Chapter 496 : Fleecing the Sheep
496: Fleecing the Sheep
With a powerful enemy before them, becoming stronger was naturally important. Even Yun Qingyue, who never pried into Jiang Mo's privacy, couldn't help but ask when she suddenly heard this: "What method?"
Jiang Mo hesitated, beginning to stammer, only now realizing she might have been overly excited.
Seeing this, Yun Qingyue knew she couldn't say, and though slightly disappointed, she didn't press: "Never mind if you can't say."
Hearing this, Jiang Mo felt somewhat guilty, feeling that she had given her Senior Sister hope only to disappoint her. She secretly reached for Yun Qingyue's hand, hooking her little finger and shaking it gently: "Well, I really can't explain it, and this method only works for me." After saying this, she quickly added a promise: "But don't worry, Ah Yue, once my cultivation improves, I'll definitely protect you well."
With her little finger hooked by Jiang Mo, Yun Qingyue could sense the pleasing nature in her actions and words. Having never placed much importance on such minor matters, she now felt even less need to dwell on it. She raised her hand to squeeze Jiang Mo's nape, softly saying: "No need for that, just take care of yourself."
With a powerful enemy before them, truthfully, Yun Qingyue didn't have much confidence in the future.
Jiang Mo's shoulders moved slightly at the squeeze, finding it rather comfortable, but she didn't miss the subtle anxiety Yun Qingyue revealed. She simply stepped forward, embracing Yun Qingyue's shoulders from the side and resting her chin on her shoulder: "Don't say that, Ah Yue. I'll become very strong. No matter what happens later, I can definitely protect you!"
Yun Qingyue felt warmth at her side as a soft body pressed against her, with earnest promises in her ear. The heaviness in her heart suddenly cracked open, warmth spreading through her, leaving no doubt about the truthfulness of these words.
"Alright, I believe you," Yun Qingyue said, the words slipping out unconsciously.
Hearing this, Jiang Mo felt as if she had received some tremendous encouragement, her heart suddenly filled with boundless ambition.
......
The system mission was issued while the group was on their way back to the Xuanqing Sect, and their journey afterward was relatively smooth. However, under the demonic miasma's cover, the distance between Xuanqing City and the Xuanqing Sect seemed strangely extended, and demon-possessed were distributed throughout the miasma. They naturally encountered several waves during their return, but fortunately, these demon-possessed weren't particularly strong and couldn't stop them.
It took nearly half a day before the group finally reached the outskirts of the Xuanqing Sect.
By now, the Xuanqing Sect's protective formation had been fully activated, with no disciples guarding its perimeter—mainly because many disciples had low cultivation levels, and there was concern they might be affected by the demonic miasma outside, even through the formation.
Fortunately, Peak Master Qingxu's group had only left temporarily and had already arranged a signal with the Sect Leader. Thus, upon arriving at the protective formation, they had no trouble contacting the Sect Leader and were allowed entry.
Sect Leader Qingxiao was waiting inside the formation, holding a magical device to check whether those returning from outside had been corrupted by demonic energy.
However, Sect Leader Qingxiao, who had been out of contact with the outside world for some time, clearly hadn't expected that Peak Master Qingxu's excursion would coincidentally encounter Peak Master Qingyu's group. A flash of surprise crossed his face, quickly replaced by an expression both delighted and somewhat vexed: "Junior Sister, you shouldn't have returned." After saying this, he seemed to realize the impropriety and added: "Your return now won't help matters; you would have been better off looking for other solutions outside."
During the time the Xuanqing Sect had been surrounded by the demonic miasma, Sect Leader Qingxiao and the others hadn't been idle. Besides capturing demon-possessed people and creatures for Peak Master Qinglan's experiments, the sect had sent out many elders to test whether they could break through the encircling demonic miasma.
Unfortunately, the results were disappointing. Of the elders who went out, a small majority hadn't returned—either they had perished under attacks from high-level demon-possessed, or they had been corrupted by demonic energy and lost their consciousness, or they had retained their consciousness but dared not return. The majority who did return brought no good news; it turned out that the demonic miasma outside had also formed a grand formation, and they simply couldn't escape.
Those inside couldn't get out, so why should those outside come back in?
Sect Leader Qingxiao had deep feelings for the Xuanqing Sect and could understand why Peak Master Qingyu would return promptly, but the current situation filled him with worry, feeling that if his junior sister had remained outside, avoiding this calamity would have been better.
Peak Master Qingyu's brows furrowed tightly, clearly guessing Sect Leader Qingxiao's true meaning, but obviously disagreeing.
However, they had already returned, so anything said now would be too late. Sect Leader Qingxiao finally sighed and said no more, only checking each person in turn, confirming none had been corrupted by demonic energy, before letting them in.
Sect Leader Qingxiao put away the detection device and took the lead: "Let's go to Lingyun Hall to exchange specific information."
Peak Master Qingyu and the others naturally agreed and were about to follow Sect Leader Qingxiao.
At this moment, Jiang Mo stepped forward and said: "Sect Leader, I won't be joining you." After a pause, she added: "Also, I have a presumptuous request, hoping for the Sect Leader's assistance."
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
For matters within the sect, whether big or small, naturally the Sect Leader's orders were most efficient.
The system had given Jiang Mo a timed mission, and this mission's time limit was neither long nor short. However, with the premise that each person could only be fleeced—no, challenged—once per day, and with half the day already gone, the remaining time didn't seem so abundant. Compared to going to Lingyun Hall to listen to their discussion, she was naturally more eager to become stronger.
Jiang Mo didn't want to owe the Xuanqing Sect too many favors. After all, initially, she had thought she could be the Xuanqing Sect's pillar for thousands of years, but now she realized that at her and her Senior Sister's cultivation speed, transcendence probably wouldn't be much later than Divine Lord Zhiming's.
Karmic debts weren't easy to repay, but now she couldn't worry about that much, so Jiang Mo directly proposed to Sect Leader Qingxiao about challenging the sect elders. Moreover, her requirement was to only challenge those stronger than herself, not those weaker... This requirement was reasonable, but Jiang Mo suddenly proposing challenges at such a critical time seemed somewhat absurd.
Even with Sect Leader Qingxiao's vast experience, Jiang Mo's abrupt request left him somewhat bewildered. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, and seeing Jiang Mo's solemn expression that didn't seem like a joke, he agreed without further questioning.
The challenges were arranged on the arena at the mid-mountain plaza of Mount Tianyang. Sect Leader Qingxiao estimated Jiang Mo's cultivation level and sent messages to Mount Tianyang elders with higher cultivation than hers. Later, at Jiang Mo's repeated insistence, the message range expanded to all sect elders with higher cultivation than Jiang Mo, causing many elders who received the message to wonder if something major had happened in the sect.
Dozens of spiritual lights rose from various spiritual peaks, rushing toward Mount Tianyang.
Jiang Mo arrived at the mid-mountain arena first, and while waiting, casually opened her long-neglected status panel for a look:
[Host: Jiang Mo
Race: White Tiger
Profession: Divine Beast
Level: 75
Combat Power: 92,780
Experience: 970/300,000
Points: 3,160
Potential: ∞
Skills: Advanced Spirit Energy Utilization, Blood Inheritance Pressure, Sharp Metal Force, Way of Transformation...]
Jiang Mo's current level was 75, having risen 3 levels since reuniting with her Senior Sister, and her combat power had also increased significantly. The only thing that had been consumed the most was her points; eighty years of accumulation had been depleted in these short three years, and the current points were just recently earned from missions. However, unlike before when she always focused on points, Jiang Mo's attention now was mostly on her level and combat power.
Compared to the sharp decrease in points, Jiang Mo's leveling speed over these three years was truly impressive.
Converting to a cultivator's realm, 3 game levels equaled one minor realm for cultivators. Jiang Mo's achievement in these three years was advancing from early Fusion stage to mid-Fusion stage. Though this seemed like just one minor realm, under the premise of a major realm like the Fusion stage, it was incredibly fast!
Overall, Jiang Mo's efforts over these three years hadn't been wasted, and she felt both satisfied and dissatisfied—she knew that the higher the game level, the harder it became to level up, and this efficiency was completely normal; no one could accuse her of being lazy. But reality was so pressing; though she didn't know the demon race member's level, seeing how even her master and the others struggled against them, they must be at least 10 levels higher than her.
Of course, if Jiang Mo knew that the demon race member was the big boss arranged by the system, she would have raised this level estimate even higher. But given the current situation, she felt she couldn't rest easy unless she reached level 90!
......
While Jiang Mo was silently calculating the required experience points, the first batch of elders who had received the message had already arrived.
Proximity naturally meant the Mount Tianyang elders arrived first. When they received the Sect Leader's message, they didn't know what they were coming for, only that they had been summoned to the arena to follow Jianbing's instructions.
After the Mount Tianyang elders had all gathered, thinking the Sect Leader had only sent messages to them, they proactively asked: "We have received the Sect Leader's message and come here. What instructions does Jianbing have for us?"
Jiang Mo hadn't expected Sect Leader Qingxiao to be unclear, so she rubbed her ear, glanced at the arena beside her, and decided to speak directly: "Ah, well, it's nothing major. I've encountered a bottleneck in my cultivation, so I'd like to ask the elders for assistance." She pointed to the arena: "Just a match on the arena, I challenge you all."
Mount Tianyang had nine elders in total. As Jiang Mo explained, she activated battle mode and checked their levels. They were all either at the same level as her or higher, undoubtedly pillars of the sect.
No one had expected to come today for this reason, and immediately several elders' expressions soured—Jianbing's status in the Xuanqing Sect was naturally special, but now with the demonic miasma surrounding the sect, who knew when battle might break out.
With the sect facing great peril, Jiang Mo's request seemed like child's play, and no one was in the mood to indulge her.
But private complaints aside, each person's temperament differed, as did their approach to social interactions. Two elders with straightforward tempers, upon confirming they had indeed come to indulge this "child's play," immediately left with a flick of their sleeves. The others had slightly better attitudes, though most didn't believe Jiang Mo's claim about a cultivation bottleneck... unavoidable, given her recent breakthrough.
Nevertheless, seven remained, and today's notification hadn't been limited to Mount Tianyang elders. As elders from other peaks arrived, setting aside those unwilling, Jiang Mo wondered if she could finish so many matches today.
Therefore, Jiang Mo paid no attention to those who left, leaping onto the arena and saying: "Which elder will give me guidance?"
Those who remained weren't pretentious. The elders exchanged glances, and the one with the lowest cultivation and best temperament jumped onto the arena: "I dare not claim to give guidance. Jianbing's cultivation is similar to mine; why don't we have a friendly match?"
Hearing this, Jiang Mo's eyelid twitched, knowing that in the system mission, the rewards for friendly matches and challenges differed greatly. Fearing that the elder's words might affect the system's judgment, she hastily said: "No, not a friendly match. I challenge you."
These words were quite impolite, and even the most even-tempered person's expression darkened.
Jiang Mo immediately knew she had misspoken. She wasn't thinking of either a friendly match or a challenge, but of fleecing the sheep. If she truly angered someone who then fought her for three hundred rounds, cultivators fighting could last a month without conclusion. She couldn't waste all her time on one sheep, so she quickly lowered her stance: "Please, elder, show restraint."