Mission

"Huh?"

Song Yan focused his mind and split off a strand of divine sense to meet the fourth falling monument, but his gaze remained fixed on the little glowing rings.

The fourth ring lit up...

The fifth...

The sixth...

By the time the twelfth little ring lit up, Song Yan's consciousness within that space had begun to blur, and he could barely split his divine sense any further.

He let the thirteenth ink-black monument fall and blast him out of the space.

"Whew..."

Song Yan panted softly. Even after experiencing that exact same sensation of death again, he still found it hard to remain composed.

Compared with the first time, however, it was already much more bearable.

Seventeen points of light in all-did they correspond to seventeen monuments?

He sat cross-legged in meditation, slowly recovering his spiritual power as he kept turning it over in his mind.

If he could cut down all seventeen monuments in succession, would something change?

"But why seventeen..." he murmured, holding the Stone Bead between his fingers. "How strange..."

Still, with his strength and cultivation insufficient, thinking about it was a waste of effort. Better to keep his feet on the ground and cultivate.

Song Yan was sixteen this year, though his birthday had yet to come.

His spiritual root aptitude was mediocre, but fortunately, he had not embarked on the path of cultivation too late. Now at Qi Refining, fifth layer, he was already in the middle Qi Refining stage. At this rate, he reckoned he could reach the peak of Qi Refining around the age of forty or fifty.

Within the Qi Refining realm, the first three layers were relatively easy to cultivate, and the three middle layers were not difficult either.

For someone of ordinary aptitude, with a small fortuitous encounter or sufficient cultivation resources, advancing to Qi Refining sixth layer in three to five years could hardly be called fast.

But between the sixth and seventh layers of Qi Refining lay an enormous hurdle.

Countless cultivators of mediocre aptitude spent their entire lives languishing in the late Qi Refining stage.

They cultivated until their allotted years ran dry, until their will to pursue the Dao wore away.

"Cultivation resources are a big problem..."

According to the elders' few scattered lectures to the outer sect, combined with what Song Yan himself had seen and heard, Qi Refining had ten layers in total.

The first three were called the early Qi Refining stage, the fourth through sixth the middle Qi Refining stage, and the seventh through ninth the late Qi Refining stage.

Qi Refining tenth layer signified the completion of Qi Refining, when one could build a Dao foundation.

"Foundation establishment..."

Building a Dao foundation meant truly leaving the bounds of mortality, possessing vast spiritual power and being able to ride objects through the sky.

One no longer needed mortal food, and even those who remained forever at foundation establishment early stage had lifespans of over two hundred years.

Song Yan shook his head. Why think so far ahead?

"Four Spirit Stones left..."

"As for pills... Qi-Nourishing Pills barely have any effect anymore. They're only useful for recovering spiritual power now."

Preparing for a rainy day, Song Yan was already planning for the mission outside the sect in six months.

"In the cultivation world, the weak are meat for the strong. It's even more dangerous than the mortal world. Better to make more preparations."

Since entering the cultivation world, Song Yan had gained very little combat experience. Only when he first reached Qi Refining, fourth layer had he participated in surrounding and killing a low-grade demon beast that had gone berserk within the sect.

"Law artifacts..."

Song Yan did have a Peachwood Gengjin Little Sword in his Heaven and Earth Bag, one of the standard weapons the sect issued to outer sect disciples.

It looked decent, but in truth, it barely qualified as a low-grade law artifact and was of little use.

In battles within the broad realm of Qi Refining, unless someone at the late stage fought someone at the early stage, with little difference in spiritual power, law artifacts and talismans were the keys to deciding the outcome.

Unfortunately...

Song Yan was penniless. Where would he get the resources?

His law artifact was a bare-minimum handout from the sect. As for talismans...

Alas, he could only try his luck at Fireworker Stockade again when the time came.

"If this keeps up, scavenging is going to become a habit..."

Song Yan smiled bitterly.

Buzz-

Just as Song Yan was fretting over how to improve his fighting strength, a gentle yet penetrating sound came from outside his cave abode.

It was the sound of a Sound Transmission Talisman.

Hm?

Song Yan paused in surprise. Sound Transmission Talismans were usually only used to issue missions, and even seeing one was rare for outer sect disciples like them.

The last time someone had contacted an outer sect disciple like him with a Sound Transmission Talisman had been during the sect induction ceremony.

He walked out of his cave abode and took down the Sound Transmission Talisman hovering in the air.

"Junior Brother Song, the Outer Sect Miscellaneous Affairs Hall received a request for aid today. It seems some rogue cultivators from elsewhere have arrived in Shiliang Town."

Senior Brother Lin Qing's gentle voice came from the talisman.

"I was originally supposed to go down the mountain to handle it, but I know you're from Shiliang, Junior Brother Song. Those rogue cultivators are all only at the early Qi Refining stage, so they won't be able to stir up much trouble."

"Why don't I leave this mission to you? You can take the opportunity to visit your hometown, too. For the details, come see me before you leave the sect, and I'll give you the Jade Slip."

"Left by Lin Qing."

Song Yan's eyes lit up.

The Dongyuan Sect had many kinds of missions. The Outer Sect Miscellaneous Affairs Hall oversaw outer sect disciples, and its missions generally involved tending spirit plants, sweeping the sect grounds, and the like. They usually did not require leaving the sect.

That was why they were called "miscellaneous affairs," rather than the inner sect's "sect missions and commissions."

Occasionally, outer sect miscellaneous affairs included missions down the mountain. These generally involved some serious incident in a lineage, village, or town under the Dongyuan Sect, or, as with this mission, outside cultivators with unclear intentions who did not know the rules. Someone had to identify themselves as a sect member and send them away.

For outer sect disciples like them, such opportunities were far too rare.

Song Yan had originally thought he would have to wait six months for an official mission led by an inner sect disciple before he could go down the mountain and visit home.

"Senior Brother Lin really has looked after me. I'll have to thank him properly when I see him."

Song Yan briefly packed his things...

After looking around, he discovered there was nothing much to pack. He was utterly penniless.

He left his cave abode and headed for the Spirit Plant Garden.

Speaking of which, Senior Brother Lin Qing had spent quite a few years in the outer sect. With his current cultivation at Qi Refining eighth layer, he had long since qualified to enter the inner sect.

Yet for some unknown reason, he had remained in the outer sect, serving as an assistant steward at the Outer Sect Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.

He oversaw the reception of new disciples, miscellaneous duty assignments, and the like. The two had met when he first brought Song Yan into the sect.

Senior Brother Lin Qing lived near the outer sect's Spirit Plant Garden.

Spring had now begun, and the crops in the Spirit Plant Garden were growing beautifully. Spiritual Qi filled the surroundings. No wonder Senior Brother Lin was willing to live here.

"Senior Brother Lin!"

"Oh? You got here so quickly, Junior Brother Song?"

Senior Brother Lin Qing walked out of his cave abode with a warm smile, already holding an emerald-green Jade Slip.

"I happened to have just come out of seclusion. As soon as I received your Sound Transmission Talisman, I came straight over."

"Hm? Junior Brother... you've broken through?"

Lin Qing had not probed him with divine sense. It was simply that after Song Yan entered Qi Refining, fifth layer, his breathing had become long and steady, his complexion lustrous, and his bearing markedly different from before.

The word "breakthrough" was written all over his face.

"It drained every last bit of my savings."

"Hahaha... congratulations, congratulations."

Lin Qing laughed. "Here, this is the mission Jade Slip, along with a few things you might need for this mission. If there's anything you don't understand, come ask me anytime, or send me a voice transmission."

Song Yan also had three Sound Transmission Talismans, issued when he entered the sect. He had never used them.

"All right. Thank you, Senior Brother Lin."

"Not at all."

After exchanging a few pleasantries and words of thanks, Song Yan left.

He had no money with which to repay the other man, so that would have to wait for another day.

Watching Song Yan's departing figure, Lin Qing's warm smile gradually faded, his expression returning to calm. Thoughtfully, he murmured to himself, "Song Yan..."

"Song Yesheng..."

He turned and returned to his cave abode.

Somewhere within the cave abode lay a scattered pile of bamboo plaques, each engraved with a different name.

Most of the names had been crossed out with a deep score.

"Gu Qingqing..."

"Zhou Mengdie..."

"Lu Ziye..."

"..."

He paid no attention to those bamboo plaques, pacing over to the wall and staring at the two names hanging beneath the inner sect disciples.

Song Yan.

Shao Sichao.

"There's no way I could remember this wrong..."

He drew a deep breath and narrowed his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

"In my previous life, our sect..."

"Never had these two people."