Chapter 45
For the next few days, Lu Li had been cultivating in the Guest Clan. On Lu Ling's part, apart from reading, she just engaged in chitchat with the wife of Guest Clan Patriarch Cheng Qu.
Cheng Qu's wife could not bear children, and Lu Ling was a very sensible and clever girl, so Cheng Qu and his wife both adored her. Lu Li was also pleased to see that Lu Ling and Cheng Qu's wife were bonding. He spent all his time in cultivating, so Lu Ling would be so alone by herself. It was nice for her to find someone to talk to.
Wu Ling County had been quiet lately. Ever since a Fifth-rank Bloodline was awakened in the Zhao Family, they had been laying low. Disciples and offspring of the Zhao Family were not allowed to go outside, not to mention to enter into conflict with the Liu Family.
There was still no information coming from the Frigid Cloud Mountain. It was said that a critical moment had been reached in the war between Super Families and the Beast King. Perhaps they could kill the Beast King in a matter of days. Therefore, it was likely that the Super Families had subdued the matter of the Liu Family as they wouldn't want new problems crop up unexpectedly.
Now that the Chief Patriarch did not send any message along, the Liu Family did not send any reinforcement to the Frigid Cloud Mountain either. A Bloodline of the Fourth Rank had been awakened in the Liu Family. It qualified as a piece of good news. Currently, the Liu Family was probably figuring out ways to train that kid.
Time quickly pa.s.sed on, and soon, half a month had pa.s.sed.
Lu Li emerged from his state of cultivation, however, it was not because he had reached the peak of the Xuan Wu Realm. He merely managed to open up two and a half energy channels during this half a month. He still had one and a half energy channels to be opened up.
It was because—Little White was out of food!
The white little beast's appet.i.te was too big. It had already eaten all of the abandoned Xuan Artifacts. It was most likely starving since it had gotten its eyes on the Heaven Kylin Sword again. If it were not for the fact that Lu Ling discovered in time, it probably had eaten the Heaven Kylin Sword already…
Looking into Little White's pitiful eyes, Lu Li made up his mind and trade the only 300 contribution points he had left for abandoned Xuan Artifacts. Again, he came back with more than a dozen pieces of abandoned Xuan Artifacts.
These abandoned Xuan Artifacts might be enough for Little White to eat for seven or eight days. Lu Li found Cheng Qu and asked him, "Patriarch Cheng, how can I get contribution points?"
There were plenty abandoned Xuan Artifacts in the Hall of Weapons, enough for Little White to enjoy for half a year. The thing was, they all needed to be trade with contribution points. Lu Li had no choice but to ask Cheng Qu.
"It's very easy!"
Cheng Qu told Lu Li, "Every Family has a Hall of Missions where you can accept an a.s.signment. After you complete that, the Family will naturally give you contribution points. For example, you can go on sentry duty at the city gate tower. You can earn two contribution points a day."
"Two…"
Lu Li rolled his eyes. The contribution points earned by going on sentry duty at the city gate tower for several days would not be enough for one meal for Little White. He thanked Cheng Qu and went to find the Hall of Missions in the middle yard of the Liu Family compound. Even though Little White had adequate food for seven or eight days, Lu Li had to make preparation for the future, otherwise, it would eventually eat the Heaven Kylin Sword.
There was also a grey-haired old man guarding the Hall of Missions.
Lu Li bowed to him and courteously replied, "Sir, is there any mission to be completed in the County and can earn many contribution points?"
The grey-haired old man snorted. "Do you think the contribution points can be earned without efforts? If you are not willing to risk your life, how can you get many contribution points? The mission that can give you the most contribution points is to spy on the Zhao Family. If you can get some useful intelligence, you can get 100 contribution points. If it's not useful, then two contribution points a day."
"Two for one day?"
Lu Li touched his nose. How could he get useful intelligence? Well, it was unless he sneaked into the Zhao Family house to pry. It was just that as soon as he went into the Zhao Family, chances were that he would be surrounded and killed in an instant.
Lu Li was not ready to let it go, "Sir, are there any other missions?"
"Yes!"
The grey-haired old man threw him a mission scroll. "As long as you can finish any one of these missions in here, you can get more than 1000 contribution points. Do you have the guts to take them?"
Lu Li took it over and his expressions changed. Sure, the contribution points were high for the missions here, but how could any human being finish any of them?
"Dig out Earth Jade Crystal at the edge of the Ice Abyss, 10,000 contribution points…"
"Get the venom from the Fourth-rank Xuan Beast Silver Line Snake from the Great Bone Burying Mountain to the north of the Ice Abyss, 10,000 contribution point."
"Fetch the Heaven Fire Lotus from the Heaven Fire Mountain, 3000 contribution points per plant…"
The more Lu Li read, the more speechless he became. What kind of freaky missions were they? Supposing not even the Chief Patriarch of the Liu Family had the guts to go to the edge of the Ice Abyss? That was within the sphere of influence of the Beast King.
The Fourth Rank Xuan Beast Silver Line Snake could compete with warriors in the Fate Wheel Realm. How was there any difference between getting its venom and seek doom?
The Heaven Fire Mountain was an active volcano. It erupted all year round. One would most certainly be dead if touched by that scorching lava. Also, with his power, Lu Li could not go up the mountain. He would be turned into ashes as soon as he came near to the horrible heat.
Lu Li read on with patience. He wanted to find one that was relatively safe and could get him enough contribution points. It was just that he had already went on for some time, yet he still couldn't find one that he could finish. For him, to accept these missions was equal to courting death based on his strength.
"Um? This one seems nice!"
Lu Li's eyes flickered as he found a good mission. "Steal the eggs of the Red Phosphorus Hawks at the Red Stone Mountain, 500 contribution points per egg."
Red Phosphorus Hawks!
Lu Li had fought against them with Liu Yi and the other warriors. Sure, the Red Phosphorus Hawks were not too powerful; however, they lived in large groups. To steal their eggs in their lair would attract a large group of Red Phosphorus Hawks hunting him down.
Plus, the Red Stone Mountain was also the habitat for Stone Rats. Stone Rats and Red Phosphorus Hawks were in the habit of cooperating against enemies. Xuan Beasts would attack him from all over the place, both in the sky and on the ground. He would easily be bitten to death…
Lu Li had heard of the Red Stone Mountain. It was located about 62 miles to the north of the Frigid Cloud Valley. There was quite some distance between it and the Ice Abyss. There should be powerful warriors from different families stationed there, so there should not be any powerful Xuan Beasts.
Lu Li had mixed feelings. It was dangerous to go to the Red Stone Mountain. In the event of encountering Di Ba, Lu Li would be hunted down until he was killed.
However, the problem was, without missions, there would be no contribution points. Then how would he raise Little White?
Little White was clearly a Xuan Beast of a high rank, and it was clever and had good behavior too. Little White now had its mindset on following him. In the future, Little White would be of great a.s.sistance to him.
"Are you scared?"
Seeing Lu Li held the scroll in his hands without saying anything, the grey-haired old man sneered. "You young people are so full of it and overly ambitious. You are not down-to-earth. If you don't have the strength, don't strive for things beyond your reach. Get lost, don't waste my time."
Lu Li got angry on hearing this. He bit his teeth and said, "I will accept this mission!"
The grey-haired old man was a bit surprised. His eyes flickered and asked, "Are you sure? Once you accept the mission, you must see it through. If you give it up, you will have 100 contribution points deducted. Are you clear?"
"Yes!" Lu Li forced himself to say that.
"Alright!"
The grey-haired old man took over Lu Li's Token and put some record on it. After that, he took out a map and gave it to Lu Li, "This is a map of the road to the Red Stone Mountain. You must finish this in a month. Go, I hope you can come back alive."
Lu Li left with the map. He went back to the Guest Clan and told Lu Ling about it.
He expected that Lu Ling would scold him, but on the contrary, Lu Ling nodded and told him, "It's good for you to go out. All warriors must go through fights all the time. Only after you survived death can you become a powerful warrior. From the moment you chose to become a warrior, you should be prepared for death."
"These are words left by our father. What I want to tell you is this—don't just use your brute force when you fight. You must use your brain. Also, don't give up easily, not even if you know you are going to die. If you were dead, I would not let you go by yourself. I would go with you to the netherworld."
"Sis."
Lu Li's eyes reddened. He took Lu Ling's hand in his and was choking a bit. He engraved Lu Ling's words on his heart, especially the words about giving up easily under no circ.u.mstances.
Because, once he was dead, Lu Ling would not live on dishonorably judging by her unyielding character.