Chapter Fifteen: The Mission

Half a year had passed since Xu Chen joined the sect. Even with the resources his father provided, his own strength had not improved much. He looked up and watched as a shadowy figure caught the letter and disappeared into the distant sky.

“How long will I have to cultivate before I can actually achieve something?” he wondered. Over the past six months, aside from necessary trips to purchase supplies, Xu Chen spent all his time training at home. Even when a few fellow disciples came by to visit, he never lingered in their company.

“By my count, I’m already thirteen this year—another year has gone by,” he mused. As he reflected on the past half year, his disciple token suddenly emitted a spiritual glow and began to vibrate.

As soon as Xu Chen took out the token, a voice sounded within it: “In three days, the Grand Elder will hold an apprentice selection ceremony. Disciple Xu Chen is requested to report to the Miscellaneous Hall to receive your assignment in preparation for the ceremony.”

Just then, a robust voice called out from outside the door. “Brother Xu, have you received your task? Let’s go together and save some money!”

Xu Chen opened the door to see a tall, stout youth with a simple, honest smile on his face.

“Brother Huang, last time you hitched a ride on my flying beast. This time, it’s your turn to pay the spirit coins,” Xu Chen replied with a gentle smile.

Huang Kaishan looked momentarily taken aback, then nodded with a chuckle. “No problem! We’re all brothers living in the same area—no need to be so formal.”

He immediately raised his disciple token above his head. Before long, a cloud sparrow landed outside Xu Chen’s house.

On the plaza outside the Miscellaneous Hall, over a thousand disciples had gathered, all of them at the Blood Qi stage. After Xu Chen and Huang Kaishan hopped off the cloud sparrow, they joined the end of the line. Soon, another hundred or so disciples arrived before everyone was accounted for.

Overseeing them was Chief Steward Bai, dressed in a crimson robe and fanning himself leisurely as he gazed down at the crowd of over a thousand human disciples.

“Respected gentlemen, the Grand Elder has found a prodigy with a Saint-level constitution in Leizhou and has petitioned the Human Sovereign to accept them as a disciple,” he announced. “This is the greatest event to happen to Daxi Sect in ten thousand years. All of you must treat this with utmost importance.”

“In three days, dignitaries from Leizhou and the surrounding regions will come to Daxi Sect to witness the ceremony, so everything must be prepared in advance.”

“You will also be responsible for welcoming our esteemed guests.”

“The ceremony will take place on our Grand Elder’s spiritual treasure, the Floating Sky Palace. Your main duties are to arrange the decorations and handle the reception.”

At that moment, every disciple’s sect token began to glow and vibrate.

“Tasks have now been assigned. Everyone must complete them diligently. Do not make any mistakes!”

Xu Chen gripped his token as a message appeared in his mind: “Collect ten thousand pots of Violet Glow Flowers. The foliage must be lush, each plant no less than nine and a half inches tall, but no taller than ten inches.”

“Dismissed. Complete your tasks well,” Chief Steward Bai said, waving his hand and sashaying back into the Miscellaneous Hall. The assembled disciples quickly dispersed.

“Brother Xu, my task is to collect a hundred thousand catties of Beast Pattern Stones. They’re easy to find, but my storage bag can’t handle that much,” Huang Kaishan said, wringing his hands and looking hopefully at Xu Chen.

“If it can’t hold everything, you’ll just have to make multiple trips,” Xu Chen replied. “Brother Huang, you shouldn’t say things that might harm our friendship.”

He raised his disciple token, and the cloud sparrow waiting in the distance quickly flew over.

In the dense forest, Xu Chen found Old Monkey.

“Old Six, do you know where I can find Violet Glow Flowers? I need ten thousand pots for my task, but the reward is only a hundred spirit coins. Can you handle it?” Xu Chen relayed the requirements.

Old Monkey was grooming a little monkey when he heard Xu Chen’s request. He handed the comb to the young one and sent him off to play elsewhere.

“Can you collect them inside the sect?” Old Monkey asked.

“No, it has to be at least a hundred miles outside the sect.”

“One hundred and fifty spirit coins, all-inclusive. I’ll have it done in two days,” Old Monkey calculated.

“Deal. It’s a shame you can’t handle my reception duties for me,” Xu Chen said regretfully.

“For such a grand event, it wouldn’t do to have outsiders welcoming guests—unless they’re very strong, they’d be ridiculed.”

“I’ll see to your task now.”

“No deposit required?”

“After working together all this time, I trust you, sir. We’ll settle up when the job is done,” Old Monkey replied, his voice steady and reassuring.

“Fair enough.”

Xu Chen made his way back through the forest, feeling at ease, and resumed his cultivation.

“It’s been half a year since I reached the Blood Qi Sutra. I now possess the strength of one tiger and eight oxen. I wonder how my combat ability compares to others at this level?”

On the training ground, Xu Chen unleashed a final technique, his palm creating seven successive sonic booms.

Two days later, Old Monkey brought Xu Chen ten thousand five hundred pots of Violet Glow Flowers.

“I got a few extra, just in case some didn’t meet the standard,” Old Monkey said with a wide grin.

“You must have made quite a profit off this job,” Xu Chen remarked, noting the satisfied look on Old Monkey’s face.

“I found out the sect needs five million pots in total. I teamed up with a few other nonhuman tribes and cornered eighty percent of the market.”

The ten thousand five hundred pots of Violet Glow Flowers were neatly arranged on the training ground. Bathed in the noon sunlight, the flowers cast a beautiful purple glow.

“Violet Glow Flowers are a type of spiritual light flora. They aren’t medicinal, but after absorbing spiritual energy, they emit a purple glow at night.”

“Water them with diluted spirit liquid, and at night, they’ll shine like purple stars,” Old Monkey explained enthusiastically.

“That’s actually pretty interesting. I’ll keep a few pots to plant in my garden.”

As Xu Chen was storing the Violet Glow Flowers, the sky suddenly darkened.

Looking up, he saw a colossal palace, as vast as a city, floating above Daxi Sect. Spiritual energy gathered from all directions, and a staircase of spiritual jade extended from the palace down to the plaza outside the main gate.

At that moment, Xu Chen’s disciple token glowed again. When he held it, another message appeared in his mind.

“So the Violet Glow Flowers are to be arranged on both sides of the spiritual jade steps.”

“Sir, you’d best deliver your task now—once the crowds arrive, it won’t be easy,” Old Monkey advised.

Xu Chen hurriedly stored all the Violet Glow Flowers in his bag, raised his disciple token, and summoned a Gale Bird.

“To the sect gate,” he ordered.

“Ten spirit coins,” the Gale Bird replied crisply.

“The price went up?”

“There are too many disciples calling for rides. If we don’t raise the price, it won’t work.”

“Are you coming or not? If not, I’m leaving.”

“I’m coming!” Xu Chen grumbled, marveling that even in a world of cultivation, he still had to deal with this.

The Gale Bird sped through the sky, reaching the gate in just under fifteen minutes—a ride as wild as a taxi hurtling along at one hundred and eighty miles an hour, windows down.

Xu Chen, hair in disarray, was at a loss for words. He tossed the ten spirit coins to the bird.

At the base of the vast spiritual jade steps, disciples were already lining up to hand in their tasks.

“Good thing I came early—the line isn’t too long yet.”

By the time Xu Chen finished, an hour had passed. Just as he was about to head home, a blue spiritual vessel descended in front of him.

“Board the vessel.”

The voice of his nominal master, absent for half a year, sounded in Xu Chen’s mind.

Obediently, Xu Chen boarded. The vessel sped through the sect, soon arriving at a cave dwelling halfway up a towering mountain. Before the cave was a small plaza about two acres in size. Leisurely, his master stood at the edge, gazing out at the clouds drifting along the mountainside.