"It's starting..."
"What are you mumbling about, You Chen? Is lunch ready, or are you just talking to yourself?"
"Don't call me You Chen! Don't you know how to respect your elders? Call me Uncle! Also, kids shouldn't meddle in adult matters. Go away."
You Chen waved Xiao Wu off dismissively, letting her puff out her cheeks in annoyance and sulk by herself.
It had been five days since You Chen had "lured" Xiao Wu away.
Since leaving Spirit City, he had been regularly updating his tasks.
As the old timeline's You Chen grew, the levels of those he had to surpass increased, and the task rewards gradually became more lucrative.
Like any typical task system, the tougher the opponent or the more challenging the task, the richer the rewards.
The number of beginner-level pill rewards had noticeably increased, and mid-level quality nutritional pills had begun to appear.
However, either the targets were already deceased, too far away when Grace was gathering information, or the rewards were not enticing enough for You Chen, leading him to abandon each task.
Not even a hundred-year soul ring age increase card, which could directly enhance attributes and essence, was particularly noteworthy to him.
After all, without a dozen or so, it wouldn't significantly impact him at his current level.
However, the martial techniques or skills often found in the additional rewards were tempting. If a useful technique appeared, he might hesitate. But if it was merely something like "Grass on the Wind," it wasn't worth delaying for.
The reason? The total time for a task spanning over half a month crossed two years.
9 + 2 = 11.
This meant the timeline would soon reach You Chen's 12th year.
After showcasing his theoretical genius, his status would be incomparable to his previous lowly state.
This implied that the troubles he faced would exponentially increase in level, and the quality of task rewards would qualitatively improve!
In fact, post-beginner tasks, the rewards that truly tempted You Chen were only "Soul Intimidation Technique" and "Sudden Insight."
The rest, even the best, were somewhat useful but not significantly beneficial.
Yet he never underestimated the importance of system tasks.
Because he knew, just because current rewards were mediocre didn't mean future rewards would be!
As the strength of the task targets (at the time) increased, even a mid-level experience pill as a token reward could save him a lot of time!
If he could quickly and perfectly integrate the tasks accumulated over more than two decades, the benefits would rival, if not surpass, divine herbs or even divine tests!
However, in discarding generally mediocre tasks, some rewards were indeed tempting and very feasible for him to obtain.
But this led to a new problem...
[Task: Compete against senior student Kendall (Level 20 Soul Master) for the academy's primary tier end-of-term rewards. Currently, it's nearly impossible for you to defeat him, even with all your effort! His contempt for you is apparent. As someone destined to become a god, how can you tolerate such humiliation!? Defeat Kendall and show him that a protagonist can overcome stronger foes and carve a path through the dark wilderness! Completing within three minutes grants additional rewards.]
[Basic Reward: Three mid-level nutritional pills, one "Meridian Cleansing," one "Sudden Insight."]
[Additional Reward: "Longevity Technique" (Life-type secret skill, locks essence and blood, extends lifespan).]
The Soul Master stage is quite peculiar.
Typically, at lower stages, unless crossing major stages, having a few more levels of soul power doesn't make a significant difference in strength, so long as the confrontation doesn't become a prolonged standoff.
However, at the Soul Master stage, due to the limited soul power, even century-old soul skills can't be used frequently. A couple of extra levels mean a couple more uses of soul skills, significantly impacting actual combat effectiveness.
Thus, a few levels can create a massive gap.
You Chen remembered the system task description of that end-of-term cross-grade duel.
Spirit Hall Academy was divided into primary, middle, and senior divisions, with each division further split into grades based on the year of admission. So, although it was a cross-grade duel, he and Kendall were only a year apart.
Yet, how many levels did You Chen have then?
Level 14.
He had reached level 9 at age 9, and after absorbing his soul ring, reached level 11. Over two years of cultivation, he only gained 3 levels.
That was his cultivation talent back then.
He could rely on exceptional effort and mature mindset, along with some clever tricks, to defeat peers only one or two levels higher.
But facing Kendall, who, although not yet a Grandmaster with a second ring, had a 6-level lead and a high-grade martial spirit...
There was no chance of victory.
Had it not been for the primary division's end-of-term reward, Kendall might have already advanced to Grandmaster and moved to the intermediate academy. Such a Kendall would not have given You Chen any opportunity.
It was a crushing defeat.
Perhaps due to the massive gap at the time, the system offered extremely generous rewards.
"Sudden Insight" needed no further explanation; if previous tasks had this reward, You Chen wouldn't have let them go.
More crucial was the "Longevity Technique."
Everyone desires longevity.
Even with the system, You Chen couldn't guarantee he'd become an immortal god, making the value of extended lifespan self-evident.
Furthermore, locking essence and blood could extend the prime cultivation period.
In terms of value, "Longevity Technique" was unmatched compared to "Soul Intimidation Technique."
Naturally, You Chen was tempted.
He hadn't expected that mere academy competition due to Kendall's "contempt" would be deemed a "comeback task" by the system.
Classifying the clash as a "conflict." Perhaps this was due to triggering a "minimum guarantee" mechanism...
Frankly, without the system's description, You Chen wouldn't have even realized he'd been looked down upon. He couldn't see a color palette in people's eyes, after all.
But he vaguely remembered that Kendall, now 36, was a six-ring Soul Emperor.
Currently, in Spirit Hall, he was among the high-ranking members and a popular candidate for Red Cardinal.
The implication is clear.
Any Red Cardinal is at least a Soul Saint powerhouse.
This means Kendall isn't far from becoming a Soul Saint.
If he were just a regular Soul Emperor, despite his high position in Spirit Hall, You Chen might still find a way to gather intelligence through Soul Dou Beasts and strike during a mission.
Whether "Longevity Technique" was worth the risk or not, at least You Chen wouldn't be helpless and could consider the "option."
But being a prospective Red Cardinal implies he's surrounded by interested parties, possibly even protected by powerful individuals...
Sending Soul Dou Beasts to determine if a Soul Saint or even a Soul Douluo guards Kendall is unreasonable.
Targeting him would mean confronting at least one Soul Saint.
As is well-known, Soul Saint marks a qualitative change in a soul master's strength.
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