Chapter 8: The Mission Hall

Chapter 8: The Mission Hall

8

The Mission Hall

I

Under Tian Jins control, the magical cloud landed on the grass beside a large stone square at the base of a large mountain. Not too far away from them was a massive arched gate that that marked the entrance of the residential area of the Outer Court, which took up the entire mountain in front of them. Beyond the gate was a wide stone stairway that led up the mountain, winding its way around it.

This was where they had met up to leave for the mission.

Hao Zhen felt as if that had been months, if not years, ago, even though it hadnt even been a week. So much had changed since the day he had left, he didnt even know where to start. As he looked around the square, at the other outer disciples walking around, going about their business, he couldnt help but think that not even a week ago, he had been just like them, his only concern being his lack of progress in his cultivation.

Maybe someone, in his place, would rather not have known what he did now. Maybe theyd have preferred the comfort of ignorance over the awareness of knowledge. But he wasnt someone else, and as burdensome as the revelations of the last few days had been, he was, in a way, glad for them. As far as he was concerned, he had just effectively regained his free will, and to him, that was worth virtually any price.

Tian Jin motioned for them to descend from the magical cloud, and they did soDuo Lan gracefully leaping off, Hao Zhen simply jumping down. Tian Jin got down after them, and moments later, the magical cloud started flowing into his sleeves. Once it had completely disappeared, Tian Jin reached into his sleeve and produced from it a red bracelet, which he handed to Hao Zhen, who stored it inside Ke Lis spatial ring.

With that, it was time to go to the Mission Hall.

Tian Jin at the lead, the three of them began making their way toward the center of the Outer Court, where most of its halls were, the Mission Hall among them.

As they walked through the sect, Hao Zhen couldnt help but look at it with new eyes, watching the lofty mountain peaks around them and the abundance of green. The stone pathway they were walking on was wide enough for several people to walk side by side. To the sides of the pathways was grass, with some trees and shrubs some distance away.

Everywhere he looked, the grass was neatly trimmed, and the trees and plants were perfectly maintained. Even though the Blazing Light Sect was merely a red-grade sect, and not even a particularly powerful one at that, it was still wealthy enough to have enough servants to keep the entire territory of the sect in a perfect state, resulting in pleasant, if not idyllic, sights.

Sects were magical organizations comprised of cultivators, and to a cultivator, their sect was their home, their family, and pretty much their entire life. Sects shared many similarities with the churches from Earth, with members of a sect living a life that was similar in many ways to clergymen, mostly in the sense of how much of their life revolved around the organization they belonged to.

Before regaining his memories, Hao Zhen had never given the existence of sects much thought, simply taking it for granted, but now he viewed magical organizations, and the magical world as a whole, in a different light.

The magical world obeyed, for the most part, the law of the jungle, in which power meant everything and might was right, and cultivators, for the most part, lived in anarchy. As far as he knew, there didnt exist some kind of central power; there were no laws or rules. Inside a sect, on the other hand, things were different. There were rules and regulations, and as such, cultivators didnt need to live every moment in fear of being killed or robbed by others at any moment. Even in the outside world, being a member of a sect was advantageous, as their ties to a magical organization acted as a form of deterrence.

That was, however, only in theory.

Spiritual stones were the main currency used by cultivators, but inside a sect, contribution points were just as, if not more, important. Every time a member of the sect completed a mission, even if it was one that had been assigned to them, theyd always receive a certain amount of contribution points in addition to other rewards. Contribution points could then be exchanged in the Exchange Paviliona building annexed to the Mission Hallfor all sorts of things, such as spiritual stones, pills, magical artifacts, and cultivation methods.

The girl collected each of the magical plants one by one, storing them inside a spatial ring, then asked for their identity tokens: small jade medallions that functioned similarly to jade slips. She then held each token in her hand for a moment, pressing them against another medallion, before returning them.

Receiving his identity token back, Hao Zhen channeled his spiritual power into it, and in his minds eye saw a counter with his contribution points, which had almost doubled.

The outer disciple then produced three separate small stacks of spiritual stones from her spatial ring, the other reward for the mission, and handed them over.

When she realized that they werent leaving, but instead staying put, she gave them a look of confusion.

Actually, Tian Jin said, taking a step forward and slightly lowering his voice, theres something we need to report. Something happened during the mission.

The girl blinked, surprised. Yes?

The inner disciple leading us, Ke Li, died.

There was a moment of silence as the girl stared blankly at Tian Jin. Then, she croaked out, What?

Inner disciples, even if they went on missions together with outer disciples, reported back in the Inner Mission Hall, so the fact that Ke Li wasnt with them hadnt been something odd.

Ke Li died, Tian Jin repeated. A monster killed him.

The girls confusion faded, and she paled. Er Okay. She probably hadnt had to deal with something like this before and judging by the look on her face, was trying not to panic. Just Just wait here for a moment. I need to tell the elders. Without another word, she turned around and briskly headed toward the door behind her, disappearing into the other side.

Glancing around, Hao Zhen noticed that pretty much all conversation around them had died and that everyone there was staring at them. Already people were whispering, and he caught Tian Jins and Duo Lans names being said rather often. Hao Zhen did his best to remain cool. Tian Jin and Duo Lan looked perfectly fine, and they probably werent even faking it. If they werent used to it before, over the last two months they had had a lot of time and opportunities to get used to being the center of attention. Hao Zhen hadnt been nearly as lucky as themor unlucky, depending on how you looked at it.

A while later, the girl returned.

The elders want to talk to you, she said, an apprehensive look on her face. Follow me.

She then walked back into the door she had just come from, not bothering to wait for them, and they made to follow the girl. In front of the door leading deeper inside the building, however, Hao Zhen couldnt help but linger for a moment, hesitating. Duo Lan glanced back, giving him a questioning look as if wondering what was up with him. He shook his head, gave her a smile that he hoped wasnt as strained as it felt, and stepped inside.