150: Chapter 150 Minor Conflict

On the wall directly facing the entrance of the Task Hall, at the very top, remained the direct task where one could exchange the killing of Demon Court Disciples for contribution points.

However, the specific tasks below had changed significantly; assassination-type tasks had become noticeably fewer, replaced by many more intelligence-gathering tasks.

On one hand, it was because Lin Qing had killed Demon Court Disciples across one and a half cities, and on the other, the Demon Court had unconditionally retreated five million li this time, causing many Demon Court Disciples to change their areas of operation, thus requiring information to be collected anew.

Even some Demon Court Disciples who were originally active within the territory of the Sect had gone into hiding due to this failure of the Demon Court; overall, Lin Qing had made quite a significant contribution during this trip.

The bounty notices on the wall to the left had also changed a batch of people; those in the top thirty hadn't changed much, with only three missing, but those in the forties and fifties had changed significantly.

Because Ling Shu and the others were at the forefront of the Heaven Ranking, Ming Ye had gathered a group of people of the same level, numbering over a dozen to ensure a stable victory, but the final result was that they were all wiped out by Lin Qing; adding up the bounties for so many people, Lin Qing estimated that he would never have to worry about contribution points again.

The area on the left of the Task Hall mainly provided task acceptance services, while the right side consisted of rows of small rooms used for submitting tasks.

Rubbing the Storage Ring on his hand, Lin Qing found an empty cubicle and pushed the door open to enter.

Task settlement sometimes involved large amounts of contribution points, so the settlement work was no longer handled by ordinary Disciples, but by some Deacons in the Sect who were older and had been slow to advance.

The layout of the room was similar to the trading rooms of the merchant guilds Lin Qing had entered many times, with a large table in the middle and a person sitting behind it.

It was a man who looked to be in his forties or fifties, but he only had a Seventh-Stage cultivation, and his true age was likely around two hundred years old. He had a pair of triangular eyes with slightly upturned corners, and his skin was pulled tight.

Lin Qing stepped forward and cupped his hands in a salute: "Senior Brother, I have come to exchange for some contribution points."

As he spoke, he was about to take out the corpses of the Demon Court Disciples from his Storage Ring. However, before he could pull them out, the man behind the table slammed his hand on the desk.

"You have no manners; is 'Senior Brother' something you can just call me?"

Lin Qing's expression darkened; it had been a long time since anyone had shouted at him.

The seniority of Cultivators in the Chuyun Immortal Sect was roughly divided into three tiers. Among ordinary Disciples, whether they were true Disciples or Outer Sect Disciples, everyone addressed each other as Senior Brother or Junior Brother. As for the Sect Master, Elders, and some Deacons, they were one generation higher, and ordinary Disciples would generally address them as Junior Martial Uncle or Senior Martial Uncle.

The Seniors of the God Realm were one level higher, but the number of people in the God Realm was small, so internal forms of address were more precise; those with clear master-Disciple relationships addressed each other as such, while some newcomers would address older Seniors or Junior Martial Uncles, for example, those Ninth-Stage God Realm Cultivators previously addressed Grand Aunt-Master Qing Yao as Senior.

Lin Qing's status was a bit special; he was a Disciple of Jue Chenzi, and he usually addressed the Sect Master and others as Senior Brothers, but at the same time, he also addressed Ling Shu and the others as Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers; everyone just used their own forms of address, without interfering with each other.

But regardless of his strength or status, there was no reason for him to call a Seventh-Stage ordinary Deacon 'Junior Martial Uncle', and because of Jue Chenzi, it would not be an exaggeration for him to call some God Realm powerhouses 'Senior Brother'.

This middle-aged man wanted to put on airs right from the start; one didn't need to think much to know what his character was like on a daily basis—who knows how many young Disciples he had bullied in the past!

But even if he were a good person on a daily basis and today was just an accident, Lin Qing would not let him off the hook.

The table in the middle was quite wide, so Lin Qing deliberately walked around it, turning into an afterimage to reach the middle-aged man's side, and with a raised hand, slapped him, sending him flying to the ground.

"If I don't call you Senior Brother, what should I call you? An ant?"

The middle-aged man usually maintained a high and mighty attitude in front of those Disciples, but now that he had been slapped to the ground, he immediately scrambled up without a second thought.

It was just like an ordinary person falling in public; regardless of whether it hurt or not, they would climb up first, wanting to maintain a shred of dignity.

"You have a lot of nerve, are you trying to rebel?"

While speaking, his hands didn't stop, and he raised his right hand to grab at Lin Qing's neck.

"Oh, you dare to fight back! It seems I didn't hit you hard enough."

Naturally, the middle-aged man had no power to resist Lin Qing's attack, and the man was slapped away again, but this time with much more force than before. The man's body first slammed into the door of the cubicle, then broke through the door and landed on the floor of the Task Hall, rolling several times.

The two slap marks on his Face were slightly purple, a trail of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and his brain was even a bit dazed from the blow, but the man still quickly flipped over and stood up.

After standing up, he stumbled because he hadn't steadied himself, but at this moment he finally realized that he was no match for Lin Qing.

So he raised his hand, pointing a trembling finger at Lin Qing, and accused him to the people who were starting to gather around.

"Look at him! I just wanted to correct his form of address, and he suddenly attacked me; he has absolutely no regard for the Sect rules and regulations."

"Do you know how much damage a big slap can cause to a person?"

On the left side of the Task Hall, a Disciple responsible for task acceptance suddenly covered his left cheek.

He knew!

It was the very Disciple who had tried to extort a high price in contribution points from Lin Qing at the Preaching Hall; he was working here today.

At this moment, the surrounding onlookers finally understood the sequence of events; originally, some Disciples wanted to stand out and accuse Lin Qing, but other Disciples reacted faster, recognizing Lin Qing, and hurriedly cupped their hands in the direction of Lin Qing one by one.

"Senior Brother Lin Qing..."

The voices rose and fell.

Lin Qing had become very famous in the Sect recently; as long as they were not in secluded cultivation, almost everyone had heard his name. However, hearing it was one thing, and seeing him was another; although portraits of Lin Qing circulated in the Sect, not everyone had seen them.

Unfortunately, the middle-aged man was one of those who had heard of him but never seen him, and he had thrown his temper at Lin Qing.

When the middle-aged man heard the name Lin Qing, he finally realized the situation and slumped to the ground; at this moment, he didn't care about Face anymore, knowing only that his world was about to collapse.

"Move aside!"

A somewhat aged but resonant voice came from behind the crowd, and then the crowd moved to both sides; it was the Elder in charge of the entire Sect's task System.

The Elder had only heard the middle-aged man's accusation against Lin Qing and did not know the specific details of the matter, but as an Eighth-Stage powerhouse, he was naturally not the kind of muddled old man who couldn't even remember his subordinates.

He also knew a thing or two about the middle-aged man's daily behavior; there were no major problems, but there were plenty of minor ones.

He walked quickly to Lin Qing and performed a peer salute: "Junior Brother Lin Qing, what happened?"

Lin Qing cupped his hands in return and briefly explained what had happened.

The Elder nodded: "Rest assured, I will handle this matter. You wanted to exchange for contribution points, right? How about I handle it for you personally?"

"Then many thanks, Senior Brother He."

Afterward, Lin Qing left with Elder He, and no one paid any attention to the middle-aged man on the ground anymore.

Inside the back hall of the Task Hall, Elder He first invited Lin Qing to sit down, then brewed a pot of tea before speaking.

"Junior Brother Lin Qing, there were too many people outside just now, so I didn't tell you directly; in fact, you no longer need contribution points."