Chương 57: Overreacting Much?

Because Ren Qingquan needed to reach the Spirit Beast Peak branch before his mission officially began, he immediately visited the Mount Renting Station after accepting the mission. After paying for a First Tier Low Grade Qi Refining Pill, Ren Qingquan flew to the nearest Spirit Beast Peak on top of a crane. This time, I spent my time rereading some books that Ren Qingquan had scanned.

Once he arrived at the Spirit Beast Peak, I sensed that the situation on the mountain differed slightly from that at Ren Qingquan's outer disciple residence. Apart from the mountain that appears somewhat taller than the one used as the outer sect residence, the spirit qi density at the Spirit Beast Peak branch is slightly higher. It's roughly equal to the density at the mountain where the Disciple Registration Hall is located, where Ren Qingquan and Fatty Zhang registered as disciples.

After jumping from the crane, Ren Qingquan surveyed his surroundings. Aside from being a little more crowded and a nearby sign reading 'Welcome to Spirit Beast Peak Branch No. 14,' the Mountain Renting Station at this branch isn't much different from other Mountain Renting Stations. After leaving the Mount Renting Station, Ren Qingquan headed to the small hut displaying the mountain map.

'System, record the map and add it to the system map.' I quickly reviewed the map before displaying it on Ren Qingquan's system map. Ren Qingquan then opened the system map and searched for the Mission Hall of the Spirit Beast Peak Branch. While Ren Qingquan examined the map, a sleazy-looking disciple, seemingly in his early twenties, approached him. He wore a standard Pure Wave Sect disciple's uniform with a sword insignia attached to his left chest.

Seeing the insignia, I remembered it was the symbol of a disciple from the Pure Wave Sect's Punishment Hall, one of the sect's Halls along with the Miscellaneous Hall. Unlike the Miscellaneous Hall members, who mostly act as low-level officials, members of the Punishment Hall serve as the sect's enforcers. As the disciple approached, he inspected Ren Qingquan from head to toe and said, "I don't think I've seen you here before."

Ren Qingquan looked at the disciple with curiosity and replied, "Yeah, I've just arrived here to complete my mission." The disciple rubbed his hands, "Doing a mission here? Then, are you a new outer disciple? No wonder you didn't know that an outer disciple taking on a mission in this area must make an offering to Young Master Li. We won't ask much, just half of the contribution you gained."

Seeing Ren Qingquan not respond, the disciple persisted in threatening him, saying, "The sect's interior may be safe, but that doesn't mean we can't make your life a living hell." After hearing the lengthy speech, Ren Qingquan bluntly asked, "Are you extorting me?" The disciple's eyes flashed with greed, "You could call it that, but we prefer to see it as an offering. Now, you'd better know your place and-" Before he could finish, a lightning bolt suddenly struck him out of nowhere.

The brilliant lightning lasted less than a second, followed by a thunderous boom. Once it vanished, the disciple extorting Ren Qingquan disappeared as well, obliterated by the lightning bolt. Due to the sudden bolt, most of the surrounding people, including Ren Qingquan, didn't know what had just happened. But as an incredibly advanced System (fake), I happened to know what transpired.

I focused my attention on the Pure Wave Sect's Sect Master and saw him pointing two fingers toward the mirror that reflected Ren Qingquan's surroundings. Snake-like zaps of lightning still lingered on his fingers. I speechlessly looked at the Sect Master. To actually instantly kill a disciple with thunderbolt just because of a common extortion plot shows how incredibly cautious the Sect Master is when it comes to children of destiny.

When I thought zapping someone to smithereens was already the Sect Master's limit, I saw him close his eyes for a moment and call someone using the secret voice transmission technique. Soon, a man walked in. When the man stood before the Sect Master, the Sect Master conjured an illusion showing the unscrupulous disciple who had extorted Ren Qingquan.

"Investigate the relationship between this disciple and a disciple calling himself Young Master Li. If Young Master Li indeed instructed this disciple to collect 'offerings', you may kill him immediately. Otherwise, warn him to control his lackey. If the lackey causes trouble again, there will be no second warning." After a moment of thought, the Sect Master added, "I remember an elder surnamed Li at Spirit Beast Peak.

If that Young Master Li is related to him and has collected 'offerings,' just imprison him for a year. If they resist, you may eliminate both, and I will take care of the responsibility." With the Sect Master's command, the mysterious man replied, "Understood," and then vanished instantly. After the man disappeared, the Sect Master picked a small octagonal mirror around the size of a tablet smartphone from his pouch. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The Sect Master imbued the mirror with his spirit qi before slightly adjusting it. After he adjusted the mirror by drawing a few runes, the reflective surface rippled like water for a few seconds. Soon, the Miscellaneous Hall Master's face is reflected in the mirror. At first, the Miscellaneous Hall Master's face is a bit blurry. But soon, it becomes clear, and a sound comes from the mirror, "What's wrong, Sect Master?"

"That child of destiny has made a move. Currently, Ren Qingquan has taken a mission to help the Spirit Beast Peak," the Sect Master explained.

"Not long after he arrived, a dumb disciple went to extort him. In a panic, I accidentally smite him to dust." The Miscellaneous Hall Master became speechless.

"I want you to handle the mess. Tell the Punishment Hall that Ren Qingquan isn't responsible for the lightning strike. Also, keep an eye out and make a list of troublemaking disciples in the Spirit Beast Peak's branch no. 14 and Ren Qingquan's outer sect residence," the Sect Master added. The Miscellaneous Hall Master nodded, "Alright. Do I also need to give Peak Master Feng Yun some clues and make him act more carefully? After all, it's his Spirit Beast Peak that's chosen by the child of destiny."

The Sect Master fell into thought before responding, "I don't think that's necessary. With Feng Yun's character, I don't believe he'll offend the child of destiny. Just keep your mirror on standby. I might need your help if the child of destiny comes into contact with Feng Yun." The Miscellaneous Hall Master nodded, and the Sect Master's handheld mirror rippled before the Miscellaneous Hall Master's face slowly disappeared from it.

With nothing else to do, the Sect Master calmly returned to watching Ren Qingquan through the Heaven Prying Mirror. Although the situation around the sect master has calmed down, my heart is still in chaos. First and foremost, if this is a cultivation story, then Young Master Li and his father probably deserve an entire story arc, or at least a few chapters of focus, where Ren Qingquan has to struggle and face-slap some cultivators.

Yet here, the Sect Master immediately sent someone to deal with Young Master Li and his supposed father. Where should Ren Qingquan show off and face slap if things like this go on? But that thought didn't last long in my mind. As soon as I finished complaining and saw the Sect Master talking with the Miscellaneous Hall Master through the mirror, my mind froze, and only one thought ran through my head - What the fuck? Is that a smartphone?!

Since seeing the hologram in the sect library, I've actually got a gut feeling that there's something weird going on. Seeing the sect master doing a video call through a small mirror, I realized what I've ignored. The sect has many mirror replicas, each seemingly able to communicate with the main mirror. This means it should also be able to communicate with each other using the main mirror as some sort of server.

Fortunately, there appears to be a limit to the mirrors, which is why they haven't spread to every disciple yet. Otherwise, if every disciple had a mirror, it wouldn't be long before the internet itself reappeared in the cultivation world. Perhaps I should find a way to peek at how those mirrors work. I might be able to bring the internet to this backwater world and launch a dimensional-reduction attack that shocks the natives of this world.

After daydreaming, I turned what I had seen into a video and showed Ren Qingquan what the Sect Master had just done. Once he finished watching it, Ren Qingquan was speechless after hearing about the Sect Master's overreaction. While chatting, Ren Qingquan continued to follow my map and arrived at the Spirit Beast Peak Branch's Mission Hall. During the journey, although some disciples pointed their fingers at him while gossiping, no one else dared to block him.

Inside the Mission Hall, Ren Qingquan, who already has some experience with the Pure Wave Sect's black technology, looked around the place. After watching the other disciples, Ren Qingquan followed what most of them were doing. He took out his identity token and showed it to the mirror hanging from the ceiling of the Mission Hall. Soon, a golden screen appeared in front of him. Ren Qingquan tapped the screen several times until it displayed a message. {Your mission has been successfully registered. Please wait a moment. Our staff will bring the Mission Acceptance paper.} Not long after the screen vanished, a male disciple approached Ren Qingquan.

"Greetings, are you the one taking the demon beast butchering mission?" Ren Qingquan nodded, "Yes." The disciple handed a paper to Ren Qingquan and said, "Please head to the demon slaying area in an hour. After eight hours of work, the manager there will mark the paper. Show the marked paper at this Mission Hall to complete your mission and get your reward."

"Alright, thank you." Ren Qingquan accepted the paper and opened the system map to find his next destination. Thankfully, the Demon Slaying Area isn't far from the Mission Hall. After a half-hour walk, Ren Qingquan arrived. Although it has a glamorous name, the Demon Slaying Area is almost indistinguishable from the Ren family's fish processing zone. It's simply a warehouse-like structure filled with a few people and mostly demon beasts.

Besides living demon beasts, there are also many dead, processed demon beasts hanging inside. The only notable difference is likely the absence of odor and filth, thanks to the Cultivation World's array techniques. After Ren Qingquan entered, he looked around until a man who looked about in his late 20s came. From my [Scan], I saw the young man's energy has reached the level around Martial Emperor, which means he's already a golden core expert, and definitely isn't as young as he looked.

The young man looked at Ren Qingquan and asked, "What brings you here?" Ren Qingquan took the paper he received from the Mission Hall. On the paper, aside from an empty space, which is probably intended for the manager's mark as the Mission Hall's disciple mentioned, the mission name and Ren Qingquan's name are also written. After the young man glanced at the paper, he became excited.

"You should've told me you're here for the mission!" He patted Ren Qingquan's back several times, excitedly pulling him to one of the nearby empty corners where several people are busy nonstop killing ox-like demon beasts.

"I still have time, so let me teach you the basics. Do you have any experience with butchering?" Ren Qingquan shook his head.

"I've worked as my family's fish market supervisor back home, but I've never actually been involved in butchering fish myself." The young man nodded, "Well, having watched a fish processing is good enough. By the way, I've seen your name on the paper. You're called Ren Qingquan right? My name is Dong Shi. You can just call me Manager Dong."

"Alright, Manager Dong." After hearing Ren Qingquan's reply, Manager Dong said, "You're still new, so you'll be responsible for skinning the beheaded beasts. Don't worry, you are allowed to fail a few times to get used to the skinning process. Learning how to skin beasts is also important, especially when you explore the world later to kill demon beasts." Then, Manager Dong took an ox-like beast that had finished bleeding and lost all its blood.

He calmly placed the beast on a table, then picked up a nearby knife and sliced the beast's skin. While doing so, Manager Dong explained the process slowly. Since I knew Ren Qingquan would often take on this kind of mission, I listened carefully. Given how Ren Qingquan usually acts, I am 90% sure he'll ask for my help. As expected, after Manager Dong left, Ren Qingquan asked me, 'System, you're called a Heavenly Comprehension System, right? Then, can you use your abilities to help me skin these demon beasts?

Or at least help me learn how to do it faster.'