Only three seconds? He's already the Lord of All Realms, so it doesn't matter.

Night had fallen, but the Zhaixing Hall was brightly lit.

When Ye Xuan stepped into the hall, there were only a few registered disciples on the first floor still handing over their tasks. Most of them looked tired and their clothes were covered in mud.

He walked straight to the mission handover area and placed the storage bag containing only the earth dragon's corpse, from which the gold crystals had already been extracted, on the counter.

"The character '乙' (Yi) is used to hunt and kill earth dragons."

The guard on duty was a middle-aged man with a stern face. After taking the storage bag, he only glanced at it briefly before starting to count it.

"The earth dragon's scales are complete, tier three, worth one hundred merit points. Would you like to bring the gold crystal along with it?"

"No need."

The deacon flipped through the roster in front of him and inscribed it with his spiritual power: "A total of one hundred merit points."

"Adding what you already had, you now have 115 points. Any questions?"

Ye Xuan glanced at the roster, and the numbers were indeed as stated. He shook his head but did not leave.

"Sir, Senior Brother Fang Zhengge went with me, but he met with misfortune in the wasteland. Should this be reported?"

Upon hearing this, the deacon looked up at him, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Fang Zhengge? A formal outer sect disciple, at the peak of Foundation Establishment... has he fallen?"

"Yes, we encountered an accident deep in the wilderness. He accidentally entered an ancient cultivator's abode and couldn't get out."

The deacon remained silent for a moment, then took out a thick booklet from under the cabinet and turned to the page that recorded the names of the formal disciples.

He circled the three characters "Fang Zhen Ge" with a vermilion pen, and wrote next to them, "Disappeared on the eighth day of the fourth month of the Bing Shen year during a mission in the wilderness, suspected to have perished"...

"Okay, you can go now."

Ye Xuan nodded, turned to leave, but was called back.

"Wait, since you are going with Fang Zhengge, you will inherit what he left behind in the sect."

I'll inherit it? What a great thing!

Ye Xuan was clearly taken aback. He hadn't expected that the Holy Sect would still have a shred of humanity and wasn't actually that dilapidated.

Just as he was feeling pleased, the deacon said:

"Fang Zhengge, a formal disciple of the outer sect."

He exchanged for a minor cultivation manual the day before yesterday, and still has no savings. Today he bought two travel talismans, and still has no savings...

Furthermore, since Fang Zhengge died in the wasteland and his body was never found, perhaps you should compensate the sect for the magical artifacts he brought with him when he accepted the mission.

The steward calmly recited all the bills Fang Zhengge had owed over the past few days, leaving Ye Xuan feeling as if he had been struck by lightning.

"Isn't this an inheritance? Why is it on credit?"

"You're overthinking it. If you were a formal disciple now, you could inherit his cave dwelling."

He was speechless. "How much does Fang Zhenge owe?"

"A total of three hundred points, with two days remaining. If the payment is not made in full, the person will be exiled to the back mountain."

"..."

As we left the Star-Picking Hall, the night wind outside grew colder.

Ye Xuan did not return directly to his cave, but lingered on the way for a while.

"What you earned wasn't even enough to cover the losses, Senior Brother Fang, you truly deserved to die."

Just as Ye Xuan was feeling sentimental, a voice came from behind him.

"Junior Brother Zhao?"

He turned around and saw Tang Zhao walking out of the shadows, still wearing that smile that was neither good nor bad.

"Why are you going through the side entrance so late? Are you short on merit points?"

"Yes, times are tough."

Tang Zhao then walked up to him. "I heard Fang Zhengge is dead?"

"It's such a pity. He's been stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage for over a year, and he was originally expected to break through to the Golden Core stage."

"Senior brother, your information network is so advanced, you must have overheard it from behind me, right?"

Ye Xuan looked at Tang Zhao and saw only a hint of amusement on his face.

"Oh dear, what are you saying, junior brother? I just happened to come to the Star-Picking Hall to hand in my mission."

I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I didn't mean to eavesdrop...

After making some jokes, Tang Zhao turned to look at Ye Xuan, a hint of inquiry flashing in his eyes.

"But what I'm more curious about is that Fang Zhengge died, yet you managed to come back alive and even brought back the Tier 3 Earth Dragon needed for the mission..."

Junior Brother Zhao's skills are probably much stronger than they appear.

"He just has a bit of talent."

Ye Xuan refused to back down and brought up yesterday's incident again. Tang Zhao looked visibly deflated and changed the subject, saying:

"By the way, junior brother, how did that 'Yi' character 'Nine' you took last night go?"

Ye Xuan remained expressionless. "No," he replied.

"That godforsaken place, the further you go in, the more ghosts and spirits there are, there's nothing unusual about it."

"yes……"

Tang Zhao stared at him for a moment, then suddenly took out a wooden plaque from his bosom.

"I have a good task for you, with generous rewards. If you can complete it, it should alleviate some of your junior brother's urgent needs."

Ye Xuan took the wooden plaque and saw that it was engraved with—

[Item 11: Urgently need 10 pieces of Thunder Sandalwood Heart. Pay double the amount by noon tomorrow. Total merit points: 150]

"Rosewood heartwood?"

"Yes, it's something found only in those ancient trees that are over a hundred years old, deep in the dense forest behind the mountain."

Hearing Tang Zhao say this, Ye Xuan did recall it. When he used his senses to explore the depths of the dense forest, he had seen it on some trees; it was an energy crystal similar to earth dragon crystals.

Tang Zhao pointed to the back of the wooden plaque, where there was a line of small, blurred characters:

"This mission requires venturing deep into the forest; the risks and rewards go hand in hand."

I thought it was some kind of reminder or suggestion... This is indeed the Holy Sect's style of doing things!

"Although you're only at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment, I see you returned from the depths last night, and you seem to have quite a talent for chopping down Thunder Sandalwood. Why don't you give it a try?"

Ye Xuan handed the wooden plaque back. He knew that this Senior Brother Tang in front of him only wanted to see him make a fool of himself, and it would be even better if he could die in one fell swoop. That's why he had been hanging around him.

"I'll think about it."

"Oh? Junior brother, don't you pride yourself on having some talent?"

"Alright, alright, I'll save this quest for you. No one will dare to take it. If you decide to accept it before noon tomorrow, you can come find me at the back mountain."

Ye Xuan only looked away after Tang Zhao's figure disappeared into the night.

"This Senior Brother Tang is really persistent."

When he returned to his cave, it was already midnight.

Ye Xuan pushed open the door, sat down on the bed to meditate and concentrate, his consciousness quickly sinking into his body.

Deep within the dantian, the illusory image of a celestial willow is reflected, seemingly standing quietly, its roots penetrating the meridians, its branches and leaves unfurling.

Following the route recorded in Yu Chenzi's skeleton, he attempted to channel a wisp of the spiritual power of the "Nine Separations from Heavenly Yang" into his dantian.

The moment the two forces came into contact, a slight stinging pain immediately spread through the meridians of the entire body.

But the next moment, the roots of the immortal willow actively wrapped around that wisp of spiritual power, absorbing and transforming it, and finally integrating it into its own cycle.

The whole process went more smoothly than expected. Ye Xuan opened his eyes, a look of surprise flashing across them.

"No wonder he can advance his cultivation by a thousand miles a day using this miscellaneous method."

Upon trying again, this time importing more spiritual energy from the "Nine Heavens Separation" technique, Ye Xuan gradually discovered the problem.

"Although this method allows for rapid cultivation, the two forces are constantly colliding at the foundation, which will inevitably become the root of problems in the future."

At the same time, with each absorption, the reflection of the Immortal Willow in the dantian grows. But after it grows to a certain extent, will it start to backfire on the host, just like Yu Chenzi did?