Two Tasks You Must Never Accept

Making lightning with his bare hands.

Just imagining the scene made Zhou Qing feel excited.

In the Cultivation World, lightning had always been considered a force that carried out heaven's punishments. Among the many systems of spells, Lightning Arts stood above all others, occupying a singularly supreme position.

Among spells of the same rank, Lightning Arts produced the most explosive effects. When they collided with other spells, they often achieved crushing, withering destruction.

Yet precisely because its power was so explosive, Lightning Arts were also the hardest for cultivators to master.

Zhou Qing had heard Chen Qingxuan mention that Azure Cloud Sect possessed a complete system of Lightning Arts leading all the way to the Golden Core Realm. Unfortunately, no one had successfully cultivated it for several centuries.

Once his cultivation reached a sufficient level, he could try applying to cultivate Lightning Arts. As the Senior Apprentice, he had more than enough standing to submit such an application.

With his magnetic-field ability assisting him, mastering Lightning Arts should not be difficult.

But Lightning Arts were still a matter for the distant future. What mattered most now was becoming proficient in using the trump cards he already possessed.

Especially his Hypersonic Iron Pellet.

This trump card held enormous potential—perhaps even greater potential than Lightning Arts—and was worth his utmost effort to develop.

Over the past two months, Zhou Qing had hammered out two iron pellets himself. Their shapes were not as perfect as that first iron pellet's.

However, at hypersonic speeds, such slight differences in shape did not affect their performance.

To make the iron pellets powerful enough, Zhou Qing needed to establish a circular magnetic field around himself, then accelerate the pellets within it to a sufficient speed.

That created a problem.

How could he fire an iron pellet that was circling around him at a distant enemy?

Changing the trajectory of an iron pellet moving at hypersonic speed was extremely difficult, especially after he had already expended enormous magnetic-field energy to accelerate it.

The most effortless and sensible method was to let the pellet shoot out along a tangent from the circular magnetic field, with that tangent pointing directly at the enemy.

The timing required for this was extremely difficult to grasp.

Zhou Qing planned to practice first with a slow-moving iron pellet, then gradually increase its speed.

He levitated an iron pellet with his magnetic field and made it circle around him.

The pellet moved only slightly faster than an ordinary person running.

Zhou Qing aimed at a bowl-sized target on the courtyard wall, calculated the timing, and suddenly withdrew the magnetic field.

Without the magnetic field supplying an external force to keep the pellet moving in a circular path, it naturally shot out along the circle's tangent.

Smack!

The iron pellet struck the courtyard wall, roughly two zhang away from the target.

Zhou Qing shook his head helplessly.

The target on the courtyard wall was only three or four zhang away from him, yet he had missed by two whole zhang.

His accuracy was worse than a child throwing darts blindfolded.

He went over, picked up the iron pellet, and continued practicing.

The pellet either veered left, veered right, or flew over the top of the wall.

Zhou Qing practiced over a thousand times in a row, yet failed to hit the target even once.

Seeing that it was already noon and that he had used up thirty to forty percent of his magnetic-field energy, Zhou Qing decided to rest for a while and continue in the afternoon.

He had just retrieved the iron pellet and returned to his room to rest for less than a quarter of an hour when he suddenly heard a commotion outside the courtyard.

Zhou Qing went over and opened the courtyard gate, only to find a lively crowd gathered outside.

Wei Kuang, Wei Xu, Wang Xiaohu, Nie Yunxi, Feng Yuan, and Yuan Hongying.

Zhou Qing smiled. "Why are you all here?"

Wei Xu smiled. "We suddenly had free time during the day, and we all felt a little unused to it. After finishing cultivation this morning, I found myself with nothing to do, so I invited Miss Nie and Xiaohu to come find you for some diversion. We ran into these two in the bamboo grove."

He pointed at Yuan Hongying and Wei Kuang.

Zhou Qing said, "You two came to pass the time with me as well?"

Yuan Hongying smiled. "I came to ask Senior Apprentice whether there are any tasks available to take on."

Everyone looked surprised. "You want to take on tasks already?"

Yuan Hongying smiled. "Yesterday, I cultivated using spirit stones, and I truly couldn't stop. Thinking that two spirit stones would only last ten days, and that for the remaining twenty days I wouldn't be able to maintain that cultivation speed, I felt that time would be wasted."

"So I came to ask Senior Apprentice whether there were any tasks that could earn some spirit stones."

Zhou Qing deeply understood Yuan Hongying's thoughts.

He had felt the same way since last night. Thinking that in three days he would no longer be able to maintain his cultivation speed, he also found it deeply regrettable.

He shook his head and said, "I checked the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall's notice board this morning. There weren't any tasks suitable for us."

Yuan Hongying shook her head in disappointment. "Then I can only wait for now. If a good job comes up, Senior Apprentice, don't forget your junior sister."

As she spoke, she looked at Zhou Qing with pitiful, pleading eyes.

Zhou Qing smiled but did not respond. Instead, he looked at Wei Kuang and asked, "And what brings you here?"

Wei Kuang smiled. "I also came because of tasks, though not to accept one. I thought Senior Apprentice had always paid little attention to the sect's mundane affairs, so there may be some things I need to remind you about, lest you take unnecessary detours."

Zhou Qing asked, "Could it be that the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall's tasks have some hidden trick to them?"

Wei Kuang said, "The sect's tasks can be regarded as a form of subsidy the sect provides to its disciples. Naturally, there would be no underhanded scheme deliberately meant to harm disciples."

"However, different tasks offer different rewards, have different levels of difficulty, and affect disciples differently. Those are things one must pay close attention to."

"Among all the sect's tasks, there are two categories with the highest rewards, but Senior Apprentice must absolutely never accept them."

Zhou Qing asked in surprise, "Which two?"

Wei Kuang said, "Thunder Serpent Cave and Living Dead Cliff."

Zhou Qing said, "I have heard people mention Living Dead Cliff, but what is Thunder Serpent Cave? And why can't tasks at these two places be accepted?"

Wei Kuang said, "Thunder Serpent Cave lies at the foot of Azure Cloud Mountain's rear mountain. From its entrance, one can go directly to the base of Azure Cloud Mountain. It is where our Azure Cloud Sect's spirit vein originates, as well as the place where the sect's spiritual energy is most concentrated."

"The spiritual energy there is as dense as if High-Grade Spirit Stones were constantly boiling."

Wei Xu, Yuan Hongying, and the others all shuddered, their eyes lighting up as they said, "Then shouldn't everyone be fighting over tasks there? If they took a moment to sit and cultivate during the task, wouldn't that be like gaining High-Grade Spirit Stones for free?"

"How could there be such a good thing?"

Wei Kuang smiled bitterly. "Thunder Serpent Cave is called that because our Azure Cloud Sect's guardian spirit beast, a Thunder Serpent at the peak of the Golden Core Realm, remains coiled there at all times. As a result, lightning constantly flickers throughout Thunder Serpent Cave, making it utterly unsuitable for cultivation."

"Every so often, the Thunder Serpent needs people to help clean its scales. That is the task at Thunder Serpent Cave."

"Although the Thunder Serpent tries its best to restrain its power, disciples cleaning its scales still suffer mild electric shocks from time to time. They will not be killed, but the experience is agonizing. After returning, their entire bodies tremble, and they cannot cultivate for several days."

"Therefore, although tasks at Thunder Serpent Cave pay generously, everyone avoids them like the plague."

So that was how it was.

A glint flashed through Zhou Qing's eyes as he smiled. "Then what hidden drawback do the tasks at Living Dead Cliff have?"