Li Flame Mountain

Hu Mang believed that within the sect, there were definitely talented individuals who weren't very bright but were incredibly gifted.

This "guaranteed learning" approach adds extra benefits to the traditional teaching and learning process, beyond the simple transaction itself.

After all, everyone likes to teach geniuses, but most people are not geniuses, and the problems of cultivation for most people always need to be solved by someone.

A genius master and a foolish apprentice—that's quite a story to watch. Even without a strong bond between master and apprentice, some rivalry is still interesting.

This is better than a master and disciple meeting but not recognizing each other, only to find out they are fellow disciples upon asking.

Hu Mang believed that the person who created this system definitely thought the same way.

With these chaotic thoughts flashing through his mind, Hu Mang began to seriously select "high-level gatekeepers."

After all, he believed that with Old Daoist Ge's cultivation level and his personality as a professional, he would never take the initiative to help.

The old man either gives up or he simply resolves the problem and then goes back to giving up.

You should make the decisions yourself.

To be honest, if conditions allowed, he would still like to do the introductory tasks himself.

Three Mountains United (Senior Gatekeeper)

Mission: Escort the Three Mountains Law Seals to the sect's ancestral lands of the three ancestral mountains of Heaven, Earth, and Man, restart the ancient mountain and river contract, and awaken the great guardian spirits of the three mountains.

In charge of the True Person: Three Mountains True Person

Basic Rewards: 4200 Mountain Merit Points, Rubbing of the Mountain and River Contract

Excellent Reward: The Great Spirit of the Three Mountains promised that in times of life and death crisis, the Three Mountains would descend their energy to protect one's life.

Cleansing away the miasma of the mountains (Senior gatekeeper)

Mission: Delve into the ruined mountain, tainted by Demonic Qi, purify its essence, and eradicate the demonic roots embedded in its heart.

In charge of the True Person: Divine Sword Sect Devil-Sweeping True Lord

Basic Rewards: 3800 Mountain Merit Points, Devil-Cleansing Divine Water, Devil-Breaking Mountain Seal

Excellent reward: After purifying the mountains, one's own Dao heart connects with this land, strengthening the foundation of one's Dao.

Hu Mang discovered that many of the missions were not actually issued by the Mysterious Peak Sect, or even by the Divine Sword Sect, a neighboring sect of the Liang Kingdom, but by other major innate sects, such as the Jade Peak Sect, Qing Ming Azure Firmament Manor, Condensed Rosy Clouds Cliff, and Primordial True Dao Sect.

These are all powerful figures within the sect who have reached the Refining Spirit to Return to the Void level.

The founding patriarchs all received lectures from the Grand Pure One Dao Ancestor.

And these powerful sects from the Primordial Chaos Sect actually came here to issue missions.

This situation is quite interesting.

But thinking about it, it's quite normal.

We're a civil engineering school, why would we be doing civil engineering if we weren't taking on projects?

Moreover, some of the tasks are quite abstract.

For example, Hu Mang saw that two direct disciples of the Jade Purity Jade Pure One Sword Sect, one of the Seven Sects of the Righteous Path, agreed to a sword duel. As a result, they fought fiercely and leveled seven mountains, causing the Spirit Vein to collapse and the earth's energy to leak out. They had no choice but to seek help from the Mysterious Peak Sect.

Furthermore, the task specifically noted that the repairs must be carried out privately without informing the master or superiors; otherwise, if they were punished by the sect and placed under house arrest, the task rewards would be forfeited.

Can you really renege on a debt like this?

This involuntarily reminded Hu Mang of the past, when Brother Tiezhu led him, a double-flowered red stick Java debts all over Zhuawa.

This is probably why, even though he knew his family was secretly participating in underground fights, Brother Tiezhu always turned a blind eye.

There's no way around it; if you don't have a bit of a "street smarts" attitude when doing engineering, you'll often be at a significant disadvantage.

If any fellow disciples take on this kind of task in the future, I can also help them collect debts from the righteous sects. He has a wealth of experience in hanging banners and blocking people.

I wonder if the elders of that sect will risk their reputation by beheading me with a single sword strike.

After observing for a while, Hu Mang confirmed three directions.

First, it must be within the territory of the Liang Kingdom; otherwise, if it drags on for too long, he still has things to do at Zheng Family Garden.

Secondly, the task difficulty cannot be too high, otherwise even with Old Daoist Ge's personality, he would not feel comfortable letting himself go on a mission alone.

Third, it would be best if it were related to something unique to the Azure Mysterious Realm. He really wanted to see things that didn't exist on Earth Star, such as... Extraterrestrial Heavenly Devil.

Mountain sealing and crack repair (high-end door replacement)

Mission: The Demon-Sealing Seal on Mount Taimen in Jingning Prefecture, Liang Kingdom, has developed a crack and needs to be reinforced. Since the crack leads to the Demon-Suppressing Cave, there is a possibility that an extraterrestrial demon might take the opportunity to emerge. Therefore, the Sword Master of the Divine Sword Sect is required to seal the seal, while the sect's disciples are responsible for reinforcing the mountain range and repairing the crack on the outside.

Responsible True Person: Three Mountains True Person, Master Chujian of the Divine Sword Sect Sword-Unleashing True Person

Basic Rewards: 1100 Mountain Merit, 80 Top-Grade Spirit Stone, 1 Bottle of Devil-Suppressing Pill, 1 Devil-Sealing Sword

Excellent performance reward: guidance from the Three Mountains True Person on duty and elders of the Divine Sword Sect.

Hu Mang set his sights on this task.

Firstly, it is located within the Liang Kingdom. The Liang Kingdom has thirty-six prefectures, among which Jingning Prefecture is in the south of the Liang Kingdom and is not far from the Mysterious Peak Sect.

Secondly, this was not an internal sect mission, but a joint demon-suppressing operation between the Divine Sword Sect and the Mysterious Peak Sect. The tasks were even assigned: the sword cultivators of the Divine Sword Sect were responsible for the most dangerous task of killing the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Devil that might emerge, while ordinary disciples like him were responsible for sealing off mountains and repairing peaks on the outskirts.

Compared to the "purification of the mountain miasma" he had seen before, it did not require going deep into the earth's core to expel the demonic roots.

Therefore, the danger is relatively controllable.

"What, you've taken a liking to this mission?"

Hu Mang turned his head and found that the burly, bearded man he had seen earlier had somehow appeared beside him.

"Li Flame Mountain, Zu Gong."

"Spring Thunder Ridge, the Hu Mang."

Since they weren't bound hand and foot, it meant the other person was inner disciple just like him.

"I heard my senior master, Southern Peak Venerable, mention you. He said he saw a promising talent during the initiation ceremony some time ago, but unfortunately, he was snatched away by Daoist Ge from Spring Thunder Ridge. That person must be you."

The Southern Peak Venerable, is that the old man with fiery hair?

"If there's no one else, it should be me," Hu Mang said calmly.

"Didn't you have a senior brother to guide you in choosing an introductory mission? Newcomers can suffer quite a bit if they go on missions alone," Zu Gong said with great interest.

"My senior brother is away on business and is not in the ridge," Hu Mang said cautiously.

"I understand now. Uncle Ge probably doesn't have the leisure to train disciples. As for the Divine Sword Sect's sword-drawing missions, they're alright, at least there are elders to guide us."

Zu Gong glanced at the mission scroll and nodded.

"Is our patriarch interested in this mission?" Hu Mang asked.

"Me? I can't stand those idiots from the Divine Sword Sect," Zu Gong laughed. "You newbie don't know, but the ones who fight the most fiercely with the Divine Sword Sect are our Li Flame Mountain and Great White Peak. They basically fight every time they meet. I can't even count the number of sword cultivators I've beaten on one hand. I have no desire to associate with them."

Hu Mang nodded silently, recalling the Innate Earth Spirit Divine Light he had seen on the other party before.

Although sword cultivators are fierce and can break through anything, they are not invincible. There are several Divine Ability abilities that can restrain them, such as metal-based grappling techniques or earth-based innate supernatural Divine Ability.

The former can disrupt the opponent's sword momentum, while the latter can withstand the opponent's sword intent.

He learned all this knowledge from the library, probably because there was a sword immortal sect next door, so there were many books on this subject.

Moreover, since the other party was from Li Flame Mountain, Hu Mang's heart stirred, and he quickly asked, "Grandmaster Brother, I've heard that your Li Flame Mountain's fire-based alchemy is also unparalleled."

"It is indeed a unique skill, but unfortunately I don't know how to do it," Zu Gong looked at the other party with a puzzled expression. "What, you want to learn alchemy? Then why did you join Spring Thunder Ridge? Even if you don't join our Li Flame Mountain, shouldn't you have joined Pure Water Cliff?"

Hu Mang touched the tip of his nose. He couldn't very well say that he joined because his mentor was incompetent, could he?

"Although I don't know how, I can show you the way. Since you're new to the sect, you probably haven't been to Li Flame Mountain before."

Hu Mang looked at the "introductory task" in his hand with some hesitation.

"Don't worry, you can sign your name on it first, which means you've claimed the task. Then go back and report to your master. If your master agrees, the task is yours. This is one of the perks of inner disciple. Of course, the time limit is three days."

Hu Mang wrote down his name as instructed, and sure enough, the text on the scroll visibly disappeared.

"It seems this task isn't so urgent," Zu Gong said with his rich experience.

"If it were truly urgent, this wouldn't be a 'doorman's errand,' it would have become a 'legal errand' and a 'master's order' long ago."

If "gatekeeper's duties" and "clan service" are optional, then "law duties" and "master's orders" are mandatory as long as you are a disciple of the Mysterious Peak Sect. Otherwise, you will be expelled from the sect at best, and your life will be in danger at worst.

However, after searching for a long time, Hu Mang still didn't see a single "law officer".

"Master's order" is not hard to understand; it refers to a sect mission personally issued by a master, and not all senior masters are qualified to issue such orders. At the very least, it must be issued by Five Peaks Venerables.

As for "Dharma errand," it's quite mystical, because according to the book, it should be called "spiritual errand."

Hu Mang didn't know exactly what this "cultivation job" was.

The two left the main hall, Zu Gong immediately grabbed his shoulder, saying, "Stand firm, I'll take you there."

Before Hu Mang could react, he felt his feet slip and his whole body was pulled into the ground by an invisible force.

In an instant, the world before my eyes turned into a murky, yellowish-brown expanse.

Unlike ordinary earth escape techniques, the Zu Gong's earth escape technique was incredibly fast and extremely stable; the Hu Mang felt as if it were sitting in a small boat sailing on a calm river, with the surrounding earth and rocks automatically separating and quietly closing together like flowing water, leaving no trace.

Moreover, perhaps due to the nature of the Earth and Wood Sect, the disciples of the Mysterious Peak Sect don't seem to particularly like the art of flight.

After about a dozen breaths, a glimmer of light appeared in the yellowish-brown field of vision ahead.

The light grew closer and bigger, eventually transforming into an exit.

A wave of hot air rushed towards us.

Compared to the serene and secluded Spring Thunder Ridge shrouded in mist, Li Flame Mountain is a world of crimson red.

The entire mountain is composed of dark red rock, the surface of which is covered with fine cracks, as if it had been repeatedly scorched by a fire.

On the mountainside, you can see rows of buildings built against the mountain, mostly made of stone, with a rough and practical style and not much decoration. However, each building is sturdy and durable. Several buildings seem to lead straight into the mountainside, from which billowing heat and thick smoke continuously emerge.

On a distant mountaintop, there stands a massive palace-like building, entirely constructed of crimson stone, which reflects a flame-like luster in the sunlight, making it exceptionally eye-catching.

"Among the five peaks, Li Flame Mountain is the only one with a protective array. Otherwise, if the fire poison leaks out and the mountain's terrain is reversed, a major disaster will occur," Zu Gong chuckled as if he had thought of something.

"If our Mysterious Peak Sect were to experience a leak of mountain energy at its mountain gate, it would be an utter disgrace."