Ling Tian Sword God

Chapter 75: Chapter 74 Silver Task_1

「Three days later.」

Ling Chen stayed in Wuchen Courtyard for a few days to rest. After his battle with the assassin from the Shadow Tower, he ended up injured and had also been struck with a poison arrow, requiring several days of careful recuperation.

As for Ling Yin, she didn’t need much of his care anymore. He had asked Xiao Muyu to send over two female servant disciples to help take care of Ling Yin, which saved him a lot of trouble.

On the other hand, Xu Ruoyan had already returned to Sky Void Palace alone two days ago. Ling Chen realized that trying to nullify their engagement now was pointless, as it seemed to be unnecessary already.

The statement he made yesterday had undoubtedly caused Ling Chen some inner struggle. He had spent a long time with Xu Ruoyan, and they had faced life and death together. If he said he didn’t feel anything for her, that would be impossible. However, a drawn-out pain is worse than a short one. Besides, Ling Chen had long since made up his mind about this, and he wouldn’t regret it.

At dawn, Ling Chen left Wuchen Courtyard and headed to the Deacon Hall.

Considering that the Divine Intent Sect was not entirely safe either, there was no reason for him to stay there and be a sitting duck. Furthermore, the more confined he was within the sect, the more it would hamper his cultivation. Only by venturing out more for training would he find the opportunity to break through.

”There are no one-star Silver Level Missions?” In front of the white jade tablet on the right side of the entrance, Ling Chen furrowed his brows. He had initially planned to take on a one-star Silver Level Mission for practice, but those seemed to be very popular and difficult to come by.

After some deliberation, Ling Chen turned and walked deeper into the hall, stopping in front of the jade tablet for the two-star Silver Level Missions.

”Does this kid have a death wish? Even a Third Level Martial Artist has to be cautious when taking on two-star Silver Level Missions. He’s merely at the Martial Artist First Layer cultivation; does he dare accept the task?”

”Maybe he’s just browsing; I doubt he has the guts to accept it.”

A few nearby Outer Sect Disciples noticed Ling Chen, their eyes flickering as they discussed in low voices.

Ling Chen seldom appeared before the Outer Sect Disciples, so many of them had only heard his name but didn’t recognize him in person.

Indifferent to the comments of others, Ling Chen felt that with his strength, taking a two-star Silver Level Mission was not excessive. If judged by the difficulty of the tasks, missions of this level were perfect for him.

There were quite a few tasks listed on the jade tablet.

After a moment, Ling Chen found a task that seemed suitable.

The details of the mission were clearly written on the jade tablet.

Mission Name: Escort members of the Blue Moon Commerce Association to the Demon Forest.

Description: The location to be guarded is deep within the Demon Forest, in a valley called Demonic Sound Valley. The most powerful Exotic Beasts active there are high-rank second-grade, but are rarely seen. Mid-rank second-grade Exotic Beasts appear less frequently, while low-rank second-grade Exotic Beasts appear more frequently.

Mission Reward: Three thousand sect contribution points.

Recommendation: It is advised that experienced disciples with cultivation at the Martial arts triple realm accept this mission. Those below this realm need to be extremely cautious.

The Demon Forest is an extremely dangerous place, vast in range. The Soul-Burying Cliff where Ling Chen had been left for dead last time was merely at the outskirts of the Demon Forest. The real danger of the Demon Forest lay deep within.

Without much hesitation, Ling Chen reached out and tore off the mission notice.

”What? He really accepted it? That’s a two-star Silver Level Mission!” exclaimed some of the Outer Sect Disciples.

”Hmph, with a mission of this level, there will certainly be many applicants. There’s bound to be a selection process. His Martial Artist First Layer cultivation is nothing. He’ll only be making a fool of himself if he goes. I hope during the selection process, he won’t embarrass our Divine Intent Sect.”

”Yes, the Fire Blade Sect, Golden Shark Gang, and the Medicine King Sect—these second-rate sects have always had it in for us, the Divine Intent Sect. Given an opportunity, they wouldn’t miss a chance to humiliate us relentlessly. Our Divine Intent Sect is the number one sect in Wind Country. With a legacy spanning a thousand years, we cannot let this kid discredit us.”

Under the speechless gazes of the crowd, Ling Chen walked out of the Deacon Hall.

At the foot of the mountain, Ling Chen mounted his horse and rode off swiftly.

The Blue Moon Commerce Association is a large commerce association in Wind Country, but it isn’t strong in martial arts. Its primary focus lies in weapon forging and medicine refinement. The organization doesn’t have many experts and lacks a Grand Master to oversee things. This is why they post missions to the major sects to recruit experts to lend a hand.

After all, Sect Disciples include numerous prodigies. Fighting opponents above their own level is common for them. The martial techniques they cultivate are generally far superior, and employing Sect Disciples comes at a relatively low cost.

This time, they wished to enter Demonic Sound Valley to collect materials they required and to investigate a specific iron ore deposit.

「In the afternoon.」

Ling Chen rode non-stop and reached Blue Moon City, arriving at the headquarters of the Blue Moon Commerce Association.

The Blue Moon Commerce Association was bustling at this time. Over a dozen young men of impressive bearing gathered in the martial arts training field. Among them were disciples from the Medicine King Sect dressed in green, disciples from the Fire Blade Sect in red, and disciples from the Golden Shark Gang in yellow. There were also quite a few disciples from other aristocratic families. Altogether, there were more than ten such individuals.

Over twenty people gathered here in total, forming an undoubtedly strong force and emanating an incredibly formidable aura.

”Everyone, we will set off early tomorrow morning for the Demon Forest. So, the participants for this mission will be decided by dusk today. The Blue Moon Commerce Association will not treat those who are not chosen unfairly; we will gift a VIP Token from our association as compensation.” The speaker was the president of the Blue Moon Commerce Association, Yuan Tianxing, whose cultivation was at the Martial Artist Fivefold Realm.

Upon hearing this, a disciple from the Fire Blade Sect stepped forward two paces and asked, ”President Yuan, what are the selection rules? Please tell us.”

If Ling Chen were here, he would surely recognize this man. This man was none other than Ouyang Ming, who often associated with Ying Wuqing.

Yuan Tianxing smiled. ”Sparring one by one is certainly not realistic, so I’ve adopted a free-for-all battle for selection. Look at the martial arts training field; there’s a red circle there. On each of the four wooden stakes inside the circle, a Guest Qing Order from our Blue Moon Commerce Association has been placed. In a moment, all of you will enter the circle to engage in a free-for-all to seize these four Guest Qing Orders. After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the owners of the four Guest Qing Orders will be the ones chosen for this mission.”

Clearing his throat, Yuan Tianxing added, ”To ensure fairness, during the free-for-all, you cannot gang up on individuals; it must be one-on-one. When others are engaged in a fight, you must find another opponent and not interfere. I hope everyone will adhere to this.”

Everyone looked over. A huge circle had indeed been painted on the martial arts training field with red pigment, measuring about five zhang across. It was barely large enough for over twenty people to engage in a free-for-all within it. However, once the fighting started, the force of palms and fists would inevitably affect others. If anyone was carelessly forced out of the circle, it meant they were eliminated.

”Good, it’s challenging. I like it.” Suddenly, a young man dressed in extravagant robes stepped forward, looking down on everyone with arrogance.

”It’s Kong Xuan, one of the ’Ten Heroes of the Capital’!”

The identity of the splendidly dressed young man was quickly recognized.

Not to be outdone, a blue-robed disciple from the Fire Blade Sect with a very powerful aura stepped forward. ”The martial arts of our Fire Blade Sect are characterized by grand, sweeping movements; we love this kind of free-for-all, haha...”

”Fire Cloud Blade Master, Ouyang Lie!”

This caused another stir in the crowd.

”Golden Shark Gang disciples fear no one.” The representative of the Golden Shark Gang was a burly young man known as ”Mad Shark” Wei Xuan.

”The same goes for us from the Medicine King Sect.”

From the Medicine King Sect, a gentle and charming woman dressed in white stood at the front. Embroidered on her chest was a pattern of an unusual flower or herb. This woman was Bai Susu, known in Jianghu as the ”Little Medicine King.”

The strongest disciples from the major sects each voiced their intentions, clearly determined to secure these positions.

”This is bad; we don’t have any strong disciples from our Divine Intent Sect here this time.”

The remaining Divine Intent Sect disciples looked at each other in dismay. Kong Xuan, Ouyang Lie, and their ilk were all renowned young talents in the Martial World of Wind Country. Unfortunately, among the Divine Intent Sect disciples present, there was clearly no one who could contend with these individuals.