The next day,
Yunyue Sect, Sect Affairs Hall.
As soon as the sky began to brighten, many disciples had already gathered inside the hall where the Sect Affairs Hall was located.
"The mission board has been updated..."
A group of sect disciples, looking expectant, uniformly stared at the freshly posted mission boards on the wall.
The Sect Affairs Hall was the institution where Yunyue Sect released various missions.
As per usual, every morning, the mission board at the Sect Affairs Hall would be updated.
Today was no exception.
"The first on the assassination list is still the 'Demon Clown,' and the contribution points for this mission have actually risen to twenty-eight thousand!"
Some outer disciples clicked their tongues in amazement.
"This 'Demon Clown' is not someone we can provoke. It's said that this demon once massacred a small town, and the disciples at the Meridian Passage Stage, even some Inner Sect Disciples, who died at his hands were numerous."
"The cruelty of this demon is famous in Chu Country. Any enemies who fall into his hands, regardless of gender or age, are mercilessly slaughtered. The horror of it..."
The seasoned disciples present changed color upon hearing this, shaking their heads one after another.
At this moment, a slightly youthful-looking boy walked into the Sect Affairs Hall.
The boy was dressed in the standard blue robe of an outer disciple, looking inconspicuous, but his eyes were clear and powerful, and his steps were very steady.
The newcomer was precisely Chen Yu.
"The assassination list is still not something I can touch for now."
Chen Yu's eyes lightly swept over the intimidating names on the list.
Naturally, the Demon Clown at the top, with a reward of twenty-eight thousand contribution points, plus other various rewards, was needless to say.
It must be known.
The mid-level martial arts Chen Yu was keen to obtain only required a thousand contribution points to exchange.
Ranked second, the "Infinite Thief," and third, the "Blood Blade Wolf King," were also notorious, each either ferocious or cunning, and even targets wanted by the various sects in Chu Country.
For instance, the "Infinite Thief" was a flower thief specifically targeting the noble ladies of famous families.
His greatest achievement was penetrating the royal palace of the neighboring country and defiling a consort and a princess of Chu Country.
The contribution points for killing this thief were as high as twenty-six thousand!
The rewards for the top twenty on the assassination list started at at least ten thousand.
The rewards for the assassination list were generous, but with Chen Yu's current cultivation, encountering these people would only mean being killed instantly.
However, after breaking through to the Meridian Passage Stage, he could try for some of the targets further down the list.
Chen Yu removed his gaze from the assassination list and began searching other categories of task boards.
Besides the most dangerous assassination missions, more common ones included gathering missions in perilous places, including hunting some feral beasts to obtain materials.
The simplest were some errands like delivering messages and dealing with minor trivialities in the mortal world.
And these simple tasks either offered pitifully little reward, with contribution points possibly even in single digits, or were extremely cumbersome, wasting a lot of time and effort.
In the past, Chen Yu could only choose these simple, risk-free tasks, doing them a few times a year for very little reward.
But this time, Chen Yu intended to take on some tasks with higher rewards.
Correspondingly, the tasks were also more dangerous.
However, Chen Yu had a certain degree of confidence in his current strength, thinking that he should be able to protect himself in general tasks.
Before long.
Chen Yu found a suitable task on the list.
"Hunt the 'Iron Brown Bear': Obtain materials such as bear gallbladders and bear claws. Depending on the level of the Iron Brown Bear, a single bear gallbladder rewards contribution points ranging from 20 to 60, and 1 to 5 inferior-grade Primordial Stones; a bear claw offers 5 to 20 contribution points."
Seeing this task, Chen Yu's eyes lit up.
Not only were the contribution points for this task decent, but obtaining bear gallbladder would also reward Primordial Stones.
Primordial Stones were the hard currency in the sect world.
Primordial Stones were crystals formed from the condensation of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, which could accelerate cultivation, replenish qi, and be traded for various cultivation resources, making them very versatile.
Chen Yu had stayed in the sect for so long without having a single Primordial Stone in his hand.
Because he was still in the observation period for outer disciples and had not become a real outer disciple yet; otherwise, formal outer disciples could receive three inferior-grade Primordial Stones per month.
"Iron Brown Bear..."
Several outer disciples paused their gaze on this task for a moment but quickly shook their heads.
Chen Yu couldn't help but fall into contemplation.
The rewards for this task were considered relatively generous; despite the Iron Brown Bear's tough hide and monstrous strength, its speed and agility were said to be quite average.
In theory, there should be many people taking on such a task.
But in reality, it was not so, indicating that this task was not as simple as imagined.
"The Iron Brown Bear task, our team is still short one person."
At this moment, amidst the noisy crowd, Chen Yu heard a voice.
The voice came from outside the Sect Affairs Hall.
Following the voice, Chen Yu walked towards the three men and one woman outside the hall.
The speaker was a "triangular-eyed man," in his early twenties, looking like a seasoned disciple at the "Meridian Passage Stage."
Having been in the outer sect for nearly three years, Chen Yu recognized most people.
This triangular-eyed man was named "Ding Jiuhui," an old hand in the outer sect, with strength definitely not inferior to Wang Lingyun.
The other two men and one woman included a pockmarked boy, a slim girl, and a horse-faced boy.
Chen Yu had some impression of the first two but couldn't recall their names.
However, the last horse-faced boy looked at Chen Yu with resentment; he was an old acquaintance.
"Chen Yu."
The horse-faced boy gritted his teeth slightly, clenching his fists, with a look of slight fear.
It turned out this person was Feng De, who had been knocked away with one punch by Chen Yu just a few days ago and crushed in three moves.
"Kid, I know you..."
The leader, "Ding Jiuhui," with his triangular eyes, gave Chen Yu a rather peculiar look.
"Are you that Chen Yu?"
The pockmarked boy and the slim girl looked at Chen Yu as if suddenly realizing, seeming very familiar with him.
"Am I that famous?"
Chen Yu couldn't help but touch his chin.
However, judging from the situation, although these people knew him, their eyes were mostly filled with disdain and ridicule.
"Brother Chen's reputation for 'mooching' has spread throughout the entire outer sect. Tsk tsk, even being able to win over a great beauty like 'Mu Xueqing' makes one envious..."
The pockmarked boy made a lewd face, seemingly somewhat genuinely admiring.
Mooching?
Under the peculiar gaze of the surrounding circle, Chen Yu almost stumbled.
It was very apparent that the scene of Chen Yu and Mu Xueqing "walking hand in hand" out of the dining hall that day had been seen by many.
"Ahem! Now that everyone knows each other, it's easier to talk. I, for one, am interested in joining your team to hunt the 'Iron Brown Bear' together."
Chen Yu felt uncomfortable under the stares of the few people and quickly got to the point.
"Hunt the Iron Brown Bear? Just you?"
The people present, led by Ding Jiuhui, were first stunned, then soon one by one showed amused expressions.
Besides Feng De, the other three all wore expressions of skepticism.
"What doubts do you have?"
Chen Yu finally realized that his reputation for "mooching" had earned him the contempt of these people.
"You, not up to the mark!"
Ding Jiuhui's triangular eyes swept indifferently over Chen Yu, speaking bluntly.
As a seasoned outer disciple, he didn't give Chen Yu any face, mercilessly refusing.
"Haha! Brother Chen, that 'Iron Brown Bear' is a feral beast in its own right, not as easy to deal with as you imagine. Among us, the lowest cultivation level is at the Peak of Body Refining, and we must also be the top tier under the Meridian Passage Stage."
The pockmarked boy immediately came to the rescue.
In his words, the pockmarked boy revealed his subtle self-satisfaction about his strength.
"Oh, is it so..."
Chen Yu realized that the task of hunting the Iron Brown Bear was indeed not simple.
But these people's lowest cultivation was at the peak of the Meridian Passage Stage, and Feng De among them was probably considered weak.
"It's good you understand."
Ding Jiuhui curled his lips, showing an air that implied Chen Yu was sensible.
"Of course. If it's just like this, I can confirm that I am still qualified to participate..."
Chen Yu spoke slowly.
What!
Ding Jiuhui's face darkened, and the intangible qi exuded from the Meridian Passage Stage made the people present feel a slight pressure in their breathing.
The pockmarked boy and the slim girl both looked at Chen Yu with surprise.
"After all... among you, there is someone who lost to me."
Chen Yu remained unmoved.
His gaze intentionally or unintentionally shifted toward Feng De.
"Chen Yu! Don't be arrogant!"
Feng De's face turned livid, extremely embarrassed.
But he couldn't deny this fact, nor could he suppress the fear of Chen Yu in his heart.
His strength was considered the weakest among the task members, and it was only because of his good relationship with Ding Jiuhui that he got to join.
"Oh?"
Ding Jiuhui thoughtfully looked at Feng De.
Naturally, Feng De wouldn't spread the humiliation of his crushing defeat everywhere; the brief confrontation at the dining hall was just a trivial spat, common in the sect and known only to small circles.
In contrast, Chen Yu and Mu Xueqing's "walking hand in hand" attracted more attention and was passed on from one to ten and from ten to a hundred.
"Heh heh, kid, it seems I've underestimated you. How about this, as the assistant leader, you only need to pass my 'one finger' test to get recognition."
Ding Jiuhui's triangular eyes, with a hint of playfulness, reassessed Chen Yu.
He had confirmed that Chen Yu's strength should be above Feng De's. Logically, he was eligible to be the last member of the small team.
However,
Chen Yu had just embarrassed him, and since he was close to Feng De, he felt the need to vent some anger for a friend.
One finger?
The pockmarked boy and the slim girl on the side changed color when they heard this.
Their hearts tightened, understanding that Ding Jiuhui intended to make things difficult for Chen Yu, even wanting to teach him a lesson.
"Alright then."
Chen Yu maintained a calm face, seeming incapable of understanding Ding Jiuhui's malice.
"Good!"
Ding Jiuhui smiled wickedly and extended a soft hand, a finger lightly pointing at Chen Yu.
That one finger appeared not to exert any force, merely revealed a muffled low cry of airflow around the fingertip.
"It's the mid-tier martial art 'Willow Shadow Finger'!"
Nearby, some people turned pale.
This 'Willow Shadow Finger' was a yin-style martial art that seemed like willow branches brushing against the face but was actually full of hidden deadly intent.
Chen Yu vaguely sensed a formless yin-like internal breath at the opponent's carefree fingertip that "gathered but did not unleash." The sense of danger it brought even slightly surpassed Wang Lingyun's 'Iron Cloud Claw.'
While the deadly intent of the 'Iron Cloud Claw' was apparent, the 'Willow Shadow Finger' concealed it.
"Break!"
Chen Yu didn't retreat a step, swinging a punch, with his heart's strong beat surging a torrent-like vital blood strength.
Whoosh!
At the instant the punch swung out, the momentum felt heavy, faintly accompanied by a storm-like thunder.
Bang, pop!
In a flash, a finger and a punch intersected mid-air, and an invisible wave of air erupted.
Those watching nearby felt a chilling breeze on their faces, causing them to involuntarily step back a few steps.