Chapter Five: Hard to Dwell

  "This task is not something a first-level cultivator like you can do," Chen Taizhong flared up upon hearing the other's words, "Linghuo Gui hasn't woken up yet, and we've encountered too many formidable things along the way, why don't you just explain clearly?"

  "You didn't make it clear and you brought bodyguards with you," the staff member said impatiently, waving his hand. "Nothing to do, stand aside, don't affect my work."

  "Brother, where did I bring a bodyguard? Chen Taizhong gave him a glance, knowing that there was a story behind this, but he wasn't in a hurry to know. Instead, he casually posted a task - Newly ascended cultivator seeking explanations on heavenly knowledge, two spirits per day."

  The task reward was two ling, and posting the task used another two ling. Twenty-seven pieces of ling stone were added to the two pieces of deposit that had been returned, originally twenty-nine, but suddenly became twenty-five.

  But this is an official task, spending some money can guarantee absolutely correct information, it's worth it.

  Before long, someone signed up. It was a middle-aged woman with darting eyes, who looked like she had a lot of clever ideas.

  "I want to know as much as possible about the various news in the immortal world," Chen Taizhong said loudly, although he had just been robbed of three Lihuang fruits, but from the feeling of flying up from the lower realm, he still maintained some.

  So he said bluntly, "You can say as much as you like, tell us some news from the lower world that we don't know about, and if it's good, there will be a reward."

  The woman's eyes rolled around, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Young master, is this...isn't this the family's trial task?"

  Some immortal families, in order to cultivate talent, spare no effort to let their family members who have ascended from the lower realm first adapt to the environment, but the family itself does not show its head.

  The woman guessed this because Chen was completely ignorant of the immortal realm, yet he could afford to take out spirit stones to post a task - either he was a rich cultivator from the lower realm or a young master from a wealthy family.

  However, loose cultivators are known for their humble and bitter experiences, and it's rare to see a nouveau riche among them. If there is such a loose cultivator who has had an extraordinary encounter and obtained a shocking inheritance, they wouldn't be completely ignorant of the fairy world either.

  "I'm the one spending money, I'm the one asking you, not the other way around," Chen Taizhong said impatiently. "Two Ling aren't cheap... Tell me first, what level is that Liet Yang Guo task?"

  "That task... isn't feasible," the woman shook her head, "it should be a combination of first and fifth level, or have a special artifact that conceals one's aura, in order to complete it."

  Chen Tai Zhong had previously encountered a Flame Hare in the suburbs, which was a first-level Weak Beast. The Bat was a first-level Strong Beast, while the Earthworm was a second-level Beast. The Wild Boar in the forest was a third-level Beast.

  In the valley there are centipedes, also a third-level wild beast, but these centipedes are really too numerous, and there is also a fourth-level centipede king.

  And the fourth-level wild beast, even a general fourth-level wandering immortal may not be able to defeat it. Moreover, there are many third-level centipedes. To put it bluntly, one or two fifth-level wandering immortals facing such an attack would be lucky to escape.

  It's precisely because of this that the Lianyangguo task is extremely frustrating, requiring high-level Youxian to bring low-level Youxian along in order to complete it. The high-level Youxian leads the way past the rabbits, bats, earthworms, wild boars and centipede groups, then lets the low-level Youxian go steal the herbs.

  But a high-ranking fairy would hardly care about such a small amount of money?

  No wonder that guy thought I was looking for a bodyguard, Chen Taizhong also heard it and was speechless - if not for his brother's ability to calm him down, the task's deposit would probably have been deducted.

  He was speechless, and the woman didn't know what to say either. She rolled her eyes and asked, "Young master, do you know who issued this task?"

  "I don't know," Chen Taitzong shook his head, "this task is really tough."

  "It's been posted by the little daughter of the fallen noble, Nantes," said the woman, looking around and lowering her voice. "Miss Nancy... she raises a white pet mouse, fire attribute, loves to eat Blazing Fruits, eats at least three every day, so she's been buying them in bulk for a long time."

  "Hmm..." Chen Taizhong clicked his tongue, wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent. Was the hard work of two days just helping someone collect mouse food?

  The wine and meat in the grand house are rotten, while on the road there are frozen bones.

  Chen wanted to keep his legal resident status in Qing Shi Cheng and had to pay five spirit stones every month.

  Miss Nancy's pet mouse eats 90 Lixiang fruits every month, worth 27 Ling stones. Adding the monthly task release fee of 60 Ling, it totals 87 Ling.

  How can one bear this?

  Chen Taizhong didn't think much and followed the middle-aged woman's advice, buying a brief introduction to plants and animals, then bought a map of Jizhou, and under her guidance, rented a daily rental house.

  This daily rental is not expensive, two ling per day. The inns on the street, at least three ling per day, and five ling can have a more intense fairy aura - of course, there are also one ling per day, which is a common bed.

  After Chen Taizhong bought the book and map, he only had 10 spiritual energy left. When he asked about food here, the woman told him that the spiritual energy of the lower realm's food was too little, and eating it in the immortal realm might give a feeling of fullness, but... it really wouldn't fill his hunger.

  Then he remembered that fire-breathing rabbit he killed, and the dead bat, which he didn't put into the Somi ring because it was disgusting.

  But he stuffed the rabbit in, thinking this thing might be edible.

  He casually asked and only then did he know that rabbits were non-toxic and edible. However, people who cultivate cold-attribute techniques should eat this thing as little as possible.

  Then he spent three more spirits, buying some meat to throw into the Xumi Ring, and another spirit to ask the woman to eat with him. Two more spirits were spent on lodging, and the next day he gave the woman one more spirit as a reward, leaving only three spirits in his hand.

  The fairy world is hard to reach, indeed.

  His spider silk has not been redeemed yet, but he is not in a hurry to redeem it either. With the salary for one month's work, Sanling will be able to redeem it - if he redeems it now, he will have no money left again.

  However, Chen Taitzong felt that it was all worth it, because after meditating for a whole night, he faintly felt that he had made a breakthrough to the second level of Youxian. To think that he had only been seriously cultivating in the immortal realm for half a day.

  High input often means high return.

  The next day, after checking out of the hotel, he used a disposable lighter to exchange for the right to drink tea at a tea stall for half a day - there are many people here who know how to use fire magic, but without any fluctuations in their magical powers, they can still produce flames, which is quite a rare and interesting thing.

  In this half day, he finished reading the book in his hand and remembered it firmly, then went to the task courtyard again.

  He chose a life-class task - hunting for Thunderhoof's antlers.

  Lei Tong Lu is a second-level wild beast, extremely fast, able to instantly release lightning. Generally speaking, even fifth-level You Xian cannot handle them - after the lightning strike, the person struck will be stunned for a moment, and by that time, it has already run far away.

  The antlers of the Thunder Deer contain pure thunder power, making it most suitable for low-level Thunder Repair to cultivate.

  However, this deer is also very strange. It seems to understand the idiom "an elephant dies from its own tusks and a clam dies from its own pearl". When it can't escape in time, it will release lightning between its two antlers, destroying its own foundation and disappointing the hunter.

  Chen Taizhong was a first-class Youxian, posing no threat to the Thunder Deer Constellation. However, after gaining an understanding of this world, he discovered... that he could possibly kill monsters beyond his level.

  A second-level earthworm, he can still knock it out, a third-level wild boar... that's something he doesn't want to bother with, because there's no income, really wanting to bother with it, killing a wild boar is a big deal?

  As for the stiffness caused by lightning, it's easy to deal with. Just put an iron pot on your head, tie an iron chain to the handle of the pot and let it hang down to the ground, then attach a large iron block, that's all you need.

  He confidently accepted the task, using his last three spiritual stones as collateral to obtain information about the Thunderhoof's habitat, and then he didn't delay, leaving the city directly.

  When he arrived at the place where the Thunder Deer was, it was already midnight. In order not to expose the Suzumebachi, he held the Fire Rabbit in his hand, lit a fire, and then dissected the rabbit into skewers, which were placed on the fire to roast.

  Roasting is a wild beast, but the seasoning is from Earth. The reputation of the Gluttony Empire isn't just bragging. Just as the rabbit was almost done roasting, a figure flashed by and a middle-aged man sat down, "Smells great!"

  "This is mine!" Chen Taizhong said calmly. He knew that the first-class Youxian was a bottom-tier figure in the Xian realm, but although his strength was at the bottom, he couldn't lose in terms of aura.

  "Two spirits, buy one half," the middle-aged man is not a forced buyer or seller.

  "Three spirits," Chen Taitzong haggled, a fire-breathing rabbit was about one spirit's worth, he had inquired yesterday, but after cooking and adding seasonings from Earth, three pieces of spirit stone could buy half a rabbit, this wasn't a lion opening its big mouth.

  "Here," said the middle-aged man, tossing him three pieces of spirit stone, "come hunt the Luorong with me?"

  "Hmm," Chen Taizhong hummed, putting the three spirit stones into his bosom and casually drawing a line on the bonfire with his hand. "This half is yours, this half is mine."

  A middle-aged man patted the storage bag, took out a gourd from it, and then took out a cup. He poured a cup of fine wine, which emitted a fragrance that was indeed worthy of being a product of the immortal realm.

  He glanced at the young man beside him and said, "One more round?"

  Chen Taizhong shook his head. As a first-class wandering immortal, he didn't want to casually eat and drink other people's things in this desolate wilderness.

  And besides, that half rabbit was sold for money, how can this fine wine be drunk for free?

  But those few pitiful spirit stones in his pocket might not even be enough to buy such fine wine.

  The middle-aged man took a glance at him and didn't say anything else. He picked up his wine and took a light sip, then grabbed the rabbit and started gnawing on it.

  Chen Taizhong swept away the remaining clouds with a wave of his hand, then closed his eyes and sat in meditation. The spiritual energy of the immortal realm was too abundant, he couldn't bear to waste even half a moment.

  The middle-aged man ate slowly, savoring the rabbit with slow and careful bites. It took him almost half an hour to finish eating.

  He put the cup and gourd into his storage bag, stood up, glanced at the young man who was meditating, and just as he was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly froze, "This spiritual energy..."

  The next moment, the spiritual energy of the immortals slowly surged from all directions, and as time passed, the speed became faster and faster, rushing towards the body that was sitting in meditation.

  The young man sitting in meditation remained motionless, welcoming the incoming spiritual energy without any resistance. Even as the spiritual energy came wave after wave, each one thicker than the last, his body was like a bottomless pit, effortlessly absorbing the energy.

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