As soon as Zhou Chuan walked in, he saw a few outer disciples standing by and reading the contents of the mission board.
Eight months had passed, and very few new initiates came to take on new tasks now. Most of the newly promoted disciples had already completed their first assignments and were seizing every moment to cultivate and raise their cultivation levels. Completing missions rewarded disciples with sect contribution points, which could be exchanged for cultivation techniques, spell formulas, spirit talismans, spirit swords, pills, and more.
The mission board had nine tiers, each restricted to a specific cultivation level. The highest tier was open only to those at the 9th Layer of Qi Condensation, while the lowest tier suited the humblest 1st Layer of Qi Condensation.
Every mission had detailed annotations, including the task description, estimated time required, contribution points, and penalty terms. Accepting a mission and failing to complete it was equivalent to disrupting the publisher's plans, and compensation had to be paid for the losses. Therefore, taking on tasks carried risks, and a single mission could potentially bankrupt someone.
Zhou Chuan locked his gaze on the third-to-last section of the mission board. There were twenty-one missions matching his current cultivation level—quite a substantial number. He glanced at the very last section; for the 1st Layer of Qi Condensation, there were only four available tasks.
Having read through all twenty-one missions one by one, he found they varied widely: some involved farming, others tending and caring, guarding, hunting, or breeding. Every task was different.
"With so many types, it's so hard to choose!" Zhou Chuan sighed softly.
After reviewing them a few times, he still didn't know where to start. He had too many factors to balance: the deadline couldn't be too long, he needed to have spare time for cultivation, the risk had to be low, and so on.
"Oh? Raising a Spirit Cunning Rabbit—what on earth is a Spirit Cunning Rabbit?"
He had raised rabbits when he was a child and had a great fondness for them. When he arrived at the Water Talisman Sect with nowhere left to turn, a rabbit had saved his life, ensuring he had enough to eat. During this period, he hadn't spent much time away from rabbits.
Reading the notes, this particular Spirit Cunning Rabbit was about to give birth and required someone with experience to care for it. The estimated duration was half a year, and upon completion, the reward would be ten sect contribution points. The penalty for failure was five middle-grade spirit stones.
"Raising a rabbit sounds great. I can take it back to my dwelling to raise it, feed it two or three times a day, and set aside a place for it to play around. That way I can raise rabbits and cultivate at the same time, without neglecting either."
"The only downside is that the penalty is a bit steep. If I fail the mission, I have to compensate five middle-grade spirit stones, which is equivalent to five hundred lower-grade spirit stones. If anything goes wrong..."
"Forget it, isn't it just raising a rabbit!"
With his mind made up, Zhou Chuan walked over to the Elder.
"Disciple Zhou Chuan greets the managing Elder. I am here to accept a mission," Zhou Chuan said, cupping his fists in salute.
"Speak," Peng Yuyan glanced at Zhou Chuan, then lowered his eyelids again.
"I'm taking the mission to raise a Spirit Cunning Rabbit."
"Have you ever raised spirit rabbits?"
"Uh... I have." Zhou Chuan hesitated slightly, but still answered firmly.
"Come back in three days."
"Why?"
"Do you see any spirit rabbits here?"
Zhou Chuan was not used to the Elder's deadpan humor, but a quick sweep of the surroundings brought him realization, and he answered promptly: "No. This disciple will arrive promptly in three days."
Those qualified to post missions were usually inner disciples, and given Zhou Chuan's status, he couldn't enter the inner sect. The rabbit was certainly being tended to by someone right now, and it would take a little time to hand over.
Leaving the Mission Hall, Zhou Chuan planned to look around. This was his first time visiting the core peak of the outer sect. Before, when he lacked cultivation, he wouldn't dare come; now, his cultivation was at a middling level among the newcomers, so naturally, he felt no timidity.
"Senior Sister Meiling!"
Catching sight of Lu Meiling passing by ahead, Zhou Chuan ran over without hesitation. If not for Lu Meiling gifting him the *Righteousness Formula*, he would never have successfully achieved Qi Condensation. Such a kindness was something Zhou Chuan would remember for a lifetime.
"You are?" Lu Meiling thought he looked familiar, but couldn't quite place him. The drastic change in Zhou Chuan's demeanor after acquiring cultivation was part of the reason.
"I'm Zhou Chuan!"
"Zhou Chuan?" Hearing the name, she still couldn't recall immediately.
"It's me, the newly recruited disciple living at Heiwu Mountain this year. Senior Sister, you forgot? You gave me the *Righteousness Formula*."
"Oh! It's you! No wait! Your cultivation..."
Sensing Zhou Chuan's cultivation level, Lu Meiling's expression changed instantly. The last time they met, Zhou Chuan had zero cultivation, yet now he was already at the 3rd Layer of Qi Condensation—the speed was truly startling.
Zhou Chuan chuckled foolishly; the Senior Sister's reaction was entirely within his expectations.
"Senior Sister, I owe where I am today to your help that day. Words cannot express my gratitude."
"It was a tiny matter. How did you cultivate? How did your cultivation improve so fast?"
"I met a kind person who lent me a cultivation method. Maybe my luck was just good; I just practiced and ended up reaching this point."
That was hard to believe. Without high-grade cultivation methods or guidance from an expert, Lu Meiling believed he could never have improved so quickly. She concluded that Zhou Chuan had an expert backing him; otherwise, the immortal sect would never have accepted an un-condensed disciple.
"Congratulations, Junior Brother. Are you here to turn in a mission today?" Seeing Zhou Chuan walking from the direction of the Mission Hall, Meiling asked.
"No, I'm here to accept a mission. Previously, my cultivation was too low to take any, and I only dared to come now that it has improved slightly."
"Then you must make every second count. There is less than half a year left."
Zhou Chuan instantly remembered that the mission he had taken involved a rabbit, so he asked another question.
"Senior Sister, do you know about the Spirit Cunning Rabbit?"
"I do. What about it?"
"Is it easy to raise?"
"I have no experience with that and have never raised one, so it's hard for me to comment."
"What about eating it?"
"Eat... eat a spirit rabbit!" The young woman wore a horrified expression.
Zhou Chuan had assumed that raising a Spirit Cunning Rabbit was meant for eating, which prompted his redundant question. Seeing the shock on the Senior Sister's face, he was utterly baffled.
Naturally, Lu Meiling found it unthinkable. Although spirit rabbits were not particularly precious spirit beasts, spirit beasts could not be eaten—it went against the natural order of heaven.
"Spirit Cunning Rabbits cannot be eaten. They can only be raised to bleed them for refining pills," Lu Meiling said.
"I see. That's right, Junior Brother once saw a rabbit with red fur all over its body at the foot of Heiwu Mountain. It looked very strange. Do you know what kind of rabbit that is?"
"There are rabbits at the foot of the mountain? That's impossible! Spirit rabbits are extremely delicate! What you saw must be a Red-furred Zong Rat, which looks somewhat like a rabbit."
"A Red-furred Zong Rat? Is it safe to eat that thing?"
"Eat? Absolutely not! Red-furred Zong Rats are poisonous."
"Ha! Poisonous! I ate... I think." Zhou Chuan didn't dare deny it outright, especially since precious life was involved.
"Quickly give me your hand, let me check you."
Life was paramount, so he hurriedly raised his hand.
Although Lu Meiling was not an alchemist, she had served as a medicine boy for two years and understood a smattering of medical principles.
"Did you eat much?"
"Not... a little."
"When was the last time you ate it?"
"About half a year ago."
"Strange. Your pulse doesn't look like you've been poisoned. However, I'm not skilled in medicine. When you have time, you should still make a trip to Medicine Peak and let the senior brothers and sisters take a look." Lu Meiling checked his pulse, but couldn't detect any problems.
"Thank you, Senior Sister. I will."
Thinking she still had matters to attend to and needed to handle them urgently, Lu Meiling bade him farewell.
Whether he was poisoned or not weighed heavily on Zhou Chuan. Although he didn't understand toxicity, he knew that poisons varied greatly; some had very long, covert incubation periods, and by the time they were discovered, the victim was already beyond saving.
"I'm still too poor. If I had the money to buy a Poison-Cleansing Righteousness Pill, there wouldn't be any problems."
That Poison-Cleansing Righteousness Pill was recorded in Zhong Xiu's Jade Slip. Realizing there was still a solution, Zhou Chuan stopped agonizing over it. Once he completed the sect mission, perhaps his contribution points would be enough to exchange for a Poison-Cleansing Righteousness Pill.
Thinking of this, Zhou Chuan felt it was necessary to make a trip to Baili Pavilion.
Baili Pavilion was a striking three-story building located on the north side of Wutong Mountain.
"This is the strength of a Tier 3 Immortal Sect!"
Zhou Chuan was shocked once again. He hadn't expected Baili Pavilion to possess such abundant resources; "Baili" (A Hundred Kinds) should really be changed to "Wanli" (Ten Thousand Kinds). Moreover, this was only the outer sect; the resources here simply couldn't compare to the inner sect.
He saw talisman scripts. The first floor displayed a vast number of spirit talismans. The Water Talisman Sect was renowned for its talismanic arts, so it naturally lacked no shortage of famous spirit talismans. However, the ones sold in the outer sect were first and second tier; third-tier spirit talismans were only available in the inner sect. Third-tier spirit talismans required Foundation Establishment Cultivation to activate, so it was entirely reasonable that they weren't placed in Baili Pavilion.
Zhou Chuan sighed sorrowfully: It all comes down to money again. The saying "having money makes it easy to be a person" was certainly true.
A single talisman was equivalent to a set of spell formulas. With a hundred spirit talismans in hand, it was equivalent to mastering a hundred sets of spell formulas. This saved an immense amount of cultivation time. He looked on with watering mouth, yet unable to afford them—it was nothing short of sheer psychological torture.
"When will I ever be able to cultivate talismanic arts!" Zhou Chuan was filled with yearning.
Once he earned spirit stones or accumulated contribution degrees, he could exchange them for the sect's supreme manuals. That was the purpose and true meaning of his coming to the Water Talisman Sect.
Spare himself the agony, he went up to the second floor to look at other items. He had come to find suitable cultivation methods.
"Zhang Yuan, you bastard, you swindled me!"
The second floor sold various types of spirit fruits with clearly marked prices. Yellow Dragon Fruits were sold in Baili Pavilion for only three lower-grade spirit stones, whereas Zhang Yuan had charged him five. A bronze-grade storage bag sold here for only sixty lower-grade spirit stones, yet he had bought his for a hundred.
What he regretted most was that he had just bought thirty Yellow Dragon Fruits from Zhang Yuan. If he had delayed by just two or three days, he wouldn't have spent that unjust sum of money.
"No! I haven't paid him yet! He dares to swindle me? I'll make you regret this for the rest of your life!" Zhou Chuan gnashed his teeth.
Zhou Chuan had no mood to keep looking. The blows he had suffered today were already enough; if he kept looking down, he didn't know if his heart could take it. He turned around and hurried away.
With three days left before accepting the mission, he decided to go find Zhong Xiu and give her a huge surprise. The last time they met, Zhou Chuan had just barely succeeded in Qi Condensation.
Zhong Xiu was cultivating spirit grain on Xuri Peak. Spirit grain yielded one harvest a year, and the harvest season was rapidly approaching. Precisely because the harvest was near, Zhong Xiu dared not leave Xuri Peak even more, so as to avoid any accidents.
Inquiring along the way, Zhou Chuan found the temporary residence where Zhong Xiu stayed. On Xuri Peak, almost everyone was part of this year's new crop of disciples. Many people saw Zhou Chuan and felt he looked familiar, but couldn't place his name.
"Junior Sister Xiu!"
"Brother Chuan!"
Upon meeting, the two of them were wild with joy. Standing extremely close, their skin almost touching. Meeting this time, Zhou Chuan noticed that Zhong Xiu had become darker and thinner, arousing a pang of heartache in him.
"You've lost weight!"
"I work harder than an ox, eat worse than a pig, and sleep later than a ghost! How could I not lose weight? Am I looking really ugly right now?" As she spoke, she grew bashful.
"No! Not ugly at all! Appearance is just a physical shell; inner beauty is true beauty."
"What you said indirectly means I'm ugly and only have inner beauty."
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Alright, I'm just teasing you. How could I not know your true thoughts? Why do you have time to come see me today?"
"I finished reading your Jade Slip, and since I didn't see you coming over, I made the trip myself."