211: A 90% mortality rate? That's a huge profit!

The Immortal Cave arranged by the Cuiyun Sect for Lin Fan was so rich in Spiritual Qi that it almost condensed into tangible mist.

Immortal cranes sang softly among the mountains, and spiritual waterfalls cascaded down the cliffs; everything was like a painting.

The Sect Master intended to arrange more than a dozen beautiful maidservants to attend to him, but Lin Fan "fearfully" declined.

He also refused the welcome banquet the Sect Master had prepared for him.

The stone door of the Immortal Cave was tightly shut.

The entire Cuiyun Sect believed that this mysterious Guest Elder had begun his secluded cultivation.

However, Lin Fan silently appeared outside a nearby small courtyard.

Inside the courtyard, Liu Qingqing was still somewhat dazed, staring blankly at the sky.

"Fairy Liu."

Lin Fan had a gentle smile on his face, and his voice was clear and bright.

Liu Qingqing jolted back to reality, and upon seeing him, her eyes involuntarily carried a hint of reverence.

"Elder... Elder Lin."

She was slightly unaccustomed to this form of address.

"This Junior has just arrived and wishes to find something to do to temper my Dao Heart."

Lin Fan maintained a very humble posture and spoke with sincerity.

"May I ask... where is your Sect's Mission Hall located?"

Liu Qingqing was stunned, completely failing to understand why this powerful figure, whom even the Sect Master treated with utmost respect, would go to a place meant only for Disciples.

But she still subconsciously pointed toward a certain direction on the main peak.

A moment later.

Cuiyun Sect, Mission Great Hall.

The place was bustling with noise, countless Disciples moved back and forth, accepting missions and exchanging them for contribution points. The clamor was loud enough to almost lift the hall's roof.

Guided by the half-reluctant Liu Qingqing, Lin Fan passed through the noisy crowd and walked straight to the deepest part of the Great Hall.

His arrival caused quite a stir.

"Look, isn't that Senior Sister Liu?"

"Who is that person in white next to her? He looks unfamiliar, I've never seen him before."

"You don't even know him? He's the distinguished guest whom the Sect Master and all the Elders personally welcomed today! The newly appointed Guest Elder!"

"What? Him? So young?"

Whispers rose and fell, filled with curiosity and scrutiny.

Lin Fan acted as if he hadn't heard these gazes.

He ignored the ordinary missions hanging on the jade walls on both sides, which offered generous rewards and were fought over by countless people.

His gaze was fixed directly on the center of the Great Hall.

There, a massive crystal list, seemingly coagulated from fresh blood, hung independently.

There were only a handful of missions on the list.

Behind every mission, three chilling characters were marked in cinnabar blood script.

Death-Defying Mission.

The death rate was ninety-nine percent.

The area beneath the list was completely empty, forming a sharp contrast with the surrounding bustle.

It had gone unclaimed for years.

A subtle curve appeared at the corner of Lin Fan's mouth.

He slowly raised his finger, pointing toward the mission at the very top, under countless gazes filled with shock and uncertainty.

"Explore the Ten Thousand Poison Swamp and harvest the Corrupted Heart Ghost Orchid."

His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly entered everyone's ears.

The entire Mission Great Hall instantly fell silent.

A needle drop could be heard.

Everyone looked at him with the gaze one reserves for a lunatic.

"This is the one."

Lin Fan's voice sounded again, carrying a tone of confirmation.

The attendant of the Great Hall was a Goat-Bearded Old Man, who suddenly poked his head out from behind the counter and vigorously rubbed his ears.

"Elder... Elder Lin, what... what did you say?"

"I said, I accept this mission."

Lin Fan repeated.

Boom!

The deathly silent Great Hall instantly erupted into chaos.

"He's crazy! He must be crazy!"

"The Ten Thousand Poison Swamp? That's the Forbidden Ground of our Cuiyun Sect! Even Void Refining Realm Elders who enter never return!"

"This mission has been hanging there for over a hundred years, and the requirement to accept it is Void Refining cultivation, yet no one has ever dared to touch it! Is he, a Soul Transformation Initial Stage cultivator, going there just to die?"

"A connected person is just a connected person, ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, thinking that becoming a Guest Elder makes him invincible?"

Mockery and pity were projected in undisguised glances.

The Goat-Bearded Attendant was sweating profusely and quickly rushed out.

"Elder, absolutely not!"

"The death rate of this mission is not a joke! In the past hundred years, every Senior who accepted this mission has died! Please... please reconsider!"

He repeatedly tried to dissuade him, almost kneeling down.

If the new Guest Elder accepted a guaranteed death mission on his first day in the Mission Hall, he wouldn't be able to bear the Sect Master's blame.

The news spread like wildfire.

In less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the Sect Master and Elder Liu rushed over anxiously.

"Little Friend Lin! Nonsense! This is utter nonsense!"

The Sect Master immediately straightened his face, though his tone carried unconcealed concern and anxiety.

Elder Liu's face was pale; he was more "aware" of Lin Fan's terror than anyone else, and even more afraid of any accident befalling this respected figure.

"Little Friend Lin, the Ten Thousand Poison Swamp is extremely dangerous. The potent poisons and curses inside are impossible to guard against. It is absolutely not a place for tempering oneself!"

The Sect Master earnestly tried to persuade him.

"If you need that Corrupted Heart Ghost Orchid, I will immediately send people to find a way to get it for you, even if we have to acquire it from another Sect at a high price!"

"Why must you personally take such a risk!"

He was even willing to directly give the mission reward to Lin Fan, just begging him not to go to that cursed place.

The surrounding Disciples were dumbfounded.

The Sect Master was actually this humble? What exactly was Lin Fan's background?

Lin Fan looked at them, revealing a perfectly measured expression of "innocence" and "stubbornness."

"Thank you, Sect Master and Elder Liu, for your kindness."

He bowed deeply to the two of them.

"It's just that..."

He raised his head, his eyes clear.

"This is a test from the Senior in my family for this Junior."

"The Senior said that only by tempering oneself between true life and death can one comprehend the Great Dao and achieve growth."

As soon as these words came out, the Sect Master and Elder Liu were instantly stunned.

Senior in the family?

A test?

An unimaginable image immediately surfaced in their minds: a terrifying great power sitting above the Nine Heavens, looking down upon eternity.

So that's how it is!

So this powerful figure was following the will of the existence behind him to undergo a trial!

Lin Fan continued his performance, his voice carrying an undeniable certainty.

"This Junior appreciates the Sect Master's good intentions."

"But if strong experts are sent for protection, the trial loses its meaning, and if the Senior blames me, this Junior... cannot bear the consequences."

He paused, then added another sentence, as if to reassure them.

"Please rest assured, Sect Master, that Senior... will be watching me in secret."

Boom!

This final sentence, like a clap of thunder, completely shattered the last shred of hope held by the Sect Master and Elder Liu.

That terrifying existence would personally observe this trial!

No wonder!

No wonder he was so fearless!

If they forcefully obstructed him, wouldn't they ruin the great power's enjoyment?

The consequences... The Sect Master and Elder Liu exchanged glances, both seeing deep fear and terror in the other's eyes.

"S-since it is the Senior's arrangement, then... we dare not disobey."

The Sect Master's voice was somewhat hoarse.

He could only watch helplessly as Lin Fan took the blood-colored mission jade token from the attendant's trembling hand.

Alone, he walked toward the Ten Thousand Poison Swamp... The Ten Thousand Poison Swamp.

Miasma was like ink, churning endlessly. The air was filled with a strange smell mixing decay and cloying sweetness.

Underfoot were mud pits bubbling with purple gas; a slight misstep would lead to one being swallowed whole, leaving no bones behind.

Lin Fan took a deep breath, his face completely devoid of any trace of "innocence."

In its place was an uncontrollable ecstasy.

Heaven!

This place was Hell for others, but for him, it was simply Heaven!

He casually set up a resurrection anchor point behind a rock that looked relatively sturdy.

Then, he performed an action that no one could possibly understand.

Without hesitation, he leaped, jumping directly into a nearby deep pool that was gurgling with poisonous vapor.

Plop!

The pool water instantly submerged him.

The terrifying toxic power, like billions of steel needles, frantically drilled into his limbs and bones, corroding his flesh and dissolving his Divine Soul.

Excruciating pain struck.

[Ding! You have died from the toxic corrosion of 'Corpse-Rotting Water'!]

[Death Evaluation: C-rank (Actively seeking death, slightly hasty)]

[Congratulations, you received a reward: Poison Resistance +50%!]

[Congratulations, you received a special reward: Profound Rank Pill Formula, 'Hundred Poisons Pill'!]

A white light flashed.

Lin Fan resurrected at the anchor point, completely unharmed, clean, and without a single negative status effect.

Feeling the greatly increased poison resistance in his body, he nodded in satisfaction.

"Again!"

This time, he didn't blindly jump into a pool.

He deliberately released a trace of Spiritual Qi, like a firefly in the dark, instantly alarming the terrifying existence deep within the swamp.

Croak—!

A hoarse, grating cry.

A giant toad, the size of a small mountain and covered in thousands of pale white eyeballs, slowly emerged from the depths of the mud pit.

The aura of the Mid-stage Refining Void cultivator swept over him overwhelmingly.

Thousand-Eyed Toad!

Its thousand eyes simultaneously locked onto Lin Fan.

The next moment, a gray-white beam of light shot out from its central main eye.

Lin Fan didn't even have the thought of dodging.

He just stood there stiffly, allowing the beam of light to shine upon him.

Crackle... crackle... His body, from foot to head, rapidly turned into gray-white stone.

[Ding! You have been killed by the 'Thousand-Eyed Toad's' Petrification Death Ray!]

[Death Evaluation: B-rank (Brave provocation)]

[Congratulations, you received a reward: Petrification Resistance +80%!]

[Congratulations, you received a special reward: Incomplete Eye Technique, 'Annihilation Death Ray' (Can be completed through subsequent deaths)!]

Resurrection.

Lin Fan opened his eyes, feeling a trace of profound information added to his mind, and the smile on his lips deepened.

Next.

The entire Ten Thousand Poison Swamp was thrown into complete disorder.

Lin Fan began his insane journey of courting death.

He stabbed a venomous scorpion's stinger into his own heart.

He voluntarily endured the curses of vengeful spirits.

He even stuffed a highly poisonous plant called the "Soul-Corroding Flower" into his mouth like a snack.

In less than a single day.

He courted death in hundreds of different ways within this death-defying Forbidden Ground.

[Ding! You died from 'Soul-Devouring Ghost Mist', Soul Resistance +30%, obtained the incomplete scroll of 'Soul Nurturing Art'!]

[Ding! You died from 'Aging Curse', Curse Resistance +60%, Lifespan +10 years!]

[Ding! You died from...]

With repeated deaths and resurrections, his various resistances were rapidly maxed out.

His cultivation, fueled by the accumulation of massive rewards, soared like a rocket, rising from Soul Transformation Initial Stage all the way to the peak of Transformation Mid-Stage!

He was just a step away from the Late Stage.

On the last day of the mission deadline.

Lin Fan harvested the Corrupted Heart Ghost Orchid located in the deepest part of the swamp, which now posed no threat to him.

He deliberately messed up his hair, tore his clothes, smeared himself with swamp mud and the blood of an unknown Vicious Beast, and suppressed his aura until it seemed utterly weak.

Then, leaving a bloody footprint with every step, he dragged his "exhausted" body out of the Ten Thousand Poison Swamp.

In front of the Cuiyun Sect mountain gate.

Countless Disciples had already gathered here, all wanting to see if that Guest Elder, ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, had truly died inside.

When Lin Fan's "miserable" figure appeared, a suppressed gasp arose from the crowd.

He actually... came out alive!

Lin Fan slowly walked up to the Mission Hall attendant and handed over the Corrupted Heart Ghost Orchid.

Just when everyone thought he had merely survived by chance.

A sharp-eyed Core Disciple stared intently at Lin Fan, his facial muscles contorted with shock, and his voice changed pitch.

"Soul Transformation... Middle Stage!?"

"His cultivation... is at the peak of Transformation Mid-Stage!!"

This sentence detonated like a bomb among the crowd.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Before entering, he was at Soul Transformation Initial Stage. After surviving a perilous journey, not only did he not die, but his cultivation also broke through to the peak of Transformation Mid-Stage?

What the Hell kind of logic is that!?