Chapter 311 : Quest Notification
Mission Halls across different sects were largely similar, simply being places where tasks were posted and accepted. Most missions were issued by elders or disciples, such as collecting spirit herbs from certain locations or gathering beast cores and pelts from specific creatures. However, these only counted as minor tasks; the truly significant missions were those issued directly by the sect.
When Jiang Mo and the others entered the Mission Hall in their disguises, they didn't even need to ask the administrator about new tasks. Immediately upon entering, they spotted the "pinned" mission floating above the hall.
And it was literally pinned at the top—in the vast black hall, a line of red characters was scrawled haphazardly in mid-air: "Sect Gathering Mission, requires Void Crossing realm or higher cultivation, unlimited participants, meet at Skyreaching Peak plaza in three days. Mission purpose confidential, mission location confidential, mission reward 3,000 contribution points, fifty percent available as advance payment upon acceptance."
Truthfully, even though Jiang Mo had never accepted sect missions at Xuanqing Sect and didn't know the exact value of Nine Abyss Sect's contribution points, just hearing the earlier cultivator's exclamation made it clear that this reward was substantial.
She glanced around, then tugged at her Senior Sister's sleeve and asked, "What do you think of this mission?"
Yun Qingyue scanned it briefly and replied, "The compensation is generous, but it's likely extremely dangerous."
Though they spoke quietly, cultivators' hearing far exceeded normal limits, especially those interested in this mission who certainly wouldn't have cultivation below Void Crossing. As soon as they finished speaking, someone nearby was drawn over and volunteered information: "Exactly. Money's no good if you're not alive to spend it. In my opinion, not many people will join this sect gathering—everyone's apprehensive."
The four were all attracted by these words and turned to look. They saw a Void Crossing cultivator with a rat-like face—his original appearance might have been decent, but after practicing the Nine Abyss Sect's techniques, he had grown so gaunt that he was hardly recognizable, making him quite unattractive.
Of course, the four were too worldly to judge someone by appearance. Jiang Mo even proactively asked, "What do you mean?"
The gender ratio in sects was somewhat imbalanced, especially in sects like the Nine Abyss Sect where the cultivation methods had obvious flaws, making female cultivators particularly reluctant to join if it meant "ruining their appearance." Now facing four women, even though all four were merely average-looking, the cultivator became animated and asked mysteriously, "Do you know what happened after the last sect gathering?"
The four exchanged glances, each harboring suspicions but clearly not intending to voice them. They shook their heads, and again Jiang Mo took the initiative: "No, what's the story?"
This further energized the cultivator, who lowered his voice and said, "The last sect gathering mission was just three months ago, led by the Grand Elder himself. The reward was also 3,000 points. Forty or fifty people followed the Grand Elder, and not a single one returned." He curled his lip with apparent disdain: "I suppose the higher-ups know everyone's hesitant this time, so they're offering half the points in advance, but what good is that?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Mo and the others immediately realized their suspicions were correct—the previous gathering mission was indeed the ghost ship incident.
While Jiang Mo wasn't certain what the others were thinking, she knew that her main quest would likely center around this mission—during their last visit to the Merperson Island, they had discovered significant information, the most crucial being that the seal had been compromised. By logical deduction, her main quest should relate to this, perhaps even involving repairing the seal or preparing for a future invasion by the demonic race.
Based on current intelligence, the Nine Abyss Sect clearly had issues. One might even boldly speculate that they had already established connections with the demonic race and were planning further schemes. Combined with the system quest, these schemes seemed imminent.
Jiang Mo's mind raced through numerous thoughts. The overly-familiar demonic cultivator seemed to notice her interest and couldn't help but advise: "I'm serious—contribution points are worthless if you're not alive to use them. Fairy, you've cultivated until now with great difficulty; why risk it all?"
This highlighted the greatest difference between demonic sects and righteous path sects. In the latter, sect allegiance was strong, with many disciples accepting sect missions regardless of personal gain or loss. Demonic cultivators were different, approaching everything from a perspective of self-interest... including this "well-meaning" cultivator advising them now—who could be certain his intentions were genuinely good rather than harboring ulterior motives?
Jiang Mo nodded perfunctorily, instinctively shielding her Senior Sister: "Thank you, we'll consider it carefully."
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The Nine Abyss Sect's gathering mission might be extremely dangerous... but truthfully, Jiang Mo's group wasn't afraid. Each possessed formidable cultivation, plus they had Zhu Baiyi, a Grand Achievement cultivator, accompanying them. Approximately eighty to ninety percent of dangers in the cultivation world wouldn't pose a problem for them. As for threats capable of detaining even a Grand Achievement cultivator, the Nine Abyss Sect wouldn't frivolously mobilize just Void Crossing cultivators for such—unless they were trying to thin out their sect's strength by deliberately reducing numbers.
After ditching the overly-familiar demonic cultivator, the group circled the Mission Hall twice more, pretending to examine the available missions. Finding nothing unusual, they finally approached the administrator together to accept the sect mission.
The administrator efficiently allocated them the 1,500-point advance payment, though his gaze held a touch of complexity when looking at them.
Jiang Mo's group pretended not to notice. After accepting the mission, they didn't linger, turning to exit the Mission Hall. Once outside where no one was around, Jiang Mo played with the mission token and asked, "I wonder where this Skyreaching Peak is located?"
Her words had barely fallen when Yun Qingyue raised her hand to point: "Over there."
Following her direction, Jiang Mo and the others indeed spotted a distant, faintly visible towering peak—the spiritual mountains in the cultivation world were often precipitous, with countless peaks reaching into the clouds, but one daring to be named "Skyreaching" was naturally special. Standing on their current mountain and gazing into the distance, they couldn't even see the summit, let alone if they were standing at its base.
Just one glance confirmed without doubt that it was Skyreaching Peak. The distance from the Mission Hall wasn't particularly close but not too far either; at their current displayed level of cultivation, they could certainly fly there within an hour.
After looking for a moment, Jiang Mo withdrew her gaze: "We still have three days. What shall we do in that time?"
Zhu Baiyi fingered her identity token thoughtfully, then turned toward the back hall of the Mission Hall: "These 1,500 contribution points weren't earned for nothing. Why not see what treasures the Nine Abyss Sect has to offer?"
For cultivators, each advancement in realm represented a vast difference. Truthfully, with Jiang Mo's group's current cultivation and discernment, they wouldn't be particularly interested in treasures at the Void Crossing level. Especially Zhu Baiyi, as a sect leader, who would care even less about such items. However, the resource exchange area of a sect's Mission Hall would never lack quality items, as it reflected a sect's foundation, so a visit wasn't unreasonable.
None of the three others objected and followed along. The frugal tiger privately not only wanted to look around but also intended to spend the 1,500 contribution points—she didn't accumulate points easily and didn't like to waste them; any opportunity to grab resources was one to take.
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The Nine Abyss Sect's Mission Hall was expansive, and the resource exchange area behind it was even larger. Upon entering, they were greeted by a dazzling array of items.
The arrival of four people together was somewhat conspicuous, and given their apparent high cultivation, a disciple immediately approached them. The disciple was at the Golden Core realm, with a smile that felt sinister: "Esteemed Martial Aunts, what would you like to exchange?"
Zhu Baiyi raised her eyes with an indifferent expression: "Just looking around first."
Hearing this, the disciple didn't press, maintaining an extremely courteous attitude as he accompanied them.
The Mission Hall served all sect members, from Void Crossing and Spirit Division cultivators down to Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment practitioners, so everyone could find suitable missions there. Consequently, the exchange area offered items suitable for all cultivation levels, with prices starting from just 1 contribution point and ranging widely upward.
When Jiang Mo's group first entered, the area near the entrance displayed a diverse array of items targeted at Qi Refinement disciples, mostly priced at one or two contribution points. Moving further in were items for Foundation Establishment cultivators, generally priced between 5 and 20 points, followed by Golden Core items at 20 to 100 points, and so on in progression... Based on this pricing structure, 3,000 contribution points was indeed substantial for Void Crossing cultivators.
Of course, with enough savings, one could potentially acquire items from a higher tier. However, cultivators who could save resources were rare, especially lower-realm practitioners who constantly sought self-improvement—how could they accumulate resources?
Jiang Mo had never properly examined the exchange items in any Mission Hall, not even at Xuanqing Sect, let alone the Nine Abyss Sect. So she walked very slowly, looking with great interest regardless of the items' actual value.
The other three noticed but said nothing, consciously slowing their pace to accompany her.
The Golden Core disciple leading the way had no complaints and exhibited extraordinary patience. Knowing these small items wouldn't attract their exchange interest, he refrained from introducing them, only providing brief reminders when they crossed between sections.
For instance, "Martial Aunt, this is the Foundation Establishment area."
And later, "Martial Aunt, ahead is the Golden Core section."
By the time they reached the Nascent Soul area, while the items still couldn't be considered exceptional, at least some were worth a glance. The group slowed their pace slightly but showed no intention of stopping or exchanging anything.
Jiang Mo walked and looked around, treating it like window shopping to broaden her horizons—she wasn't expecting to find anything in a demonic sect suitable for her Senior Sister or herself.
However, as she continued walking, her footsteps suddenly halted, and her eyes flashed with uncertainty as she looked at the items before her. At that very moment, a long-absent system notification sounded in her mind:
"Ding! Congratulations, host, you've discovered a critical item."
Jiang Mo stopped in her tracks, waiting for further explanation that never came—the notification didn't even specify what this so-called critical item was! Confused, she could only stare at the seven or eight exchange items before her and ask the system: "System, which one is the critical item?"
The system was sometimes reliable, sometimes infuriating, like now: "Unknown, please analyze yourself."
Jiang Mo immediately felt like smashing the system. Beside her, the Golden Core disciple, noticing she had stopped and stared for a while, tentatively approached and asked: "Martial Aunt, have you found something of interest? Would you like this disciple to take it out for you to examine more closely?"