Chapter 231 - 230: Brain Lag
Chapter 231: Chapter 230: Brain Lag
Wu Chen didn’t report for duty at the Linwei Garrison. Instead, he went straight back to the inn.
He rested for five straight days. By the time he figured the mission rewards had been settled and everyone else had collected their share, he finally left the inn and headed for the Demon Suppression Bureau.
He first took a stroll around the Linwei Garrison. After looking over the missions, he frowned and made his way to the treasury where the rewards were distributed.
Since he’d come late on purpose, the vast treasury was nearly empty.
...
Seeing the young woman behind the counter, dressed in the brocade uniform of the inner camp and looking as if she were waiting just for him, Wu Chen’s lip twitched. He handed over his waist token without a word of small talk.
’No matter what her background is, having her here certainly makes collecting my reward much more convenient.’
Sun Yuting watched with a smile as the young man crossed the threshold. Without a word, she turned and retrieved the mission reward from the inner treasury, placing it on the sturdy counter.
Just like last time, it was a Leakless Realm Martial Arts manual and one hundred Nourishing Essence Pills.
"Isn’t this too much?"
Wu Chen raised an eyebrow. After the mission merits were divided, he had estimated he’d receive fifty Nourishing Essence Pills at most.
But whatever the actual reward was, there was no way it included a Leakless Realm Martial Arts manual and a hundred Nourishing Essence Pills.
"If you can be generous enough to wave your hand and give away your merits, can’t I, a Captain, be a little more generous to our own people?"
Sun Yuting said with a smile, her fine figure slowly leaning forward against the edge of the counter. The ample curves of her chest pressed against it, slightly changing their shape.
But Wu Chen’s attention remained on the manual and the pills. After hesitating for a few moments, he swept his hand over them, placing them into his storage bag.
He said coolly, "I’ll pay you back with the merits from my next mission."
Sun Yuting laughed. "You think I care about a few merits?"
Wu Chen didn’t respond. Now that the reward for the Hidden Wind Valley mission was settled, he simply turned to leave. He planned to wait at the Linwei Garrison until the next Level A mission arrived.
But as he looked at the Demon Suppression Bureau’s vast inner treasury, and the storeroom of priceless martial arts and treasures that outsiders were forbidden to enter, his curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn’t help but ask...
"Captain Sun, what’s the best item in this inner treasury? I mean, the kind of reward you’d get for a top-tier Level A mission."
"Heh, you’ve certainly got big ambitions!"
Sun Yuting knew exactly what he meant. He was planning to go after something big.
However, based on his recent performance, she knew he wasn’t about to rob the Demon Suppression Bureau’s inner treasury. He intended to earn the reward by taking on a mission worthy of it.
Sun Yuting reached under the counter, pulled out a thick ledger, and pushed it across. "Everything’s recorded in here. See for yourself."
Wu Chen didn’t stand on ceremony. He immediately began flipping through the ledger on the counter.
The ledger was quite detailed, listing rewards from Level C-minus missions on up, as well as the corresponding martial arts and pills for cultivators starting from the Meridian Passage Realm.
There was no need to look at those, of course. Wu Chen quickly flipped to the very back, his eyes landing on the items listed on the final page.
’Dragon Transformation Cleansing Pool’
’Qi-Gathering Dragon Transformation Pill’
’Earth Milk Spiritual Liquid’
’Soul-Storage Pearl’
...
The thirty items recorded on this page were all closely related to the Dragon Transformation Realm, making them incredibly precious and valuable.
But Wu Chen knew they wouldn’t be easy to obtain. At a minimum, he would have to complete an extremely dangerous, top-tier Level A mission.
His gaze swept over the names, careful not to linger on any single one, lest she notice something and guess his intentions.
"Heh."
But Sun Yuting just chuckled. "You didn’t even glance at the items for the Armor Forging Realm, going straight for the Dragon Transformation Realm. You seem quite confident in your own talent!"
Wu Chen’s expression remained unchanged. "Just curious. Broadening my horizons."
However, his tone shifted. "What specific missions must one complete to obtain these Dragon Transformation Realm items?"
Sun Yuting leaned even further forward. She reached out and circled the first few lines on the page Wu Chen was reading, saying seriously:
"Quell the Northern Barbarian scourge."
Wu Chen nodded. The difficulty was immense, but it certainly matched the value of the items.
He asked, "Are there any others?"
"Assassinate the Blood Palace Master."
Wu Chen nodded. If the Northern Barbarians were an external threat, then the Blood Palace was an internal one. The difficulty was no less than that of the border wars.
...
Sun Yuting watched the young man. He merely nodded, his face an unreadable mask.
It was impossible to tell from his expression whether he was just asking casually or if he actually had the ability to accomplish these two tasks.
"So, which one will you choose?
She asked probingly, a smile on her face. "I know people over in Qingzhou. If you want to quell the barbarian unrest, I can help make arrangements."
"I also have friends who have been investigating the Blood Palace. Need me to put you in touch?"
’Cunning vixen!’
Wu Chen knew she was trying to sound him out, to see what gave him such confidence.
He just shook his head coolly. "I’m not strong enough."
"Hehe, how rare to see Lord Wu being so modest!"
Sun Yuting said with a laugh, seemingly pleased to have finally seen Wu Chen look thwarted.
After all, this was a man who would just walk up and kick over anyone in his way, be it a barbarian spy or a member of the Demon Race. It was hard to believe someone like that would admit to not being strong enough.
No matter how calm and steady his temperament became, with such immense power, the pride in a man’s bones is impossible to hide completely.
At most, he might say, "Just wait two or three years!"
...
Wu Chen said nothing in reply. He certainly wasn’t going to get hot-headed and charge off to Qingzhou on a whim.
In truth, when he fought the Blood Coagulation Realm barbarian spy last time, he hadn’t found the barbarian to be invincibly strong. He figured the Leakless Realm Great Barbarians of the north were probably nothing special either.
As for any even more powerful figures among the Northern Barbarians, if they were truly invincible, the Qingzhou State City would have fallen long ago, instead of being locked in a stalemate for so many years.
So, Wu Chen had a clear understanding of his own strength versus the enemy’s. He was truly just being modest for the sake of it.
The reason he didn’t plan to immediately join the military campaign, rack up merits, and earn his reward was that he wanted to use his time in the Demon Suppression Bureau to raise his cultivation realm even higher.
The higher, the better.
That way, when he did join the fight—whether against the barbarians or the Blood Palace—he could just steamroll them without a second thought.
He didn’t want a troublesome, drawn-out fight, trading one punch for another. It wasn’t satisfying.
Kill them all decisively, collect the reward, and be done with it. Wouldn’t that be a joy!
RUSTLE! RUSTLE! RUSTLE!—
He quickly flipped through the ledger of the inner treasury’s treasures one more time, confirming that it did indeed contain what he needed.
’The Soul-Storage Pearl!’
Only then did Wu Chen hand the ledger back.
As he watched Sun Yuting return the ledger to its place, Wu Chen remembered something else and asked:
"Captain Sun, why aren’t there any Level A missions posted at the Linwei Garrison? Captain Li Youtao said there haven’t been any Level A assignments recently. Even he, who’s been stationed at the garrison for a long time, isn’t sure why."
This was the reason he had been frowning ever since leaving the Linwei Garrison.
No Level A missions meant no merits, and no merits meant no rewards.
’Could it be that she has me by the throat again? Is she trying to control me?’
But based on their recent interactions, he felt she wouldn’t do something like that. If a mission had come up, she would have likely sought him out already.
This left Wu Chen wondering what the problem was.
Sun Yuting shot him a look. "You don’t actually think I’m deliberately holding missions back from you, do you?"
Wu Chen shook his head. "Of course, Captain Sun wouldn’t do such a thing."
"Missions of this level have countless lives hanging in the balance. Who would dare treat them like a game?"
Sun Yuting propped her chin on her hand, looking slightly troubled.
"The mission process isn’t as simple as you think. First, a Demon Suppression Captain has to track down leads. Some even have to venture deep into dangerous territory to investigate the situation. Then, a message is sent by carrier pigeon, and finally, forces are dispatched."
"But all of that has one huge prerequisite: a commoner has to report a crime."
"Otherwise, the world is a vast place. How would we Demon Suppression Guards even know someone has died, and where would we begin our investigation?"
Wu Chen nodded. "That’s true..."
It then dawned on him. He had only been thinking in terms of ’accept mission, complete mission, collect reward.’ He had oversimplified the whole process, making it far too idealistic.
He’d completely forgotten that things had to follow a certain logic.
A Level A mission wasn’t just a single task. Broken down, it was an entire operational process.
And in that process, he played the role of the ’muscle.’
"Besides," Sun Yuting said, exasperated, "If there were eight or ten Level A missions posted, just hanging there with no Captain willing to take them, all waiting for you to come along... do you think the Demon Suppression Bureau would even still exist? Do you think we’d still be able to suppress anyone?!"
"Forget the Demon Suppression Bureau—the entire Great Yun nation would look like it was on the verge of collapse."
"Ah, good point..."
Wu Chen gave an embarrassed smile.
He realized his strength had advanced so quickly that he’d overlooked many basic realities.
Simply put, his cultivation realm was advancing faster than his common sense.
He had been thinking about everything too simply, as if Demon Fiends were just monsters that spawned in a fixed location, waiting for him to come and harvest them with his blade as long as he was strong enough.
Not to mention Level A missions, where every single step of the process likely posed an immense risk to the Demon Suppression Guards involved.