Chapter 13 – Solo Mission
Leizhou City, In the Ye clan home.
“Brother Zifeng, I heard from mother that you’ve received the mission to kill Thunder Rhinos.” Ye Xueyi’s soft voice sounded as she quickly ran towards Zifeng.
“Wow. News sure travels fast.” Ye Zifeng sat down and pulled out a peach cracker from his bad. He tried to hand peach cracker to Xueyi, “Come on, try this. I just got it from the store around the corner. Your mother told me that you loved these.”
Ye Xueyi pushed his hands away and seriously said, “Brother Zifeng, do you know what you’ve done? You’re still in the mood to eat snacks after accepting such a difficult mission?”
Ye Zifeng chuckled and shrugged, “I accepted it already. We’ll just see how it goes.”
Ye Xueyi bit her lips. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her brother’s stupidity.
“Come on Brother Zifeng. Get up. I’ll go to the sect with you and ask Elder Qin to give you a new mission.” She tried to pull Zifeng’s arm and drag him back to the sect.
However, Ye Zifeng dodged and shook his head, “Once the sect assigns a mission, it is impossible to get a new one. That is the rule. You should know about it.”
Xueyi wasn’t taking any of this, “Fine. Even if you can’t get a new mission, you can still forfeit this one. At worst, you’ll only get a three month penalty which is a lot better than not completing the mission.”
“Sis, how can you have so little faith in me?” Ye Zifeng replied, “Remember last time when the Liu family came? I took care of that Liu Yige who’s at the peak of fifth qi refining stage. You were there. Do you think that I can’t take care of these Thunder Rhinos?”
“That……”
Ye Xueyi’s expression changed. She didn’t know what Zifeng did to beat and harm Liu Yige. It was really weird. How did Zifeng make Liu Yue who was around two whole stages above himself spit a mouthful of blood?
‘But brother…. You’ve never killed anything before and this is your first time accepting a mission. The Thunder Rhino is extremely strong…. I’m afraid that you’ll get hurt.”
“How can there be a reward if there’s no risk? And besides, I can gain experience from this even if I don’t complete it.” Ye Zifeng calmly said, “So don’t worry about it. There’s still three days before I go out. Against an attribute type beast like the Thunder Rhino, it shouldn’t be so hard for me. I already have a plan.”
“So you’re saying that you won’t forfeit the mission no matter what….”
Ye Zifeng looked at Xueyi with strong determination in his eyes and nodded.
Ye Xueyi pouted. Seeing how this talk is making her brother more determined, she decided to give up and let out a long sigh.
“Come on, Xueyi. Try the peach crackers!”
Ye Zifeng moved a cracker towards her mouth. Xueyi angrily turned around and was speechless. She didn’t want to talk to this guy anymore.
“Come on. Try it. Don’t be mad at me…..” Ye Zifeng persistently offered her some snack.
Ye Xueyi wiped the tears from her eyes. “Thanks Brother!” She turned around, grabbed the crackers and ran away.
Ye Zifeng watched as Xueyi left and smiled. He then turned towards his furnace and a serious look appeared on his face.
“Alright! Time to start preparing for the mission!”
……
Cloud Peak Valley. It was an area behind the Ashen Spirit Sect where many different common tier beasts resided. The area was specifically created for disciples to complete missions
Outside the valley, the mission organizers from the Hidden Heart Hall were giving out maps of the valley to disciples. On each map, the regions were divided and labeled accordingly.
“Look at that guy. That’s Ye Zifeng. As someone in the third stage of qi refining, he’s actually trying to challenge Thunder Rhinos that were in the fourth stage!”
“Thunder Rhinos? Wasn’t that the mission that even Xiao Mu failed a couple of times?”
“Shhhh….not so loud. Young master Xiao is right there.”
Xiao Mu lightly coughed, and the people who were talking immediately closed their mouths, not daring to talk anymore.
“What are you guys worrying about? That Ye Zifeng must have some problems with his head to choose a mission like this. Don’t start talking like he can actually complete this. From what I can see, he probably won’t even be coming back alive!”
Xiao Mu’s loud voice caused many people to look over.
Ye Zifeng walked up and smiled, “Then what if I finish it and come back by luck?”
Xiao Mu was startled. He was thinking that there’s a chance that this guy can survive by luck but to finish the mission? That was not possible. To someone who was in the third stage of qi refining like Ye Zifeng, this fourth stage mission was even harder than climbing to heaven.
“Then I’ll….I’ll….” Xiao Mu didn’t know what he should bet….
Ye Zifeng then suggested, “How about this. I don’t want you to kowtow to me like Wang Lin. That’ll embarrass you too much. If I can finish the mission and come out alive, then why don’t you give me the points that you earn from your mission. How about it?”
Right now, Ye Zifeng wanted points more than anything. With these points, he can exchange them for rare ingredients and raise his cultivation.
“You want my points? A fifth stage mission is worth 100 points!” Xiao Mu was shocked. Although his family was well off, the things you can exchange with these points are all priceless.
Ye Zifeng continued, “If I can’t finish this mission, then I’ll go and repair walls every month from now on and give you all my points for two years.”
“If it’s two years, then……”
“One hundred twenty points.” Ye Zifeng smiled.
Xiao Mu was in deep thoughts. He started to think about and consider Ye Zifeng’s proposal. If Ye Zifeng fails, then he could get 120 points without doing anything and also humiliate Ye Zifeng at the same time. The chances of him winning was very high and he felt like it was a good deal.
“Fine. You’re in the third stage of qi refining and this is your first time doing a mission. Yet you dare to act like this… I, Xiao Mu will teach you a lesson. As for the tranfer of points…..” Xiao Mu looked over at Mo Yu.
Mo Yu quickly replied, “If no one has any objections right now, then we won’t mind either. The points can be transferred.”
Xiao Mu was excited. He looked as if he had received the 120 points already.
“With that being the case, I hope that senior brother Mo will be the witness to our bet. Many thanks.”A lustrous smile appeared on Ye Zifeng’s face.
After the small delay, the protectors started to explain the mission. In intervals of half an hour, each disciple will enter the valley one by one.
When Ye Zifeng was about to enter the valley, Xiao Mu smiled and slapped him on the shoulders.
“What else do you want?” Ye Zifeng hated people touching his shoulder, especially someone that he disliked.
Xiao Mu laughed loudly, “The bet from before. I forgot to tell you something. You know it’s fine if you don’t finish the mission. However, if you’re unlucky and die, I, Xiao Mu will be generous and not ask you for those 120 points…..”
“Uhhh. Then…… thanks?” Ye Zifeng shook his head. Under the protector’s command, he then went into the valley.
……
In the valley, he followed the directions on the map. He passed through a small jungle and reached his destination, clear water pond.
The Thunder Rhinos liked to fight with others for territory and they have dominated the clear water pond for a while now.
This time, because it is a solo mission, Ye Zifeng didn’t have to hide his true strength. It was more convenient to take action.
“Let’s test the waters and see how much thunder you can release from your body.”
Ye Zifeng’s mouth curled up and revealed a sly smile. On his palm, his black death qi began to condense into a small imprint. He then quickly struck out at the Thunder Rhino.
In a split second, the black palm that Ye Zifeng sent out suddenly exploded before even reaching the Rhino.
The Thunder Rhino wasn’t a greenhorn either. It wasn’t his first time facing off against a human. He had felt Ye Zifeng’s presence a while ago and knew that he was dangerous. Thus, when Ye Zifeng struck out, he immediately released his lightning into the air and formed layers of walls.
When the black death palm strike struck against the lightning wall, a large explosion occurred. Both the attack and the light wall dissipated.
“It can actually dissipate the death qi? It seems like this rhino has some skills.” Ye Zifeng felt shocked. He thought that the strike would at least hurt the rhino a bit. However, who would’ve thought that it didn’t even leave a single scratch on it!
When he thought about it carefully, the death qi strike was best suited for close range. When he thought about the last time he used it, it was because Liu Yige let his guard that he was able to land this sneak attack successfully. Usually qi refining stage cultivators did not have real battle experience and would use all of their strength to attack head on. However the Thunder Rhino was different. Every month, someone would come and try to kill it. It had developed a battle sense that allowed it to sense danger. Due to this, it was almost impossible to Ye Zifeng to land an attack it easily.
Also, when Ye Zifeng felt the explosion earlier, he quickly retreated. If he was any closer to the Thunder Rhino, he would probably be knocked unconscious by the lightning. Xiao Mu had been knocked unconscious a few times by the Thunder Rhino and he was in the fifth stage of qi refining. The only reason why Xiao Mu lived every time was because he was a coward. He stay at the outer range of the lightning and did not irritate the rhino.
The Thunder Rhino roared. He saw Ye Zifeng on the other side. However, because the attack that Ye Zifeng just used was very strong, the rhino did not dare to approach carelessly.
“Normally, a rhino’s intelligent and vision is on the lower end of the spectrum. They usually relied on their smell and hearing. It seems like you’re something special…..”
Ye Zifeng looked at the surrounding, “Well I still have three more days. I still have time to prepare some more before killing you.”