Chapter Ninety-Nine: Making the Most of One’s Remaining Strength

Originally, Su Jian hadn’t paid much attention, thinking it was merely a minor demon wandering the mountains in search of spiritual creatures to cultivate. However, the ordeal of the player Xiang Gu mentioned the presence of a forbidden seal within the cave. Such a measure was not something an ordinary minor demon could wield.

The rat demon had displayed cowardice to the utmost degree. Perhaps it was just an insignificant lackey; there might be a greater demon dwelling deeper within the cave.

After reviving the player Xiang Gu, Su Jian immediately assigned a task:

“Return to the place of your death and bury the beacon nearby, but do not enter again. You should remain hidden, closely monitoring any movement at the cave’s entrance. Soon, other players will arrive to explore the cave’s secrets. All gains from this mission must be brought back to Lingxiu Village and handed over to Su Jian to unlock subsequent quests.”

“Mission rewards: Beacon, Storage Ring, Ten Heavenly Spirit Pills.”

“Mission penalty: Deduction of twenty years of lifespan.”

Su Jian wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about this matter, suspecting a powerful demon resided there. Yet, to abandon it outright could mean missing an opportunity, so a slight investigation was warranted. Still, expending spiritual energy to unlock an item to counter the seal was not worthwhile. Even if there was a chance, it likely wouldn’t compensate for the cost.

He decided to let Ouyang Feng make use of his residual strength. Just yesterday, Su Jian had received news of Ouyang Feng’s movements. Recently, Ouyang Feng drowned his sorrows in drink, all due to his longing for Ouyang Ke. The righteous alliance was heavily guarded, and Ouyang Feng had only recently absorbed spiritual energy; his primary combat method remained martial arts.

“Immediately proceed to the location indicated on the screen for investigation. Should any lethal threat be detected, use the Great Teleportation Talisman to escape at once. All rewards from this mission are to be handed over to player Xiang Gu for settlement. Upon mission completion, promptly destroy the screen and the buried beacon underground. This is a prerequisite mission to initiate the storyline against the Righteous Alliance.”

“Mission rewards: Display Screen, One Divine Travel Talisman, Two Protective Talismans, One Immobilization Talisman, One Great Teleportation Talisman, Ten Yellow Essence Pills, Ten Universal Pills.”

“Mission penalty: Three legs crippled.”

Only by dealing with the Righteous Alliance could Su Jian cater to Ouyang Feng’s desires and keep him motivated.

Moreover, when the spirit energy bomb exploded last time, the beacon buried underground was obliterated in an instant, leaving no red dots on the display screen.

Otherwise, Su Jian would have had to explain the situation to Ouyang Feng.

The rewards offered for this mission were generous but mainly consisted of life-saving tools and short-term cultivation resources. After all, Ouyang Feng had been summoned using fifty thousand spiritual energy points; wasting him was too great a loss, so a bit of guidance was necessary.

As dawn broke, there was still no word from the Holy Lord. It was unlikely that something had gone wrong; otherwise, the system would have sent a message. The reasons were likely twofold: either the Holy Lord was unable to act and had to remain in hiding, waiting for the right moment, or he was even more cautious than anticipated, choosing to observe for another day to discern Xi Wang’s intentions and find an infallible opportunity to strike.

The next day, Su Jian received system notification that all players heading to Fei Xian Sect had successfully been accepted as disciples. They began as outer disciples, receiving one spiritual stone monthly. Those failing to reach the sixth level of Qi Refinement within half a year would forfeit this monthly spiritual stone.

Leaving the Fei Xian Sect so easily was out of the question; one had to continue contributing there.

Su Jian found this reasonable. After all, the sect was not a charity. Having been nurtured, it was unreasonable to simply walk away without a care.

“Such urgency to increase their power… it seems the various sects under the Righteous Alliance are beginning to grow restless,” Su Jian murmured, frowning.

Otherwise, the entrance exams for sect disciples wouldn’t be so simple. Even though Fei Xian Sect was weak, it was still a legitimate sect that valued quality over quantity in its disciples. Otherwise, the monthly spiritual stones would be a tremendous expense. Those of poor talent were little more than dead weight.

Soon after, Su Jian listed many early cultivation resources on the player trading platform, pricing them slightly below market value. For example, Heavenly Spirit Pills sold at thirty spiritual stones each on the market, but he priced them at thirty-five per stone. Heavenly Spirit Pills were cultivation aids for early Qi Refinement and thus inexpensive.

Among players, there would surely be some clever individuals who would discover ways to profit from the trading platform. However, any profiteering from pills would inevitably be short-lived.

This was unavoidable; market prices would soon be driven down.

Therefore, players needed to be dispersed rather than concentrated in one place.

Su Jian was a man of action, never hesitating. He immediately opened the interface to summon Blue Star players, performing two tenfold summons directly.

These twenty players would no longer need to come to him in person.

According to his prior plan, he intended to give the newcomers a simple tutorial:

“To you lowly players, are you ready to meet your end?”

“This is a dark world of immortal cultivation. Your goal is to complete missions by any means. There are countless paths, but only one life. Players who deliberately seek death will not be revived.”

“Once, players loved to feast on little lambs…”

“Mission reward: Five Fasting Pills.”

“Mission penalty: None.”

Then Su Jian began assigning them tasks:

“Train at Heng Yang Sect or Tian Gang Sect. If acceptance fails, seek another place.”

“Mission rewards: Introductory Chang Chun Skill, Five Spirit Awakening Pills.”

“Mission penalty: Deduction of fifty years of lifespan.”

These sects were on par in strength with Fei Xian Sect, located in different directions.

At first, Ouyang Feng was vexed when he received the mission. Yet by the end, his eyes gleamed with excitement.

Recently, Ouyang Feng had witnessed much within the player channel. He realized that every time a mission was triggered, one would receive auxiliary items upon completion.

For example, when the Holy Lord was tasked with exterminating a Righteous Alliance Nascent Soul cultivator, he was rewarded with an immobilization talisman.

With his current strength, avenging Ke’er seemed a distant dream.

Only by receiving relevant missions could he see hope.

Yet, in an instant, his expression darkened again.

“Why wasn’t Ke’er revived?”

“Why show favoritism?”

Could it be that Ke’er acted impulsively and thus lost the chance for resurrection?

Following the display screen’s guidance, Ouyang Feng traveled for an entire hour until he finally arrived outside the cave discovered by Xiang Gu.

At that moment, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, his face turning grim as he said, “Who goes there?”