Chương 23: Mission

She made her way out of the hall. Recovering his wits, Long Feng ran after her. He stopped briefly to verify the skills he took with the warden before running after her.

"Miss! Miss! Wait. I haven't thanked you yet!" He shouted. She stopped and waited.

"I'm Long Feng" he said, expecting a name in response. There was no reply. She stood staring at him coldly, her icy blue pupils making him feel rather cold.

"I'm-I want to thank you for helping me in there." he said. Still, no reply. Long Feng scratched his nose cluelessly. This was getting really awkward, especially with her cold stare.

"So... may I know your name?" He asked, not knowing what else to say. She suddenly turned and walked away, leaving him speechless. Was it that she couldn't speak? She did talk when facing Lou Cheng, so that couldn't be true. Long Feng ran after her again.

"You don't want to speak? That's fine. I just had to thank you for your assistance. Why did you help me?" He asked again. She glanced at him.

"You talk too much" she stated briefly before walking away, leaving Long Feng dumbfounded. He watched her leave before shrugging his shoulders and returned to his pavilion. Yan Jian was waiting for him when he arrived.

"Brother Feng! I have some news. The Elite competition will begin in four months!" He shouted excitedly upon seeing Long Feng.

"What is the Elite competition?" Long Feng asked, instantly draining Yan Jian's excitement.

"It is the annual competition held in the inner court. The top five of the inner court will have the chance to become elite disciples!" He replied.

"Also the first person will also get an energy absorbing jade. It can absorb massive amount of natural energies for you to cultivate with!" He added.

"Although I won't get first, I still want to be among the top five. I want to be an elite disciple. And don't worry about your cultivation. The sect would definitely help you cultivate your soul power if they deem you worthy. Trust me." he said. Long Feng stared at at him strangely.

"Do you really believe I can't cultivate? That my talent is nothing?" He asked. Yan Jian was confused.

"B-but the talent platform showed that you have no talent!" He asked. Long Feng facepalmed.

"I don't know what's wrong with that stone. Maybe it malfunctioned. Seeing the clear disbelief of Yan Jian's face, he shook his head with a smile.

"Attack me. And don't hold back, because I won't." he said. Yan Jian was instantly bewildered.

"I can't. I don't want to hurt you" he shook his head.

"Just do it. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." Long Feng replied. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Taking a deep breath, Yan Jian nodded. He condensed his inner energy in his fist and punched at Long Feng. Of course, he held back much it his energy, ready to stop once Long Feng was unable to defend. All of a sudden Whoosh! His fist punched the air, the suddenness of it causing him to be dragged forward by his own momentum.

Long Feng had disappeared! Suddenly, he felt the aura of a rank seven connate cultivator behind him, but weirdly enough, the aura was even stronger than his rank nine connate realm aura! Realization dawned on him. He couldn't stabilize his body instantly, so without holding back, he kicked out behind him. Long Feng easily dodged the kick and thrust his palm at Yan Jian. Sensing danger, Yan Jian jumped back and shouted, using a martial skill.

"Heavenly tyrant technique!" Chaotic energy covered his fist as he punched out. BOOM! Palm and fist collided. Yan Jian was pushed back from the collision, leaving him staring in disbelief at his swollen fist. He had used a Connate grade martial skill while Long Feng used only his palm, but the palm was actually uninjured while his fist was swollen! He looked up at Long Feng in shock.

"You....." He muttered.

"I am really only a rank seven connate cultivator" Long Feng assured.

"Tell me the truth. Were you holding back?" Yan Jian asked. Long Feng traced his nose.

"Somewhat. My strength is on par with rank one Yin level cultivators." He replied. Yan Jian suddenly laughed.

"That stupid testing rock! To think it labelled you as untalented! If you are untalented, then I don't see who else is talented in this whole sect!" he uttered excitedly, and he clearly wasn't faking it. Long Feng couldn't help but smile at Yan Jian's genuine happiness.

"With this strength, you may even reach the top three in the competition!" He added once he stopped laughing.

"My goal is the energy absorbing jade." Long Feng said slowly.

"That is the spirit brother! I am with you" Yan Jian slapped Long Feng's shoulder, unwilling to argue.

"I was wondering how to go about it, but now I can rest assured since you're stronger than I am. I want us to take a mission. The sect has countless missions and the reward for completing the missions include connate crystals, Yin crystals and even weapons." He explained.

"We should take a mission that'll last us a while. Who knows? One of us may be lucky enough to make a breakthrough." Yan Jian added excitedly. Without thinking much over it, Long Feng nodded.

"I agree. But first, I need to go into seclusion for five days. I have to comprehend the skills I borrowed." He said.

"No problem. We'll head to the missions hall in five days then?" Yan Jian asked. Long Feng nodded in confirmation. Saying goodbye, Yan Jian went back to his pavilion. Long Feng wasted no time in returning to his pavilion. He went into his seclusion room for the first time. The room was quite large and the natural energies was denser than outside. This was a good place to go into seclusion. He sat down cross legged and steadied his mind. His thoughts became as tranquil as the surface of a lake.

He took out the Nirvana saint technique and studied it. Slowly, he forgot the passage of time. Three days passed. Within three days, he memorized the method of the Nirvana Saint technique and he was currently studying the Void Roc technique. Again, he lost himself, trying to comprehend it. Two more days passed.

Long Feng opened his eyes and stood up. Stretching his hands, he left the room and headed to the martial skills hall to return the two techniques. The five days limit was up and he didn't want to exceed his time and cause unnecessary trouble. After returning the martial skills, he went to the missions hall. The missions hall was as large as the martial skills hall and it also contained two floors. Within the first floor, countless plates of different colors were arranged on shelves.

Yan Jian had been patiently waiting for a while. Immediately he saw him, he ran over to him.

"Brother Long Feng! You have finally left seclusion. Did you succeed?" Yan Jian asked.

"Yes. I managed to comprehend the skills." Long Feng smiled.

"Great! Let's find a mission and go. Just you and me for even just a month. We should pick a Yin level mission. With your strength, we should be able to complete it" Yan Jian said. There was no time limit in the missions hall, so they could spend the whole day looking for a mission of their choice. Bronze plates signified connate level mission, Silver plates signified early Yin level mission and golden plates signified peak Yin level missions. Long Feng and Yan Jian's goal was a silver plate.

They searched the row of silver plates for a suitable mission. The missions included killing wild beasts, killing wanted individuals, protecting people for a given time, and investigation of mysteries like murder, infiltration of other sects for information, and others miscallenous things.

"Brother Long Feng! I think we should pick a wild beast mission. They are more fun and less complicated" Yan Jian said. Long Feng nodded.

"I found a good one!" Long Feng called out, drawing Yan Jian over to his side.

"To kill a rare mutant blood ape. An early Yin level mission. The mutant blood ape lives mainly in forests, like the dark moon forest. It has four arms, incredible defense and deadly attacks. It has no level of intelligence. It's highest strength is equal to a rank three Yin level cultivator in rare cases and even less. Reward for completing the mission is thirty Yin crystals." Yan Jian read the plate loud.

"Yes! This is perfect. We will go to the dark moon forest and search for the beast. We can definitely kill it." Yan Jian said.

"With your mere peak connate cultivation or his mediocre cultivation?" An icy voice sounded from behind them. Startled, they turned around only to realize was the young lady in veil.

"Excuse me! Do we know you?" Yan Jian asked curiously. She ignored him and stared at Long Feng.

"If miss wants to join us, then there is no issue." Long Feng spoke. Yan Jian stared at him blankly, wondering if Long Feng was tempted by her beauty. Why would he invite a stranger on their mission? He naturally didn't know if the lady's cultivation.

"I am planning on taking a mission. Going with two burdens will make no difference, and I will repay your favor of clearing the test for us. I'll meet you at the sect entrance tomorrow. Early morning." She spoke, referring to Long Feng before she turned to go.

'so that's what it's about? She wants to repay me? Huh?' Long Feng realized that was why she had decided to help him a few days ago. She suddenly paused midway.

"I prefer assassin missions, so I chose one. Be ready to complete both missions." She added before walking away.

"Brother Long Feng! What in the world was that about? Who does she thinks she is?" Yan Jian almost shouted. Long Feng shook his head.

"She helped me once. We are acquainted to some extent, and I owe her a favor." He explained.

"Hmph. She reminds me of Jio yu." Yan Jian said sullenly.

"Well, deal with it." Long Feng laughed.

"You heard her, tomorrow morning, by the sect gate." He added with a smile before walking away. After returning to his pavilion, he took out the sovereign sword and cleaned it and prepared a few healing pills, including the origin pills given by the sect. After doing that, he sat down and began to consolidate his foundation. He needed to be at his peak for tomorrow's journey