At dawn, a glimmer of light appeared on the eastern horizon.
Humming a little tune, Li Ping'an arrived at the breakfast stall on Servant Peak.
He drank several large bowls of piping-hot soy milk and ate fried dough sticks fresh from the wok.
The stallholder fried while Li Ping'an ate.
Neither held the other up; they kept a perfect rhythm.
After finishing, Li Ping'an picked up his morning tea.
Tender tea buds worth a hundred coins, mixed with nearly a liter of shelled mung beans and finely ground spirit herbs.
Very nutritious.
"Ping'an, I heard you're going to become Elder Qingfeng's disciple, and you're heading to the third floor of the Merit Pavilion to complete a task."
The speaker was Auntie Wu, an old resident of Servant Peak.
She had reportedly been on Shushan ever since she was five.
"Who told you that?" Li Ping'an smiled. "The tasks on the third floor of the Merit Pavilion can get you killed, you know~"
The Myriad Affairs Pavilion catered specifically to outer disciples and Shushan's retainers; it was the beginners' arena.
The Merit Pavilion of Shushan's inner sect, meanwhile, was the advanced arena.
The Merit Pavilion had five floors, with the posted tasks increasing in difficulty from bottom to top.
Anyone who could ascend to the third floor of the Merit Pavilion and accept a task had at least fifth grade cultivation.
After leaving Servant Peak.
Li Ping'an took a stroll to digest his food and ran into an acquaintance who greeted him.
"Oh, Ping'an, I hear you're heading to the third floor of the Merit Pavilion?"
Li Ping'an frowned slightly, puzzled.
There wasn't even a first stroke to this character yet-how did everyone know?
Just then, he noticed quite a few people hurrying toward Main Peak.
Curious, Li Ping'an followed the