Chapter Fifty-Four Eccentric Temperament

  Shanggong Hall, the task release area of Luoshui Sect. These tasks are mainly focused on eliminating evil and promoting good, in order to improve the sect's reputation among ordinary people. There are also some personal tasks that can be released by anyone, regardless of their affiliation with the sect, as long as they have a clear conscience, and the rewards for these tasks are often very generous.

  "Have you heard? The Shamebone Beast that was lurking around Beiyan City has been killed, and all the citizens of Beiyan City are taking to the streets to celebrate. Even the government is holding a special ceremony."

  "Pubic bone beast? Isn't that a fifth-grade superior demon beast, how can it be killed so easily? I saw this task just the other day, and it's already been completed?"

  "It's not possible, and I've also heard that it was done by a disciple of the evil sect. If I told you, you wouldn't even believe me!"

  "It's unbelievable that a disciple of the evil sect would do such a good deed. Even if ordinary people died in large numbers, they probably wouldn't have any feelings about it."

  "Heh heh, maybe not, perhaps that pubic bone beast just happened to offend them too."

  "This junior brother of yours is quite strange. And there's a demonic sect disciple who single-handedly saved the lives of the entire city's residents, have you ever heard of it?"

  "No way!"

  "Inconceivable? That evil sect disciple was just making a bet, and the ones they wanted to harm were ordinary people in the entire city, their fellow disciples treated them like ants."

  "It's actually like this, so please ask your senior brother to elaborate."

  Shen Cong looked at the information on the task token, while listening to various discussions around him. As a first-timer here, he found it entertaining to listen to all sorts of things. However, when he heard those evil sect disciples bullying ordinary people, Shen Cong's expression turned somewhat gloomy. No longer wanting to listen to their nonsense, Shen Cong walked away to another location.

  His own parents and the people of the entire village were all viewed as ants by others before they lost their lives. As for the evil sect Shen Cong, he didn't have much resentment, but this kind of trampling on human life, even if it was a righteous sect disciple, Shen Cong would still chop them to pieces with one knife.

  Eyes wandered on various tasks, mostly eliminating demonic beasts. Although many demonic beasts roamed the mountains and forests, some did not follow the rules and ran to human settlements to cause trouble. Ordinary people were powerless against such demonic beasts, only cultivators had the ability to deal with them, so this type of task was the most numerous, and also the best for enhancing a sect's reputation.

  Skipped all these tasks, and suddenly stopped at a task, escorting merchants. Starting from the twin cities of Yan, the endpoint is Lianyancheng, which is thousands of miles away.

  Shen's gaze flickered slightly, and between Yan Shuangcheng and that Lianyan City, there were many treacherous lands. Among them was a place called the Crimson Rock, where the fire spirit energy was extremely dense. Ordinary people who weren't careful might be steamed to death if they entered. But for those cultivating fire attributes, this was a wonderful place.

  Shen Cong is now cultivating the second level of Jingzhen Gong, and choosing this extreme environment is not bad. It's not necessary to cultivate to the point of being alone in a desolate land, but it's extremely good for tempering his body and true energy.

  "The most important thing is that there was one person who was active in the vicinity at first." Shen's fist tightened slightly, a faint smile appeared on his mouth, and he walked to the task execution site.

  "What's going on?" The deacon apprentice didn't even lift his head, inputting information into the jade stone in his hand.

  "Accept the task, escort Xuan Shuangcheng's merchant."

  "Yan Shuangcheng's merchant mission, there are three locations left, the minimum repair requirement is second-order combined force." The attendant disciple looked at Shen Congyi and nodded: "Your requirements are indeed met, but it's only the minimum requirement. However, you can't get the task for now."

  "Please also give me your instructions, senior brother." Shen Cong handed over a soft silver ingot from his hand and said with a smile.

  The disciple's face warmed slightly, and Shen's gaze was no longer as severe as before. "Actually, it's simple. The reward for this merchant task is generous, and the requirements are low, so naturally more people took on the task. Now that positions are limited, with Wang Shifu leading, the requirements have become stricter."

  "King Shu?"

  Shen Cong was taken aback, then reacted and realized who it was. Wang Shi Lin, a cultivator in the middle of the fifth stage of opening his meridians, had originally been able to break through to the sixth stage of becoming a sect master, but was framed by someone and his cultivation was knocked down a level. Later, despite his efforts to recover, he ultimately damaged his foundation, and becoming a sect master was hopeless. Moreover, after that framing incident, Wang Shi Lin's temper became eccentric, and many things would be beaten or scolded as soon as they were not pleasing to the eye, without regard for others' feelings, with very poor relationships, and few friends within the sect.

  "Brother disciple, feeling the softness in his hand, looked at Shen Cong and said, 'This younger brother of mine, now that I look at you, it's also fate. Let me advise you, it's better to choose another task. Master Wang is a straightforward and unyielding person, if you were under him, you would definitely not be spared from beatings and scoldings every day. Moreover, your cultivation has just reached the standard, even if you went, you would only be doing chores, suffering hardships for little gain. Although the reward is generous, it's ultimately not worth it.'"

  "Thanks for the reminder, Brother. I wonder if there's a mission to that Crimson Rock recently?" As long as he gets to go there, Shen Cong doesn't mind taking on other tasks. The sect has an unwritten rule that inner disciples who haven't left the mountain yet can't leave the sect at will, so finding a task is quite necessary.

  And now Shen Cong's body has little money, and the income from completing door missions is more than killing monsters by himself, which is the main source of income for inner disciples. Moreover, there is also a contribution to the sect. This contribution is used to exchange special secret books in the martial arts pavilion, otherwise some secret books cannot be learned.

  "The Crimson Rock, it was available two days ago, but it's already been completed." The attendant's disciple glanced at Shen Cong, "That place is remote, and tasks are rarely posted there."

  Shen furrowed his brow slightly, thinking to himself, "That troublesome senior brother will register the merchant task. Going under Master Wang's guidance can also learn something."

  "I've registered, you go to Hou Yanfeng tomorrow and Master Wang will choose the last few spots." The attendant's disciple glanced at Shen Cong, his voice still soft and warm, "One more thing, be respectful to Master Wang."

  "Thanks for reminding me, Brother Shuai." Shen Congyi smiled and turned to leave.

  Longshen Peak, a young disciple with light footsteps arrived at the formal disciples' residential area. There was a uniquely decorated courtyard here, which didn't seem like much at first glance, but upon closer inspection, one couldn't help but feel astonished. The floor was paved with Qingyu jade, the gate was made of Nanhai Wuxi wood, and the flowers were all second-grade or higher spiritual grasses. Although these items weren't expensive, no one would be extravagant enough to use them for decoration, especially since this was only an inner sect disciple's courtyard.

  The disciple arrived at the gate, tidied up his clothes, and then walked in respectfully. Inside the house, someone was sitting cross-legged, with a strong medicinal fragrance filling the air, which made him feel refreshed as soon as he took a breath.

  "Zhao Shixiong?" The disciple called out softly.

  "Any news about that little guy?" Zhao Shi's eyes snapped open, a glint of sharp light flashing out. The medicinal fragrance in the room was summoned and entered the bottle in front of Zhao Shi.

  A hint of envy flashed in the eyes of that disciple, but his head bowed even lower. "As per Senior Brother's request, I have been monitoring Sword King Peak. Today, Shen Cong finally descended from the peak, and his destination is Shanggong Hall."

  "Is that all?" Zhao Shi smiled, "If it's like this, then the rewards I gave you aren't worth it, do you understand?"

  "Junior brother naturally understands." The disciple's forehead broke out in a cold sweat, Zhao Shi's words were calm, but if he couldn't satisfy him, the consequences would be severe, and he had seen too many.

  According to the news from Jianwang Peak, Shen Cong went to Shanggong Hall and Master Shi uncle had gathered all the formal disciples of Jianwang Peak. When they left, those formal disciples all looked worried, probably something was going on inside. Moreover, Lin Chao was nowhere to be seen, it is said that he was out on a mission.

  Zhao Shi leisurely picked up the spiritual tea on the table and took a sip. "I heard that Gai Luobang is going to go out for a while, but it's true. In this case, is he trying to let Shen Cong take on a temporary task to leave the sect and hide? How cowardly, yet they can actually do such a thing. Moreover, even if they really did it, can they escape my grasp?"

  The scene of the Jade Maiden Peak's Ling symbol being torn apart kept replaying in his mind, and a cold smile appeared on Zhao Shi's lips. "Since you've done it, you should pay some price. Let's see what task that little brat received."

  "It's a team business task, and it's Master Wang's uncle who is in charge." The room seemed to be a bit chilly, and the disciple tightened his clothes.

  "A team task?" Zhao Shi's eyes narrowed slightly, "It's truly fate, if it were a solo task, it would be somewhat troublesome. Now that it's a team task, it's really great. I don't know how many days you can hold on for on the road, but you must be strong, otherwise, how can I have fun, haha!"

  With a hint of madness, Zhao Shi's laughter echoed far and wide. The disciples who heard it from afar shivered, wondering who would be unlucky this time.

  No words were exchanged that night, and on the second day, Shen Cong arrived at Hou Yanfeng on time. Among the dozens of peaks in the Luoshui Sect, each had its own characteristics. The Sword King Peak was sharp, the Jade Maiden Peak was elegant, while the Hou Yanfeng exuded a sense of solemnity, even the disciples who passed by along the way did not dare to smile, astonishing people.

  Arriving at Wang Shilin's courtyard, there were already several people standing here, and on the chair was a middle-aged man. His face had a hint of pallor, although his spirit was good, but he still felt that there was an uncomfortable aura emanating from him.

  "Disciple Shen Cong has met Master Wang Shu."

  The middle-aged man glanced at Shen Congyi, his eyes gleaming with a hint of severity. "Not everyone is here yet, go wait on the side and don't speak."

  "Yes!" Shen Cong bowed and walked to the side, standing still. The fellow disciples who arrived early looked at Shen Cong with a hint of vigilance and some hostility in their eyes, as they would all be competitors later on.

  Shen looked around, there were five people in total. All of their cultivations were at the peak of the second stage of combined power, except for one person who was in the middle of the third stage of universal power. His expression carried a hint of arrogance. The others subtly kept their distance, seemingly aware of the gap between them.

  After a while, another person rushed over and bowed to Wang Shiling, "Disciple Zhang Mao, greetings to Master Wang."

  Wang Lin didn't respond, he just glanced at the sky and then looked at Zhang Mao, "Scram."

  Zhang Mao was taken aback, this remark was unpleasant to hear. But before coming, he had heard that Wang Shi Lin had a strange temper, Zhang Mao held back his anger, "I came here for the merchant's task, therefore..."

  "You can't even understand human language, you can't even tell time, what's the use of having a disciple like you? When did our sect become so worthless that we'd accept someone like you?! Didn't you hear me earlier?! Get out of my sight!" A loud roar cut off Zhang Mao's words, and before he could say anything else, a massive force slammed into him, sending his entire body flying out without even giving him time to react.

  Zhang Mao heavily fell onto the ground, his strength unabated, and he was dragged a distance further, the ground covered in blood, looking particularly miserable.

  "Boom!"

  Wang Lin's hand waved again, and the main gate of the courtyard closed directly. The scene outside was no longer visible to everyone. Several disciples were shocked and swallowed their saliva, even Shen Cong looked at Wang Lin in surprise. Remembering the gaze of that disciple who had been in charge yesterday, he finally understood what kind of temperament this was.