Chapter 404: Underestimating One's Own Strength

  Liu Bian did not immediately start a new task, but instead received the reward for completing his first temporary task, increasing his martial arts level by one small grade, gaining 300 merit points, five faith points, and obtaining a set of Tian Can treasure clothes.

  At that moment, Liu Bian's martial arts had become F-second level, which made him extremely surprised. Because he found out that in the past when he was at G-level, every five days or so, he could advance a small level, but after reaching F-level, it basically took around ten days of cultivation and refinement to advance a small level.

  And now he has directly advanced a small level, saving him ten days of practice time, and naturally he is overjoyed. Moreover, this increase in martial power is not just an increase in quantity, but also includes his true energy becoming more majestic, and his body becoming even more solid.

  Merit and faith are not mentioned, but in Liu Bian's hand appeared a thin white treasure robe as thin as a cicada wing, extremely soft, smooth to the touch, and very comfortable.

  He tried to stab it with a knife and sword, but left no marks, indeed it was invulnerable. Moreover, Liu Bian also tried soaking it in water and burning it with fire, but the treasure robe was not damaged at all, so he hastily put it on as an inner layer, from then on his life had another guarantee.

  Just as Liu Bian was about to start a new temporary task, he suddenly found that the progress of his branch task "Become the Crown Prince" had already reached 10%. He then realized that all temporary tasks opened under the branch task were related to the branch task.

  Moreover, Liu Bian took a look at the mainline task and found that the completion progress of the mainline task had already reached one percent. He nodded, knowing that all branch tasks and temporary tasks should be carried out around the mainline task. When all temporary tasks are completed, the branch tasks can also be completed. After completing all branch tasks, the mainline task can also be completed.

  "Start the second temporary task." Liu Bian made his preparations and chose to start the temporary task, so a dialog box popped up on the system interface with the new temporary task content:

  "Temporary Task: Become a disciple of Cai Yong, gain favor with Cai Wenji, time limit one month."

  "Mission Reward: Increase combat power by a small level, 500 merit points, 10 faith points, and the Divine Fish Gut Dagger."

  "Task Penalty: Reduce combat power by two small levels, deduct 1,000 merit points, and faith by 20 points."

  "Task progress, 0."

  Liu Bian found that the reward for this temporary task was much more generous than the first one, and the punishment was naturally doubled. It can be imagined that completing this task would be even more difficult.

  Liu Bian was clear about history, so he knew that Cai Yong had already been demoted to Lingnan by Emperor Ling for offending the Ten Eunuchs and was no longer in the capital. Therefore, if he wanted to complete this task within a month, he really had to hurry up.

  Moreover, it's not just about becoming a disciple of Cai Yong, the task also requires gaining the favor of Cai Wenji. Liu Bian also knew that although Cai Wenji was a woman, she was a very ambitious and proud woman who aspired to follow in the footsteps of Ban Zhao of the Western Han Dynasty and revise the "Book of Later Han" with her father, and had great literary talent, so it's not easy to gain her recognition and favor.

  "Cai Yong is in Lingnan, but getting him back to the capital is a problem. Does Cai Wenji also follow her father to Lingnan?"

  Liu Bian thought for a moment and then searched for information about Cai's father and daughter. After spending ten points of merit, he finally figured out the two people's information:

  Cai Yong, styled Bojie, was a native of Chenliu. He was well-versed in the classics and history, skilled in writing and calligraphy, particularly in the seal script and clerical script. As one of the most famous Confucian scholars at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, he submitted a memorial to the emperor to remonstrate against the eunuchs, which enraged them. He was subsequently framed for a crime and exiled to Lingnan.

  Cai Wenji, originally named Cai Yan, followed her father to study poetry and books from a young age and had great literary talent. She admired the Western Han talented woman Ban Zhao and her father's brother revising historical books together, so she changed her name to Cai Zhaoyi. However, Cai Wenji's fate was tragic. She first married into the Wei family, but her husband died early without any children, and she did not get along with her parents-in-law, so she returned to her natal home. After her father's death, during the Western Liang army's chaos in Chang'an, she was kidnapped by the Xiongnu people and taken beyond the Great Wall, where she married the Left Wise King of the Xiongnu and later gave birth to two sons. After Cao Cao unified the north, he sent someone to ransom Cai Wenji from the Xiongnu, and on her way back home, she wrote the famous "Eighteen Stanzas for a Barbarian Flute". Later, Cao Cao married her off to one of his generals, and she silently copied over 400 volumes of ancient classics that had been destroyed in war fires to preserve the cultural knowledge of ancient China. At this time, Cai Wenji did not follow her father to Lingnan but instead lived with her mother in Luoyang, relying on her mother's sewing clothes for others to make a living.

  "It seems that things have to be done in two aspects at the same time, on the one hand thinking of ways to get Cai Yong into the capital, and on the other hand thinking of ways to get close to Cai Wenji, and it is necessary to complete this temporary task within a month."

  Liu Bian had a premonition that this temporary task was extremely important for himself, and it was the key to whether he could complete the branch task. Even if not for the task reward, he had to strive to get Cai Yong's support, so as to win over more ministers' support in the court, because Cai Yong's influence in the court was still very great.

  "It seems like I need to find someone loyal to help me with things, otherwise it's quite inconvenient for myself."

  Liu Bian thought for a moment, and had someone bring Shi Ziyu over. Although Shi Daoren looked like a wise and noble person, Liu Bian knew very well that after living with him for over ten years, this man was most enthusiastic about fame, wealth, and power.

  "His Excellency has summoned me, I wonder what instructions he has?"

  In front of Liu Bian, Shi Daoren always put on a high-profile appearance, but in fact, he did so just to fool the Crown Prince Liu Bian, so that he could appreciate and reuse himself more in the future.

  "Mr. Shi, over the years you have taken care of me, now that I am about to return to the palace, I must express my gratitude to you. This is a small token sent by my mother, please do not decline it, Mr. Shi."

  Liu Bian took out a package from a box in the room, pretending to take it out, and actually exchanged it for a package that he put on the table in front of Shi Daoren. Then, he slowly opened the package, revealing a pile of glittering gold inside.

  "Your Lordship, this is not right. I am doing a small favor for the Empress Dowager, how can I accept her gift?" Shi Daoren said on the surface, but his eyes were shining like lanterns staring at the gold in front of him, thinking to himself that this pile of gold must weigh at least ten catties, and he was going to get rich.

  P: Temporary task arrived: Brothers, this book hopes to rush to the new book list homepage next week, and I hope everyone will actively support it. A temporary task is released here, and the original update of 10 chapters next week will be based on the total number of member clicks plus recommended votes to determine the additional updates, because the rules for the new book list are: member clicks multiplied by five, recommended multiplied by five, collection multiplied by two. The task is that within next week, the total number of member clicks plus recommendations will reach 800, and one more chapter will be added, and so on. The more you click and recommend, the more additional chapters there will be! And once it reaches the new book list homepage, one more chapter will be added. Especially, the recommended votes that are not cast every day will be invalid, and only casting them will have fan value and points, so I believe that as long as the brothers give their support, the updates will also be more powerful. So, please everyone, after finishing reading the book every day, take a moment to click on the recommended voting below.

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