Li Yan stepped into the formation for accepting missions, and a blinding white light immediately enveloped him. He tried to look around, but all he could see was a blur of white light. He had no idea what kind of immortal art this formation used. After entering, each person was automatically guided to an empty spot, surrounded by a vast expanse of white, yet unable to see anyone else. However, when he looked back, he could see a dark hole, which he assumed was the exit.
He looked up at the sky again. The massive White Jade board floated there silently, its characters flickering. Occasionally, a line would turn gray, indicating someone had accepted that mission. On others, the number at the end would change, showing that someone had just taken on a multi-person task.
Li Yan watched the missions for a while before his gaze settled on the column for the Spirit Plant Garden. At the top of that column was a large character for "two," indicating that these were the missions for the Spirit Plant Garden corresponding to the stone marker with two cracks. At that moment, there were over forty missions listed.
"Mission Type: Two. Water fifty mu of Dragon's Peace Leaf. Single-person. Requires Lesser Mastery of 'Mist Breath Art.' Must know the medicinal properties for the growth of Dragon's Peace Leaf. Water once at a fixed time each day. One Low-grade Spirit Stone for three days. Penalty for one damaged plant: one Low-grade Spirit Stone…" (TN: A mu is a Chinese unit of area, roughly one-sixth of an acre.)
"Mission Type: Two. Harvest two hundred mu of Spirit Rice. Multi-person. Acreage is freely selectable. Requires perfected Lesser Mastery of the Wood-element 'Verdant Blade Art.' One Spirit Stone for every ten mu harvested. Penalty for fifty damaged stalks: one Low-grade Spirit Stone. To be completed in two months. Penalty for exceeding the time limit: one Spirit Stone per mu…"
"Mission Type: Two. Apply medicine to one hundred mu of Broadsilk Plant. Multi-person. Acreage is freely selectable. Requires initial Greater Mastery of the Water-element 'Frost-Shattering Manual.' Must know the optimal time for the medicine's dispersal. Two Spirit Stones per mu. Penalty for one damaged mu: four Low-grade Spirit Stones. To be completed in one month. Penalty for exceeding the time limit: three Spirit Stones per mu…"
"…"
As Li Yan read line after line, he couldn't help but sigh. These Spirit Stones were truly hard to earn. Most missions required compensation of double or even several times the value for any damages. Moreover, it seemed that a single mission could often take several months, or even a year and a half, to complete. But it made sense. A Qi Condensation Outer Sect disciple only received three Low-grade Spirit Stones a month, totaling just thirty-six a year. A mission like harvesting two hundred mu of Spirit Rice would yield twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones, but since it was a multi-person mission, it was likely extremely difficult to complete.
He also noticed that many missions specified the required level and elemental attribute of the immortal arts. Li Yan knew a little about this; some spirit grasses and medicines reacted differently to artifacts or immortal arts of different attributes. The same Verdant Blade Art, if infused with a fire attribute, could directly destroy certain herbs.
He also discovered that missions requiring a higher level of mastery in an immortal art often offered a higher reward in Spirit Stones.
Li Yan stood there, rereading the list several times. Finally, his gaze landed on one particular line: "Mission Type: Two. Water fifty mu of Mowang Bamboo. Single-person. Requires Lesser Mastery of the dual water and wood element 'Cloud and Rain Art.' Water once at a fixed time each day for a total of eighty-one days. One Low-grade Spirit Stone every ten days. Penalty for fifty damaged stalks: one Low-grade Spirit Stone…"
'Mowang Bamboo, Mowang Bamboo… Is this the same kind of bamboo that grows on Little Bamboo Peak?' Li Yan mused.
The next moment, he shook his head. 'Never mind. I'll take this one. At least it's a type of bamboo I've seen before. I haven't even seen the plants in the other missions, so I'd have even less confidence. I have to take a mission anyway. I'll just go with my gut for now,' Li Yan thought, rubbing his chin. He didn't delay any longer, lest someone else snatch it. He immediately used his Divine Sense to connect with that mission on the White Jade board. In the next instant, a red light shot toward the token at his waist, and at the same time, the text for the Mowang Bamboo mission on the White Jade board dimmed to gray. Li Yan submerged his Divine Sense into the token and discovered a new red dot inside. When he touched it with his Divine Sense, the message "Mission Type: Two. Water fifty mu of Mowang Bamboo. Single-person. Requires Lesser Mastery of the dual water and wood element 'Cloud and Rain Art,'…" appeared in his mind. It was undoubtedly the mission he had chosen.
Li Yan walked out of the Mission Hall and stood on the small path in the mountain's bamboo forest. Lin Daqiao had already gone back alone. Gazing at the Stone Marker by the path, the one with two faint cracks, he let out a soft laugh and walked down it.
After half a cup of tea's time, Li Yan once again arrived at the end of the path he had visited years ago. Without stopping, he walked directly into the illusion formation of the dense bamboo grove. After a flash of brilliant light, Li Yan found himself standing in a valley. The valley was vast, looking to be at least several hundred li in size. Near and far, the land was covered with different types of plants. There were acres of flowers and grasses, stretches of medicinal gardens, large fields of a plant that resembled wheat, and forests formed by various trees. A gentle breeze carried a fresh fragrance that filled his nose, and the spiritual energy in the air seemed exceptionally vibrant.
Li Yan stood for a short while before heading in a specific direction. It was a very conspicuous place, a patch of yellow mist shrouded amidst the green grass and tender flowers. Soon, Li Yan arrived. Staring at the churning yellow mist before him, he didn't know what to do. He had asked his Seventh Senior Brother before coming, and Lin Daqiao had told him that within these three mission sites, he needed to find the senior brother or sister in charge to be assigned his tasks, and he had also explained the locations of the mission offices within the three areas.
Just as Li Yan was about to try using his waist token, the yellow mist swirled and a path opened from within. It was unclear whether the formation had sensed someone's arrival or if the person inside had detected him with their Divine Sense. Seeing this, Li Yan abandoned his plan to take out the token and stepped inside.
This was a unique and tranquil bamboo courtyard with a single house, quite spacious in itself. However, the courtyard was filled with various pieces of equipment. In the distance were intertwined wooden posts, and the yard was full of sandpits, wooden bars, and even a number of stone locks placed on a patch of ground. Seeing this, Li Yan, who had been smiling, couldn't help but freeze. The scene was somewhat familiar, closely resembling the living and training grounds of the soldiers in the valley outside the Strategist's Manor. 'Could this Sixth Senior Sister be a Body Refining Cultivator?'
He had read many books over the years and knew that cultivation was divided into Spiritual Cultivators and Body Refining Cultivators. Spiritual Cultivators focused on cultivating spiritual energy and excelled at long-range attacks with sharp offensive power, but their physical defenses were limited, usually requiring Protective Spirit Artifacts and Talisman Paper for protection. Body Refining Cultivators, on the other hand, focused on tempering their physical bodies, which boasted formidable defense. Even without defensive artifacts or talismans, they could typically dominate in battles against cultivators of the same rank, their close-quarters combat being exceptionally fierce.
But what he saw before him was different from what he had read. Wasn't the physical training of cultivators done through cultivation arts and supplemented with medicine? Why was this like the crude training of mortals, even using equipment? This greatly exceeded his expectations.
Although Li Yan was currently a Spiritual Cultivator, his body was already exceptionally tough compared to that of a mortal. Spiritual energy could significantly improve one's constitution. Now, without using any magical power, he could easily lift something weighing four or five hundred jin with one hand. This equipment would be useless even for him.
For a Body Refining Cultivator of his same rank, lifting several thousand jin with one hand without infusing any magical power would be a simple matter, making this equipment even more pointless.
But what startled him even more, and made his face flush, was the sight of a tall, short-haired young woman standing before a set of parallel bars in the distance, looking at him coldly. He of course recognized this young woman; she was his Sixth Senior Sister, Gong Chenying.
However, she was currently wearing a tight, short-sleeved top and tight shorts, revealing healthy, wheat-colored calves from the knees down. The lines on her calves were fine and even, the muscles smooth and undulating. Above her thighs, the tight clothing starkly outlined her full buttocks and slender waist. Above that slender waist, the lines took an abrupt turn, revealing a pair of magnificent, blood-stirring peaks. Crystal-clear beads of sweat trickled down her long neck.
Li Yan's face reddened, and he didn't know what to do. Among the women he had been in contact with, besides his sister at home, there was only Zhao Min, whom he had occasionally sat near on the platform in recent years. Every inadvertent glance always made his heart race and his face flush. The faint, fresh scent from Zhao Min's body and her slightly exposed, jade-like neck, as smooth as silk under the moonlight, stirred an impulse to touch.
But the visual impact today was far more direct. He just stood there, frozen, not knowing whether to retreat or step forward.
"Are you here for a mission?" The cold, beautiful, short-haired young woman seemed not to notice Li Yan's awkwardness. She casually picked up a clean white towel and wiped the sweat from her face and neck.
"Oh, yes, yes, yes," Li Yan replied, snapping back to his senses. He nodded repeatedly and quickly looked away, pretending to be intrigued by the equipment here.
"Give me your token." After draping the towel over the parallel bars, she walked toward him.
"Yes, Senior Sister." Li Yan, somewhat flustered, took out his waist token. By this time, Gong Chenying had walked to within three paces of him. A wave of heat washed over him, and Li Yan smelled a faint, fresh fragrance similar to the one that emanated from Zhao Min, only this time it was much richer with the heat, causing his heart to beat uncontrollably faster.
Gong Chenying's expression remained cold. With a flick of her slender hand, the token in Li Yan's hand flew over to her. She submerged her Divine Sense into it and, a moment later, tossed it back to Li Yan.
"The Mowang Bamboo mission. You have multiple spirit roots, so you naturally have dual water and wood elements. But have you reached Lesser Mastery in the 'Cloud and Rain Art'? If not, the power you unleash will be insufficient. It's not just that it will be ineffective; it will only waste the Snow Dusk Crystals. Demonstrate it now. Otherwise, the compensation you'll have to pay won't be just a few Low-grade Spirit Stones."
Li Yan listened, only half-understanding, not knowing what 'Snow Dusk Crystals' were. But he didn't say much. He formed a hand seal in front of his chest, and in the next moment, a large patch of dark clouds roiled above his head. Rain seemed imminent, but not a single drop fell.
Gong Chenying nodded at the sight. This was precisely the level of control one had when an immortal art was cultivated to Lesser Mastery.
The mastery of an immortal art was divided into: Entry-level, Proficient, early Lesser Mastery, mid Lesser Mastery, late Lesser Mastery, perfected Lesser Mastery, early Greater Mastery, mid Greater Mastery, late Greater Mastery, and perfected Greater Mastery.
In the past three years, apart from the 'Quicksand Art,' which Li Yan had cultivated to Greater Mastery, his other immortal arts hovered around mid to late Lesser Mastery. This was already no small feat. After all, he had to cultivate his primary art on one hand, and on the other, control the Fragmented Poison while practicing his immortal arts. To reach this stage in just three short years was already incredibly fast. But in the eyes of others, this was merely the result of the sect pouring resources into him, which allowed him to display the strength he now possessed.
Li Yan's current 'Cloud and Rain Art' had reached mid-Lesser Mastery. He could control the art to be cast within a single breath and had reached the point where he could hold it, ready to be unleashed.
"Wait a moment. I'll take you there." After saying this, Gong Chenying paid Li Yan no further mind and turned to walk into the bamboo house. A moment later, she emerged, graceful and elegant in a long, dark green robe.
After they left the bamboo courtyard, the yellow mist behind them swirled once more, concealing the small yard. Gong Chenying waved her hand, and a small, white jade boat appeared in mid-air. She leaped onto it. Li Yan saw that it was a magical artifact, far superior to his own flying spirit artifact, and quickly followed her onto it.
They flew for about seventy or eighty li within the valley and arrived above a bamboo forest. This forest covered an area of about forty li. The bamboo within was arranged in separate square plots. Some were thin and small, others thick and large. The thin Mowang Bamboo was a light ink color, while the large ones were a deep, dark green. These bamboos were similar to the ones Li Yan had seen outside, but he felt there was something different about them, though he couldn't pinpoint what it was.
They landed in front of a plot of thin bamboo covering several dozen mu. Each stalk of this thin bamboo was only as thick as a thumb and about half a person's height, its body a light ink color with small leaves.
"This is the fifty-mu plot of Mowang Bamboo seedlings that needs to be watered. With the current area of your 'Cloud and Rain Art,' you can probably only water about half a mu at a time. But the most crucial part is that as the rain falls, you must use your wood-element spiritual power to dissolve the four Snow Dusk Crystals needed for that half a mu into the falling raindrops in mid-air. This process must be perfectly synchronized. If the Snow Dusk Crystals haven't completely dissolved by the time the rain hits the ground, it will cause a nutritional imbalance in the Mowang Bamboo. That half-mu plot will have to be re-sown, and it will take three days to grow back to its current state. If that happens, you will be fined one Low-grade Spirit Stone for every fifty damaged Mowang Bamboo stalks, and one Low-grade Spirit Stone for every ten Snow Dusk Crystals lost. Any amount less than that will be fined at a pro-rated value…"
Li Yan's head was buzzing as he listened, feeling as if Spirit Stones were flying, flying out of his own Storage Pouch, farther and farther away…