Although the old man could protect himself from Shun Long's 'Time Siphon', the same couldn't be said about the 'Raging wind bull' that he had created.
Using the 'Time Siphon', Shun Long successfully stole the 'time' inside the bull without any problem.
Since the bull was created purely from the old man's qi, Shun Long easily absorbed all of its qi for himself, replenishing the qi that he had spent to use his 'Time Siphon' while putting the old man in an extremely unfavorable situation at the same time.
Sitting inside the room with his eyes closed, Shun Long placed his full attention on his Dao of Time, and more importantly his 'Time Siphon' for the next 2 days.
He knew that as he reached closer and closer to the Dao King realm, his Dao of Time itself would also experience significant changes, and Shun Long guessed that the 'Time Siphon' that he had comprehended just now was only a single part of it.
Finally, 2 days later, Shun Long opened his eyes and stood up from the meditative cushion that he was sitting before leaving the room of the inn, as he headed towards the gates of the Holy city.
Flying past the city gates, he turned his attention towards the enormous mountain in the distance.
Today was the day that Shun Long had promised to meet Liu Mei and the rest in front of the gates of the Holy sect.
Without any hesitation, he soared in the sky as he headed towards the Holy mountain's peak.
20 minutes later, the familiar white palace that had its gates wide open once again appeared in his eyes as he reached the peak of the mountain, with the 2 white-robed Elders standing guard in front of it just like the last time, almost as if they never moved from that place.
Just like the last time, Shun Long could see many disciples entering and leaving the Holy sect at all times, with most of them either going to complete the missions that they had accepted, or going towards the Holy city to purchase items or for some other reasons.
Taking a look around the city gates, Shun Long quickly spotted the familiar silhouette of a gorgeous young woman with black hair, whose peerlessly beautiful face and her limpid black eyes could ensnare the soul of both men and women alike.
Next to her was a stunning blond-haired young woman with enchanting green eyes and a bright smile on her face, whose features weren't considered inferior to the black-haired young woman's at all.
A black-haired young man with deep blue eyes and sword-like eyebrows was also standing next to the 2 women with a calm and gentle smile on his face.
The moment that Shun Long's gaze fell on the 3 people, they all turned their attention towards him when they saw him walking in their direction.
''Long-ge!''
''Brother Long!''
Liu Mei was the first one to speak as she exclaimed out in a voice full of joy the moment that her eyes spotted Shun Long, while Xie Xingyi's voice followed soon after, as the 2 women walked towards Shun Long at the same time.
The black-haired Bai Longtian smiled gently as well, as he walked towards Shun Long and cupped his hands before he greeted him
''Brother, it's good to see you again.''
Shun Long smiled and nodded his head at Bai Longtian and the 2 overjoyed girls, while even being somewhat surprised by their sudden increase in cultivation, before his eyes started to look around for Jiang Chen as well.
He was the only one missing from his group, but the day wasn't over yet so he wasn't surprised.
Besides, from their group, aside from him, Jiang Chen was most likely the strongest one when they left the Holy sect.
Even if he couldn't use his bloodline of the 'Demonic Crow of Darkness' because the 3 month period had yet to pass since they joined the Holy sect, he was still strong enough to ensure his survival if something happened.
Liu Mei didn't care about anything as she went forward and hugged Shun Long tightly, almost as if she wanted to feel his body scent that she had missed for the past month, before she affectionately held his arm and looked at him in the eyes.
Shun Long smiled gently and patted her head before he asked the 3 of them
''How were the missions that you chose? Judging from how much your cultivation has increased during the past month, none of you probably had any trouble with it.''
Of course, how could the 3 of them had faced much trouble when they were completing D-rank personal missions, since their cultivation had already increased by leaps and bounds during this time?
The aura that Liu Mei was emitting was already that of an early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, while Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi seemed to have reached the middle of rank 5 of the Nascent Soul and even looked like they were just a step away from the peak of rank 5 as well!
This made Shun Long extremely surprised, since before they had left the Holy sect, Liu Mei was still at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, while Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi were both at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul.
It was one thing for Liu Mei's cultivation to increase explosively since she had most likely absorbed the qi, not just from the middle rank 4 and the peak rank 4 Nascent Soul stage criminals that she had to deal with, but from other enemies as well, which was exactly what her 'Blood Absorption art' was used for, but Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi's cultivation increasing so quickly was extremely surprising.
After all, even if they had an entire month to cultivate in seclusion after returning back to the sect, they shouldn't be able to increase their cultivation so quickly.
This wasn't a matter of talent, but simply the difference between their cultivation techniques. In the end, Liu Mei's 'Blood Absorption art' was one that Little Black had personally handed to her, and despite all of the drawbacks and risks it had, it was still one that allowed her to keep up with Shun Long's speed of advancement.
Almost as if he had actually guessed what Shun Long was thinking about, Bai Longtian turned his gaze towards the Holy sect's gates behind them before he said seriously
''After I completed the 'master and disciple ceremony' with my master, he gave me a high-grade rank 5 pill as a welcoming gift, and said that that pill would allow me to increase my cultivation by a full minor-rank, but that it's only effective for cultivators who are in the middle stages of the Nascent Soul.
After consuming the pill, not only did I reach the early rank 5 of the Nascent Soul, but I even reached the middle of rank 5 soon after.''
Xie Xingyi had a surprised look on her face when she heard Bai Longtian's words, and turning her gaze towards Shun Long she nodded her head a moment later before she said
''Brother Long... it's actually the same for me. After the 'master and disciple ceremony', master gave me a high-grade rank 5 pill as well with the same effects.''
Shun Long looked at Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi with a look of surprise in his eyes, as he suddenly realized what was going on a moment after.
Of course, not every master would give their disciples their most rare and prized possessions like Elder Xuan did with Liu Mei, and Bai Longtian's and Xie Xingyi's masters were the same.
Despite the fact that they favored the 2 of them since they were extremely talented, and even accepted them as personal disciples, they couldn't afford to give their most important treasures to every single disciple that they accepted.
Some Elders accepted a handful of disciples at most like Elder Xuan, but others accepted more than a few dozen personal disciples!
Even Elder Xuan who had given Liu Mei her personal pendant was actually unwilling to part with it in her heart. If it wasn't for Liu Mei having comprehended the same Dao as her master, she wouldn't have given it to her and would have most likely simply given her a pill like the one that Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian had received from their masters.
This was why it made sense for most of the Elders of the sect, to give the same welcomi gift to most of their disciples.
Compared to Xie Xingyi's and Bai Longtian's master, Liu Mei's senior sister, Dong Ai had actually received a complete Saint middle-grade cultivation technique, its worth being simply incomparable to a single high-grade rank 5 pill!
As for Liu Mei's pendant, that was even rarer than that.
Although that single high-grade rank 5 pill was relatively rare and could increase one's cultivation by a full minor rank, while in Xie Xingyi's and Bai Longtian's situations it had even increased their cultivation by more than that, comparing it with a life-saving treasure that could take on the attack of even a late-stage Dao Emperor was at an entirely different level!
Even normal early and some middle-stage Dao Emperors would be willing to pay incredible prices to get their hands on Liu Mei's pendant, forget about someone like Dong Ai.
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Of course, Shun Long didn't feel any jealousy towards Bai Longtian or Xie Xingyi for receiving such a pill from their masters.
He knew that the pill they had most likely obtained was the rank 5 'Barrier piercing pill'.
Shun Long was already planning to concoct this pill and give it to Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi, Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian to consume it.
However, the version of the rank 5 'Barrier piercing pill' that he was planning to create was much more potent than the pills that Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian had consumed. His pill would allow even late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators to advance an entire minor tier upon consuming it, and wouldn't be effective only for middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.
The only reason why he hadn't concocted the pill so far, was because even though it was just a rank 5 pill, the 'Barrier piercing pill' required the essence blood and the beast core of a peak rank 5 magic beast to be concocted.
Thus, although Shun Long had already collected the medicinal herbs that he needed back in the 'Ten thousand beasts' mountain range' and he was only lacking a few supportive rank 5 medicinal herbs in the past, he couldn't create the pill previously.
But now, not only had Shun Long gathered all of the supportive medicinal herbs that he lacked from his journey in Yanzhu city as well as the 'White tiger chamber of commerce', but he also had the corpse of the peak rank 5 'Red-furred bear' inside the herb garden in the 'Stone of Time'!
Although Shun Long knew that the second 'Barrier piercing pill' normally wouldn't have any effects, he knew that his own version of the pill could help Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian breakthrough a second time in the future, but the pill's effects would be greatly diminished.
''Regardless, the effects should still be enough for Xingyi and Longtian to breakthrough at least half a minor realm upon consuming it.''
At the same time that he reached this conclusion, Shun Long's eyes suddenly spotted a yellow-robed young man flying from the direction of the Holy city, before he arrived in front of the entrance of the Holy sect a few moments later.
The young man immediately attracted a lot of attention the moment that he arrived on the Holy mountain's peak, causing not just Shun Long, but everyone else present to also turn their eyes towards him.
From the black wings on his back that were burning with dark red flames, even from a distance Shun Long could guess that this was Jiang Chen.
Although Jiang Chen wasn't the only one in the entire Holy sect who was training in the 'Demonic Wings', thanks to his comprehension of the Demonic Dao, when he activated the 'Demonic Wings', the black wings looked no different than real wings that truly belonged to him, instead of looking like a pair of wings that were formed from his qi.
''Hey, isn't that Jiang Chen?''
''Jiang Chen? The guy who slapped senior brother Qian Kun?''
''What the hell? A newbie really dared to slap senior brother Qian Kun?''
''Haven't you heard yet? More than a month ago, Jiang Chen actually refused to join senior brother Qian Tao's faction even when he was invited personally by senior brother Qian Tao! He even said that he would join the faction of another new disciple instead named Shun Long.
However, this isn't the end.
Supposedly, more than a week ago, senior brother Qian Kun met Jiang Chen in the Holy city and threatened him that he would personally break his legs in a faction battle, if Shun Long's faction ever dared to participate in the faction wars of the sect!
Apparently, not only was Jiang Chen not afraid after hearing this threat, even though it is known that Qian Kun is senior brother Qian Tao's cousin, but he even slapped Qian Kun in broad daylight inside the Holy city, even knocking out a few of his teeth in the process.''
''What? Isn't Jiang Chen just a new disciple? How could he even fight against a middle rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator like Qian Kun head-on, let alone slap him?''
''I heard that Jiang Chen was actually lucky enough to be accepted by Elder Yao Xuedong as a personal disciple. In just the last month, his cultivation is rumored to have even exceeded Qian Kun's!''
''Tsk! No wonder! He probably received a 'Barrier piercing pill' by Elder Yao. But still, to dare provoke senior brother Qian Tao's faction like that, even if he is the personal disciple of an inner court Elder, it won't save him from getting bashed in the faction wars by senior brother Qian Tao...''
Shun Long could see that the crowd around him had instantly exploded into hushed discussions the moment that Jiang Chen appeared in the Holy mountain's peak.
And yet, Jiang Chen didn't seem to mind as he allowed the black wings from his back that were burning with dark red flames to disperse in the wind, as he walked towards Shun Long without a change in his expression.
The crowd immediately parted whenever Jiang Chen appeared close to them, as they turned their eyes towards him to see where he was walking towards instead of entering the sect.
In just a few moments, Jiang Chen had already arrived in front of Shun Long and the rest, and after throwing a few looks towards Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi and nodded his head in greeting, he threw a mocking glance at Bai Longtian before he turned his eyes towards Shun Long and said
''Sorry for being late.''
Shun Long simply smiled and shook his head.
Even though he hadn't heard the crowd's discussions since his eyes were entirely focused on Jiang Chen, how could he not guess from the crowd's reaction that something big had happened already?
However, Shun Long didn't really care too much about what had happened either.
As long as every one of them was safe that was enough.
A smile also appeared on Shun Long's face when he noticed that Jiang Chen had actually stepped into the peak of rank 5 in the Nascent Soul during this past month.
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Turning around, Shun Long then turned his attention towards the huge palace behind him that was guarded by the 2 Elders of the Holy sect, before he led Liu Mei and the rest towards it.
''Is everything alright?''
As the 5 of them walked towards the Holy sect's entrance, Liu Mei's slightly worried voice sounded in the air as she looked at Jiang Chen, clearly having noticed the weird but also respectful gazes that the crowd was giving him.
Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian were no different as they looked curious to find out what was going on.
Only Shun Long didn't seem too curious to know what was going to happen, as his mind was focused on the 5 D-rank faction missions that they had to complete as well as the single C-rank faction mission.
The moment that these requirements were completed, his faction would be eligible to officially join the faction wars inside the sect!
Nodding his head, Jiang Chen looked at Liu Mei and the rest with a calm look on his face before he replied
''It's just a bunch of idiots that were trying to find trouble with me in the Holy city.''
Turning his gaze towards Shun Long, Jiang Chen then continued
''Actually, right after we entered the sect, a little more than a month ago, some idiot named Qian Tao approached me and tried to recruit me for his faction. Naturally, I rejected him and told him that I would only join your faction.''
Liu Mei's eyes widened slightly when she remembered that she and Shun Long had experienced something similar as well.
Back when they had visited the Administration Hall for Shun Long to register his faction, the follower behind the 'Faction Registration counter' had also tried to make Shun Long give up on creating his own faction and told him to join 'senior brother Qian Tao's' faction instead.
Jiang Chen seemed to have failed to notice the look in Liu Mei's eyes that was starting to turn colder when she realized that this matter had something to do with that Qian Tao as well, and looking at Shun Long, Jiang Chen then continued
''Judging from his aura alone, I could tell that this Qian Tao is somewhat strong. Although he was hiding his cultivation, it was obvious from the aura around his body that he had already reached the late stages of the Nascent Soul.
Regardless, after I rejected him, even though it was obvious that he was angry, he still didn't bother me again.
However, around a week ago, while I was strolling through the Holy city, his idiot cousin and a few of his servants approached me and told me that as long as I dare to participate in the faction wars and happen to meet them, they would make sure to break my legs.''
This time, it wasn't just Jiang Chen or Liu Mei whose gazes had turned cold, but Shun Long's too, as well as Xie Xingyi's, and even Bai Longtian's.
This was completely different from a personal insult!
They were threatening Jiang Chen that as long as he participated in the faction wars in Shun Long's faction, they would personally hunt him down.
This was a complete disregard to not just a member of their faction, but towards their entire faction instead.
Shun Long nodded his head before Jiang Chen continued
''That idiot was lucky that we aren't allowed to fight with other disciples of the sect outside the arena or during the faction wars, so I just knocked off some of his teeth and told him to scram. As for the threats that he hurled before he left... I couldn't care less. The next time that he appears I will make sure to bash the rest of his face in as well!''
Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi both nodded when they heard this while even Bai Longtian had wiped the usual warm smile from his face.
No matter what, things regarding their faction and their group were taken seriously by every single one of them.
Liu Mei was Shun Long's wife while Xie Xingyi clearly had some intense feelings for him that Shun Long had yet to address, so how could the 2 girls not care about their faction?
As for Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian, their reasons weren't any less intense than the 2 divine beauties.
They had both sworn to follow Shun Long for different reasons, so how could they simply ignore such a threat nonchalantly?
Noticing the cold looks on everyone's faces that were filled with killing intent, and had even scared off some of the surrounding outer disciples that were close to them, Shun Long simply shook his head and smiled before he said
''There is no reason to get too worked up over this.
This is only the beginning.
How many factions do you think we will offend once we join the faction wars and start climbing in the faction rankings?
And that's only for the lower-ranked factions.
Once we start fighting the top factions of the sect, things will be even more difficult!
Is there a reason to care about Qian Tao's faction specifically?
However, since someone really dared to threaten Jiang Chen in public, make sure to break both of his legs in the future.''
Although Shun Long's tone was calm, everyone could hear the unconcealed anger in his tone when he said the last sentence.
Jiang Chen, Liu Mei, Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian all nodded their heads at the same time, as they kept following Shun Long inside the sect.
Sometime later, they finally arrived in front of a familiar huge building, where hundreds of outer disciples could be seen coming and going from its entrance.
Shun Long led everyone inside the Administration Hall, and walked directly towards the Exchange counter to hand in the missions that they had completed before he chose any faction missions to complete.
Just like the last time, the exchange counter seemed to have more than 30 outer disciples queueing up in front of it, all of them waiting to hand in their missions as well and obtain their sect points.
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567 a pitiful glance
Half an hour later, Shun Long's turn finally arrived, as he walked towards the yellow-robed young woman who was standing behind the counter and took out his sect identifying token.
The young woman who was an outer disciple of the sect as well had a placid look on her face as she looked at Shun Long and asked
''How may I help you?''
Placing the golden sect identifying token on the counter in front of him Shun Long then said
''I am here to hand in 2 missions.''
Shun Long then mentioned the names of the missions that were still on the 'Mission board' at the depths of the Assignment Hall.
The yellow-robed young woman behind the Exchange counter nodded her head and sent her servant to grab the missions from the 'Mission board'.
Once a mission was completed by an outer disciple or if it had a certain time-limit where the disciples were allowed to accept it, the disciples of the Holy sect that were working in the Assignment Hall would take the missions off from the 'Mission board' so that other outer court disciples wouldn't waste their time with those missions.
A couple of minutes later, the young man whom the young woman had sent over returned from the 'Mission board' holding only a single scroll in his hands.
Since the first mission that Shun Long had accepted, Ying Gui's mission, had a time limit of 3 days before Ying Gui left the Holy city, the disciples of the Assignment Hall had already removed it a month ago.
Taking Shun Long's golden-colored token in her hands, the yellow-robed young woman placed it right in front of her, before she activated the formations etched on the counter.
A dim white light instantly enveloped the entire counter, before certain scenes started to appear in the air, coming from Shun Long's token, but for some reason, only Shun Long and the young woman from the Exchange counter could actually see them.
Of course, these were the scenes that were recorded inside the 'Memory recording formation' while it was activated by Shun Long, so they only started to show what had happened from the moment that Shun Long entered the 'Blue Heaven inn' in the Holy city.
The yellow-robed young woman didn't watch the entire thing as she quickly used the formation etched on the counter to skip everything else, and only watched the very beginning when Shun Long met with Ying Gui inside the 'Blue Heaven inn', as well as the end of the mission, when the 2 of them safely arrived in Yanzhu city with the 4 carriages carrying the peak rank 5 magic beasts being completely intact.
With so many people handing in their missions, how could the disciples working in the Exchange counter possibly look through every single mission from the beginning until the end? Some of those missions lasted for more than a day, while others lasted for more than a week and maybe even a month.
Shun Long's mission was the same as it went on for more than a week, so unless there was something extremely important going on during the mission that needed the Holy sect to take special note of it, such as a dispute between 2 disciples or some other matter, the disciples in the Exchange counter would avoid wasting their time seeing what happened in the missions and only verify whether it was completed successfully or not.
After taking a look at the mission, the yellow-robbed young woman nodded her head as she said seriously
''Merchant Ying Gui has already reported that the mission's difficulty was higher than what was originally listed and he has actually increased the reward from the original 80 sect points to 250.''
Turning her eyes towards Shun Long, the young woman was surprised when she saw that he didn't have much of a reaction, but she still transferred him the 250 sect points in his sect identifying token in the end, before she turned her attention towards the second mission that he had accepted.
Naturally, Shun Long wouldn't care whether he obtained 80 or 250 sect points from a D-rank personal mission, since the reason why he completed the missions was to obtain sect points, but to train himself and complete the quota of a single mission every 3 months.
Having completed 2 missions meant that he didn't have to take on another D-rank personal mission for the next 5 months.
As for the sect points, unless he started to complete B or A-rank personal missions, Shun Long would still keep selling his pills if he happened to be in an urgent need of sect points.
In the end, after buying the Silverbark guqin the last time he was in the Golden Treasures Hall, as well as the peak rank 2 gold grade cauldron to upgrade his previous one, he was still left with 5000 sect points in the end.
The young woman behind the Exchange counter took a look at the second mission that Shun Long had completed when her eyes suddenly widened in shock.
Turning her gaze towards Shun Long she then looked at him with a look filled with incredulity before she asked in a disbelieving tone
''Are you really the person who destroyed Dai Lim's and Dai Hao's shop?''
Without waiting for a response, the young woman turned her attention towards the golden-colored token in her hands, before she once again activated the protective formations on the counter.
Another scene started to replay in front of her eyes, showing Shun Long standing right outside from the medium-sized slave shop in Yanzhu city.
The yellow-robed young woman suddenly shivered as she shot a pitiful glance at the young man in front of her, before her eyes started to roam around her, almost as if she was looking for a certain someone.
She knew that she had heard something about the missions in Yanzhu city lately, but it was only after reading the names Dai Lim and Dai Hao that she remembered what it was.
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Shun Long nodded his head upon hearing the yellow-robed young woman's question before he said
''Indeed, I am the one who destroyed Dai Lim's and Dai Hao's shop. Is there a problem?''
After all, the mission clearly stated that to complete it, Shun Long had to kill the 2 slave traders and completely destroy their shop.
The young woman shook her head with a rueful smile before she replied
''You are simply too unlucky. For an outer disciple that doesn't have any backing inside the sect, you shouldn't have done what you did.''
As she finished speaking, the young woman didn't explain anything else as she continued to stare at the scenes that appeared from the 'Memory recording formation' on Shun Long's sect identifying token, but this time, she didn't skip a single detail, as she watched attentively Shun Long entering inside the slave shop, as well as the scenes that followed after that.
Her face was filled with shock when she saw Shun Long moving so fast that even the 2 peak rank 5 Nascent Soul slave traders didn't have enough time to react, as he appeared in front of the green-robed Yan Wen and grabbed him by his throat.
Shun Long was intentionally not hiding his cultivation inside the Holy sect, so she could clearly sense that he was just at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul.
Seeing Shun Long clenching his hand and snapping Yan Wen's neck made the yellow-robed young woman close her eyes for a moment while her body shivered, before she shook her head a moment later and kept staring at the following scenes.
Shun Long managing to kill the 2 brothers was even more shocking for the young woman, as she focused her gaze towards him with a complicated look in her eyes.
In the end, she still shook her head a moment later and transferred 190 sect points in Shun Long's sect identifying token before she handed it back to him. After struggling with herself for a few moments, she looked at Shun Long's calm and unperturbed gaze and said seriously
''You shouldn't have killed that green-robed young man from the Yan family. You don't know how much trouble that has brought to you.''
The young woman looked around her and made sure that there was no one eavesdropping in their conversation before she continued, her voice turning even quieter than a whisper
''Although the Yan family doesn't have any Elders in the outer sect, and even if they did, Elders would still need to be impartial even if they come from one of the powerful families or clans, the Yan family still does have some connections inside the sect itself.
2 weeks ago, Elder Zhi from the Administration Hall came and inform us, that once the disciple who destroyed Dai Lim's and Dai Hao's shop in Yanzhu city came to claim the mission, we should immediately let him know.
It is known that Elder Zhi and the patriarchs of the Yan and the Zhu families of Yanzhu city have been friends for many years, so it is only natural to assume that he was asked by the Yan patriarch to do this.
There is no need to worry too much about Elder Zhi since he can't possibly harm you within the sect as it is against the rules, and even an Elder of the sect wouldn't do something like that just to deal with a disciple that he has no relationship with simply to please another family, but the Yan family can still make your life difficult.
However, this isn't everything.
I also heard that Yan Xiang from the Yan family who is actually ranked in the top 800 rankings in the Martial Roll of Honor, has already claimed that he will find who killed his younger cousin and make him pay for it with his life.
After all, the Yan and the Zhu families are the overlords of Yanzhu city and they would never tolerate someone killing their descendants for whatever reason, regardless if they are right or wrong, or if you were completing a sect mission during that time or not.
If you were part of a powerful family, the Yan family may be forced to drop the matter with just an apology since they can't really compare to a compare to any of the real powerful families or clans around the Holy sect, but judging from your cultivation this doesn't seem to be the case.''
Shaking her head, the young woman waved her hand and continued
''Sigh, forget it. I only mentioned this to you since I would feel guilty informing Elder Zhi about this otherwise, without you knowing who is targetting you.''
After thinking seriously for a moment, Shun Long nodded his head before he cupped his hands at the young woman in front of him and thanked her before he received his sect identifying token from her.
Regardless, in his eyes, the young woman in front of him didn't have any obligation to tell him any of this, and she could simply inform Elder Zhi about this matter.
''The Yan family huh? They must have at least 1 or 2 peak-level Dao Kings...''
Shun Long knew that it was impossible for the current him to deal with even early-stage Dao Kings, let alone any peak-stage ones like the patriarch of the Yan family or Elder Zhi, but he still wasn't afraid of the Yan family taking revenge despite having no backing inside the sect.
There was simply no way for them to kill a disciple of the Holy sect so easily even if they wanted to, and Shun Long wasn't someone who could be killed just because someone was trying to kill him.
Even though he couldn't fight against Dao Kings right now, escaping from them was an entirely different matter.
Especially after breaking through to the early fifth stage of his 'Monarch's Eternal body' and being able to use 'One with the World'.
At the same time, he could also feel that Little Black was coming closer and closer to breaking through to the early rank 7 lately, as he was just a tiny step away from breaking through.
Forget about peak Dao Kings then, even average Dao Emperors would tremble in front of a black dragon at the early rank 7.
As for that Yan Xiang who claimed that he was looking to take revenge for his cousin Yan Wen, Shun Long didn't give a shit about him regardless if that man was rumored to be in the top 800 of the Martial Roll of Honor.
Whether it was him or Liu Mei's 'senior sister', Dong Ai, Shun Long was planning to take care of them both.
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A few minutes later, Liu Mei and the rest had also finished handing in their missions and obtained their sect points, before they went and gathered around Shun Long.
With a curious look in his eyes, Bai Longtian looked at Shun Long and asked in a slightly eager tone
''Are we going to choose faction missions now?''
Everyone turned their eyes towards Shun Long who nodded his head and said
''Let's take a look at the missions on the 'Mission board' first.''
With Liu Mei, and the rest all following after him, Shun Long made his way towards the enormous blackboard at the depths of the Assignment Hall where all the missions of the sect were posted.
Skipping the personal D-rank missions, Shun Long's eyes went directly for the faction missions.
''D-rank faction mission: Kill the infamous bandit Lu Yong and eradicate his group that has killed and raped countless men and women. Since this is a faction mission and the bandit leader's cultivation has reached the middle of rank 6 in the Nascent Soul, a faction with at least 10 middle-stage Nascent Soul outer disciples are recommended to take on this mission.
Reward: 850 sect points''
''D-rank faction mission: Infiltrate the mansion of the city lord of Vast Ocean city and find out if the rumors of him abducting mortal girls and keeping them imprisoned in his home are true. Since the city lord's cultivation has reached the early stages of the Dao King realm, extreme caution is required.
Reward: 900 sect points''
''D-rank faction mission: Hunt down a middle rank 5 'Poison-tongued Toad' from the 'Giant crane Forest' 3000 miles away from the Holy city, and bring back its magic beast core.
Reward: 7000 sect points''
After a quick look, Shun Long actually noticed that there were plenty of D-rank faction missions suitable for him and Liu Mei and the rest to accept, and most of them could even be completed by a single person.
Of course, that was only for monsters like Shun Long and the rest of them who could fight people above their cultivation level, and even then, most of the missions could prove quite difficult to complete.
At the same time, Shun Long even noticed that there were some D-rank faction missions that gave as many sect points as some C-rank ones, like those missions that required the disciples to hunt down middle rank 5 magic beasts like the middle rank 5 'Poison-tongued Toad'.
Normally, the beast cores of middle rank 5 magic beasts would be sold for 5000 sect points in the Golden Treasures Hall, but beast cores from specific magic beasts could fetch much higher prices, even reaching double the original price.
Turning his head to look at Jiang Chen and the rest, Shun Long then said
''I was originally planning for us to take on the D-rank faction missions together, but it seems that there is no need for that.
With everyone's current strength, each of us is able to take on a single faction mission alone.''
Although Shun Long knew that something like this wouldn't be easy even for geniuses like them, he knew that they could only push themselves if they wanted to reach the peak of strength in the Holy sect.
After all, even though they were all geniuses who weren't inferior to anyone else in the sect and they could even be compared to some of the strongest geniuses of the outer court in terms of talent, it's not like the other outer disciples would simply wait while they themselves get stronger.
Jiang Chen and the rest had serious looks on their faces when they heard Shun Long's words, but they still nodded their heads in response.
Since every one of them had chosen to follow Shun Long, they had already decided that they would follow him regardless of what they had to do or if they had to put themselves in danger.
Besides, if Shun Long was willing to take on a D-rank faction mission by himself with his cultivation that was still at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul, then how could they even think of complaining when they were already at the rank 5 of the Nascent Soul right now?
Even though they all knew that Shun Long was a monster who couldn't be judged using common sense, none of them wanted to be left too far behind him.
If they could breach the gap between them taking on these risks, then every one of them would immediately do so.
Without saying a word, each of them looked at the faction missions on the wall as they started to ponder over which one they would choose.
Finally, 20 minutes later, Bai Longtian was the last one to finish choosing a faction mission as he turned his eyes towards Shun Long.
Seeing that everyone else was ready, Shun Long walked to the Mission counter to register their missions.
Half an hour later, when his turn finally arrived, Shun Long looked at the young man behind the mission counter and registered the 2 missions that he wanted to accept.
''D-rank faction mission: Hunt down a middle rank 5 'Poison-tongued Toad' from the 'Giant crane Forest' 3000 miles away from the Holy city, and bring back its magic beast core.
Reward: 7000 sect points''
The young man was slightly surprised when he saw the contents of the first mission, reading it one more time to make sure that he wasn't mistaken, before he once again looked at Shun Long in confusion.
His cultivation that was at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul was truly too low for him to even think of participating in such a mission.
''I wonder which faction actually took this guy in with such a low cultivation base.''
Even though the young man was surprised by Shun Long's first mission, he still nodded his head before turning his attention towards the second one.
The moment that he read the second mission's description however, his eyes instantly widened, as he immediately turned to look at Shun Long with an incredulous look
''C-rank faction mission: Travel to Tang city of the 'Blue star continent' in the Northern region and infiltrate the royal palace of the Tang dynasty to assassinate the crown prince. This mission requires extreme caution as there is at least one early-stage Dao King who is protecting the crown prince in secret at all times.
Reward: 10.000 sect points''
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570
The yellow-robed young man behind the 'Mission counter' could feel his mind blanking out when he read the contents of the second mission, as he stared at Shun Long with a gaze filled with disbelief.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing as he turned his gaze towards Shun Long for confirmation.
It was one thing for him to accept a D-rank faction mission since it meant that despite his low cultivation, the rest of his faction members may be strong enough to hunt down a middle rank 5 'Poison-tongued Toad' by themselves, but a C-rank mission was an entirely different matter altogether.
The young man behind the 'Mission counter' stared at Shun Long for a few moments and thought to himself
''I wonder which faction is crazy enough to take in someone with such a low cultivation base and even allow him to participate in a C-rank faction mission.
No, wait. Maybe he is just accepting the mission for his faction but they won't take him along during the actual mission.''
As he reached this conclusion, the yellow-robed young man seemed to have realized that this was actually the most plausible scenario, as he looked at Shun Long and nodded his head as he confirmed his choice before he said
''If you don't have a flying magic beast or a flying treasure, you can get to the 'Blue star continent' in the Northern region through the sect's Beast Tamer hall.
You can rent a flying magic beast that will carry you straight to the continent that you want to arrive in a short amount of time.
However, renting magic beasts isn't free but you can do it for a certain amount of sect points. As for how much you will need to pay to get to the Northern region, you should ask the people in the Beast Tamer hall.''
Shun Long nodded his head at the yellow-robed young man in front of him after registering his missions, while being surprised that the Holy sect actually had a 'Beast Tamer hall'.
However, thinking about it for a few more moments he realized that this was only natural. Since being a beast tamer was a profession that was just as rare and sought after as being an alchemist or a formation master, how could the Holy sect not have at least a few beast tamers and a Beast Tamer hall?
After all, not every outer disciple in the sect came from a powerful family or clan like Liu Mei's senior sisters, nor would everyone have flying magic beasts by themselves.
Most flying magic beasts were actually even more expensive than normal magic beasts at the same level precisely because they could travel faster and for longer distances, effortlessly traversing through any terrain.
Of course, although most magic beasts at the rank 3 and above could fly as well, their flight wasn't used to cross large distances, which was why they couldn't be compared to magic beasts that could actually fly by themselves in this regard.
As for flying treasures, although Shun Long had heard about them, he had yet to see such a treasure for sale just yet.
As he registered the 2 missions, Shun Long waited for Liu Mei and the rest to finish registering their missions as well, as he closed his eyes and started to sense Little Silver's location.
From the moment that he had seen Liu Mei waiting in front of the entrance of the sect, he could feel that Little Silver wasn't too far away from her, and had simply hidden itself out of plain sight.
Indeed, through their mental connection, Shun Long could feel that the black panther was hidden in the clouds a few miles away from the Holy sect, while his sharp gaze was staring at the Holy sect's entrance.
Of course, as a middle rank 6 magic beast, Little Silver wouldn't carelessly approach too close to the Holy sect when it could clearly feel that there were 2 peak rank 6 Dao Kings guarding the sect's entrance.
10 minutes later, Jiang Chen and the rest all finished registering their missions as well, before they turned their gazes towards Shun Long who was waiting for them a few meters away.
Nodding his head with a serious look on his face Shun Long stared at Xie Xingyi and the rest before he spoke
''Since we are completing these faction missions alone, make sure to avoid taking any needless risks.
These are faction missions, and they aren't meant to be completed by a single person. If you feel that the difficulty or the danger of the mission is too high, give up.''
The reason why Shun Long had said this, was because he had already seen that every single one of them, including Xie Xingyi and Liu Mei, had actually chosen the more difficult D-rank faction missions.
However, even though they all heard Shun Long's words, none of them actually nodded their heads, indicating that they would give up.
Every one of them felt like they had to carry their own weight, or they would fall too far behind from the others.
This wasn't like that just for Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian who were competing among themselves, but for Liu Mei and Xie Xingyi as well.
None of them wanted to be left behind and feel like a burden in the future, so they could only push themselves to their limits, and this faction mission was everyone's chance.
Jiang Chen was the first one to speak, as he looked at Shun Long with an equally serious look on his face and nodded his head before he said
''If you can risk your life to become stronger, do you really think that we can simply wait and fall behind? If you can complete a faction mission by yourself with your current cultivation base, how can anyone else have the face to ask for someone's help? If we don't even dare to complete these missions by ourselves, we may as well die instead!''
Bai Longtian had a determined look in his eyes as he too nodded his head when he heard Jiang Chen's words, while Xie Xingyi and Liu Mei both nodded with serious looks in their eyes.