Soldiers subconsciously glanced at the pale-faced man with shabby mustard-colored hair. He had his hands tied behind his back with Ja Sun following him intently. This individual was the enemy spirit master and right now, he was caught by Ja Sun.
The destination of the escort wasn't a settlement, but a single outpost managed by a small group of Balak scouts. Once the escort was successful, the captain of the team handed Ja Sun a folded certificate. This certificate of success was needed to justify his success of the mission.
Nodding, Ja Sun left while pulling the spirit master. Unlike the last time, the mission's time limit was only for the day so he was even more impatient. Now Ja Sun felt that such low time limits were specifically placed to turn the spirit masters more frantic in their communication with their opponents, leading each other to quickly dispose of their opponents since it was the simplest method.
Instead of speaking, Ja Sun directly tore the man's clothes. He already had enough clothes so making the man strip and waste his time wasn't an option.
"H-hey! What are you doing?!" The man shrieked but before he could move, Ja Sun pressed his thumb against the man's shoulder and stopped him from moving.
'This technique!' Fury surged in the opponent's heart but he couldn't do anything. Closing his eyes, the opponent submitted to his fate.
This was war... and he had already heard many unpleasant war stories regarding prisoners.
However, the opponent felt his pouch of coin being snatched.
Realization flickered in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Ja Sun opened the mouth of the pouch and skimmed through the man's belongings. Aside from silver coins and few gold coins, there was a square red token.
Tossing the pouch over at the man's foot, Ja Sun observed the token.
Steel Hornet: 13 Merit Points.
"Brother, you already have my token. Just let me leave... we don't have any grudge..." The man gave an oily smile. His physique was thin and ordinarily, this man could be even regarded as a sick youth.
"Is that why you tried to kill me?" Ja Sun smiled. His eyes narrowed. Of course, he didn't take things like this as an offense. What was the opponent spirit master to do? Pat his head? Massage his back?
Steel Hornet shuddered due to the seemingly indifferent voice. His breathing was slightly ragged but Ja Sun's next words shocked him greatly, "Next time, remember that long-distance approach is always better to harass seemingly stronger opponents. Play with their emotions and let them make the first mistake."
With that, Ja Sun directly slapped Steel Hornet.
Once the man was knocked out, Ja Sun untied him, picked his pouch of coins, and left for Balak City.
---
"Hnngh?"
Steel Hornet slowly came to be. He pushed himself up the ground and internally thanked the gods of fortune to stay alive by now.
"Nicknamed Steel Hornet. Your objective has been considered a failure. You have lost your token and you are now considered a deserter."
Steel Hornet's expression changed and he looked back. Seeing the figure covered in a white cloak with golden embroidery and a golden sword pointing down, Steel Hornet's face turned ugly. In the Douluo Continent, every spirit master knows what this particular insignia represents.
Spirit Hall!
Without even thinking of his appearance, Steel Lord knelt and lowered his head. He could feel the suppression of spirit energy so Steel Lord knew that the opponent was at least in Spirit Elder or higher. And being part of the Spirit Hall, the man's strength isn't needed to be questioned.
"Lord, take mercy. I have completed over five tasks without failure—"
"State your name."
The cold voice commanded. Without hesitation, Steel Lord complied. To his understanding, every deserter has died without question and it must have been because of the Spirit Hall. However, instead of killing him directly when he was unconscious, they waited and now questioned him. Clearly, this was an opportunity that he couldn't miss by aggravating them. Steel Lord didn't think of lying. Even the two empires regarded the Spirit Hall as a mystery. Who knows if they have special essence tools to catch this matter and recalling his enlistment in the army and the interview, Steel Lord felt certain of the matter.
"It is Zhang Li, Lord."
"Your Martial Soul?"
"Poison Steel Hornet."
The man in front of Zhang Li fell in silence and another voice echoed this time from his back.
"Zhang Li, Origin: Gengxin Foot Village. Martial Soul: Poison Steel Hornet. Age: 21. No offending record found."
"I see. Zhang Li, you are provided with two options: Joining Spirit Hall in the lower ranks of the Clergy or acting as a deserter, being pursued by the Hall."
The man in front of Zhang Li spoke calmly as the man's body shuddered.
Reluctant to lose his freedom, Zhang Li still nodded, "I am fortunate to be blessed by the Spirit Hall, Lord."
---
Ja Sun returned to the Spirit Temple of Balak City before nightfall. He felt terribly expended by the journey and after delivering the token and the certificate, his merit points were increased to 38 points.
The highest in the reward ranking was a 7000-year-old arm spirit bone but its value was worth 19,000 merit points!
Since one merit point is worth 100 gold coins, this meant that 19,000 merit points were equal to 1,900,000 coins!
A spirit bone of this quality easily achieves a price double this amount. This was the benefit that reeled in so many spirit masters. Although accumulating merit points is a tough task, the rewards of higher quality can be gained much more easily now. Of course, for this convenience, the spirit masters also needed to risk their lives every time.
Ja Sun didn't care for the spirit bone one bit. His attention was fully focused on the reward for 70 merit points. It was beneficial to his body and once he gets stronger, his chances of completing the S-rank objectives also become higher.
Once he returned to the Red Concubine's Entrance, he fell asleep on the bed of blue silver grass since Ah Yin was cultivating. According to their agreement, before falling asleep, he entered his spirit enhancement and increased the paces of both their cultivations; After all, he could cultivate while sleeping. It was as easy as... breathing.
Silently, the blades of blue silver grass stretched out, turning more luscious and thicker until they wrapped around Ja Sun, trapping his body's heat and acting as the most natural and comfortable quilt.
The next day, Ja Sun took a rest to recover completely. The major source of his exhaustion wasn't dealing with the opponents, but the long journey itself.
When inquired about the missions and his thoughts, Ja Sun didn't bother hiding it from Ah Yin. After all, whatever the two kingdoms and the Spirit Hall had in their minds would be revealed sooner or later. Speculations merely give people a path to act upon.
With that, Ja Sun's grind of missions began.
He was already an experienced fighter in his previous life. That alongside his absolute advantage of spirit energy, mental energy, and physical energy in the ranks of Spirit Grandmaster made sure that he completed all his missions.
The next three missions were similar to a game of strategy. Ja Sun had already destroyed a supply point and escorted a supply troop. Next, he destroyed an outpost over at the border of the Balak Kingdom. The spirit master couldn't be more careless in this mission but Ja Sun left him with his life after snatching his token. In fact, Ja Sun also let go of the remaining two opponent spirit masters.
Although he was no longer a rebel, Ja Sun wasn't the kind to follow the herd blindly. There must be a reason why the kingdoms and the Spirit Hall are promoting the deaths of spirit masters. Ja Sun just didn't know what. And if it wasn't for Ja Sun's special restrictive techniques, he would have no other choice than to kill for the greatest advantage. Now that he had another option, he took it.
As for what happened to the deserters, he didn't try to follow them, or in this case, didn't want to poke his nose unnecessarily.
Within five days, Ja Sun had amassed a total of 116 points. The major chunk of it came from the missions since the Spirit Masters had already spent their merit points and from their snatched pouches: On Coins.
The most affected by Ja Sun's continuous pursuit of missions was none other than Ah Yin.
She clearly felt that after each moment of exhaustion, the following day's rest brought a higher advantage to cultivation. Although she held a trace of envy, Ah Yin had her own goals set.
The more she heard about Ja Sun's encounters, the firm she grew in not wanting to participate. Among the ranks of Spirit Kings, Ah Yin's cultivation of rank 51 would be considered the lowest. This was a clear disadvantage. And unlike Ja Sun's encounters, his opponent only held 2 spirit skills. This was merely the start of a personalized battle tactic. By three rings, the personal combat potential will grow in a certain direction. After obtaining four spirit rings, the direction will become clear and the battles will grow complicated. Each spirit master will have his own style of battle.
A Spirit King, meanwhile, represents a ten-thousand-year-old spirit ring. Each Spirit King is cold and astute. While Ah Yin knew her talent would surpass any ordinary Spirit King in the war, she wasn't sure if she could surpass old experienced monsters in tactics. Compared to the truly experienced, she has simply seen too little.
That is why, despite envying Ja Sun's lower spirit rank, Ah Yin wasn't truly blinded. Out of all the rewards, there was only one that truly enticed her but reaching it meant a lot of missions.
From Ja Sun's account, each mission's opponent will become slightly stronger. Although it isn't much, Ja Sun's fifth opponent was already a rank 30th Spirit Grandmaster. By now, how could Ah Yin not understand that this was a willing purge of spirit masters?!
Unlike the ponderous Ah Yin who still trained in Heart Separation Control, Ja Sun held a green-petalled tulip in his hand. The light-blue stalk didn't exceed the length of 8 centimeters.
This was a 10-year-old Aroma Silk Tulip. Its records were present in the tome about immortal herbs. It was a heavily young version of an immortal herb named Beautiful Silk Tulip. This immortal herb's medical essence is absorbed by smelling its fragrance and cultivating. Of course, it also sharpened a cultivator's sense of smell and enhances mental strength.
But what the tome of immortal herbs didn't contain was the fact that this line of herbs actually stimulates Martial Souls related to Spirit Attribute.
An Immortal Herb can have a 70% chance of directly evolving a spirit-attributed martial soul!
This wasn't the case with the 10-year-old Aroma Silk Tulip.
Ja Sun procured this bad boy because the effects of cultivation using this herb were better for him than others.
Over the past week, Ja Sun's body had been continuously exhausted. With the help of Ah Yin's domain, he would replenish his spirit energy to its purest form and the effect of the Final Buddha Array on him increases in potency.
He was already close to rank 27 due to the innate talent of his martial soul, the 5% increase in speed, and constant battles.
Using the Aroma Silk Tulip, Ja Sun stimulated the traces of his Soul Origin and even the Bright Goddess Butterfly felt revitalized due to the herb. His cultivation directly hit the peak of rank 27, merely a step away from rank 28.
Exhaling softly, Ja Sun opened his eyes and gazed at the dispirited plant.
Herbs are a peculiar form of spirit beasts. They have an astonishing life force and while they can be harvested, they cannot be killed easily. The most basic method of 'killing' this kind of spirit beast is by burning them.
The second method is directed in the tome of harvesting.
To kill a herb, the first thing to be considered is not harvesting them. The moment they are harvested, they will forever become a 'herb' and not a spirit beast. This little guy in Ja Sun's hand had lost its ability to cultivate but it still wasn't dead.
It also couldn't be stored in the storage essence tool due to its status.
Thinking for a moment, Ja Sun looked at Ah Yin. With a devious smirk, Ja Sun stood up.
"Hey, Ah Yin, here. A beautiful flower for a beautiful woman," he presented the beautiful green tulip suavely.
But with Ah Yin's cultivation and sharp eyes, could she not see the truth?
"The trash bin is there," She pointed near the edge of the table.
"Sigh, this tulip can be reused. It's not an immortal herb with a one-time effect, after all. Help me plant it."
Ja Sun revealed his true intentions.
This seventy-point herb can be used two times!
He wasn't going to let this go to waste.
Ah Yin looked thoughtful before she took the tulip from Ja Sun's hand and observed carefully.
"It's not possible on the floor. Just buy a pot for it and leave the rest to me," Ah Yin spoke candidly as Ja Sun nodded. Flipping his hand, he pulled out a clay pot already filled with dirt, revealing that he was long prepared.
Setting the pot on the nightstand, Ja Sun returned to his own devices while Ah Yin planted the herb and created a layer of small blue silver grass around it.
Usually, this weed would pull nutrients from the earth but under Ah Yin's cultivation, these plants will become the nutrients for the tulip.
"Another mission?" She looked at Ja Sun.
"Yeah. You really need to go out more yourself. Do you know what others are saying about us in the Inn?" Ja Sun inquired curiously as Ah Yin frowned.
"Sigh, the maids say that I never let you rest and whenever I return, I will ruin you... what a tragedy. Can you believe it Ah Yin? Out of the two of us, if anyone will ruin the other, it is obviously you—"
A vine rose like a dangerous serpent and with a deep scowl, Ah Yin struck Ja Sun.
He clearly touched a nerve there.
"Hey, I'm not the one—"
"Ow! Oh! See? You're already ruining this good body! Let the Inn hear my screams! Aah, not there!"
***
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