Deciding against revealing his true self to Li Na, not just because she was stronger than him but also since he wanted to continue acting like a wolf in sheep's skin before swallowing the tiger whole, Yang Shen chose to be straightforward and reveal the truth.
"I-I want to earn Contribution Points."
"Oh? You've already realized the value of Contribution Points? That's good. But like I said before, there aren't many missions which Outer Disciple can pick and complete successfully."
"Is-Is there really no way?"
Feeling her heart melting as she saw a pitiful expression surfacing on Yang Shen's already nervous face, Li Na thought hard and said, "There are a few missions which you can complete and earn a large number of Contribution Points from. But they are so sought after, that I can't help you obtain one even with my influence."
"Really?"
Hearing the disappointment in Yang Shen's voice, Li Na did her best to think of a way to help him. But in the end she truly had nothing she could do about this matter.
Every time a mission related to taking care of the Elders' private herb gardens appeared, they would be snatched up before the news regarding it could even spread.
After all, forget about Inner Disciples, even Core Disciples camped outside the pavilion through which missions were handed out in hopes of obtaining one of those missions.
Putting aside the fact that the rewards were great, if the one who obtained the mission was lucky enough, the Elder who gave out the mission would part the disciples with some of their knowledge about pill refining to them!
With such a lucrative additional reward, even Deacons would try and obtain the mission if not for the fact that they weren't allowed to.
"Sigh… I really don't have any way of helping you obtain those special missions. You can only hope to be at the right place at the right time."
"I...I see."
"How about going to the Missions Pavilion and seeing if there are any missions you fancy available? You can use my name if someone dares to compete for the mission you picked."
Nodding his head weakly while hiding the glee he felt on the inside, Yang Shen despite not having planned the entire thing out, felt happy that he could leave Li Na's house without having to sneak out of it.
Turning around and walking away, Yang Shen began realizing how it felt to be the weak man who was sought after by a strong woman.
Given how she felt sad at disappointing him, Yang Shen was sure that he could cash in the guilty feelings Li Na had towards letting him down whenever he wanted.
With such thoughts, Yang Shen left Li Na's house and walked towards the Missions Pavilion.
….
Having already gone on a tour of the sect with Li Na, Yang Shen didn't need any help in arriving at the Mission Pavillion.
But for some reason, unlike before the pavilion wasn't empty. Rather, it was surrounded by so many disciples that Yang Shen couldn't even see the entrance through them.
By now, Yang Shen knew that pale green was the colour of the robes given to Outer Disciples, bright green to Inner Disciples, and finally shiny blue to the Core Disciples.
Therefore, if the huge crowd wasn't enough to make him feel curious about what was happening, the presence of as many as twenty blue robed disciples was more than enough to do so.
Also, given how the crowd kept on growing, Yang Shen didn't even need to bother himself with asking someone what was happening. All he needed to do was stand there while some who were passing by arrived and started questioning.
"Why are all of you gathered here? Did something huge happen?"
"You don't know?! Elder Lin is looking for someone to take care of her herb garden!"
"That Elder Lin?!"
"Which else Elder Lin do you know?!"
"Ahhh! If it is her, I don't mind looking after her herb garden for free."
"For free? Tsk! Most of the Core Disciples wouldn't mind paying everything they own for a chance to take care of her herb garden."
"So what? All of them are willing to do that due to their perverted thoughts! I on the other hand have the heart of a saint!"
"A saint who can't stop drooling."
Listening to the disciples who kept on talking about who the lucky one would be that would obtain the mission, how beautiful Elder Lin was, and finally where the Deacon who was responsible for the missions had disappeared to, Yang Shen slowly made his way away from the crowd which was only growing bigger by the minute.
Sitting on a bench not too far away from the crowded pavilion, Yang Shen who knew that he wouldn't be able to get through the crowd decided to take a different approach from the rest of them.
Looking in the direction where the path to this pavilion separated from the main path, Yang Shen decided to wait for the Deacon responsible for the Missions Pavillion to arrive.
Given that he remembered seeing a woman sitting inside the pavilion when he passed this place with Li Na, Yang Shen was going to try and seduce her to obtain the mission to take care of Elder Lin's farm.
However since quite a lot of disciples would have most likely tried to do such a thing, Yang Shen wasn't going to take the regular approach of showering her with compliments and trying to cosy up to her.
He was instead going to try something which no one else would have done until now. As for it would work or not, that would entirely depend on what kind of a woman the Deacon was.