Chapter Fourteen: The Hall of Merit

  Wang Ke never thought that as fellow disciples of the Qingmu Sect, why should the disciples of the Qinglong Peak humiliate him in every way. Shouldn't fellow disciples show mutual respect and help each other?

  "Fortunately, the young master was lucky today, otherwise it would have been a big trouble." Wang Ke's mind once again emerged with Qin Ke'er's elegant and refined figure, and his heart was filled with deep gratitude.

  Being humiliated in front of the Qinglong Peak disciples is a minor matter, Wang can understand that this is because of his own lowly strength. If he wasn't an ordinary disciple, but rather a core disciple like Ao Xin, perhaps it wouldn't be him who was humiliated today.

  If it wasn't for Qin Ke'er arriving today, the mysterious treasure box would probably have fallen into the hands of the Qinglong Peak disciples. By then, wanting to get it back wouldn't be so easy.

  "Just you wait, one day I'll become strong, strong enough for all of you to look up to me." Before his eyes seemed to appear the faces of the Qing Long Peak disciples, Wang Ke didn't feel downhearted, but instead was filled with fighting spirit.

  Wang Ke found a secluded spot to change into another set of clothes, the traveling package had two sets inside, now with the storage bag, carrying things became much more convenient.

  Only to see Wang Ke walking quickly towards the Merit Hall, while playing with a palm-sized cloth bag in his hand. The cloth bag was blue and flickered with a faint spiritual light, looking more exquisite, should be a higher-end storage bag.

  Wang's heart skipped a beat, and suddenly a mysterious book appeared, then his mind changed, and the secret technique disappeared before his eyes. He continued to take out one thing after another from his storage bag, only to put them back, looking utterly absorbed in what he was doing.

  Apart from that mysterious treasure box, this is the first magical artifact that Wang Ke has obtained, and his excitement can be imagined. He was immersed in joy all along the way.

  Qingmu Peak is very large, from a distance it looks like a gigantic mountain peak, but in fact there are several mountain ranges on top of it, among which the Gongde Temple is located at the foot of the eastern part of Qingmu Peak.

  As they approached the Gongde Temple, Wang Ke put away the storage bag and hung it on his waistband. At this time, many Qingmu Sect disciples could be seen on the road.

  These people mostly look hasty and their cultivation is not very high, occasionally one or two sword lights can be seen flying over their heads.

  Wang Ke noticed that most of the people coming and going were wearing coarse, blue long gowns made of a much poorer quality than his own, and apart from a flying sword emblem on the back, there were no other patterns on these robes.

  "These are just the outer disciples of the sect." Wang Ke thought to himself with a stir in his heart.

  Aoki Mun is divided into outer gate, inner gate and core disciples. Generally, those who enter the sect are outer gate disciples. Outer gate disciples can practice some simple cultivation methods. Every year, the sect will hold an upgrade exam. If you pass the sect's upgrade exam, you can be promoted to an inner gate disciple.

  In the Qingmu Sect, outer sect disciples had a hard time. On ordinary days, they only had very few resources for cultivation. Apart from cultivating, they also had to carry out various tasks assigned by the sect. Some tasks were mandatory while some could be chosen at will.

  By completing tasks, one can obtain some rewards, go to a specific place with abundant spiritual energy within the sect to cultivate for a period of time, and may have the opportunity to receive guidance from seniors. Although the rewards are not many, outer door disciples flock to them, and any way to improve their cultivation is not missed.

  It's better to become an inner disciple, no need to perform sect tasks, and there are cultivation resources allocated every month, the treatment is a hundred times better than that of outer disciples.

  As for the core disciples, they are all elites of the sect, and none of them are not extremely talented, with astonishing cultivation, young people like Ao Xin, who Wang Ke saw today, with extraordinary strength at a young age, is one of the core disciples.

  For this month, Wang Ke has been cultivating and reading some books. Fortunately, the place he arranged to live had a lot of books, which allowed him to learn many things.

  In the distance ahead, a delicate group of palaces appeared in Lin Qi's eyes. The palace complex was hidden in a mountain recess, with a square in front and towering trees growing along the edges of the square.

  The number of passersby around had increased significantly, with many being young people who looked older than Wang Ke. At this time, many people also noticed Wang Ke, and upon seeing his attire, many showed a look of surprise.

  "Huh, why are there inner sect disciples at the Merit Hall today? Aren't they usually not allowed to come here?" Two young men walked towards Wang Ke from ten zhang away, and at this moment, a tall and thin young man on the left noticed Wang Ke, with an envious expression flashing across his eyes.

  The young man looked twenty-five or six years old, with a waxen yellow complexion. His cultivation was not high, but it was much higher than Wang Ke's. He wore a coarse linen blue long gown.

  Next to him was a slightly chubby young man who looked about the same age, wearing a wide long gown, and at this time his eyes also fell on Wang Ke's body, with a hint of shock in his eyes.

  After glancing at him a few times, the young man whispered: "His cultivation has just started to absorb the initial stage of Qi, and he is still a miscellaneous spirit root disciple. He can actually become an inner door disciple, it's really unfair."

  "Shh, keep your voice down. Be careful, they have a powerful background. They're insiders, we can't afford to offend them." The young man beside him whispered.

  The young man complained for a while, and his eyes began to show thick jealousy. However, the two of them spoke in very low voices, and Wang Ke only caught a general idea, without hearing clearly.

  Only saw two people hastily walking past him, their facial expressions were still visible, but Wang Ke didn't pay attention and walked directly inside.

  Arriving at the square in front of the Gongde Temple, Wang Ke walked step by step towards it. In front of him was a huge palace that was exceptionally grand and majestic. Just now, from a distance, he didn't feel it, but now that he was close, this feeling became extremely clear.

  On the facade of the palace hangs a gold-plated door plaque, on which are inscribed in bold relief the three large characters "Gong De Hall". These three characters are powerful and majestic, with strokes that seem to come alive like dragons and snakes on the plaque, exuding an aura that inspires awe.

  "What a great calligraphy!" Wang couldn't help but stop in his tracks and admire it. He had studied calligraphy since he was young, but he had never seen such spirited and elegant calligraphy as the one before him.

  Wang Ke's uncontrollable praise attracted quite a few gazes from the surrounding crowd. As an inner sect disciple, he had already drawn attention by running to the Merit Hall, and now he was even more eye-catching, attracting everyone's gaze, with many people discussing in hushed tones.

  Wang Ke also felt a bit out of place, and quickly quickened his pace to walk inside. The main hall of the Gongde Temple was very spacious, with a huge shimmering light screen in front of him. Many words floated on the light screen, and at this time, many disciples were standing in front of it, their eyes fixed on the screen, searching for something.

  After Wang Ke entered, his gaze swept around the surroundings in a circle, and then he also focused his attention on the light wall in front of him, where one task after another appeared before his eyes.

  It was Wang Ke's first time in the Merit Temple, and these tasks naturally caught his attention. However, after looking for half a day, he couldn't find the task of guarding the forbidden land, and a puzzled expression appeared on his face.

  "Could it be that my task isn't here to receive? That's impossible, Ling Mu clearly told me to receive the task at the Gong De Temple." Wang Ke's eyes were filled with doubt as he continued to search on the light wall.

  On the left side of the light wall, behind a low counter, a middle-aged man with an eight-character beard lay on a leather chair, narrowing his eyes, looking very comfortable.

  Perhaps having rested enough, the middle-aged man slowly opened his eyes, straightened up and stretched lazily, his gaze sweeping casually around the hall. When his gaze passed over Wang Ke's body for an instant, a hint of unusual color flashed in the middle-aged man's eyes.

  After sizing him up for a while, the middle-aged man stood up and walked over to Wang Ke's side, patting his shoulder.

  Feeling someone patting his shoulder, Wang Ke turned around and saw a middle-aged man standing beside him. Wang Ke was taken aback, having noticed the middle-aged man resting behind the counter when he came in earlier.

  "Hey kid, are you Wang Ke?" The middle-aged man asked in a hoarse voice.

  "It's really you, I don't know how to address this senior brother," the middle-aged man surprisingly knew his name, Wang Ke was suddenly surprised and respectfully replied.

  He felt that the middle-aged man in front of him was not highly cultivated, only at the mid-term level of Nasal Qi. Judging from his attire, it was unclear whether he was an inner or outer door disciple, so addressing him as "Shixiong" (Senior Brother) seemed reasonable.

  "It doesn't matter what I'm called, as long as you're Wang Ke, that's all that matters. Come on, I'll take you to process the restricted area permit." The middle-aged man calmly turned around, walked to the counter, sat down, and pulled out a notebook from under the counter, starting to register.

  Wang Ke followed and stood in front of the counter, standing there not knowing what to do. After a while, the middle-aged man finally raised his head, stretched out his hand and said: "Bring me your ID card".

  Wang Ke stretched out his hand and took off his own waist card, handed it over. The middle-aged man took the waist card, and a paper charm appeared in his hand like magic. He stuck it on the waist card, and with a flash of spiritual light, the charm merged into the waist card and disappeared.

  "Alright, I've registered the task for you. Come here once a month to report on it. The task itself isn't difficult, but whatever you do, don't make any mistakes, got it?" the middle-aged man instructed sternly.

  "This is the reward for guarding the forbidden land, take it." The middle-aged man took out another package and placed it on the counter in front of him, indicating that Wang Ke could open it.

  Wang Ke stretched out his hand and untied the package, only to see that inside were ten pieces of lower-grade spirit stones neatly arranged, with a faint aura of spiritual energy emanating from them.

  "Alright, your mission has been arranged. You can head to the restricted area now. Here's a map with some things you need to pay attention to. Take a good look at it and you can leave if there's nothing else." The middle-aged man said with a wave of his hand.

  "This brother, coming to sign in every month is a waste of time, can't we extend the signing period?" Wang Ke looked at the middle-aged man with a difficult expression.

  When practicing, it's easy to forget the time. If he comes to report every month, Wang Ke will definitely not be too good. Looking at the middle-aged man in front of him with a difficult expression, Wang Ke's heart moved.

  "Senior brother, would you mind doing me a favor? I'm worried that if I don't grasp the timing well during my cultivation, I might end up delaying my report and causing trouble." Wang Ke said in a low voice, subtly pushing a spirit stone in front of the middle-aged man.

  The middle-aged man's eyes lit up, but he still put on a difficult expression. Wang Ke saw the middle-aged man's expression and instantly flashed through several thoughts in his mind. With this treasure box of spiritual stones, he would have as much as he wanted. To make things more convenient, giving some spiritual stones wouldn't be a big deal, but he couldn't make it too obvious, lest it attract other people's attention.

  King Ke made a very painful expression, took out two more spirit stones and pushed them over. The middle-aged man's eyes scanned King Ke's face, cleared his throat twice, waved his right hand, and the three spirit stones in front of him disappeared.

  "Alright, since that's how it is, I'll let you off the hook and not require you to report in for the rest of the year. However, if anything goes wrong in the restricted area, you're responsible, got it?" The middle-aged man said in a deep voice.

  "Thank you, senior brother. By the way, where is the library? I'd like to borrow some books and read them in my free time after cultivation." Wang asked aloud.

  "No need to go to the library, there's an old book warehouse behind this, most of the books in the library are reprinted from here, you can just go inside and take them, since you're quite good at socializing, feel free to take as many books as you want." The middle-aged man was pleased with himself and became generous.

  "Thank you, Master!" Wang Ke was overjoyed in his heart. Following the middle-aged man's directions, he went to the back of the Merit Hall and found that old book warehouse.

  An hour later, Wang came back with a spring in his step and bid farewell to the middle-aged man before embarking on the road to the forbidden land. The old book depository behind the Merit Hall had already been emptied by more than half.

  "Hmph, this foolish kid, Zuo Linggen doesn't have any backing, he's bound to be cheated. Trying to cultivate outside the forbidden area is just a pipe dream. Giving him a few books to pass the time is already doing him a favor. Heh heh, this time I've arranged a tricky task, got a handsome reward, and even established a connection with the Xuanwu Peak people. It's really a win-win situation." The middle-aged man lay down with a pleased expression, looking very satisfied.

  "Haha, having a storage bag is great, I didn't expect the storage space given by Shaozong to be so large, it can even hold half of the library, really amazing!" After leaving the Gongde Temple, Wang Ke patted the storage bag at his waist excitedly.