The Elven Cultivator

Taichu City, Meeting Hall.

This building was situated in the southeast corner of Taichu City. It was separated from the outer city’s residential area by only two streets, and the Dao Transmission Pavilion was just a few hundred paces away.

This was the place where disciples of Taichu City accepted missions, submitted their proof of completion, and settled their Contribution Points.

Whether they were new disciples who had just joined or senior brothers and sisters who had long since refined Spiritual Qi, everyone had to make a trip here every so often.

Laine walked through the familiar streets, arrived before the Meeting Hall, and stepped across the threshold into the main lobby.

Directly opposite the entrance was a long, oak counter.

A few young Elves from the Document Hall sat behind the counter, their heads buried in paperwork. From time to time, one would look up to ask the disciples in front of the counter a few questions.

Laine subconsciously slowed his pace, his gaze falling on the bulletin boards on either side of the lobby.

The bulletin boards were framed with dark oak, their surfaces covered in a layer of fine corkboard. They were densely plastered with pieces of sheepskin paper.

Each piece of sheepskin paper was a mission notice.

The entire board was divided into three sections, clearly demarcated from one another by copper strips.

The top section was for long-term missions, including assisting the Spirit Plant Garden with caring for rare plants, regularly submitting specific Talismans, and regularly submitting specific Low Tier Pills.

These missions didn’t offer many Contribution Points, but they were stable, suitable for disciples who wanted to accumulate points at a steady pace.

The middle section was for temporary missions.

The notices in this section changed far more frequently than the long-term ones, sometimes being replaced several times in a single day.

The content was varied—from repairing Arrays to maintaining Daoist Soldiers, from organizing the library to transcribing scriptures. The rewards ranged from high to low.

The bottom section was for elite missions.

This section had the fewest notices, usually just two or three, and sometimes none at all.

But the Contribution Point rewards on each notice were extremely generous, often several or even ten times that of a regular mission.

The content was also mostly combat-related.

For example, clearing out Magic Beasts from a certain area or escorting important supplies through dangerous territory.

Usually, only disciples with higher Cultivation Levels dared to accept them.

Laine’s gaze lingered for a moment on one of the notices.

It was a recruitment notice for an expedition to the Dark Nether Realm, posted in the most conspicuous spot.

More than ten disciples were gathered in front of the bulletin board, pointing at the notice and whispering among themselves.

”I heard the Dark Nether Realm is crawling with monsters. Some can even kill Silver Tier experts with ease…”

”That’s why there’s an assessment. If you’re not strong enough, going is just suicide.”

”What a pity. I’m still two wisps of Spiritual Qi away from breaking through to the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation. I don’t meet the requirements.”

”What’s there to be afraid of? This is obviously a long-term mission. You can just cultivate for another year and join next year.”

Just then, someone noticed Laine’s arrival and immediately greeted him, ”Senior Brother Laine.”

Only then did the other disciples realize who it was, and they all chimed in with greetings.

”Senior Brother, are you just back from outside?”

”I heard you successfully refined a Dragon Yuan Pill not long ago, Senior Brother. Congratulations.”

”Senior Brother Laine, when is it your turn to be on duty at the Dao Transmission Pavilion? There’s a martial technique I don’t quite understand and was hoping to ask you about.”

Laine smiled and responded to each of them before leaving the main lobby and heading toward a quiet room in the back.

With practiced ease, he made a few turns and arrived at a door at the end of the corridor. He reached out and pushed it open.

The room wasn’t large, about twenty square meters. An oak table stood in the center, surrounded by a dozen or so wicker chairs.

At this moment, the table was already surrounded by people.

Furlo, Mia, Lucius… all the disciples from the same batch as him who had passed the aptitude test were present. Not a single one was missing.

”You guys sure are fast.”

Laine walked into the room, closing the door behind him as he spoke with a sigh of admiration.

It had been a long time since he’d seen everyone gathered like this.

Usually, everyone was busy with their own affairs, either cultivating or doing missions. Getting them all together in one place was no easy feat.

”Of course,” Mia said with a grin. ”This is important. I didn’t want to be late.”

Laine followed the voice with his eyes, and his gaze paused on Mia’s shoulder.

Perched there was a red sparrow the size of a fist.

Its feathers were a reddish-gold, and its long tail feathers were slightly forked at the tips, resembling a cluster of burning flames.

Most striking were its eyes. They were a dark gold, and deep within its pupils, molten lava seemed to flow slowly, each blink scattering a wisp of fine sparks.

”A Fire-Feathered Sparrow?” A trace of surprise flashed in Laine’s eyes.

”That’s right.” A proud smile appeared on Mia’s face as she reached out and poked the Fire-Feathered Sparrow’s head. ”It’s a Tier One Spirit Beast newly bred by the Beast Garden. I spent a ton of Contribution Points to get it.”

The Fire-Feathered Sparrow squinted as it was poked, a purring sound rumbling in its throat. It didn’t shy away; instead, it tilted its head and rubbed against Mia’s finger, appearing exceptionally Spiritual.

Laine examined the small Fire-Feathered Sparrow with great interest.

In recent years, the Beast Garden’s species improvement program had gotten on track, and they had successfully bred quite a few Spirit Beasts.

The Beast Garden had now formed a relatively complete breeding system.

At the same time, it had also established a Spirit Beast ranking system corresponding to the Dao cultivation realms.

Simply put, Tier One Spirit Beasts corresponded to the Qi Refining Stage, Tier Two to the Foundation Establishment Stage, and Tier Three to the Golden Core Stage.

The Beast Garden had currently only bred Tier One and Tier Two Spirit Beasts; Tier Three was still in the theoretical stage.

However, even the lowest-level Tier One Spirit Beast possessed considerable combat power.

Despite the Fire-Feathered Sparrow’s small size, it could spit Spiritual Fire hot enough to melt refined steel. Its combat power was no worse than some of the disciples present.

”As soon as I heard we could sign up for the expedition to the Dark Nether Realm, I immediately ran to the Beast Garden and exchanged for one.” Mia patted the Fire-Feathered Sparrow’s head, her eyes full of pride. ”With it around, dealing with those underground monsters will definitely be much easier.”

”Alright, stop showing off.”

Furlo gave Laine a faint smile, her voice as gentle as a flowing stream.

”Laine, don’t just stand there. Have a seat.”

Laine nodded and sat down in the empty seat next to Furlo, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

”So, it looks like everyone has decided to join the expedition.”

Everyone looked at each other with a smile and nodded.

”Of course. An opportunity like this can’t be missed.”

”The teacher said that the path of cultivating the Dao can’t be walked by just hiding behind closed doors. You have to temper yourself to go further.”

”I heard this expedition is being led by Lord Roman. She’s an Upper Gold expert and the vice-commander of the Silver Moon Legion. We’ll definitely learn a lot by following her.”

The group chattered animatedly, eagerly discussing the topic of the expedition.

Laine listened with a smile, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over to Lucius, who was sitting in the corner.

Lucius didn’t speak, merely sitting there quietly, stroking the hilt of the Long Sword at his waist as always.

That sword was an Artifact Level Long Sword that Lucius had just recently exchanged for, named ”Flame Edge.”

It was said that to obtain this Long Sword, Lucius had spent nearly a year’s worth of Contribution Points.

Lucius’s face was as calm as still water, betraying no emotion, but Laine had known him for a long time. He was very familiar with him and could easily read the trace of unconcealable anticipation in his slightly narrowed eyes.

Of everyone present, Lucius was likely the one most eager to join the expedition.

The way of the Sword Cultivator emphasized honing one’s edge in actual combat and seeking breakthroughs on the brink of life and death.

A place teeming with danger like the Dark Nether Realm was, for Lucius, the best possible Cultivation Field.

Laine retracted his gaze, thinking to himself.

’The twelve of them have all, without exception, broken through to the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation. And they’ve all mastered more than five martial techniques and Techniques.’

’As long as we pass the combat assessment, we’ll all be eligible to join the expedition.’

’Looks like we’ll all be spending a long time in the Dark Nether Realm.’

”Since everyone has decided, let’s go back and get ready.”

Laine stood up, a smile on his face.

”See you in the Dark Nether Realm.”

”Alright, see you in the Dark Nether Realm.”

”I can’t wait.”

”I need to go exchange for a protective Talisman.”

Laughing and talking, the group filed out of the room.

The sounds of footsteps and conversation gradually faded, and the corridor returned to silence.

Laine was about to leave when Furlo called out to him.

”Laine, wait a moment.”

He turned around and saw Furlo and Mia still standing at the door, looking as if they had something to say.

”What is it?” Laine asked.

Mia smiled. ”We wanted to ask if you’d like to form a small team.”

Laine was slightly taken aback and looked at Furlo.

Furlo explained, ”I’ve heard the Dark Nether Realm is very dangerous. Although we’ll be moving with the main expedition team and have their protection, so we won’t be fighting alone, it would be good to have a small team to look out for each other. What do you think?”

”A great idea.”

Since it was Furlo who suggested it, Laine naturally wouldn’t refuse.

Besides, he did think forming a team was a good proposal.

Then, a figure suddenly appeared in Laine’s mind, and he blurted out, ”How about we invite Lucius to join too? I’ll convince him.”

”Of course, no problem,” Mia agreed without a second thought.

Furlo also smiled faintly, showing her approval.

Although Lucius had a cold personality and didn’t talk much, after getting to know him, they knew he was very good to his own people.

Moreover, with his strength, he would definitely be a great asset to the team.

In terms of the amount of Spiritual Qi he had refined, Lucius was inferior to Laine and Furlo, putting him on par with Mia.

But when it came to actual combat ability, even Laine couldn’t guarantee he could win against Lucius.

The Heaven-Burning Tempering Blade that Lucius cultivated was inherently focused on slaughter, and the Divine Sun Sword Skill he had chosen to study pushed the advantages of this Cultivation Technique to the extreme.

It was said that he had already cultivated the Divine Sun Sword Skill to the state of ”Five Suns Emerging Simultaneously.” Even against a Silver Tier expert, he wouldn’t be powerless.

Having decided to form a team, the three of them didn’t chat any longer and went their separate ways to prepare.

When Laine walked out of the Meeting Hall, the sun had already risen quite high in the sky.

He stood at the entrance and let out a long breath. A faint sense of anticipation for the upcoming trip to the Dark Nether Realm bloomed in his heart.

Realizing this, he couldn’t help but laugh at himself.

”Looks like I have a bit of an adventurous streak in my bones, seeking thrills.”