Chapter 330 - 318: Accepting a Mission
Chapter 330: Chapter 318: Accepting a Mission
Zhao Lin arrived early. The Merit Hall wasn’t crowded; only a few cultivators stood before the notice boards, pacing and conversing in low voices.
Han Chi County was home to the provincial Spirit Dao Institute, which focused primarily on teaching the Dao. Most cultivators in the county held official positions—such as cultivating Spirit Plants, brewing wine, or performing Alchemy—and rarely had the time or energy to go out on missions.
Dozens of missions were posted on each wall, specifying the cultivation or Daoist art requirements for anyone who accepted them, as well as the reward rules. Some missions also had time limits.
The notices were of different colors: purple, white, gold, and cyan.
’What do these colors mean?’
Zhao Lin wondered. Seeing a middle-aged steward in the hall, he walked over and bowed.
"Senior Brother, I’d like to ask you something."
The middle-aged steward looked him over, a trace of curiosity in his eyes. "My surname is Hu. You can just call me Senior Brother Hu. Is there something you need, Junior Brother?"
Zhao Lin was a disciple of the Spirit Dao Institute, and with a cultivation of only the Qi Refining Third Layer, he technically wasn’t qualified to accept missions.
"I see that these missions have different colors. May I ask what the difference is?"
"Is this your first time here, young friend?"
Steward Hu smiled and pointed to the notices on the wall. "The four colors—purple, white, gold, and cyan—represent the mission’s difficulty and danger level, from highest to lowest."
"Cyan missions are the lowest level. They’re all very simple tasks, like running errands or things that are just time-consuming and laborious."
"Basically, anyone can handle them, but correspondingly, the rewards are small—only Spirit Stones, no merit points."
"Gold missions are of medium difficulty. They require a certain skill or combat power and have some danger, but it’s not life-threatening."
"The Spirit Stone reward is usually fifty or more, and some also offer merit points."
"White missions are much more difficult, and the danger increases significantly. For example, concocting a rare pill, or going to a dangerous place overrun with Demon Beasts to find a specific item."
"If you fail the former, it’s not so bad—at worst, you compensate for the losses. But for the latter, you could lose your life. Of course, the mission rewards are quite generous."
"Purple indicates extremely difficult or dangerous missions. I won’t say much more about them; don’t take on this kind of mission unless you have absolute confidence in your strength."
Zhao Lin cupped his hands in thanks. "Thank you for clearing up my confusion, Senior Brother Hu."
"Wait, I’m not finished."
Steward Hu gave a faint smile. "Besides purple, white, gold, and cyan, there’s also a black mission."
"A black mission?"
"Correct. But black missions are not usually posted publicly. Their difficulty is even higher than purple-level missions. Moreover, they only allow for success, not failure, and you only get one chance."
"You can’t just take a black-level mission because you want to. You must be proven through multiple missions and have an excellent reputation to even be eligible to accept one."
"So that’s how it is. I’ve really learned a lot today!"
Zhao Lin thanked him sincerely and then walked to the notice boards to look them over one by one.
He quickly scanned all the notices but unfortunately didn’t find a suitable mission.
Since it was his first time accepting a mission, Zhao Lin didn’t want to risk his life on a white or purple one.
There weren’t many gold missions, and they either required skills like Alchemy, Artifact Refining, or Arrays, or they were located too far from Nanhe Province. Just traveling there would take seven or eight days.
As for the lowest-level cyan missions, he was a disciple of the Spirit Dao Institute; it wasn’t worth it to travel a long way just to run errands for someone.
’In such a large sect, is there really no mission suitable for me?’
Zhao Lin frowned slightly.
"What’s wrong? Didn’t find anything suitable?"
Steward Hu, who had been observing from the side, walked over and asked when he saw Zhao Lin’s expression.
"No, I haven’t."
Zhao Lin answered honestly.
Steward Hu smiled faintly. "Actually, the sect has many missions. We can’t post them all here, so we only display those that have been newly released in the last few months."
"If you’re interested, young friend, you can come to me to look through the complete list of missions."
Zhao Lin’s heart stirred. He understood what the man was implying and asked, "What’s the fee to view the missions?"
Seeing how perceptive Zhao Lin was, Steward Hu happily held up one finger. "Just one Spirit Stone."
The fee wasn’t low, but Zhao Lin was determined to take a mission, so he said, "Alright." As he spoke, he was about to take out a Spirit Stone.
"Not so fast."
Steward Hu held up a hand to stop him. "Let’s clarify something first, Junior Brother. Are you accepting a mission for yourself, or are you picking one out for someone else?"
Zhao Lin said, "I’m accepting it for myself."
Steward Hu glanced at Zhao Lin’s robes and shook his head gently. "You’re a disciple of the Spirit Dao Institute. According to the rules, you can’t leave the county at will before reaching the Middle Stage of Qi Refining."
"If you accept a mission, how will you complete it?"
Zhao Lin understood the other’s concern that he might accept a mission and not complete it. He explained, "You may not know this, Senior Brother Hu, but I am a Martial Cultivator. Although my cultivation is only at the Qi Refining Third Layer, my combat abilities are not inferior to those of disciples at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining."
"If I accept a mission, I will explain the situation to the Daoist Elder."
Steward Hu clapped his hands together and laughed. "I heard there was a Martial Cultivator in the Spirit Dao Institute. So it’s you! That’s excellent."
As he spoke, he took out a jade slip from his sleeve.
Zhao Lin, in turn, took a Spirit Stone from his storage pouch, accepted the jade slip, and swept his Divine Sense over it, finding hundreds of missions recorded within.
Scanning with Divine Sense was far faster than using the naked eye. Zhao Lin swept through the list, but he suddenly stopped halfway through.
It wasn’t that he had found a suitable mission, but that he was surprised to find that the mission to kill a Body Cultivator, which the teaching elder had mentioned last time, was still listed as incomplete.
’As expected, this mission is no easy task.’
Zhao Lin was glad he hadn’t let the prospect of merit points cloud his judgment back then. During the last Dharma Assembly, he had struggled just to fight a Body Cultivator at the Fourth Layer of Body Tempering. If he were to face one at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering, the outcome would be obvious.
He skipped over that mission and continued scanning.
Soon, a particular mission caught his eye.
Mission: Enter the Yinfeng Realm to gather Yinfeng Grass and Star Peony Grass.
Mission Level: White, Intermediate.
Mission Details: The Yinfeng Realm is a low-level, uninhabited minor world where many yin-attribute Spirit Grasses grow. There are some mid-grade Demon Beasts and naturally occurring Yin Souls inside. The danger level is not high.
Reward: One stalk of Yinfeng Grass for ten Spirit Stones. One stalk of Star Peony Grass for ten Spirit Stones and five merit points.
Requirements: Qi Refining Realm cultivator at or above the Middle Stage of Qi Refining. Must have mastered at least one attack-type Magic to the Minor Achievement Level. Those with an affinity for lightning or fire are preferred. Additionally, one’s Qi Observation Skill must be at the Proficient level or higher.
Zhao Lin was drawn to this mission, partly because the Yinfeng Realm was located in the Western Ox Continent, not far from Nanhe Province. Travel would be convenient and wouldn’t interfere with his cultivation.
Furthermore, it was a minor world.
Zhao Lin was very curious about minor worlds. He wanted to see what a world other than his own Han Red Realm was like, and what kind of worldly laws governed it.
Finally, the mission’s difficulty wasn’t high, and the rewards were acceptable.
If he could find Star Peony Grass, there was even a merit point reward.
Moreover, it was an open-ended mission with no time limit. Cultivators were recruited for it year-round, so he didn’t have to worry about arriving only to find the mission was already over.
’This is the one!’