Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 323 - Mission

The four stood at a distance, looking worried.

Liu Wuxie’s punches were tricky, and he didn’t land any hit on Du Sha on purpose. He was using Du Sha to temper the Primordial Astral Fist.

Zhu You and others weren’t stupid; they noticed signs of Du Sha falling into a disadvantageous position.

“Berserk Demon Chop!” Du Sha was furious. He had never suffered such frustration in his life. He had always been the one toying with others, but Liu Wuxie mercilessly toyed with him today.

As the saying goes, "What goes around comes around." Du Sha, who had always denied his opponents any chance to fight back, now found himself in a similar predicament.

Liu Wuxie had integrated the Primordial Astral Fist and Nine Heavenly Crane Dance into one; both complemented each other.

The Berserk Demon Chop was Du Sha’s strongest attack. When he executed it, the broad axe flew out of his hand, slashing at Liu Wuxie. But that wasn’t all as he sprang forward, striking Liu Wuxie with his palms.

It was surprising that Du Sha had practiced such a bizarre palm technique with his burly figure.

“It’s useless!” Liu Wuxie’s eyes were devoid of any emotions. Since his goal had been achieved, his true essence began gushing out as a torrential wave, and Liu Wuxie’s fist manifested into a massive star descending from the sky.

This was the ultimate essence of the Primordial Astral Fist, creating the phenomenon of a star. Even if it was only a phenomenon, it was enough to crush anyone in the pinnacle of the True Core Realm.

The broad axe was knocked away by the force released by the punch, heading towards Zhang Lin’s group of four.

Zhang Lin’s group of four were unlucky to be severed from their waists. Their blood mixed with intestines flowed out from their wounds, and this was a gruesome scene.

“How could this be?” Zhang Lin looked at his lower body and smiled bitterly. He hadn’t anticipated to die in this manner.

Zhu You regretted not heeding Liu Wuxie’s first warning. If they hadn’t bullied Liu Wuxie back then, they wouldn’t have faced this situation now, nor would they have died here.

Wu He let out a painful cry because he didn’t die immediately even if he was severed from his waist. Death in itself wasn’t terrifying, but waiting for it was scary.

The unluckiest one was Zhao Yihai. Zhang Lin had invited him to help him, and he had gotten involved inexplicably. When he was facing death now, his eyes were filled with regret that he had agreed to help Zhang Lin.

After knocking the broad axe away, Liu Wuxie’s fist technique carried on forward, and the sheer force released by the punch created a violent gale that blew so hard that Du Sha couldn’t open his eyes. He could only wait helplessly as Liu Wuxie’s punch descended.

This was Liu Wuxie’s strongest punch since their fight had started, and Liu Wuxie exhausted all his astral energy in this attack. When his punch landed on Du Sha, the latter’s body was blown into pieces in the form of a blood mist.

Zhang Lin’s group of four, still alive, was scared to death as they witnessed this scene. If news got out that Du Sha was blown to smithereens with one punch, it would probably shock the entire sect.

But it was a pity no one would know because the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron devoured everything without leaving any traces.

Liu Wuxie clapped his hands after collecting Du Sha’s interspatial pouch as if he had done something insignificant. He turned around and left the dense forest, returning to the training ground he had created.

After glancing around, he knew it would be a while before anyone came there.

“Tomorrow is the beginning of the month, and many missions will be available. I can take this opportunity to do a few missions to earn points and exchange them for necessary resources.” Liu Wuxie left for his courtyard after he finished muttering to himself.

He decided to rest for a day before heading for the Mission Hall at dawn. If he wanted to gain a foothold in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, he couldn’t solely rely on the resources the sect gave him every month.

At the beginning of every month, new missions were posted in the Mission Hall. For example, elders who needed a specific spiritual herb but had no time to collect themselves would create missions for disciples to collect to earn points or rewards directly from the elders.

Some of the rewards came from the sect, while some came from the person who issued the mission. For instance, some clans were limited in strength, and they couldn’t afford to hire guards if they had to travel far away. Thus, they could offer a batch of resources to have Heavenly Treasure Pavilion’s disciples escort them.

The tasks were relatively simple, such as harvesting spiritual herbs, finding profound beasts, helping to transport goods, or killing someone.

There were a variety of missions, and points would be awarded based on their difficulty.

If the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion’s disciples wanted more resources, they would have to earn points to exchange. For example, a cultivation chamber required one hundred points for one day, and a standard mission only awarded ten points.

The other facilities in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion also required points, which included exchanging for martial techniques and pills.

At the beginning of each month, when the missions were renewed, fights often broke out to contest for the best missions, while dangerous missions were generally ignored. After all, everyone’s objective was to earn points, not put their lives at risk.

Liu Wuxie followed the path and arrived before the Mission Hall two hours later. This building was more significant than he had imagined. It wasn’t built on the Heavenly Trigram Peak but on another peak, and many disciples had gathered early in the morning.

Missions were refreshed bi-monthly, and the onset of each month saw a flurry of activity, as thousands of disciples convened. Within the Mission Hall, distinct zones were designated for outer, inner, core, and true disciples, each offering tailored missions.

Core disciples wouldn’t compete for missions with outer disciples, and outer disciples didn’t qualify to complete missions designated for inner disciples.

Liu Wuxie arrived early, and despite the fact that the hall had yet to open, a large crowd had already gathered outside.

When Liu Wuxie had joined the sect, the jade slip he had received on the first day clearly stated that missions were divided into four categories, represented by four colors—yellow, red, purple, and black.

Yellow missions were the easiest, but they also offered the fewest points. Red tasks were slightly more dangerous in comparison, but the probability of suffering fatal injuries wasn’t high. As for purple missions, they were more challenging with a chance of death, but they also offered more points and were highly sought after. Last but not least, black missions were rarely undertaken because they only had a one percent rate of completion that was tallied through ten thousand years.

Only one of the one hundred black missions would be completed. The remaining ninety-nine had failed because the disciples who had taken those missions were dead.

This resulted in two extremes for missions. No one would pick yellow and black missions, while red and purple missions were limited. Thus, the missions would go to those who were capable.

Furthermore, missions varied because some required multiple people to complete them, and others only needed one person.

The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion would ensure the fairness of each mission, and the difficulty wouldn’t differ much as long as they were in the same category.

“I wonder what missions will be posted this time. I prefer going to hunt the abyssal devils. It might be dangerous, but each head is worth ten points.”

Discussions could be heard everywhere as Liu Wuxie stood in a secluded corner by himself.

“I prefer harvesting spiritual herbs. They’re relatively safe compared to hunting the abyssal devils.” Everyone had different preferences. Some preferred the safer route, while some preferred an adventure.

Liu Wuxie was calculating in his mind. He urgently needed points to exchange for precious spiritual herbs to refine them into pills. After all, his cultivation speed was still too slow, relying on the Desolate Devouring Art.

As the Mission Hall opened its four gates, a throng of eager disciples surged inside. Despite Liu Wuxie's preparedness, he found himself taken aback by the overwhelming scene. He hadn't anticipated such a frenzied atmosphere at the start of each month.

When he followed the crowd into the Mission Hall, the interior was more prominent than he had imagined. The ground floor was the largest and catered to outer disciples. The second, third, and fourth floors were meant for inner, core, and true disciples.

But even though so many people swarmed into the Mission Hall, it didn’t feel crowded at all. Tens of thousands of missions, neatly organized according to their categories, were pasted on the surrounding walls.

Missions like hunting profound beasts and harvesting spiritual herbs were posted on the east wall. Escorting missions were on the south wall. All the missions related to killing were on the west wall. Lastly, the north wall had the fewest missions, and they were mostly black missions.

Executing the Ghost Eye, Liu Wuxie’s mind was flooded with texts. Each mission had a specific completion time, which ranged from three days to six months. If they surpassed the completion time, their mission would be deemed a failure.

Liu Wuxie swiftly analyzed the missions with his soul sea, and the points awarded in most missions ranged from ten to thirty.

When he shifted his gaze to the black missions, many missions had been posted for over a year and remained untouched. Few were untouched for over three years, and the awarded points ranged from two hundred to one thousand.

Those were hazardous missions; one needed to be alive to enjoy the points. Liu Wuxie didn’t rashly take one and looked at the purple missions instead, which were more suitable for him.

Yellow missions targeted those ranging from the first to the third level of the True Core Realm. The red missions were meant for those in the fourth to sixth level, while the purple missions were for those in the seventh to ninth level.

Liu Wuxie was mixed among those in the higher levels of the True Core Realm, making him look conspicuous.

“Harvest a Snow Lotus Root: thirty points reward!” This was a pretty good mission with decent points, which Liu Wuxie took off the wall without hesitation.

But the moment Liu Wuxie took down the mission, another hand appeared. Then again, it was common for two people to choose the same mission. This was why fights usually broke out, but everyone had grown accustomed.

“Brat, get lost! This isn’t a place for you. Go to the yellow region!” A violent outburst of energy swept toward Liu Wuxie. Collecting the Snow Lotus Root was a decent mission with no strict time limit as long as it was submitted within a month.

The mission clearly stated that a core disciple wanted to refine a seventh-grade pill and urgently needed the Snow Lotus Root. But that core disciple had no time to gather and had posted the mission, offering thirty points in exchange.

When Liu Wuxie tore down the mission, a violent outburst of energy blew toward him.

“You should be the one to get lost instead!” Liu Wuxie unleashed his astral energy. But he didn’t perform the Primordial Astral Fist. Even so, the outburst of astral energy unleashed a powerful impact.

When the two fists collided in mid-air, a powerful shockwave was unleashed from the point of collision, sending the nearby disciples who didn’t have enough strength flying away.