Chapter 71: A Mission Too Good to Be True

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: A Mission Too Good to Be True

He stepped into the dormitory and looked at its condition. Nearly all the damage came from the building’s age and decay, and the rest was from the elements.

Ye Xuan walked around inside the dormitory. He counted at least 12 rooms, and not one of them was in good shape.

[This place isn’t fit to live in!]

I agree. It’s not comfortable for cultivating.

After seeing the condition inside, Ye Xuan felt he had seen enough. He walked back out and saw Yi Xin still there, waiting alone, her eyes fixed on another dormitory.

When Ye Xuan came out, Yi Xin turned to him right away.

"I’ll report this to Sect Leader Yi," Yi Xin said.

"Don’t," Ye Xuan said. "I’m afraid it will only make things worse."

"Then what? Are you sure you can cultivate and rest in a place like this?" Yi Xin asked.

Ye Xuan glanced briefly behind him, then took a deep breath with his hands on his hips. "It’s dirty, but that’s better than dangerous."

"As for cultivating, I have my own way."

Yi Xin listened to Ye Xuan. She said she would go along with what he wanted. Still, she advised him to stay careful.

Cang Gong still showed his dislike of Ye Xuan, and that could be bad for Ye Xuan’s life and wellbeing.

Ye Xuan understood the situation better than Yi Xin did. The fight with Cang Gong had given him a small advantage: the other disciples now held him in awe.

They were afraid to attack Ye Xuan because he had abilities on par with their hall master. Perhaps the only threat he faced was Cang Gong’s own intimidation.

Yi Xin said her business there was finished. She turned, took her leave of Ye Xuan, and flew off from the dormitory back to her hall.

[What are we going to do?]

We’re going to cultivate.

That fight drained a lot of my spiritual energy. I need to recover it right away.

[All right. You focus on recovering. I’ll keep watch over you.]

***

The next day.

The sound of footsteps reached Ye Xuan while he was cultivating. He quickly paused his cultivation and opened his eyes. His attention turned to a female disciple walking toward him, carrying a uniform.

Ye Xuan stood up at once and greeted her warmly. The woman had come to deliver the sect uniform that Yi Xin had left with her.

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

"If I were you, I wouldn’t join the Netherworld Palace Sect. Your position here is pretty dangerous," the woman said.

"I know there’s greater danger lurking for me, but Cang Gong isn’t that much of a threat to me," Ye Xuan said.

The woman looked surprised, then glanced back toward the other disciples’ dormitory. Ye Xuan watched her movements, which seemed odd and suspicious.

"Every new disciple is entitled to one combat technique and one cultivation technique that matches their cultivation base at enrollment," the woman replied.

"You might want to visit the sect library and take a look around."

She’s right. Since I’m part of the sect now, I should learn the Netherworld Palace Sect’s signature combat techniques.

She patted her bag of holding and handed Ye Xuan a disciple token. He took it and saw his name engraved on it.

"You can go and request them with that token."

Ye Xuan put it away right away and didn’t forget to thank the woman. She smiled slightly, then turned and flew away, leaving Ye Xuan behind.

With his spiritual energy, he changed his clothes into the Netherworld Palace Sect disciple robes, mostly black, with snake skull accessories.

[Now you really do look like a demonic cultivator.]

We should go to the sect library and look around. Maybe there’s a technique that suits me.

Ye Xuan quickly summoned his sword and flew away from the Outer Disciple Hall complex.

It wasn’t hard to find the sect library. It was shaped like a pagoda, only black, and hung with sect banners trailing downward.

Several other disciples were arriving too, then going in after verifying themselves with their disciple tokens. Ye Xuan joined the line and showed his token when a library staff member asked for it.

"A new disciple?" the woman asked.

"Yes."

She turned and called someone named Yun Mei. A woman came to the desk and was immediately told about Ye Xuan’s identity.

"Come here," said Yun Mei, a girl with black hair.

Ye Xuan stepped up to Yun Mei. The woman held out her hand and gave Ye Xuan two scrolls directly.

"Since you’re a new disciple, you’re entitled to learn these two techniques," Yun Mei explained. "In the future, if you want to learn other techniques in this library, you’ll have to exchange them for contribution points."

The system was much like most sects: take on missions and earn contribution points when you succeed.

"Do you understand?"

He cleared his throat softly and put both techniques into his bag of holding. Since his contribution points were still 0, there were no scrolls he could exchange for.

But looking on the bright side, Ye Xuan had gained two new techniques to learn. Their tier was clearly Spirit-Grade, matching his cultivation base.

He had wanted a profound-grade technique, since he could already use them well. But because of the sect’s rules, he had no choice but to comply.

Ye Xuan walked out of the pagoda and flew back toward the Outer Disciple Hall. From behind, Ye Xuan was startled by a woman calling out.

"Brother Ye."

Ye Xuan turned. It was the voice of the woman who had delivered the uniform and the disciple token. Even so, he still didn’t know her name.

"Are you interested in taking a mission with us? It seems you haven’t earned any contribution points yet," the woman said.

"Us?" Ye Xuan asked.

"Three others will be joining. Five people in total if you come along."

"The reward for this mission is 1,000 contribution points per person. You can exchange those points for a Profound-level scroll."

She only just met me, and her behavior was already pretty suspicious earlier.

Now she’s offering me a mission right away.

[Is this a trap?]

Maybe. I don’t know whether Cang Gong is involved, but it would be easy for him to order his disciple to do it in exchange for contribution points.

A thousand contribution points? That was enough to exchange for a Profound-Grade technique. What kind of mission offered such a generous reward?

"What do you think?" the woman asked.

Ye Xuan clasped his hands and bowed his head. "I’m not interested!"