23: Conscription

Placing his Identity Token into the groove on the wall of the Cultivation Room, the door opened automatically.

"I will come out to get some fresh air every day, so there is no need to mind me. Also, do not let anyone disturb me."

Fang Huai said with a cold expression, warning the Guardian Disciple.

Restricted by the duration of the tag, he needed to come out of the Cultivation Room every six hours to re-exchange the Drawing Qi into the Body for other Qi Refining Disciples.

"Rest assured, Senior Brother," the Guardian Disciple vowed, "Junior Brother will certainly get it done. If you have any other requests, just call!"

Having finally caught a big fish like Fang Huai, he naturally wanted to maintain a good relationship.

Fang Huai nodded and, amidst the flattery of the Guardian Disciple, strode into the Cultivation Room.

Compared to the crude setup of the Miscellaneous Labor Valley, this Outer Sect Cultivation Room was far more decent.

The room was equipped with a small, non-elemental gathering Magic Array, the floor was covered with an ice silk cushion to aid in meditation, and calming incense was burning in the censer.

The layout was exquisite, possessing quite an air of immortality.

Feeling the dense Spiritual Qi, Fang Huai was extremely satisfied.

Truly, you get what you pay for. The Spiritual Qi here not only had fewer Impurities but also contained blended white fiendish energy that removed toxicity and negative effects, making it perfect for Cultivating the Hundred Fiends Art.

Sitting cross-legged, he entered a meditative state within a few breaths.

After five years of skinning, the number of living dead Yao Beasts that had passed through his hands was countless, and the soul banner in his Storage Pouch had already collected dozens of remnant Yao Beast souls.

This state of mind of verifying the Dao through killing made his comprehension of the Hundred Fiends Art increasingly profound and clear.

————

Cultivating until the fifty-sixth day, his Sea of Consciousness suddenly stung, violently dragging him out of his meditative state.

This pain originated from the depths of his soul, as if some sort of bond had been forcibly triggered.

With an ashen face, he quickly removed the Identity Token from the groove.

At this moment, the token was slightly hot and emitting a dark golden light —

The Sect was forcibly conscripting him.

Immersing his consciousness into it, a few lines of mission information immediately appeared:

【Mission: Head to the affiliated Family, the Zheng Family of Nanze, to collect the annual tribute. The specific amount has been notified to the team leader separately】

【Participants: Lin Qian, Wu Sanli, Liu Xiange, Fang Huai】

"I did not expect to be forcibly conscripted by the Sect so soon."

Fang Huai was glad that his Cultivation over the past few days had improved his strength: "My luck seems decent; I was not conscripted to the front lines. I just do not know if this Liu Xiange is the same Liu Xiange I know."

The Sect's forced missions were divided into four types, distinguished by color: white, gold, red, and black.

White missions were ordinary logistical tasks, usually involving running errands, manual labor, capturing Mortals, and other low-danger tasks.

Gold missions were mostly related to Cultivation Families.

Red missions were primarily focused on hunting Yao Beasts or enemy Cultivators.

Black missions were battlefield conscriptions with the highest mortality rates.

【Hundred Baleful Arts (Incomplete Scroll) Third Layer 92/100】

"Fortunately, I am only eight points away from the Perfection of the Third Level of Qi Refining. I will make up the remaining progress with Spirit Pills. After this conscription ends, I will immediately apply to leave the Sect and find a place to shed my Mortal skin."

Besides Spirit Pills, Fang Huai exchanged for a few Low-Grade Spirit Stones, some sundries, and three practical Cultivation Techniques —

"Soul Pulling Technique": Controls the souls within the soul banner to assist in battle;

"Light Body Technique": Attaches Qi to the legs to increase agility;

"Yin Ming Claw": Condenses poisonous fiendish energy to attack opponents. Its power is not overwhelming, but it often brings unexpected surprises when used for sneak attacks.

It was not that Fang Huai did not want to exchange for the Legacy Fiend Arts of the Skinning Room, but the cost was hundreds of thousands of contribution points, which he could not afford.

Inside the Skinning Room, Wu Liu was worried because Fang Huai had not appeared for two months. Seeing him push the door open, her face immediately lit up with joy.

When she heard that he had been conscripted, Wu Liu angrily cursed the Sect for being muddled, actually sending a Disciple at the First Level of Qi Refining out to perform a mission.

Fang Huai did not explain. After exchanging for the Spells, he consumed Qi to master the basics of the three Cultivation Techniques, and subsequently did not use Spirit Stones to replenish his spiritual power.

As a result, the level of Qi in his body at this moment was only maintained at around the First Level of Qi Refining.

"You are at the Third Level of Qi Refining?" Wu Liu finally noticed the clue.

Wu Liu, who was at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, had actually not seen through his cultivation at first glance, which surprised Fang Huai somewhat.

But thinking about it, it made sense; without a Spiritual Root, his Qi was restrained. After his Qi was consumed, he could not automatically absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to replenish it, so being misunderstood was quite normal.

Looking at it this way, not having a Spiritual Root was not entirely a bad thing; at least it was equivalent to invisibly practicing an extremely rudimentary concealment technique.

————

Three days later, Fang Huai arrived at the Outer Sect Hall.

"Senior Brother Fang, here!"

Just as he stepped into the hall, a familiar voice called out.

"Junior Sister Liu."

With a carved stone hairpin and black hair in a bun, a red centipede head poked out from the bun. It was indeed the Liu Xiange that Fang Huai knew.

Having not seen each other for several years, she was already at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer; she must have had some fortuitous encounters.

Two male Cultivators were already standing beside Liu Xiange; they were precisely Lin Qian and Wu Sanli.

One was at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, and the other was at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

"Junior Sister Liu, you know each other?" Wu Sanli's expression had been fairly amiable, but after seeing Fang Huai, his face immediately turned cold.

His cultivation was too low, barely at the Third Level of Qi Refining.

Having a person like this come here was simply to make up the numbers.

Just as Liu Xiange wanted to explain, Lin Qian spoke up: "The lowest cultivation, and you arrive the latest. Your airs are even bigger than a Foundation Establishment Martial Uncle."

"I made some preparations and was delayed. I apologize to you, Senior Brother." Fang Huai bowed and apologized.

Lin Qian nodded and did not pursue the matter further.

As the leader and the person with the highest cultivation, he naturally became the one with the most say.

With a wave of his hand, a giant bird full of evil energy flew out from the spirit beast pouch.

"This Corpse Fiend Bird was refined from a Ninth Level of Qi Refining Yao Beast, the Fufeng Bird. Although it has lost its Divine Soul, it still retains some of its abilities from when it was alive and can travel one thousand three hundred li in a day."

"It will only take three days to carry the four of us to the Zheng Family of Nanze."

"As expected of a Senior Brother from the Refining Corpse Peak, you actually possess such a treasure!"

As soon as Lin Qian finished speaking, Wu Sanli couldn't wait to flatter him.

The Refining Corpse Peak was the main peak of the Corpse Fiend Sect. Apart from the direct lineage of the Sect Head, it was the lineage with the most influence and the richest Legacy.

But at the same time, the requirements for the Aptitude and background of the Disciples under it were also extremely strict.

"With Senior Brother here, this mission will be completed smoothly very soon." Wu Sanli continued to flatter him.

"This time, we will rely entirely on Senior Brother Lin to lead the team."

"Lin Qian is untalented; you all flatter me too much!"

"..."

Fang Huai, however, frowned and said nothing.

With the war tightening, a Late Qi Condensation Stage Cultivator like Lin Qian should have been undertaking more important missions.

If it were just to go to a Cultivation Family to collect the annual tribute, it would be too much of a waste of talent.

What he did not know was that Lin Qian was actually afraid of death and had spent a lot of Spirit Stones to get a mission that avoided the front lines.

This trip to the Zheng Family of Nanze was intended to make a big profit.

Wu Sanli already disliked Fang Huai because of his low cultivation. Seeing him not speaking, he mocked:

"Your cultivation is no good, and you don't know how to act. Hugging the thigh of Senior Brother Lin, you don't even know how to express gratitude."

"Senior Brother Wu, Senior Brother Fang..."

Fang Huai stopped Liu Xiange from continuing and bowed to Lin Qian and Wu Sanli, saying:

"Junior Brother knows that his cultivation is low and cannot shoulder heavy responsibilities. I am willing to take on all the miscellaneous tasks for this trip."

"If the two Senior Brothers have any instructions, Junior Brother will certainly carry them out without error."

Having low strength was not entirely without benefits.

When truly encountering danger, there was naturally a reason to shrink back and avoid the brunt of it.

As for Wu Sanli's mockery, Fang Huai simply disdained to argue.

If he really wanted to deal with this kind of person, the methods hidden in his heart were more than ten thousand.