isn't a place you can come to!"

The group collected a large number of missions, then strode away.

"Ah, the Divine Might Corps is truly overbearing. They took so many missions in one go—how are the rest of us supposed to survive?" one disciple complained.

"Keep your voice down. If they hear you, you'll be in for a world of pain!" someone advised.

"Senior Brother, do they always take missions like this?" Lin Xuan asked the person beside him.

"Yeah. Not just them—those large groups all do the same. Brother, I see you've clashed with people from the Divine Might Corps. I advise you to hurry up and apologize, or you'll suffer for it later!"

Lin Xuan smiled but did not respond. Zhang Bin wanted to kill him; how could he possibly go apologize? Still, he had no intention of telling anyone about such matters.

"I wonder what groups and factions there are in the outer sect?" Lin Xuan asked next.

"Ah!" The man waved his hand, not daring to continue speaking with Lin Xuan. He hurriedly ran away.

"Newcomer, don't mind him. He's afraid that if he gets too close to you, the Divine Might Corps will cause him trouble," someone explained.

Lin Xuan turned around and saw a lean youth standing there with his arms folded across his chest, grinning broadly.

"You're not afraid?" Lin Xuan asked curiously.

"Afraid? I hate that Divine Might Corps most of all. They swagger around acting like they're so damn great all day long. Just looking at them annoys me!" the lean youth cursed.

"My name is Lin Xuan. What should I call you, Senior Brother?"

"Luo Yi," the lean youth said. "Didn't you want to know about the groups and factions in the outer sect? Let me tell you about them."

"Actually, these large groups do not truly belong to the outer sect. Their real core lies in the inner sect, and quite a few are even connected to core disciples. The outer sect is merely where they absorb fresh blood."

"There are three largest groups: the Battle Group, the Divine Might Corps, and the Azure Robe Society. More than half of the Profound Sword Sect's elite disciples belong to these three groups. There are also many smaller groups, some formed around Lineages, while others are groups of friends who band together to complete missions."

"Among them, the Battle Group and the Divine Might Corps clash constantly. The Azure Robe Society, on the other hand, is rather mysterious. They say it was founded by a great beauty, but unfortunately, no one has ever seen her."

"Of course, joining those three major groups is somewhat difficult. You need a certain level of strength. Brother, if you have the strength, you can join our Battle Group," the lean youth said.

"So Brother Luo is from the Battle Group." Lin Xuan smiled. "I'm used to being free. I don't really want to join any of these groups."

Luo Yi thought Lin Xuan said this because he was worried that his strength was insufficient. He patted Lin Xuan's shoulder and said, "If the Divine Might Corps gives you trouble again in the future, just give them my name."

After saying that, Luo Yi took down a mission plaque, waved his hand, and left.

After the Divine Might Corps stirred things up, the remaining missions either offered pitifully few contribution points or were too difficult. Lin Xuan searched for a long time before finally finding a mission he was fairly satisfied with.