Elven cultivators

The City of the Beginning, the Hall of Service.

This building is located in the southeast corner of the city of the beginning, separated from the outer city residential area by only two streets and a few hundred steps away from the Preaching Pavilion.

This is where disciples of Taichu City accept missions, submit mission tokens, and settle contribution points.

Whether they are newly initiated disciples or senior disciples who have already cultivated their spiritual energy, they all come here every now and then.

Ryan walked through the familiar streets to the entrance of the Chamber of Affairs, stepped over the threshold, and entered the main hall.

Directly opposite the main entrance is a long oak counter.

Several young elves from the document hall were sitting behind the counter, engrossed in processing documents. Occasionally, someone would look up and ask the disciples in front of the counter a few questions.

Ryan subconsciously slowed his pace, his gaze falling on the notice boards on both sides of the lobby.

The notice board was framed in dark oak and covered with a fine corkboard, which was densely covered with parchment.

Each parchment is a notice of task.

The entire notice board was divided into three areas, which were separated from each other by copper strips, making them clearly distinct.

At the top are the long-term tasks, including assisting the Spirit Plant Garden in caring for rare plants, regularly submitting specific talismans, regularly submitting specific low-level pills, and so on.

These types of tasks don't contribute much, but they are stable and suitable for disciples who want to accumulate contribution points gradually.

The middle column is for temporary tasks.

The notices in this section are changed much more frequently than those for long-term tasks, sometimes several times a day.

The tasks were varied, ranging from repairing formations to maintaining Taoist soldiers, from organizing the library to copying classics, and the pay varied from high to low.

At the very bottom are the elite missions.

This section has the fewest notices, usually only two or three, and sometimes none at all.

However, the contribution points reward on each notice is extremely generous, often several times or even ten times that of ordinary tasks.

The content is mostly related to combat.

For example, clearing out monsters in a certain area, escorting important supplies through dangerous zones, etc.

Usually only disciples with higher cultivation levels dare to accept the task.

Ryan's gaze lingered on one of the notices for a moment.

It was a recruitment notice for exploring the Underdark, posted in the most prominent position.

More than a dozen disciples were gathered around the notice board, pointing at the contents and whispering among themselves.

"I've heard that the Underdark is teeming with monsters, some of which can be easily killed even by Silver-rank monsters..."

"That's why we have to take the test; if you're not good enough, you're just going to your death."

"What a pity, I'm still two breaths short of breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, so I don't meet the requirements."

"What are you afraid of? This is obviously a long-term mission. You can train for another year and participate next year."

At this moment, someone noticed Ryan's arrival and immediately greeted him, "Senior Brother Ryan."

The other disciples then realized what was happening and greeted them.

"Did you just come back from outside, senior brother?"

"I heard that you recently succeeded in refining the Dragon Essence Pill. Congratulations, Senior Brother."

"Senior Brother Ryan, when is it your turn to be on duty at the Preaching Pavilion? There's a martial art technique I don't quite understand, and I'd like to ask you for guidance."

Ryan smiled and responded to each question before leaving the lobby and heading towards the quiet room at the back.

He skillfully made his way through several turns and arrived at a room at the end of the corridor, where he pushed the door open.

The room was small, about twenty square meters, with a long oak table in the center and a dozen or so rattan chairs around it.

The long table was now surrounded by people.

Flora, Mia, Lucius... all the disciples who passed the aptitude test with him back then were present.

"You came really quickly."

Ryan walked into the room, closed the door behind him, and said with a sigh.

It's been a long time since I've seen so many people together.

Everyone is busy with their own things on weekdays, either cultivating or doing tasks, so getting everyone together is not an easy task.

"Of course," Mia said with a grin. "It's important, I don't want to be late."

Ryan looked in the direction of the sound, his gaze landing on Mia's shoulder, and paused slightly.

There was a red finch, about the size of a fist, crouching there.

Its feathers are reddish-gold, and its tail feathers are long with slightly forked ends, like a cluster of burning flames.

What is most striking is its pupil, which is dark gold in color, and deep within the pupil it seems to have lava flowing slowly, with each blink bringing out a wisp of tiny sparks.

"Firebird?" A hint of surprise flashed in Ryan's eyes.

"That's right." Mia smiled smugly and poked the Firebird's head. "It's a new Tier 1 spirit beast that the Beast Garden has bred. I spent a lot of contribution points to get it."

Firefly squinted its eyes as it was poked, making gurgling sounds in its throat, but instead of pulling away, it tilted its head and rubbed against Mia's finger, appearing very intelligent.

Ryan looked at the small firebird with great interest.

In recent years, the zoo's work on improving the biological species has been on the right track, and a number of spirit beasts have been bred one after another.

Today, the animal park has developed a relatively complete breeding system.

At the same time, a system of spirit beast rankings corresponding to cultivation realms was also established.

Simply put, a first-tier spirit beast corresponds to the Qi Refining stage, a second-tier corresponds to the Foundation Establishment stage, and a third-tier corresponds to the Golden Core stage.

The Beast Garden has only cultivated first- and second-tier spirit beasts so far; the third-tier is still in the theoretical stage.

However, even the lowest-level first-tier spirit beasts possess considerable combat power.

Despite its small size, the Firebird can breathe spiritual fire, with a temperature high enough to melt fine steel, making it no less powerful than some of the disciples present.

"As soon as I heard I could sign up to explore the Underdark, I immediately ran to the Beast Garden to exchange for one." Mia patted the Firebird's head, her eyes full of pride. "With it, dealing with those monsters underground will definitely be a lot easier."

"Alright, stop showing off."

Flora smiled slightly at Ryan, her voice as gentle as a stream.

"Ryan, stop standing and talk, sit down first."

Ryan nodded and sat down in the empty seat next to Flora, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"It seems everyone has decided to participate in the exploration."

The group exchanged smiles and nodded in agreement.

"Of course, we can't miss this opportunity."

"My teacher said that one cannot simply shut oneself away and work in isolation on the path of cultivation; one must also hone oneself in order to go further."

"I heard that this exploration is being led by Lady Roman. She is a powerful Gold-rank expert and the vice commander of the Silver Moon Legion. I'm sure I can learn a lot from her."

Everyone chatted enthusiastically about the exploration mission.

Ryan listened with a smile, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over Lucius, who was sitting in the corner.

The latter did not speak, but sat there quietly, stroking the hilt of the long sword at his waist as always.

That sword was a magic-grade longsword that Lucius had recently acquired, named "Flame Blade".

I heard that Lucius spent almost a year's worth of contribution points to acquire this longsword.

Lucius appeared calm and composed, revealing no emotion, but Ryan, who had known him for a long time, easily detected an undisguised expectation in the latter's slightly narrowed eyes.

Of all those present, Lucius was probably the most eager to participate in the exploration.

The path of sword cultivation emphasizes honing one's skills in actual combat and seeking breakthroughs on the edge of life and death.

The Underdark, a place fraught with danger, was actually the best training ground for Lucius.

Ryan looked away, pondering to himself.

All twelve of them had broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining and had mastered more than five martial arts techniques and spells.

Anyone who passes the practical assessment is eligible to participate in the exploration mission.

It seems we'll all be spending a long time in the Underdark for the foreseeable future.

"Now that everyone has made their decision, let's go back and prepare."

Ryan stood up, a smile on his face.

Goodbye, Underworld.

"Alright, goodbye, Undercity."

"I can't wait."

"I need to exchange for a protective talisman."

The group chatted and laughed as they filed out of the room.

The footsteps and conversations gradually faded away, and the corridor returned to silence.

Just as Ryan was about to leave, Flora called him back.

"Ryan, wait a minute."

He turned around and found that Flora and Mia were still standing at the door, seemingly having something to say.

"What's wrong?" Ryan asked.

Mia smiled and said, "We wanted to ask you if you'd like to form a team?"

Ryan paused slightly and looked at Flora.

Flora explained, "I've heard that the Underdark is very dangerous. Although we're traveling with an exploration team and have their protection so we're not fighting alone, if we could form a small team, we could look after each other. What do you think?"

"Good idea."

Since Flora spoke up, Ryan naturally wouldn't refuse.

Besides, he genuinely thought forming a team was a good idea.

Immediately afterward, a figure suddenly popped into Ryan's mind, and he blurted out, "Why don't we invite Lucius to join as well? I'll persuade him."

"Of course, no problem." Mia agreed without hesitation.

Flora smiled slightly, indicating her agreement.

Although Lucius is aloof and not very talkative, you'll find that he's actually quite good to his own people once you get to know him.

Moreover, his skills would definitely be a great asset to the team.

In terms of the amount of spiritual energy he can refine, Lucius is not as good as Ryan and Flora, and is about the same as Mia.

But when it comes to actual combat ability, even Ryan wouldn't be able to guarantee that he could beat Lucius.

Lucius's cultivation of "Burning Heaven Refining Edge" was inherently focused on killing, and the Divine Sun Sword Technique he chose to practice further maximized the advantages of this technique.

It is said that he has cultivated the Divine Sun Sword Technique to the point where all five yangs emerge simultaneously, so even against a silver-rank opponent, he is not without the power to fight.

After deciding to team up, the three stopped talking and went back to prepare.

By the time Ryan walked out of the Hall of Regents, the sun had risen considerably.

He stood at the doorway, let out a long breath, and felt a faint sense of anticipation for the upcoming journey to the Underdark.

Realizing this, he couldn't help but laugh at himself.

"It seems I have a bit of an adventurous streak deep down."