Chapter 20: Mission Area

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

He glanced at Yu Banxia, who was still picking at the bookshelf.

After all, there was some conflict between what to choose. If they took a profound technique, they might not be able to learn it in a short time since they had just entered the Qi Refinement realm.

However, if they chose a spell that was too basic, then the value of this reward would be too low. They would be wasting this opportunity.

Fortunately, Jiang Li was less troubled in this aspect.

He touched the small pouch in his arms. There were 21 spirit stones lying quietly inside.

The Qi Nourishing Pill cost two spirit stones per bottle, and the Qi Recovery Pill cost one spirit stone per bottle. He used the Qi Nourishing Pill and the Qi Recovery Pill to exchange for six spirit stones with Yan Hong.

Adding on the 15 spirit stones he had, he had only managed to gather 21 spirit stones.

After he had made his breakthrough, Yan Hong had helped to ask around about the prices of spell techniques in the Scripture Storage Pavilion. Some of the most basic spell techniques of the five elements even cost less than ten spirit stones.

Jiang Li saw that it was indeed the case.

When he was selecting the [Zombie Puppet Technique] earlier, he was aiming for the most expensive one.

Now, on the other hand, the Yin-Wood attribute bookshelves were the exact opposite. He looked at the lowest price row. There was nothing he could do about it. He could not afford anything of a higher grade.

Similarly, without much hesitation, Jiang Li selected a technique from both sides and walked to the counter to hand it to Elder Li.

The Scripture Storage Pavilion’s Elder Li raised his eyes to glance at Jiang Li.

“20 spirit stones.”

Jiang Li’s funds immediately shriveled, leaving only a single spirit stone lying there.

Elder Li casually put away the spirit stones. This small amount of spirit stones was simply too insignificant to him. He handed over three jade slips and placed them on the counter.

Jiang Li was already in the Qi Refinement realm and could already use his spiritual qi to activate the jade slip.

He sat down on the mat next to him and placed the three jade slips on his forehead one after another. He slowly inserted his spiritual qi into the jade slips according to the techniques he had learned in class. A large amount of information about the spell techniques flowed into his mind like liquid.

After using three jade slips in a row, he still felt a little dizzy, but he no longer felt dizzy for the first time.

After he handed the jade slip back, Yu Banxia finally chose his spell technique.

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

With tacit understanding, they did not exchange information about any of the techniques they had chosen. After leaving the inner sect area, they parted amicably.

Jiang Li did not return to the dormitory to continue cultivating, nor did he rush to try out the cultivation method. Instead, he arrived at the function area of the outer sect.

The function area was the area where the outer sect disciples had the most daily activities, such as the trading area and mission area.

Jiang Li first walked into the trading area.

The trading area was huge, but the planning inside was very messy.

Other than the rows of shops with shop fronts, there were also many disciples who laid a piece of cloth on the ground and sat down by the side of the road, setting up stalls like the night market in his previous life.

This caused the outer sect trading area to become even more bustling and chaotic.

The prices of the goods were lower than those in the shops. This attracted many disciples who were short of money.

From time to time, disciples would come forward and haggle.

Sometimes, Jiang Li would be one of them. But most of the time, he would wander aimlessly in the trading area.

Of course, he was not bored.

With every step he took, his Level 3 appraisal skill would be thrown around crazily.

In fact, the majority of the items on the ground here were ordinary miscellaneous items. The weapons used by mortal warriors, such as sabers, spears, staffs, and so on, were at most of better quality.

There were also some animal fur, bones, internal organs, and other biological materials. Most of them were obtained by the outer sect disciples when they went out on missions.

Medicinal pills, artifacts, incomplete manuals, and other cultivator items could be seen here. However, the quantity was quite low. Furthermore, nearly half of them were either broken or fake.

No one was a fool. Things that were slightly better and had value were kept and used by themselves. It was very rare to see them sold here.

However, the security in the outer sect trading area was pretty good. All the disciples placed their items on the ground but nobody tried to steal or snatch anything.

After all, the existence of the Law Enforcement Hall was a great deterrent to them.

“Yan Hong, how’s business today?” Jiang Li walked to the depths and saw his chubby friend.

Yan Hong also took up an ordinary stall in the trading area. He was very careful in doing some business.

There were not many things on his cloth. A few basic medicinal pills and a few basic spiritual materials were goods that were commonly sold on the streets. Jiang Li had seen them at least twenty times along the way, and there were even fewer people who went up to ask for the price.

“Haha, Jiang Li, it’s you. I’ve gained quite a bit today. I plan to wait a bit longer and officially open my shop next month.”

Yan Hong waved a booklet in his hand. It was filled with names and numbers.

Of course, he was not talking about gains as in spirit stones, but these numbers instead.

Yan Hong had been in this market for more than ten days. From the moment he figured out the rules, he casually set up a stall and sat there.

As for their 19 lackeys, they were also called over. Every day, they would go around the entire trading area asking about the price and haggling. Finally, they would gather at Yan Hong’s place for him to register and tabulate.

He was new here and did not know how to start doing business.

“You really are meant to do business. In that case, their monthly allowance next month will be used as the starting capital. Don’t give it to me for the time being. However, don’t forget about your own Qi Refinement cultivation.”

Yan Hong’s enthusiasm for becoming a businessman did not diminish after he came to the sect. Instead, he became even more determined.

Jiang Li naturally expressed his support towards this. After all, if he had a merchant friend supporting him, regardless of whether it was purchasing resources or selling items, it would be very helpful.

“I know, I know. I have a high-grade spiritual root. Don’t worry.”

“By the way, didn’t you guys go to pick a spell technique today? How was your selection? Do you have any special resources that you need? I can keep an eye out for you.”

Suddenly, Yan Hong thought of this.

After a moment of pondering, Jiang Li organized the information about the spell techniques in his mind, and discovered that there was indeed something he needed.

“Are there any zombies for sale in this outer sect trading area? What’s the exact price?”

Yan Hong was stunned. He scratched his head and looked pensive.

After recalling for a moment, he dabbed some saliva on his finger and quickly flipped through the book.

“There are zombies, but they are too big and not convenient to carry. The demand for them in our Scripture Storage Valley is small, so it’s very rare for outer sect disciples to capture them.”

“So in the outer sect, only two shops have zombies for sale, and the quality is very low while the price is very high. In short, it’s not worth it.”

“Hmm, alright. Then you should help me keep an eye out. I also want methods to capture zombies or refine them.”

“Also, help me keep a lookout for seeds of some spiritual trees and spiritual materials. There’s no rush. If the price is suitable, I can buy some.”

Jiang Li stated his request. Yan Hong nodded and wrote down these two points.

“See you then. I have to go to the Mission Area again to see if there are any missions that can be taken at the initial-stage of the Qi Refinement realm.”

Jiang Li used his appraisal for two hours as usual before walking towards the Mission Area.

This appraisal skill came with the system, but as usual, the speed of leveling up was simply too slow. He could only take time out every day to speed up the progress, but he could not force it.

However, his understanding over the past few days made him deeply understand his poverty.

The monthly allowance given by the sect was far from enough. He needed to think of a way to earn more spirit stones.

However, he did not know how to refine pills or weapons. As a novice who did not have a skill to utilize, he could only go to the mission area to see if there were any missions suitable for him.

After all, in the Scripture Storage Valley, outer sect disciples had to do missions after a year. Some disciples had not even drawn qi into their bodies at that time.

If even they could receive missions in the Mission Area, why couldn’t Jiang Li, an initial-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, do the same?

The outer sect mission area was a very large indoor hall. There were also a lot of disciples here. They were talking in groups of three or five. Most of them were gathered in front of the three large tokens to check out the missions they could accept.

Here, Jiang Li could clearly sense an aura that was different from the trading area.

The expressions of the disciples here were obviously more urgent than the disciples in the trading area. Some disciples that had been here all year round even had icy expressions as if they saw everyone as enemies who had killed their fathers.

From time to time, a few older outer sect disciples would return to hand in their missions. Some of them were covered in blood, while others directly carried some unknown monster, appearing rather fierce.

Jiang Li understood a bit. Even though the mission area did not have any requirements for accepting missions, it was still very considerate to have divided the missions into three difficulty levels, and the missions one was suggested to take were classified as much.

Initial-stage Qi Refinement, mid-stage Qi Refinement, and late-stage Qi Refinement.

Although these three stages were all in the Qi Refinement realm, the gap between them could often be several times, or even ten times.

Jiang Li estimated his own strength. He had only started cultivating for a few days and had yet to master any spell techniques.

The single sub-class of an internal martial artist would at most allow his body to be slightly stronger than the average cultivator at the initial-stage Qi Refinement realm. He did not seem to have much of an advantage here.

On the other hand, he was quite confident in his recovery ability.

As he thought about it, he realized that he was actually quite ordinary. Then, he walked to the mission board of the initial-stage Qi Refinement realm.

“Disciple to Fan the Flames: The disciple will go to the Alchemy Hall to fan the flames for the Pill Furnace. Each person must work for two hours.”

“Requirements: Fire or Wood attribute spiritual roots.”

“Reward: Five Qi Recovery Pills per person per day, and one spirit stone.”

“Collecting Ghost Needle Grass: Head to the Herbal Hall to gather spiritual materials for the Ghost Needle Herb Garden. Each person must pluck 300 grams of needle leaves.”

“Requirements: None”

“Reward: One Healing Pill per person per day, and one spirit stone.”

“Cleaning the Sect: The disciple will head to the outer sect residential area to clean up the environment. Each person must clean up 20% of the area.”

“Requirements: None”

“Reward: Each person gets one spirit stone every seven days.”

“Pill Testing Disciple: Disciple will head to the Alchemy Hall to test out the effects of a pill. Disciple’s safety is ensured.”

“Requirements: Physically Strong and Healthy”

“Reward: Three spirit stones per person per test.”

…