Taking a Mission

After the three finished speaking, they motioned for Xu Yan to take out his Identity Jade Token. Then Ma Pengfei and Sun Yan each channeled a strand of magic power into the crimson Jade Slip in his hand.

Hum!

The crimson Jade Slips trembled softly. The golden Pill Furnace emblems engraved on their surfaces blazed with light, and each released a golden beam that landed on Xu Yan's Identity Jade Token.

Xu Yan watched curiously. The process lasted roughly three breaths, after which he retrieved his Identity Jade Token.

Holding it, he found that a miniature golden Pill Furnace emblem had appeared on its surface, with the words "first-tier low-grade" engraved in the middle.

As he examined his Identity Jade Token, Yun Feng's congratulatory voice sounded beside him. "Congratulations, Brother Lin, on being officially certified by our alliance as a First-Tier Low-Grade Alchemist."

Xu Yan turned, a smile on his face, and returned his salute.

His success in passing the assessment owed much to this man helping smooth things over.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the other two stewards, he left the Alchemy Hall.

Once outside the Alchemy Hall, he headed straight toward a three-story palace. This palace was somewhat different from the others, with an enormous square in front of it.

The entire square was paved with Azure-Gold Ore. Threads of golden light gleamed in the pale blue ground, giving it a lavish appearance. Many rogue cultivators had claimed spots in the square and set up stalls.

Xu Yan had already learned from the middle-aged cultivator that this square was called the Rogue Cultivator Market.

The Rogue Cultivator Alliance had set it aside specifically for rogue cultivators to trade cultivation resources. Each stallholder needed only to pay one Low-Grade Spirit Stone a year to receive a plot one zhang square.

The square was bustling now. Rogue cultivators' stalls nearly filled it, densely packed and numbering in the thousands.

It was more than ten times the size of the Separation Valley Market. Still, he did not linger and quickly made his way forward.

The palace adjoining the square was Xu Yan's destination.

About half an incense stick later, Xu Yan crossed the square and arrived in front of the palace.

Unlike the other palaces, this one was built entirely from Hundred-Year Agarwood. Its three stories were carved with all manner of cloud motifs, giving it an exceedingly antique appearance.

At the center of its facade were the large engraved words "Thousand Mechanism Hall."

This was where rogue cultivators posted and accepted missions, as well as sought information.

A blue gate of light stood before the Thousand Mechanism Hall, formed by a screening formation. When Xu Yan took out his Identity Jade Token, an opening large enough for a cultivator to enter appeared in the gate.

After passing through the gate of light, he could see the entire interior of the hall.

The hall was exceptionally spacious and filled with all sorts of rogue cultivators. As soon as Xu Yan arrived, one of them approached to strike up a conversation.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist. I am Inspired Rogue Person, also known as Know-It-All. If you need information, you can come to me. You look like a kindly man, fellow Daoist, so I'll give you a fair price."

He was a shrewd-looking middle-aged rogue cultivator with three long wisps of beard. He held a pale golden compass magic artifact. When Xu Yan looked over, he offered what he considered a friendly smile, revealing two gold-rimmed front teeth.

Together with his pale golden Daoist robe, he looked rather like a wealthy landlord from the mortal world.

Xu Yan merely gave him a cold glance and walked away.

His attention had already been caught by a crystal in the hall.

He walked slowly forward and stopped several zhang from the crystal. It was roughly one zhang wide and three zhang tall, standing conspicuously in the center of the hall. Its entire surface radiated white light, and densely packed lines of small characters appeared on it from time to time, a truly wondrous sight.

Rogue cultivators already crowded beneath the crystal. Seeing this, Xu Yan did not rush forward but observed carefully.

“Greetings, fellow Daoist. This crystal is called the Message Transmission Platform. It was forged by master artifact refiners of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance so that rogue cultivators could post missions. It was made from second-tier Dragonblood Crystal as the primary material, combined with third-tier Iron-Mother Gold, and forged with true fire for forty-nine days. If you wish to post or accept a mission, simply place your Identity Jade Token on the stone pedestal in front of the crystal.”

At some point, the shrewd middle-aged cultivator had appeared beside Xu Yan. Seeing him examining the crystal, he offered an explanation.

Xu Yan thanked him, then found an excuse to leave, intending to shake off this fellow who clung to him like a haunting ghost.

He did not want someone setting their sights on him just after he had joined the Rogue Cultivator Alliance.

Fortunately, the hall was extremely spacious. After he made a circuit around it, the middle-aged rogue cultivator disappeared from his sight.

Xu Yan then returned to the crystal.

Naturally, he had come to accept alchemy missions and earn Spirit Stones.

Three cultivators were waiting in line ahead of him.

At the front was an old man in a black Daoist robe, wearing a black bamboo hat that concealed his face well. He took out his jade identity token and placed it on the waist-high stone pedestal before the crystal.

A flash of white light passed over the old man's Identity Jade Token, and densely packed missions appeared on the crystal.

The old man considered them carefully for several breaths, then selected a mission to hunt Demon Beasts.

With obvious reluctance, he took out a Low-Grade Spirit Stone and tossed it toward the crystal. The mission vanished from its surface, while a distinct glow appeared on his Identity Jade Token.

This meant the old man had successfully accepted the mission. Once he finished hunting the Demon Beasts, he could go directly to collect his reward.

Watching this, Xu Yan sighed inwardly. Every rogue cultivator had to pay a fee of one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, whether posting or accepting a mission.

He made a quick estimate to himself. Given the number of rogue cultivators in the Jade Radiance Kingdom, the Spirit Stones flowing from their hands into the Rogue Cultivator Alliance each year must have amounted to an enormous sum.

This was also one of the reasons the Jade Radiance Kingdom's three Nascent Soul Realm rogue cultivators had founded the Rogue Cultivator Alliance.

Soon, it was Xu Yan's turn.

He stepped forward quietly and placed his Identity Jade Token on the stone pedestal. Unlike the black-robed old man's, his token emitted a streak of golden light amid its white glow. That golden light formed a miniature Pill Furnace in the air.

"He's an alchemist!"

A rogue cultivator waiting behind Xu Yan exclaimed at the sight, his voice tinged with envy.

The other rogue cultivators also looked at Xu Yan with a measure of respect.

Xu Yan ignored their gazes. All his attention was now focused on the crystal before him.

As the crystal's light flickered, messages appeared before his eyes.

“Seeking twenty teeth from first-tier Azure Wolf Demons. Offering ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones.”

“Selling one stalk of second-tier Spirit Herb, Heavenly Ice Flower. Price: thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.”

“Rogue cultivator Chen Fei offers twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones for a master artifact refiner to forge a fire-element flying sword. Materials provided. Required grade: no lower than third-tier.”

Everywhere he looked, the surface was densely packed with information.

He skimmed past all these messages, looking only for pill-refining missions.

His purpose in accepting missions this time was clear: first, to earn Spirit Stones; second, to practice with Spirit Herbs. As for his pill success rate, there was no need to worry. With the wondrous Green Pearl's help, he would certainly meet the mission poster's requirements.

Soon, a whole batch of alchemy missions appeared before him, and he sifted through them one by one.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he fixed his gaze on a mission that had just appeared on the crystal.