Task 14: Labor Union, Getting to Know Zheng Kai

  The third update is online, and the new book list on the homepage has reached ninth place. I'll keep my promise, there will be a fourth update tonight, hoping for everyone's continued support.

  The Task Guild in Qingyun City is jointly established by the two largest families in the city, Zheng and Chang Gong. Disciples can receive tasks here and will be rewarded after completing them.

  The tasks in the guild are either posted by the guild or entrusted by other masters. Most of them require materials from certain demonic beasts or treasures, which can only be completed in dangerous areas outside the city. Some masters who need spiritual stones or want to gain experience will come to the task guild to inquire about suitable tasks and then form an adventure team to go out of the city together. These masters are generally above the middle stage of Qi refining, and if a master in the initial stage of Qi refining dares to go, it is almost equivalent to seeking death.

  Qingyun City is located in a remote area, only the lowest level of Xiancheng, the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy is only slightly thicker than the ordinary mortal realm, it can't be compared with those spiritual energy-filled Xiancheng cities, so there are only Qi Refining Stage and Foundation Building Stage low-level cultivators in the city. Those cultivators who have good qualifications or reached the late stage of Foundation Building mostly left here to seek better development elsewhere.

  In contrast, outside the Qingyun City, in some deep mountains and forests, the level of the demons living there is not high, basically all are first-level, second-level ones are rarely seen. It is said that in the deepest part of a few mountain forests, there are third-level demon beasts, but no one has ever seen them, or rather, those who have seen them never came out again...

  The Task Guild is located on the north side of Qingyun City, just next to the North Gate. It's a massive building that resembles a modern sports stadium on Earth. Upon entering, it's a large hall comparable in size to a football field.

  Inside the hall was bustling, with people coming and going, but it wasn't as chaotic as a free market. As soon as I walked in, I saw a huge "screen" standing in the center of the hall, just like a giant LCD screen on Earth, displaying many subtitles. This was a Phantom-type treasure made from special materials.

  In the surrounding hall, there is a circle of counters, with service points set up to inquire about detailed task information. In addition, there are special task delivery points where you can exchange rewards for task items.

  ……

  Lin Feng enthusiastically turned around in the task guild, and this scene couldn't help but remind him of online games on Earth.

  Looking at the monks coming and going in the hall, Lin Feng couldn't help but sigh that this small Qingyun City also had a lot of powerful monks (compared to himself), the monks here were generally more powerful than those seen in the free market, almost all of them were in the middle of Qi refining or above, and there were many who looked like they were in the foundation building period.

  After observing for a while, Lin Feng chose a less crowded service point and walked over to ask the pretty girl behind the counter: "Excuse me, I'd like to buy two first-grade fire attribute demon pellets. Are they available within the guild?"

  "Buy a level one fire attribute demon dan?" The girl was slightly stunned, then apologetically said, "Sorry, a batch of materials in the guild were collectively transported away yesterday, and there are no level one fire attribute demon dans for sale now. If you want to buy it, you can wait a few days and come back, or you can directly post a task, if someone accepts it, it should arrive very soon."

  "Isn't there?" Lin Feng furrowed his brow, pondering for a moment, just as he was about to say "then help me post a task", a voice suddenly rang out in his ear...

  "Friend, you want a Fire Attribute Yao Dan?"

  Lin Feng was taken aback by the words, turned his head to look, and saw a handsome young man of similar age standing beside him with a smile on his face. He asked in doubt: "Really? Do you have one?"

  The handsome young man smiled and said, "I don't have any right now... but we just happened to receive a quest to hunt down the Fire-Tailed Scorpion, and we're gathering our party members. If you're interested, you can join us on this quest outside the city to hunt down the Fire-Tailed Scorpion, and then you'll be able to get the Yao Dan. How about it? Are you interested?"

  "Shall we go out of town and hunt down the demonic beast together?"

  Lin Feng's eyes sparkled slightly, and he was somewhat moved. He carefully looked at the young man's eyes and found that the other party wore a luxurious brocade robe, obviously a rich family's son. His posture was straight, his long hair fluttering, and his face handsome. If this were to be described in Earthly terms, it would be the typical 'rich second generation' and 'high-rich-handsome'.

  Moreover, Lin Feng faintly felt a hint of pressure from his opponent's body, indicating that his opponent's cultivation should be much higher than his.

  Form a team to go out and complete the task, this is the most common and safest way. Lin Feng was also very curious about the world outside the city, and he had been planning to find an opportunity to go out and experience it for himself. So he just nodded slightly and said: "Okay, I'm willing to join your team, where are the others?"

  "Right over there." The handsome young man pointed to the three young men and women who were chatting not far away, smiled and said, "Let's go over then, I'll introduce you to them."

  "Alright." Lin Feng nodded his head and smiled as he extended his right hand to the young man, "My name is Lin Feng, nice to meet you."

  The young man was slightly stunned, looked at Lin Feng's outstretched right hand with some confusion, then smiled and also stretched out his hand: "My name is Zheng Kai, nice to meet you."

  Two hands clasped together, and the two became acquainted from then on.

  ……

  Lin Feng followed Zheng Kai to the front of the two men and one woman, after a brief introduction, he learned that the young man with a steady appearance behind him carrying a long gun was named Duanmu Rui, the short-haired woman holding a long sword next to him was called Qin Ye, the two should be a pair of Dao companions, and the other young man with a pointed chin and a long knife hanging from his waist was named Lu Cheng.

  After a brief introduction, everyone left the union and went out of the North Gate, heading towards the outskirts of the city.

  It's still morning now, and the destination is 'Qifenglin' about 100 miles outside the city. It will take some time to get there, so it's just right for everyone to get familiar with each other on the way.

  In order to better coordinate, everyone also reported their own cultivation. Lin Feng only then knew that Zheng Kai was two years younger than himself, but his cultivation had already reached the completion of Qi Refining. This should be considered a good innate talent in Qingyun City. As for the others, Duanmu Rui was at the 8th layer of Qi Refining, Qin Ye was at the 7th layer, and Lu Cheng was the same as Lin Feng, also at the 6th layer.

  Three Qi-refining late-stage, two Qi-refining mid-stage, such a team is also considered to have some strength, at least in the first half of the Seven Peaks Forest, there won't be much danger, dealing with one or two first-level late-stage demonic beasts won't be a problem, even if they encounter three, they should still be able to handle it.

  "What? Zheng Kai, you're the young master of the Zheng family?"

  On the way, Lin Feng heard what should be a familiar conversation between Zheng Kai and Duanmu Rui, only to find out that Zheng Kai was actually the young master of the Zheng family, one of the two major families in Qingyun City, which made him quite surprised.

  Zheng Kai smiled faintly and nodded, saying: "Hehe, what a young master, Brother Lin shouldn't tease me. In the eyes of true strongmen, even my Zheng family is just a small-time 'local tyrant', not worth mentioning."

  Duanmu Rui smiled and said, "Ah Ke, you're too modest. Your Zheng family ancestors were actually disciples of the 9th level sect, Xianyao Pai, which is something that even the Changgong family in Qingyun City can't match. If one day your ancestors return, the Zheng family will soar to great heights!"

  "What? The ancestors of the Zheng family were actually disciples of the 9th rank sect, Xianyao Pai? So powerful!" Lin Feng suddenly felt very curious and asked, "Brother Zheng, is it true?"

  It is said that among the four continents of the Moon Cloud Continent, each continent has only one ninth-level sect. The ninth-level sect in the Eastern Dragon Continent is the Xianyao Sect, which is the top existence in the entire cultivation world. Every disciple in the sect is a genius, and there are countless strong practitioners. It is said that the strongest person in the entire Eastern Dragon Continent, with the greatest hope of ascending to immortality, is an elder from the Xianyao Sect.

  In the Xiu Zhen realm, the sect levels are divided into nine grades. The standard for distinguishing them is the cultivation level of the strongest person in the sect. For example, a fourth-grade sect has its strongest member at the Yuan Ying stage. If a stronger cultivator at the Hua Shen stage appears, it can be upgraded to a fifth-grade sect, and so on.

  Of course, although it is divided into nine levels, the lowest sect is actually at level three, that is, a sect with a Golden Dan period cultivator in charge. Because only when one reaches the Golden Dan period does one truly have the qualifications to establish a sect. How can those in the Foundation Building and Qi Refining periods possibly have the ability to form a sect? Even if a group of cultivators gather together, they would at most be called a 'faction'.

  For example, the sect that Qingyun City is nominally affiliated with is the only fourth-level sect in this area, "Biqiuzong". Every twenty years, Biqiuzong will recruit disciples in Qingyun City, and every time it does, it's the most exciting time for the cultivators in the city. Once selected by Biqiuzong, it means there will be several times or even more development opportunities than staying in the city.

  Lin Feng vaguely remembered that when he was seven years old, he had witnessed the grand occasion of Bi Quan Sect recruiting disciples. At that time, the city was even more lively than during the New Year's festival.

  Lin Feng looked at him in surprise, and Zheng Kai smiled: "Yes, my Zheng family did have an ancestor who was taken away by a predecessor of the Xianyao Sect two hundred years ago. He joined the Xianyao Sect, but since then there has been no news, and I don't know if that ancestor is still alive..."

  As he said this, Zheng Kai secretly sighed in his heart. The Zheng family had been expecting the return of their ancestor for a long time, but after waiting for two hundred years without any result, they almost gave up. After all, the cultivation world was full of dangers, and even disciples of the 9th-level sect Xianyao Sect died during their training...

  Lin Feng also thought that the old ancestor of the Zheng family might have indeed fallen for over 200 years without returning, so he stopped talking about it and changed the subject: "Brother Zheng, how did you, the young master of the Zheng family, end up learning from us small scattered cultivators to go out on missions to earn spirit stones? Moreover, why didn't you bring any guards when you went out? Are your family members worried?"

  With the Zheng family's background, it's likely that Zheng Kai's cultivation resources have been similar to Lin Feng's situation for the past two months, where he wouldn't lack anything. Moreover, Lin Feng occasionally sees some of the more powerful families' so-called "young masters" on the streets, each one leaving their homes with a team of guards and servants following behind them, looking like they're worth 25 million.

  Zheng Kai was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing: "Lin brother, this outing to hunt and kill demonic beasts is not just about earning spirit stones. It's necessary training. If you want to survive in the Cultivation Realm and go further, you must undergo this kind of training. My family's resources are indeed abundant, at least for my current stage they're more than enough. However, survival experience and the test of life and death can't be learned from practicing at home. In order to better survive in the Cultivation Realm in the future, I must start learning how to fight and face danger now... So I've been going out to hunt demonic beasts since I was at the fourth level of Qi Refining. As for bringing a guard, what's the point of 'training' if you do that?"

  “……”

  Lin Feng was taken aback, he didn't expect Zheng Kai to have such a deep 'awakening', he still thought that these rich young masters were all spoiled like those on TV and in the novels.