Hun Lian followed Han Yan to see where he lived and then started enquiring about him immediately.
"That Han Yan who keeps pestering Sister Cui Zan? Yeah, you are not the first one asking about him brother.
He is the thorn of every boy from the Outer Court for dreaming about our Idol.
He is a toad who wants to eat a swan's meat I tell you! I don't know how this trash suddenly became an Alchemist? He was a trash of the Qi Gathering Realm in his 18th year and only yesterday broke through to the Transcendent Realm; yet for some reason, the Chief Elder recruited him still.
He recently arrived in the sect and is already trying to court our Outer Court Flower, Cui Zan!
She always dismisses him as he tries to approach her with his claims of knowing some 'Ancient Accupenture Technique' bullshit."
Fu Qing went on and on about how much he and others hated Han Yan and this confirmed Hun Lian's guess of Han Yan being a protagonist.
'So does that mean I am a Villain now? Well, If the plot has already broken like this then there is no reason that there won't be other protagonists in the future. I might as well become a full-fledged Villain as I can't co-exist with people who would want my women and treasures.'
Hun Lian thanked Fu Qing and gave him a small showpiece of a bird statue made out of gold as a gift and parted ways.
'So he is doing Alchemy…'
Hun Lian waited in his house till it was night time, and under the blanket of darkness, found Han Yan's house, which was located at the end outskirts of the colony, really secluded from everyone else's house.
Hun Lian looked at the sky and noticed the Patrol flying away, and then he went inside the house.
'He is not here'
The door was unlocked and Hun Lian could see the absence of the energy of Heaven and Earth shrouding Han Yan.
'Alchemy Furnace, and some ginsengs.'
Hun Lian carefully searched the house and then went back to his house dejected as he couldn't find him.
He had wanted to search whatever Han Yan carried with him and steal it away. Hun Lian anyway couldn't kill him as the investigation power of the Grand Elder of the Perpetuity Sect was terrifyingly powerful.
He just went into his Cultivation room and started the cultivation with a distracted mind.
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.
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It was the morning and everyone started to go about their work, some to classes they paid for while other to several missions to earn Contribution Points.
Hun Lian was standing in front of the Hall of Arrays.
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There were 4 main professions in this world,
First being the profession of Artefact Master, which was divided into sub professions of Weapon Artefacts, Defensive Trinkets, and Talisman Making.
It was a profession which was easy to get into, but was hard to master.
The Second Profession was Alchemist, which required talent to practice. If your Qi had the Fire Attribute, then one could start on the path of being an Alchemist.
There were not many people who had any attributes as most cultivators had no attributes at all; just like Hun Lian.
The Third Profession was Array Master, which involved casting and/or inscribing arrays over land, sea, space, and even yourself.
It was by far the hardest Profession to get into as it required extreme hard work!
Array Masters are usually required to safeguard sects, families, treasure houses and the likes, but they are most useful in battles, where they could lure the army in an array or cast an array on the enemy territory and kill millions.
Very rarely someone would choose this profession as not only this was hard, but this was also one of the worst professions to raise money.
Since Alchemists can sell pills and earn a healthy amount, and Artefact masters can make talismans, trinkets and raise money.
But the work of the Array Master was not a consumable thing which could be in demand again very soon.
Granted that arrays need to be maintained from time to time, but the frequency of those checks was not something one can make profit off.
The last Profession was the combination of all the three professions.
A Jack of all trades, but master of none, the Inscription Master.
An Inscription Master can inscribe pills to make them more powerful, add effects, etc.
They could inscribe artefacts, change the inscription of a sword from fire to ice, or Inscribe a bracelet with a buff.
They could even Inscribe arrays on the ground with hand and substitute as an Array Master or Inscribe themselves.
Although such an all-in-one profession, people still tended to avoid it as it was never in demand.
If someone wanted a pill, they would request an Alchemist because they were better, If someone wanted to shield their family compound, then they would ask an Array Master, as the work of an Inscription Master could just get washed away very soon, Same thing with artefacts, as a Spiritual Sword with a fire spirit made by an Artefact Master was simply 10 times more powerful then that of an inscription master, etc.
They were people who just made cheap knockoffs and could not survive in the wealthy cities.
Apart from these main professions, there were other easier professions, like a Weaponsmith, who could only make a low-level Spiritual Weapon, Physicians, who were experts in general anatomy and were respected for their ability to perform invasive operations, Mercenaries, etc.
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Hun Lian walked towards the Hall of Arrays, when suddenly he felt the same feeling as yesterday. Like some omnipotent being was spying on him.
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Zhan Min was relaxing in a garden of black roses on her own peak in the Perpetuity Sect when suddenly she looked at the void in front of her and smiled.
"Fu -fu -fu…What a coincidence! Do you like Arrays as well? Well let's see if you can pass the training session and reach me in the Core Court, shall we?"
There was a glint in Zhan Min's eyes, as she was even more intrigued by observing Hun Lian.
"My…-My. You brokethrough to the 6th realm in one night? You are indeed interesting."
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Hun Lian walked inside of the branch of Hall of Arrays in the Outer Court and looked around it to find no one.
In the original timeline, Hun Lian gets the fire attribute after dual cultivating with Yun Tong for the first time and hence start on the path of becoming an Alchemist, but now, since he was far younger, and could guess the future, he decided to pursue the profession of Array Master first.
Hun Lian roamed around the empty waiting area to find no one.
There was not a single person on the reception desk either and this bewildered Hun Lian.
'Concealing Array?'
As a thought came in his mind, Hun Lian tried to feel an Array but even after trying for an hour, he couldn't feel anything.
'Guess I'll try again tomorrow….If this is a test then it is really hard.'
Hun Lian turned around and left the Hall of Arrays as he planned his next course of action.
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"Well don't get discouraged like that. Do keep trying in future" Zhan Min said while plucking the leaves of a Black Rose with a playful smile on her red lips.
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'If Cui Zan is really the Heroine of Han Yan, and he does know some bullshit Accupenture technique, then it is highly likely that some relative of Cui Zan, most probably her grandfather is injured and in future Han Yan would obviously cure him.'
As Hun Lian was thinking about Han Yan while walking out of the Hall of Array, his Relay Talisman started flickering. Hun Lian took it out of his spatial ring and sent his Qi in to hear a lovely voice of Liu Si Xing.
"Hey! How are you? How are you finding the Outer Court?"
"It's pretty huge, to say the least. I am trying to pursue the profession of Array Master right now."
Upon hearing what Hun Lian spoke, Liu Si Xing immediately said
"What? Dear don't do that right now. You will only be wasting time. You cannot feel arrays below the Nascent Soul Realm, and even then it is really hard.
My Master tried to teach me Arrays and believe me, I had to give it up because of the sheer time and concentration it requires.
Focus on getting stronger first; and once you arrive in the inner court, you will have plenty of time to try and pursue whatever profession you liked."
Hun Lian didn't argue with Liu Si Xing, and just started talking about her health. He understood that since Liu Si Xing knew that she would die in the past, she gave up the Array master profession to just enjoy the last few years of her life, but with her talent, when she picks it up again, she would be a proud successor of the Array Immortal.
Hun Lian kept walking as he talked to her and soon arrived at the market area again.
His goal this time was to go and acquire an attribute.
There were different types of attributes which one can be born with.
The famous ones were Fire, Water, Earth and Air and some uncommon ones were
Frost, Lightening, Darkness, Void, Blood, Space, Time, etc.
Most cultivators were born with no attribute as it is transferred from parent to child, and since Hun Lian's family was not high profile like the usual protagonists, he didn't receive any attribute at birth.
One cannot simply buy an attribute from the market, as it was really unheard of for someone to acquire it after birth, but Hun Lian was going to do it.
His goal was to get a random mission from the mission board and go out of the Sect.
While still talking with Liu Si Xing through telepathy with the help of the Relay Talisman, Hun Lian walked up to the mission board and chose a simple mission involving the extermination of some Evil Spirits in a haunted village for the payment of 1000 contribution points.
This kind of mission was not easy and one would need a martial technique which can battle and kill the spirits.
These kinds of Martial Techniques were very rare and only someone from a very rich family would have it.
Another way to battle them was using the Golden Qi from the Gold Core Realm to purify the spirits; and hence this quest had been here for a month with no one taking it.
"Hi, I'm Hun Lian and I'd like to take on this mission please"
As Hun Lian approached a busy Task Coordinator with palatial bosom, she looked up at the handsome young man in front of her and hurriedly took the paper from him before frowning and saying.
"Hello Brother Hun, I am Guo Dai.
Brother Hun, These kinds of missions usually get transferred to the Inner court due to their difficulty. Are you sure that you are equipped with a technique to deal with spirits?"
Hun Lian nodded to her and she took Hun Lian's card from him and put it into a glowing card slot.
"I have assigned you the mission. Remember, if you fail to complete this mission in 15 days, then this mission will go back on the board and 10% contribution points of the reward will be deducted from you, which in this case is 100 points. I can see that as of now you have no points, in which case your points will go in negative."
After assigning the task to Hun Lian, and returning him his Id Card, Guo Dai started dealing with other people.
In this mission, Hun Lian was going to kill two birds with one stone. He was going to use the Evil Spirits to upgrade one of his 'Thuum's' and get a powerful attribute from his memory.
Usually, the new students first do some grunt work in the Outer Court to earn some contribution points before leaving for missions because without Contribution points or the Low-Grade Qi Crystals, one cannot buy the pills, armour, or techniques which were necessary for the missions, but Hun Lian was not worried about it.
'Okay, now you go and cultivate. I am also leaving the sect.' Said Hun Lian in his mind as Liu Si Xing had still not disconnected the connection.
'You be safe out there. And if anything happens, immediately alert me. I will come.'
The distance between them was making Liu Si Xing's heart go fonder and she was missing Hun Lian immensely.
With difficulty, she disconnected the Relay Talisman and Hun Lian smiled at her last words.
She thought that Hun Lian didn't hear it, but he did listen to that very shy I Love You in the end.
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Hun Lian got out of the Sect and went to a nearby village on foot as he didn't have any contribution points or Qi Crystals to rent a carriage or beast for travel.
Gold only works with rogue or low-level cultivators and Hun Lian knew that a nearby village deals in Gold with the cultivators who come to the sect from affluent backgrounds but have no concept of Qi Crystals.
Hun Lian decided to go through the jungle instead of the Road as he wanted to try his luck.
He knew that he was also the child of luck and wanted to see what opportunities he can encounter while he travels.
Hun Lian didn't have to walk for long when he heard a shout of a woman coming from nearby.
"Mo Xieren…Now tell me how much you hate me. Your mouth was running so much when we were in the village, no?"
"Peng Chun! Don't forget! I am the presenter of the Maises Auction House! The forces behind me will not leave you!"
A woman in a red cheongsam was standing against a tree, while she was surrounded by three men in black clothes.
There was also a carriage overturned in the distance and Hun Lian couldn't help but shake his head seeing this.
'The cliches are really something.' He thought as he made his way to them.
"Humph! As if anyone will come to avenge a nobody like you. Mo Xieren, Today I will show you just how much of a man I am. Weren't you insulting me on my manhood?"
There was clear panic in the eyes of the woman named Mo Xieren.
She usually never goes out of the village, but today when she wanted to visit a friend in the Perpetuity Sect, she was ambushed by a man she had turned down too many times.
She prepared a dagger in her hand, not to fight, as she was only in the 7th Stage of Qi Gathering Realm and her opponents were all in the 9th Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm while Peng Chun was in the 1st Stage of the Transcendent Realm.
She could not hope to fight them and instead was preparing herself to commit suicide before they could defile her body.
Peng Chun smiled as he saw his dream girl shivering in his presence and he licked his lips as he started approaching her.
"Really? Committing crimes so near to the Perpetuity Sect. You guys really want to exit from the Wheel of Reincarnation, don't you?"
A sudden voice attracted the attention of all 4 of them.
"Who is that? Come forward, you coward!?" Peng Chun was panicking in his heart as he heard the words from the unknown person.
Suddenly, a tremendous pressure came down on him and his 2 lackeys which slammed them to the ground and Mo Xieren's eyes widened.
"Don't worry guys, Your deaths will be very useful to me."
Hun Lian came out of a clearing and approached Peng Chun, and with his each step, the pressure on Peng Chun started increasing and his internal organs started to fail.