Chapter 236: Trouble Arrives

Ye Yuan naturally saw it too, his gaze flickering as he looked at Bai Guang.

Bai Guang wagged his tail, as if showing off.

"Hmm... Could it be that Bai Guang has the potential to become a divine beast? If a divine beast can be born under this sky, can a divine realm expert also be born?" Ye Yuan murmured to himself.

Bai Guang let out another soft roar. Seeing this, Ye Yuan laughed and said, "Haha, keep it up, Bai Guang. Let's attain the Dao and become gods together!"

Hearing Ye Yuan's words, Bai Guang rubbed his tiger head against Ye Yuan, showing great affection.

Clearly, this little guy was also ambitious.

...

The next day, Ye Yuan arrived at the Star-Gazing Pavilion.

Although Ye Yuan's points were enough for him to squander for a long time, he still decided to first gather the points needed for the second half of the "Purple Soul Art."

To earn points, he naturally had to come to the Star-Gazing Pavilion to accept tasks.

The Star-Gazing Pavilion was one of the busiest places in the sect, bustling with activity every day.

For sect disciples to survive, they needed to constantly accept tasks, so this place naturally became a must-visit.

Not to mention outer disciples; even some extremely powerful core disciples were regulars here.

Sect tasks were varied but divided into nine levels, with level one being the easiest and level nine the hardest.

Tasks below level three were mostly chores, such as managing the herb garden, cleaning, and other simple matters.

Of course, these simple tasks also varied in difficulty, and the points awarded differed accordingly.

Starting from level four, tasks were relatively dangerous or difficult. Naturally, the points awarded varied according to the task level.

These sect tasks included alchemy hall tasks and martial hall tasks, and any disciple could accept them.

Naturally, alchemy hall disciples mostly took alchemy hall tasks, while martial hall disciples took martial hall tasks; cross-acceptance was very rare.

Even when cross-acceptance occurred, it was mostly alchemy hall disciples taking martial hall tasks, while martial hall disciples could only stare helplessly at alchemy hall tasks.

Alchemy hall tasks were mostly related to alchemy and highly specialized; martial hall disciples could basically only watch.

Inside the Star-Gazing Pavilion was a hall with a large jade wall in the center, which contained all the tasks. Disciples only needed to probe with their divine sense to see the task details.

Disciples just had to record the task level and number, then go to the duty disciple to receive the task jade slip.

After completing the task, disciples would present the task jade slip and the required token to the duty disciple to receive reward points.

Ye Yuan extended his divine sense into the jade wall and began to browse the tasks.

After a brief look at the level-one tasks, Ye Yuan gave up directly. Doing these tasks was a pure waste of time, offering few points and delaying cultivation.

Then he browsed the level-two and level-three tasks and gave up as well.

Only when he saw level-four tasks did he look a bit more carefully.

Among the level-four tasks were tasks issued by the martial hall and tasks issued by the alchemy hall.

Most of the tasks issued by the Martial Hall involved going out on business, some to hunt down heinous criminals, others to assist secular nations, and so on.

Most tasks issued by the Alchemy Hall involved alchemy. A sect this large consumed a huge amount of pills daily. If the Alchemy Hall lacked certain pills, it would post tasks here for disciples to refine them, offering contribution points as rewards.

Ye Yuan scanned the fourth-level tasks but ultimately found them uninteresting.

Too few contribution points!

A fourth-level task offered as little as a thousand points at the low end, and at most two thousand.

If Ye Yuan took fourth-level tasks, when would he ever earn three hundred thousand points?

"Look, Senior Brother Zeng Cheng is back!"

"Indeed! I heard he took a sixth-level task this time, to hunt down a Condensation Crystal first-level flower thief!"

"Yeah, I heard that too! They say the reward for this sixth-level task is twenty thousand points. Looks like he won't need to go out for a long time."

"Hey, did you hear? Zeng Cheng's younger brother, Zeng Yu, was robbed by a newly admitted disciple and had to hide in the cultivation room? Now that Senior Brother Zeng Cheng is back, that new disciple is probably in for it."

"Pfft, Zeng Yu is a bully who fears the strong. He deserved to be taught a lesson! If it weren't for his brother, he'd have been beaten like a dog long ago! I say, good for him!"

"Shh... keep your voice down, don't let Senior Brother Zeng hear you. He's very protective of his own!"

Ye Yuan's thoughts were interrupted by the chatter of two people beside him. He looked unexpectedly at the black-clad youth who was collecting his reward.

No wonder Zeng Yu dared to be so arrogant—he had such a brother backing him.

Peak of the ninth level of Spirit Liquid, not bad strength. Probably about the same as Senior Brother Zhang Jing, right?

Zeng Cheng handed the mission jade slip and a wooden box to the duty disciple with a proud expression, saying, "Level six, mission number seventy-two, has been completed. Please check it."

The duty disciple said with admiration, "Senior Brother Zeng is truly formidable. To be able to kill a Condensation Crystal first level expert while at the Spirit Liquid ninth level! It won't be long before you join the ranks of elite disciples!"

A flash of complacency passed through Zeng Cheng's eyes, but he concealed it well, smiling, "It's just a mundane Condensation Crystal first level, nothing worth mentioning. Many fellow apprentices have such strength."

"Hehe, Senior Brother Zeng is too modest! Half a year ago, you were still taking on level five missions, and now you've completed a high-ranking level six mission. This rate of progress is truly impressive among your peers! At this rate, you'll soon be able to complete level seven missions—that's a watershed!" The duty disciple poured out flattery as if it cost nothing.

"Haha, not at all, not at all." Zeng Cheng couldn't hide his smugness as he laughed.

The watershed the duty disciple mentioned was actually the divide between elite disciples and core disciples!

Missions above level seven were basically only completable by elite disciples.

If Zeng Cheng could complete a level seven mission, it would mean he had one foot in the door of elite disciples. However, crossing this watershed was far from as easy as imagined.

This was evident from the difficulty of level seven missions.

It had to be said that the duty disciple's words hit Zeng Cheng's sweet spot.

"Senior Brother Zeng, the reward has been credited to your identity token. Please check it." The duty disciple said with a fawning smile.

"Tch, just completing a level six mission, and you're already so full of yourself!" At that moment, a discordant voice rang out.

Zeng Cheng's expression changed, and he said coldly, "Qiu Peng, spare me your sarcastic remarks! If you're so capable, complete a level six mission and show me!"

Qiu Peng was also a top figure in the Earth Battalion, on par with Zeng Cheng.

The two had always been at loggerheads, like a rivalry between equals. However, Qiu Peng had always been slightly inferior.

"Hehe, I'm here to take on a level six mission. Just watch. Oh, by the way, instead of being smug here, why don't you go check on your precious little brother?" Qiu Peng said with a smile.