Leizhou City, In the Ye clan home.
"Brother Zifeng, I heard from
mother that you've received the
mission to kill Thunder Rhinos." Ye
Xueyi's soft voice sounded as she
quickly ran towards Zifeng.
"Wow. News sure travels fast." Ye
Zifeng sat down and pulled out a
peach cracker from his bad. He
tried to hand peach cracker to
Xueyi, "Come on, try this. I just
got it from the store around the
corner. Your mother told me that
you loved these."
Ye Xueyi pushed his hands away and
seriously said, "Brother Zifeng, do
you know what you've done? You're
still in the mood to eat snacks
after accepting such a difficult
mission?"
Ye Zifeng chuckled and shrugged,
"I accepted it already. We'll just
see how it goes."
Ye Xueyi bit her lips. She didn't
know whether to laugh or cry at
her brother's stupidity.
"Come on Brother Zifeng. Get up.
I'll go to the sect with you and ask
Elder Qin to give you a new
mission." She tried to pull Zifeng's
arm and drag him back to the sect.
However, Ye Zifeng dodged and
shook his head, "Once the sect
assigns a mission, it is impossible
to get a new one. That is the rule.
You should know about it."
Xueyi wasn't taking any of this,
"Fine. Even if you can't get a new
mission, you can still forfeit this
one. At worst, you'll only get a
three month penalty which is a lot
better than not completing the
mission."
"Sis, how can you have so little
faith in me?" Ye Zifeng replied,
"Remember last time when the Liu
family came? I took care of that
Liu Yige who's at the peak of fifth
qi refining stage. You were there.
Do you think that I can't take care
of these Thunder Rhinos?"
"That..."
Ye Xueyi's expression changed. She
didn't know what Zifeng did to
beat and harm Liu Yige. It was
really weird. How did Zifeng make
Liu Yue who was around two whole
stages above himself spit a
mouthful of blood?
'But brother…. You've never killed
anything before and this is your
first time accepting a mission. The
Thunder Rhino is extremely
strong…. I'm afraid that you'll
get hurt."
"How can there be a reward if
there's no risk? And besides, I can
gain experience from this even if I
don't complete it." Ye Zifeng
calmly said, "So don't worry about
it. There's still three days before I
go out. Against an attribute type
beast like the Thunder Rhino, it
shouldn't be so hard for me. I
already have a plan."
"So you're saying that you won't
forfeit the mission no matter
what…."
Ye Zifeng looked at Xueyi with
strong determination in his eyes
and nodded.
Ye Xueyi pouted. Seeing how this
talk is making her brother more
determined, she decided to give up
and let out a long sigh.
"Come on, Xueyi. Try the peach
crackers!"
Ye Zifeng moved a cracker towards
her mouth. Xueyi angrily turned
around and was speechless. She
didn't want to talk to this guy
anymore.
"Come on. Try it. Don't be mad at
me….." Ye Zifeng persistently
offered her some snack.
Ye Xueyi wiped the tears from her
eyes. "Thanks Brother!" She turned
around, grabbed the crackers and
ran away.
Ye Zifeng watched as Xueyi left
and smiled. He then turned towards
his furnace and a serious look
appeared on his face.
"Alright! Time to start preparing
for the mission!"
...
Cloud Peak Valley. It was an area
behind the Ashen Spirit Sect where
many different common tier beasts
resided. The area was specifically
created for disciples to complete
missions
Outside the valley, the mission
organizers from the Hidden Heart
Hall were giving out maps of the
valley to disciples. On each map,
the regions were divided and
labeled accordingly.
"Look at that guy. That's Ye
Zifeng. As someone in the third
stage of qi refining, he's actually
trying to challenge Thunder Rhinos
that were in the fourth stage!"
"Thunder Rhinos? Wasn't that the
mission that even Xiao Mu failed a
couple of times?"
"Shhhh….not so loud. Young master
Xiao is right there."
Xiao Mu lightly coughed, and the
people who were talking
immediately closed their mouths,
not daring to talk anymore.
"What are you guys worrying
about? That Ye Zifeng must have
some problems with his head to
choose a mission like this. Don't
start talking like he can actually
complete this. From what I can see,
he probably won't even be coming
back alive!"
Xiao Mu's loud voice caused many
people to look over.
Ye Zifeng walked up and smiled,
"Then what if I finish it and come
back by luck?"
Xiao Mu was startled. He was
thinking that there's a chance that
this guy can survive by luck but to
finish the mission? That was not
possible. To someone who was in the
third stage of qi refining like Ye
Zifeng, this fourth stage mission
was even harder than climbing to
heaven.
"Then I'll….I'll…." Xiao Mu didn't
know what he should bet….
Ye Zifeng then suggested, "How
about this. I don't want you to
kowtow to me like Wang Lin. That'll
embarrass you too much. If I can
finish the mission and come out
alive, then why don't you give me
the points that you earn from your
mission. How about it?"
Right now, Ye Zifeng wanted points
more than anything. With these
points, he can exchange them for
rare ingredients and raise his
cultivation.
"You want my points? A fifth stage
mission is worth 100 points!" Xiao
Mu was shocked. Although his family
was well off, the things you can
exchange with these points are all
priceless.
Ye Zifeng continued, "If I can't
finish this mission, then I'll go and
repair walls every month from now
on and give you all my points for
two years."
"If it's two years, then..."
"One hundred twenty points." Ye
Zifeng smiled.
Xiao Mu was in deep thoughts. He
started to think about and consider
Ye Zifeng's proposal. If Ye Zifeng
fails, then he could get 120 points
without doing anything and also
humiliate Ye Zifeng at the same
time. The chances of him winning
was very high and he felt like it
was a good deal.
"Fine. You're in the third stage of
qi refining and this is your first
time doing a mission. Yet you dare
to act like this… I, Xiao Mu will
teach you a lesson. As for the
tranfer of points….." Xiao Mu
looked over at Mo Yu.
Mo Yu quickly replied, "If no one
has any objections right now, then
we won't mind either. The points
can be transferred."
Xiao Mu was excited. He looked as
if he had received the 120 points
already.
"With that being the case, I hope
that senior brother Mo will be the
witness to our bet. Many thanks."A
lustrous smile appeared on Ye
Zifeng's face.
After the small delay, the
protectors started to explain the
mission. In intervals of half an
hour, each disciple will enter the
valley one by one.
When Ye Zifeng was about to enter
the valley, Xiao Mu smiled and
slapped him on the shoulders.
"What else do you want?" Ye Zifeng
hated people touching his shoulder,
especially someone that he disliked.
Xiao Mu laughed loudly, "The bet
from before. I forgot to tell you
something. You know it's fine if
you don't finish the mission.
However, if you're unlucky and die,
I, Xiao Mu will be generous and not
ask you for those 120 points….."
"Uhhh. Then... thanks?" Ye
Zifeng shook his head. Under the
protector's command, he then went
into the valley.
...
In the valley, he followed the
directions on the map. He passed
through a small jungle and reached
his destination, clear water pond.
The Thunder Rhinos liked to fight
with others for territory and they
have dominated the clear water
pond for a while now.
This time, because it is a solo
mission, Ye Zifeng didn't have to
hide his true strength. It was more
convenient to take action.
"Let's test the waters and see how
much thunder you can release from
your body."
Ye Zifeng's mouth curled up and
revealed a sly smile. On his palm,
his black death qi began to
condense into a small imprint. He
then quickly struck out at the
Thunder Rhino.
In a split second, the black palm
that Ye Zifeng sent out suddenly
exploded before even reaching the
Rhino.
The Thunder Rhino wasn't a
greenhorn either. It wasn't his
first time facing off against a
human. He had felt Ye Zifeng's
presence a while ago and knew that
he was dangerous. Thus, when Ye
Zifeng struck out, he immediately
released his lightning into the air
and formed layers of walls.
When the black death palm strike
struck against the lightning wall, a
large explosion occurred. Both the
attack and the light wall
dissipated.
"It can actually dissipate the death
qi? It seems like this rhino has
some skills." Ye Zifeng felt
shocked. He thought that the
strike would at least hurt the rhino
a bit. However, who would've
thought that it didn't even leave a
single scratch on it!
When he thought about it carefully,
the death qi strike was best suited
for close range. When he thought
about the last time he used it, it
was because Liu Yige let his guard
that he was able to land this sneak
attack successfully. Usually qi
refining stage cultivators did not
have real battle experience and
would use all of their strength to
attack head on. However the
Thunder Rhino was different. Every
month, someone would come and try
to kill it. It had developed a battle
sense that allowed it to sense
danger. Due to this, it was almost
impossible to Ye Zifeng to land an
attack it easily.
Also, when Ye Zifeng felt the
explosion earlier, he quickly
retreated. If he was any closer to
the Thunder Rhino, he would
probably be knocked unconscious by
the lightning. Xiao Mu had been
knocked unconscious a few times by
the Thunder Rhino and he was in
the fifth stage of qi refining. The
only reason why Xiao Mu lived every
time was because he was a coward.
He stay at the outer range of the
lightning and did not irritate the
rhino.
The Thunder Rhino roared. He saw
Ye Zifeng on the other side.
However, because the attack that
Ye Zifeng just used was very
strong, the rhino did not dare to
approach carelessly.
"Normally, a rhino's intelligent and
vision is on the lower end of the
spectrum. They usually relied on
their smell and hearing. It seems
like you're something special….."
Ye Zifeng looked at the
surrounding, "Well I still have
three more days. I still have time
to prepare some more before killing
you."