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Chapter 126: Chapter 126: Three-star Task, The Hundred Flowers Thief
As the pale-faced youth exclaimed, the nearby Outer Disciples who were selecting missions all turned to look.
Upon hearing that Luo Cheng had taken on the mission to eliminate the bandits in Linguan City, every one of them showed signs of astonishment.
"A mere Transcendence Realm Fifth Layer practitioner dares to take on a two-star top mission!"
"This isn’t just an ordinary two-star top mission! Half a month ago, Senior Brother Wang and two others accepted this mission and went to Linguan City, but they all perished with no remains left behind. Senior Brother Wang was a Sixth Layer Transcendence Realm Martial Artist! As I recall, both the Luoxia Sect and Fierce Cloud Sect also lost some of their people to this mission."
"Hmm, I’ve heard about this too. The difficulty of this mission is already approaching that of a three-star task. For a Transcendence Realm Fifth Layer Martial Artist to accept it, it’s simply courting death."
"Hehe, I know who he is. He’s Luo Cheng, this year’s first place winner in the Green Cloud Trial! The same guy who’s going to face Senior Brother Yan Qi in a life-or-death duel two months from now!"
"It’s him! No wonder he’s so reckless. Winning first place in the Green Cloud Trial must’ve inflated his ego to the point where he doesn’t even remember his own name."
Chatter filled the surroundings, most comments being derogatory and mocking.
Luo Cheng, however, paid no attention to the gossip and continued examining the other two-star top missions.
Linguan City was located at the border of the Great Yue Dynasty and the Great Chu Dynasty, a distance of ten thousand miles from the Xuanyuan Sect. Just the journey alone would take quite some time.
Luo Cheng planned to see if there were any suitable missions along the way to earn more Essence Energy Pills.
In just one short month, he had spent over ten million taels of wealth!
This made Luo Cheng deeply realize the importance of wealth for cultivation—more was always better!
The pale-faced youth, seeing Luo Cheng completely ignoring him, felt somewhat annoyed and called out loudly:
"Hey! Didn’t you hear me talking to you?"
Luo Cheng turned his gaze to the youth and glanced at him. "What I choose to do has nothing to do with you, does it?"
The pale-faced youth frowned, snorted heavily, and said:
"Nothing to do with me? This mission isn’t exclusive to our Xuanyuan Sect; Fierce Cloud Sect and Luoxia Sect have it as well. Fierce Cloud Sect has always been at odds with us Xuanyuan Sect. With your strength, going there will only disgrace our Xuanyuan Sect!"
"Your personal life and death are trivial matters, but the honor and disgrace of the Sect are paramount! I advise you to abandon this mission!"
Luo Cheng found himself speechless—this guy sure knew how to make dramatic claims.
"Like a dog meddling in someone else’s business!"
Leaving this comment behind, Luo Cheng ignored the youth and focused his sights back on the jade wall.
Eventually, he really did find two suitable missions.
These two missions were: one two-star top mission and one two-star advanced mission, both offering generous rewards.
Two-star top mission: Escort the Ling Family caravan to Linguan City!
Two-star advanced mission: Eliminate the Shadowless Thief!
The escort mission for the Ling Family caravan started in Wushi City, a mandatory route toward Linguan City.
The mission to eliminate the Shadowless Thief was located near a small town close to Wushi City.
"Alright, you two are the ones!"
Luo Cheng took down the wooden tokens for both missions and turned to leave the Mission Hall.
"What, he picked up another two-star top mission!"
Seeing Luo Cheng retrieve two more mission tokens, including another two-star top one, the crowd was stunned.
The pale-faced youth, having been publicly embarrassed, stared at Luo Cheng’s departing figure, his expression extremely sour.
One of the Outer Disciples nearby noticed and said with a smile, "Junior Brother Yang, hard advice won’t deter a fool destined to perish! If he wants to seek death himself, why bother trying to convince him?"
Hearing this, the pale-faced youth’s expression eased slightly. He sneered coldly, "Fine, let’s see how he dies this time around!"
"What a pity. I was actually looking forward to the duel between Luo Cheng and Senior Brother Yan Qi in two months, but now it looks like it’s not going to happen."
"What’s there to look forward to? With Senior Brother Yan Qi’s strength, he could end it with one slap."
The crowd continued gossiping, with most believing that Luo Cheng had chosen tasks far too difficult, ensuring he wouldn’t return alive.
As Luo Cheng exited the Mission Hall, he happened upon Yuan Zhilan, who had just finished submitting her own task.
"Luo Cheng, what missions did you just accept?" Yuan Zhilan asked curiously.
"Here!"
Luo Cheng raised the three mission tokens in his hand.
"Two two-star top missions! Wait, is one of them the Linguan City bandit elimination mission?"
Noticing the first token, Yuan Zhilan’s face showed a hint of surprise. She frowned and asked, "Luo Cheng, are you planning to complete this mission alone?"
Luo Cheng nodded.
His goal was to devour the Martial Souls of these people—there’s no way he would join forces with anyone else.
"Then you have to be very careful. I’ve heard that for this mission, the Three Great Sects have already lost a number of disciples. If no one completes it, it might soon be upgraded to a three-star task!"
Luo Cheng smiled and replied, "Don’t worry. If it gets too dangerous, I’ll just give up on it."
Yuan Zhilan thought about it and agreed.
With Luo Cheng’s strength, as long as he didn’t encounter a Third Stage Tongxuan Realm Martial Artist, he should be able to protect himself.
After bidding Yuan Zhilan farewell, Luo Cheng went straight to the Outer Sect’s trading hall and purchased a Green Mane Horse.
The Green Mane Horse carried the Demon Beast Bloodline of the Green-eyed Wolf, boasting remarkable endurance and wind-like speed, covering over two thousand miles in a single day!
The price, however, was incredibly steep—it cost Luo Cheng twenty-one thousand taels!
This left Luo Cheng marveling in dismay.
While Martial Artists earned money quickly—his current task rewards ranged from tens of thousands to millions of taels—their expenses were just as exorbitant!
A regular Green Mane Horse cost twenty thousand taels, while a superior Golden Flame Horse, capable of traveling three thousand miles per day, was close to a million taels!
And that wasn’t even considering treasures, spiritual medicines, and Spirit Pills!
For these items, the higher the grade, the more outrageous the price!
After swiftly preparing his gear, Luo Cheng left the Xuanyuan Sect’s mountain gates, mounted his horse, and pulled the reins.
"Hyah!"
The Green Mane Horse galloped off, its legs flying, leaving a dense cloud of dust behind.
Under the azure sky, the moist breeze from the Luoyan River greeted him, invigorating his spirit.
Luo Cheng rode on horseback, gazing at the river’s rolling waters, his thoughts adrift.
At long last, he was now a disciple of the Xuanyuan Sect.
This marked the starting point of his Martial Arts journey!
One day, he, too, would surge forth like the Luoyan River—unstoppable, breaking through the Great Yue Dynasty!
One day later.
A remote town appeared before Luo Cheng.
The town, called Wulin Town, was renowned for producing iron-hard ebony wood. Though small in size, it was bustling and packed with towering structures.
"This is the place."
Looking at the town, Luo Cheng pulled out the task token for eliminating the Shadowless Thief.
The Shadowless Thief—also known as the Hundred Flowers Bandit—was infamous for his vile acts. Any woman who fell into his hands would eventually die after being subjected to relentless torment!
According to the task token, the Shadowless Thief’s Realm was Transcendence Realm Fifth Layer. However, for reasons unknown, his cultivation gave him exceptional speed—swift as the wind, with a ghost-like presence.
Perhaps due to his extreme confidence in his abilities, the Shadowless Thief would leave plum blossom marks in the crime scene three days prior to each incident. 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝑝𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Three days ago, a plum blossom mark appeared in the bedroom of the Han Family’s daughter in Wulin Town!
For this reason, the Han Family Head paid a hefty reward to the Three Great Sects, offering ninety thousand taels to ensure his daughter’s safety!
"The third day—hopefully I’m not too late!"
Putting away the token, Luo Cheng rode toward Wulin Town.
The Han Family was a major clan in Wulin Town, and with the Shadowless Thief wreaking havoc, it was easy for Luo Cheng to inquire about their location and head there.
Bang!
As Luo Cheng arrived at the Han Family gates, a figure suddenly flew out from inside, crashing heavily onto the ground and coughing up blood.
Raising an eyebrow, Luo Cheng noticed that the person who had been flung out was also wearing the Xuanyuan Sect Outer Disciple uniform!
