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Chapter 129: Chapter 114: Chance Encounter with an Acquaintance (3.8K for monthly ticket)
Task Hall.
In the past few years, due to the war, the Task Hall had been closed until a little over a year ago when it resumed normal operations.
Since the reopening, it has been using the system of assigning tasks.
Only a few months ago did the Task Hall reinstitute the biannual tasks for Inner Sect Disciples.
Li Qian hadn’t taken any tasks for several years.
Now the deadline was approaching, and as an Inner Sect Disciple, he could only do it this time.
If one were an elder like Pang Bai, they wouldn’t need to undertake Inner Sect tasks.
But.... Elders were dreadfully bored during idle times, and when encountering major perilous events, they had to rush to the forefront.
Therefore, he would never consider becoming an elder.
Though the biannual Inner Sect tasks were a bit troublesome, they allowed for more freedom.
With his current strength, it was unlikely he would face a difficult task.
After receiving the task, Li Qian picked up the task booklet, which listed a clearing mission that presented a challenge to Innate Martial Artists, typically only conquerable by those at the Grandmaster Level.
His strength, as recorded by the Divine Sword Sect, was already at the Junior Grandmaster level.
After discussing his strength with his master, his master immediately reported his cultivation progress to the Sect Leader... it was to prepare for the future when Li Qian had accumulated enough merit, he could be directly promoted to elder.
In recent years, due to the war, the Divine Sword Sect’s territory had fallen into chaos, and with the Divine Sword Sect unable to attend to it, numerous martial arts factions emerged from the turmoil.
It’s only been in this past year that the Divine Sword Sect had the manpower to start cleaning up the various messes.
The clearing mission Li Qian was undertaking involved dealing with a martial arts faction called the Black Spear Association, which had drifted from other areas; originally, it was a martial force under the territory of the Purple Cloud Sect.
Since the He Family began to claim the land as sovereign, in order to establish authority, they began addressing the factions on their territory, employing incredibly ruthless methods, essentially making it prosper with compliance or perish with resistance.
This Black Spear Association, having connections to the Purple Cloud Sect, was specially targeted, leaving only a remnant of martial artists who escaped into the Divine Sword Sect’s territory.
According to intelligence gathered by the Divine Sword Sect, the Black Spear Association was a very powerful force when it was under Purple Cloud Sect’s territory; reportedly, the founder, Nie Shiyin, was a Grandmaster... although Nie Shiyin died during He Family’s authoritative purge.
Nie Shiyin’s son, Nie Yun, took a group of subordinates and fled, entered the Divine Sword Sect’s territory, and renamed the Black Spear Association to the Black Knight Gang, not being very covert, frequently clashing with local forces, and was extremely ruthless.
The local factions associated with the Divine Sword Sect couldn’t tolerate the tyranny of the Black Knight Gang, but lacking sufficient strength to confront them, were forced to seek help from the Divine Sword Sect.
Nie Yun wasn’t a Grandmaster, but he was an Innate Martial Artist of the Late-stage True Qi Realm, possessing formidable strength.
For Li Qian, such a mission was naturally simple.
After accepting the task, he directly left the Divine Sword Sect and headed to Sword State’s Chuyun County.
This Chuyun County borders Xuan State and was severely affected in the previous war; even now, the area is still somewhat chaotic and far from recovered.
...
Chuyun County town.
About ten miles away, there’s a Maple Leaf Village surrounded by various maple trees, turning brilliantly red every autumn...
In Maple Leaf Village, there’s a large medicinal field... filled with various herbs growing robustly.
A group of children were playing in the Maple Forest beside the medicinal fields.
The ground was covered with red leaves.
Trot trot trot...
Suddenly, the rapid sound of horse hooves arose.
Following closely, several black-clothed riders galloped to the village entrance.
Seeing the unfamiliar black-clothed riders, all the children cried and ran towards the village in fear.
The black-clothed riders rode their horses, herding them along and laughing wantonly.
Many villagers came outside.
However, they too displayed fear upon seeing these black-clothed riders.
These black-clothed riders were members of the notoriously known Black Knight Gang of Chuyun County.
Quickly, a tall and robust man stepped forward.
"Daddy..."
A little girl, about five or six years old, rushed to the sturdy man’s side, hiding behind him, too scared to show her face.
"Don’t be afraid, Sisi."
The sturdy man comforted his daughter, then went forward, cupping his hands towards the riders on tall horses: "May I know what brings you gentlemen here?"
"Is that large medicinal field yours, Maple Leaf Village?"
One of the black-clothed riders pointed arrogantly with his whip at the nearby medicinal field.
"Sir, that is a medicinal field I have cultivated."
The sturdy man quickly replied.
"Very well, I’m here to declare that this medicinal field is now requisitioned by the Black Knight Gang. From now on, you’ll cultivate herbs for us, and you won’t be treated unfairly."
The black-clothed rider stated outright.
Hearing this, the sturdy man’s face changed dramatically, "Sir...how can this be, I have invested family wealth to cultivate this field..."
"Hmph, don’t act ungrateful when given a face, allowing you to cultivate herbs for our Black Knight Gang is an immense honor already."
The black-clothed rider sneered, "I advise you to be sensible, or else opposing the Black Knight Gang leads only to a dead end."
"Sir, I acknowledge your strength, but I am also from the Divine Sword Sect, and these herbs have always been supplied to the Divine Sword Sect."
The sturdy man quickly said.
"Divine Sword Sect? Are you perhaps an Inner Sect Disciple of the Divine Sword Sect?"
The black-clothed rider showed a hint of apprehension, immediately asking.
