Longevity Martial Arts: Grinding Experience in the Chaotic World

Chapter 282: Chapter 162: Red Cloud Mountain Range

The wooden hut was indeed shabby, but repairing it wasn’t too much trouble. All it required was shaving some planks and nailing them on. For this kind of work, let alone two hundred taels—if Gu Sheng merely called out, even for fifty taels, there would be plenty of people rushing to do it. Liu Yiming, fearing Gu Sheng might change his mind, hastily stuffed the silver note into his jacket. ”This small matter, rest assured! Once I finish tidying up the place, I’ll also help prepare your bedding while I’m at it! If you’ve got other tasks, go ahead and take care of them first!”

Gu Sheng chuckled but said nothing, turning around and retracing his steps back to the fork in the road that led to the three mountain peaks.

”Forget it, might as well head to War God Peak.”

In the Holy Pill Sect, each mountain peak had its own Merit Hall. However, the tasks issued by each Merit Hall differed—not only in difficulty but also in type.

For example, the Merit Hall of War God Peak predominantly issued combat-related tasks with inherent risks, such as hunting blood beasts in the Red Cloud Mountain Range or searching for rare herbs. The tasks of Spirit Pill Peak, on the other hand, were more technical, mostly involving alchemy for external factions or private individuals. Additionally, Spirit Pill Peak’s Merit Hall had long-term tasks like refining Bone Strengthening Pills and Bone Protecting Pills, which were always in high demand.

As for the Merit Hall of Cloud Saint Peak, its tasks were all-encompassing, encompassing all sorts of categories with high difficulty. Most required collaboration between several experts in the Golden Bone Realm or a master cultivator in the Marrow Refining Realm.

Gu Sheng wanted to find something relatively easy to take on, but due to his lack of knowledge in alchemy techniques, he could only search for menial or brute-force tasks at War God Peak’s Merit Hall.

Following the winding stone path upward for about a quarter of an hour, Gu Sheng eventually noticed where the dense ancient trees began to thin. Before him appeared a number of buildings.

Among the constructions were many simple and unadorned wooden huts as well as three grandiose, solemn-looking palaces, each spanning three stories in height.

Every one of these palaces occupied a vast area—the smallest was easily three to four hundred square meters. The largest alone boasted a single floor spanning seven to eight hundred square meters. On this largest palace hung a conspicuous plaque inscribed with ”Merit Hall” in bold, flowing calligraphy.

The Merit Hall was bustling with activity—people coming and going in large numbers. Gu Sheng followed the flow of the crowd and entered.

Upon entering, the first thing that caught his eye was an extraordinarily long folding screen.

The screen was densely plastered with slips of paper. As Gu Sheng stepped closer for a look, he realized these slips were all individual tasks.

A sizable group of people stood in front of the screen, choosing their tasks. Among them, most had cultivation levels similar to Gu Sheng—mostly in the Blood Refining Realm at the stages of Great Success or Perfect. Copper Bone Realm cultivators were rare, appearing perhaps once among fifty people.

After studying the screen for a while, Gu Sheng furrowed his brow tightly. ”The sect contribution points are way too low!”

Gu Sheng muttered complaints inwardly. He had browsed at least a hundred tasks just now, most of which involved heading into the Red Cloud Mountain Range to gather medicinal herbs or hunt large beasts for materials like bones and blood suitable for alchemy. These tasks had difficulty ratings of just one star, posed virtually no danger, and offered miserably low rewards—typically only two or three contribution points.

”These contribution points are ridiculously low! At this rate, it would take forever to save up!”

Gu Sheng couldn’t help but grumble softly. Unfortunately, his words were overheard by a nearby lean cultivator in the Blood Refining Realm at Perfect stage.

The man glanced at Gu Sheng, immediately spotting that he was not only a new face but was also dressed humbly, resembling a farmer. He sneered and said mockingly, ”Heh, if you think they’re too low, go check out the harder ones in the back! There’s even a task that rewards ten to twenty points. You gonna take it, huh? You’re just another guy aiming high but lacking real ability!”

Gu Sheng didn’t take offense. Instead, his eyebrows raised, and an expression of joy crossed his face. ”There are higher-difficulty tasks here?”

With arms crossed as if watching a show, the man gestured toward the furthest corridor with his chin. ”Yep, walk through there and you’ll reach the second screen. Those are the higher-difficulty tasks. But high risk comes with those—every year, people get themselves killed because they overestimate their own abilities. You sure you’ll take one?”

Ignoring the smirk and condescension, Gu Sheng cupped his hands in thanks. ”Much appreciated!” Without hesitation, he proceeded toward the indicated corridor.

Walking through the passageway, Gu Sheng discovered that the first floor of Merit Hall actually had three screens in total. Having learned his lesson, he didn’t spend too long studying tasks at the second screen and moved on to the third screen.

However, he didn’t linger long at the third screen either. After glancing at a few tasks, he quickly returned to the second screen. There was no helping it—the tasks on the third screen were all three-star difficulty. They were geared toward Silver Bone Realm individuals or Copper Bone Realm teams.

Though confident in his abilities, Gu Sheng wasn’t arrogant. He wouldn’t rashly take on such challenging tasks, no matter how enticing their rewards were.

The rewards for three-star tasks were indeed substantial. From the few he glimpsed, they offered thirty to fifty contribution points, in addition to other items—be it silver coins or pills. In contrast, rewards for two-star tasks were significantly lower, generally ranging from ten to fifteen points with no additional perks. Still, these tasks were meant for Copper Bone Realm solo cultivators or Blood Refining Realm Perfect teams, a group where Gu Sheng fit perfectly.

The rewards for two-star tasks did have slight variations, but the fluctuations weren’t substantial, usually around two or three points. Carefully selecting from these, Gu Sheng chose the task with the highest reward.