Chapter 80: Are There More Difficult Missions?
Edited by: Mochiusagi
Since the [Iron Sand Palm] had reached the Great Accomplishment, Shen Changqing had stayed in the Demon Suppression Division for almost another half a year.
Within this time, he had been studying the [Hundred Battles Sword Technique] and the [Heaven Capturing Astral Steps].
Shen Changqing also went to the Library and memorized a Martial Art called the [Willow Wool Body Technique].
As expected, after doing so, the option for a fusion appeared on the panel for the [Heaven Capturing Astral Steps] and [Willow Wool Body Technique].
He was only limited by the shortage of Killing Value, hence he couldn't fuse them.
The [Iron Sand Palm] and the [Splitting Mountain Palm Technique] were likewise limited by the same reason.
However, Shen Changqing was not too eager to obtain more Killing Value.
The Great Qin was plagued by demons and monsters. Obtaining some Killing Value was not a difficult task, as long as he killed a few monsters.
With his current strength, Shen Changqing was confident that no monster evil below the Fury Level would be his opponent.
But then again, the world was big. There were many powerful monsters and demons lurking around.
Further, although he was confident in dealing with the monsters below the Fury Level, if they were large in number, he wouldn't know if he could return in one piece.
Shen Changqing understood how cruel the world was very well.
In this world, there was no person who would claim to be undefeatable. Even Guardians would die.
Similarly, there was a possibility that Shen Changqing would die at some point. Especially since he destroyed a stronghold of the Eternal Life Alliance. He's most likely on the latter's ‘must-kill’ list.
Due to this, Shen Changqing also did not go out, unless it was necessary.
He'll only do so once he could no longer improve himself and needed to go out to hunt monsters, harvest more Killing Value.
With the first three months plus the current half year, Shen Changqing's strength improved significantly.
The [Hundred Battles Sword Technique] had already reached Peak Level 3. As for the [Heaven Capturing Astral Steps], it has reached Level 5, nearly reaching Level 6.
During this period, Shen Changqing also consumed and digested the bottle of Clear Meridian Pills that he had exchanged; opening up several more meridians.
Although he didn't have a breakthrough with the [Heavenly Martial Astral Qi], his True Qi was more mellow.
"It's been almost 10 months since my last mission. My rest duration is about to end. Even if I train for another two months, none of my Martial Arts would have any big breakthrough."
"Since this is the case, I should consider carrying out a mission now."
Shen Changqing secretly thought.
If he were to fight with the person he was 10 months ago, he was certain that he could kill his previous self without paying too high of a price.
"I could also try to break through to the Grandmaster Realm, but it is too risky-"
Shen Changqing shook his head. After simply packing up, he headed towards the Slayer Hall.
Since he was a Yellow Rank Official Slayer, he had gone to the Yellow Rank Slayer Hall.
The Yellow Rank Slayer Hall was similar to the Merit Hall and Treasure Hall.
There were quite a few windows, and there were other Slayers that were either receiving or completing their missions.
Coming to an unoccupied window, Shen Changqing showed his identity token.
"Yellow Rank Slayer Shen Changqing. I want to pick up a mission."
"Hmm."
The person manning the window was an old man with a scar on his face. His appearance looked quite fierce and vicious.
After taking Shen Changqing's identity token, he looked at it seriously. Then he took out a piece of paper, recording the former's name, and then handed the token back.
"There are a few missions available, Your Excellency can take a look at them."
As he spoke, the old man handed a book to Shen Changqing.
Seeing this, Shen Changqing took the book and then flipped it open.
Turning over the first page, he could see the contents recorded on it.
"There's a monster in White Moon City in Nanyou Province. It is estimated that about 20 people died in the hands of the monster. The strength of the monster is estimated to be in the mid to late stage of Ghost Level. There's only one monster. The reward for completing the mission: two merit points!"
Regarding obtaining merit points for completing missions, Shen Changqing was aware of it.
The vast majority of missions within the Demon Suppression Division gave merit points. Naturally, Apprentice Slayers' assessment missions had no merit points.
The reason was simple.
Apprentice Slayers just joined the Demon Suppression Division and everything was provided by the Division.
Even if the Apprentice Slayers had missions inside the Demon Suppression Suppression, strictly speaking, they were not difficult. The benefit it provides was negligible.
Therefore, the Apprentice Slayer assessment mission was equivalent to repaying the Demon Suppression Division's previous losses.
But starting at the Yellow Rank, each mission would be the equivalent merit points. This includes the various stages of assessment and promotion missions.
For a task, two merit points may seem a little less.
But a key thing to note was that the Evil Aura harnessed by the Clear Spirit Jade Pendant could be redeemed for more merit points.
Strictly speaking, a mission down basically gave three to four points.
A bottle of Clear Meridian Pills costs only 6 merit points. The mission reward was already considered generous.
However, Shen Changqing simply skipped this mission after taking a glance at it.
A Ghost Level monster at the early to mid stage was not worth his time. It's better to spend it on something else. There was no need to pick such a low difficulty, low rewarding mission. How long would he accumulate points, both with Killing Value and merit points, if he did so?
He then went to the second page, but like the first mission, the second mission was similar in difficulty.
Soon, he flipped to the third page.
•×•×•×•
After a while, Shen Changqing closed the book and handed it back.
"What is it, did you find a suitable mission?"
The old man wore an odd expression.
He watched Shen Changqing go through most of the book, but it seemed that the latter didn't find any missions to his liking.
He knows that the tasks on it were not too difficult, and any Yellow Rank Slayer would have the certainty of completing them.
Of course, a 100% completion was naturally impossible, as there's just too many unknown factors that may arise.
"When did such a weak Official Slayer come to the Demon Suppression Division? He did not even dare to carry out such easy missions. If he doesn't change, he'll have a hard time having any future."
The old man secretly sighed in his heart.
In his eyes, Shen Changqing was the kind of person who would not live long.
The latter was too cautious and timid. Caution was a good thing, but too much caution was also bad.
Just when the old man was feeling helpless, Shen Changqing opened his mouth.
"Are there more difficult missions? The difficulty of the missions in the book is average. I believe Your Excellency knows which missions are which, as the one who manages missions."
Shen Changqing wouldn't waste his time by turning the pages one by one. It was better to just ask the person in charge directly.
"Uh– you are thinking that the difficulty of the previous missions are too low?"
The old man froze for a moment. He then looked Shen Changqing up and down carefully, as if he wanted to get to know the person in front of him again.
There were quite a few people who came here daily to take missions, but there were only a few who said that the missions were too easy.
Every such person was confident of their strength.
The old man was deep in thought.
After a long time, he raised his head to look at Shen Changqing.
"There is indeed a more difficult one. However, I am not sure if you're willing to take it."
"Your Excellency, please speak."
"According to the intelligence, there's a monster causing trouble in Jin City in the Great Wilderness Province. The strength of the monster was originally judged to be around the early to the middle stage of the Ghost Level, so it was listed as an assessment mission for an Apprentice Slayer."
"However, news came from the Heavenly Inspection Guard in the city that there are suspected signs of Eternal Life League activity. They suspected that there was a stronghold belonging to the Eternal Life Alliance, so the mission difficulty was immediately increased."
As the old man spoke, he flipped to the back pages of the book. After looking at the information on it, he looked back up to explain to Shen Changqing.
"Eternal Life Alliance stronghold?"
Shen Changqing raised his eyebrows slightly.
Any of the Eternal Life Alliance strongholds was not weak. If there really was an Eternal Life Alliance stronghold, it would be a bad thing if left unchecked.
However, he did not interject, and instead allowed the old man to speak further.
"But--"
The old man paused and then continued.
"You have to know that in any Eternal Life Alliance stronghold, there would be the presence of an Innate Realm level monster. Even an even stronger monster might be hidden within its depths. It's a mission that usually only Red Black Official Slayers are qualified to take."
"But because the matter of the stronghold of the Eternal Life Alliance, for the time being, is not 100% certain, sending a Red Black Slayer for would be a waste if it turned out to be false. That's why the difficulty of the mission was lowered to the Yellow Rank."
After the old man finished speaking, Shen Changqing asked, "What do I need to do?"
"If you want to take this mission, then the mission has two objectives. The first objective is that when the Apprentice Slayer's life is in danger, you can step in to protect them."
"If the Apprentice Slayer can return safely, then you can get two extra merit points."
"Of course, you can only do so if the monster is really too strong. Otherwise, it would be considered a violation. Not only would you get no merit points, you'll be deducted two merit points."
The old man said in one breath, followed by another series of information.
"The second objective is to determine if there's really an Eternal Life Alliance stronghold in Jin City. Although the Heavenly Inspection Guard are good at seeking, their strength is weak. They need the cooperation of a Slayer."
"If you complete this, you can get three merit points. Added with the first objective, you'll have a total of 5 merit points."
With these words, Shen Changqing kind of understood the mission process.
But at this time, a question popped up into his mind.
"What if I destroy the Eternal Life Alliance's stronghold?"
[TN: dying from college 🥲]
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