Chapter 139: Chapter 139 Sect Mission
Han Xuan launched an attack, but Yue Junxian confronted it head-on, sparking a fierce battle between them.
Yue Junxian did not use a weapon, fighting solely with his bare palms against Han Xuan, yet under the protection of his forceful energy, his palms were like heavy axes, utterly fearless of the weapon’s slashes.
Han Xuan launched over a dozen moves, yet she couldn’t even slightly trouble Yue Junxian.
Shi Hao saw clearly, both Han Xuan and Yue Junxian possessed the combat power of the second stage of Soul Nurturing, but Yue Junxian seemed to handle it with ease, his true combat power was surely above Han Xuan’s, possibly even reaching the third stage of Soul Nurturing.
After a few more attacks, Han Xuan stopped, pointed her sword at Yue Junxian from a distance, and angrily said, “Why are you protecting this person?”
“It’s none of your business,” Yue Junxian indifferently replied, his expression though, filled with pride.
Han Xuan snorted angrily, her face still full of wrath, but she sheathed her sword nonetheless.
“Shi Hao, you might have escaped this time, but you won’t escape the next!” she left in a fury.
She was determined to kill Shi Hao.
Why? Shi Hao hadn’t offended her.
In her eyes, Liu Shixuan was the perfect incarnation, but now he had been toyed with by Shi Hao first, even showing signs of being suppressed by him, so, she had to kill Shi Hao.
To this end, she would spare no expense!
“You intervened to save my father, so I’ve helped you this time. From now on, we’re even,” Yue Junxian said to Shi Hao.
Shi Hao smiled faintly; even without Yue Junxian’s intervention, could Han Xuan really have troubled him?
Well, he didn’t care either way.
Yue Junxian turned and returned to his yard, having been disturbed by Han Xuan, he had even forgotten to ask Shi Hao about Luo Qing’er.
The next day, Shi Hao got his hands on a Spirit Stone.
Using it, he cultivated the Nine Revolutions Sky-Plundering Scripture, which directly extracted energy from the Spirit Stone, significantly strengthening his physical body and soul, making remarkable progress.
But because the Nine Revolutions Sky-Plundering Scripture was so powerful, unlike for others, who could use a single Spirit Stone for ten to twenty days, Shi Hao had depleted it in just two days, turning it into a waste stone.
This was without even placing it within a Formation; if he had set up a Spirit Formation with hundreds of Spirit Stones, it could provide an immensely rich energy environment but would also greatly consume the Spirit Stones, possibly only lasting two or three uses.
Shi Hao had ways to increase his cultivation speed, but the key was, he lacked resources!
Although the White Cloud Sect had a Pill Yard, the stockpiled medicinal materials were very limited, and even if rare materials were found, they were quickly consumed by others.
—Why not into elixirs?
Simple, there were no recipes.
The recipes controlled by the Pill Yard were pitifully scarce.
Thus, Shi Hao stopped setting his hopes on the Pill Yard; now, he was thinking about how to obtain more Spirit Stones, or perhaps, if he was extremely lucky, he could find Spiritual Medicine and refine elixirs to enhance his cultivation.
There were ways to get more Spirit Stones.
Completing sect missions would earn him Contribution Values, which could be exchanged for Spirit Stones, and even, some higher-difficulty missions directly rewarded Spirit Stones.
Therefore, Shi Hao went to the Martial Courtyard’s mission board.
There, a Stone Slab was posted with many papers, each detailing a task.
Shi Hao’s gaze swept over them, quickly finding the most rewarding mission.
—Investigate the mystery of the theft in the Spirit Stone Mine.
As Shi Hao had guessed, the White Cloud Sect indeed controlled a Spirit Stone Vein, which had been mined for hundreds of years and was still continuously producing Spirit Stones.
However, recently, the output of Spirit Stones had sharply decreased.
It wasn’t because the mine was being depleted but because it had been robbed.
The raw ores extracted each day would mysteriously disappear before they even had a chance to be transported back to the sect.
Initially, the task only offered a small contribution value, as the sect suspected that some miners were secretly hoarding Spirit Stones and smuggling them out. Despite the miners being rigorously searched daily, there was no evidence of theft found.
No thief was found, yet the Spirit Stone Mine continued to be stealthily plundered, making the bounty for this task increasingly high, eventually reaching a reward of one hundred Spirit Stones.
Just three days ago, the reward was only fifty Spirit Stones.
Shi Hao gladly accepted the task, registered it in the inner room, inquired about the location of the mining area, and then set off directly.
The mining area was not located at White Cloud Mountain but in the Nameless Mountain, a day’s journey away.
Shi Hao knew that his departure would definitely incite malevolent spirits to harbor intentions to kill him.
He revealed a hint of a cold smile, even if Chu Xiaotian attacked him, he had Talismanic Soldiers to counter, directly blasting this Fifth Elder of the White Cloud Sect into dust.
As for Soul Nurturing?
He was confident that even the seven-step Soul Nurturing could fall into his trap; and even if he couldn’t contend against the eight or nine-step levels, it didn’t matter—he had Cloud Piercing Step. Couldn’t he just run away?
Thus, he headed to the mining area without any hesitation.
“What, that kid went to the mining area?”
Upon hearing this news, Chu Xiaotian and the four other elders were quite shocked; they had thought Shi Hao would stay obediently at the White Cloud Sect.
“Is this guy a fool?” Zhang Ji muttered.
Chen Mo shook his head, “That vile brat, although reckless, is exceedingly cunning and wouldn’t risk himself foolishly.”
“Then why did he go?” Shi Xingwei asked.
Damn, I’m not the worm in that kid’s gut, how would I know?
Chen Mo ridiculed in his heart, then wracked his brain, but from his perspective, he could never comprehend the rash reason behind Shi Hao’s move.
After thinking for a while, his expression suddenly changed, and he said, “Could it be… that the kid is targeting ‘that’?”
He only mentioned ‘that,’ but Chu Xiaotian and the others all showed shocked expressions, even fear, obviously understanding.
“Could the Sect Master know?” Shi Xingwei uttered with a trembling voice.
“Impossible!” Chu Xiaotian shook his head decisively, “If he knew, how would he still allow us to live?”
“So, there must be doubt.” Chen Mo continued, “This guy must have been ordered by the Sect Master to investigate the situation.”
“Does that mean, we can’t touch him now?” Chu Xiaotian showed displeasure.
It was finally a good opportunity.
Chen Mo shook his head, “No, we can’t disrupt our own ranks.”
Being the brain of the team, Chu Xiaotian trusted his judgment greatly; he merely grunted, “Lucky for that kid! I will warn Ling Kong to watch that place closely, ensuring that the kid discovers nothing.”
“Yes!” The other three elders nodded; on this matter, they were all tied to the same string.
Shi Hao arrived at the mining area without encountering any complications.
Strange, Chu Xiaotian and the others definitely knew he had left the White Cloud Sect but hadn’t come to assassinate him?
He could never have imagined that Chu Xiaotian and the others, in their cleverness, had misunderstood him as carrying a significant mission and had forsaken such an excellent opportunity.