Dark Immortal Cultivation

Chapter 97 Mission

Zhao Yichen left with his men, looking rather annoyed.

He thought he could easily control Zhang Qing and bring him under his command.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Qing remained unmoved by either persuasion or coercion, refusing to follow his lead.

Zhao Yichen was decisive, or perhaps he felt that Zhang Qing's lack of appreciation was his own loss, so he didn't make a fuss.

Zhang Qing paid no attention to the offer of recruitment from his fellow disciple.

To his surprise, in the following days, several fellow disciples came to his door with the exact same purpose as Zhao Yichen.

While refusing, Zhang Qing was also secretly puzzled.

He was very low-key in the Xuanming Lower Academy, living a secluded life and focusing on cultivation. He did not socialize or attend social events, and was virtually unknown among the new disciples.

Why would so many people want to recruit him as their underling?

"Senior brother, you underestimate yourself!"

Tang Lang finally revealed the answer: "Not just anyone can obtain the Azure Cloud Token!"

Zhang Qing entered the Xuanming Lower Academy using the Qingyun Token.

This matter is no secret; anyone with ulterior motives who wants to investigate can easily find out the inside story.

Zhang Qing's background was very simple; he had no special status or background, and he usually kept to himself, ignoring other people's business and focusing on his cultivation.

People like him are very reliable!

Zhang Qing was speechless after hearing this.

I never imagined that my past life's traits of being a cow or a horse would manifest as "charm" in this life.

"Senior brother, why don't you come over here?"

Tang Lang said with a hint of anticipation, "My eldest brother is quite good. You won't suffer if you follow him, and we brothers can look after each other."

As the March deadline approaches, hundreds of new disciples of the Xuanming Lower Academy are forming teams and factions to prepare for the upcoming task assignments.

Because this disciple mission is very important, if they cannot complete it, or complete it poorly, they are very likely to be kicked out of the lower academy.

All the investment and effort of the past three months will be in vain!

Besides sticking together for mutual support, another important purpose of the group was to pool their resources to make offerings to the deacons who were responsible for assigning tasks.

Find a good job.

Some tasks require multiple people to complete together.

However, the number of such tasks is limited, making the competition extremely fierce.

That depends on everyone's methods!

Tang Lang's suggestion was sincere, but Zhang Qing, having learned the situation, declined, saying, "I'm still used to being alone."

Joining someone else's team means contributing money, doing hard labor, and following orders.

Completely out of control of their own lives.

This is not what Zhang Qing wanted.

So even though Tang Lang was very sincere and more reliable than others, he had no intention of joining.

Tang Lang wasn't disappointed and said, "Senior brother, if you're short on money, you can take some from me."

He was quite familiar with Zhang Qing and knew a great deal about the latter's situation.

They knew Zhang Qing certainly couldn't afford to pay a large sum of money to bribe the steward.

The tasks assigned at that time will inevitably be the worst!

Zhang Qingguo replied gratefully, "I don't need it for now. I'll contact you again if I really need it."

He really wanted to ask the other party if there was any way to obtain fragments of the Ruins.

However, considering that he didn't have much capital at the moment and his relationship with Tang Lang wasn't very deep, he suppressed the idea.

We'll talk about that later!

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was time to assign tasks to the disciples in the lower academy.

In fact, it wasn't just Zhang Qing and his group of newly initiated prospective disciples who were assigned tasks; many formal disciples from the outer sect were also included.

Inside the Hall of Dharma Discussion, Zhang Qing received an ebony plaque.

The front of this wooden plaque is imprinted with the seal of the Xuanming Palace and the four small characters "Xuanming Lower Court".

The back is engraved with the words "Stationed in Shiqiao Village for a period of six months".

Zhang Qing knew that he had been assigned the task of guarding the village.

Tang Lang had once "explained" to him that among all the disciple tasks, the village defense task was hard and didn't offer much reward, making it one of the worst.

If it's a wealthy village, then it's a bit better.

But such a village could never be entrusted to a prospective disciple to guard!

Zhang Qing was not at all surprised by this result.

He had no background, or rather, he did not show any extraordinary status, nor did he join any team, nor did he offer tribute to the deacons above him.

It would be strange if I were assigned a good job!

The next morning, Zhang Qing packed his bags and left the Xuanming Lower Academy to head to his mission destination.

He arrived at Shiqiao Village after traveling for more than an hour in a rented horse-drawn carriage.

Major sects like the Xuanming Palace possess numerous industries, such as mines, workshops, and shops.

And the estate!

Shiqiao Village is a village belonging to the Xuanming Lower Court. Its location is very remote, far from the outer city and closer to the outermost camp.

Such a place cannot be described as impoverished or desolate, but it is certainly not rich or prosperous.

When Zhang Qing got off the carriage, he saw a place that could only be described as "rudimentary". A hundred or so stone houses were crammed together in a messy manner, and the condition was far worse than the camps he had lived in before.

At least the camp is well-planned, with streets and markets.

The village in front of us clearly does not have such conditions.

Shiqiao Village is surrounded by vast rice paddies, with rolling mountains stretching into the distance and endless black mist on the horizon.

A small river meanders through the west side of the village, and a stone bridge spans the river, which is quite eye-catching.

Perhaps that's where the village's name comes from!

After paying the fare, Zhang Qing walked along the country road into the village.

Several children playing at the village entrance looked at him with curiosity when they saw this stranger.

One of the boys, quite bold, ran up to Zhang Qing and asked, "Big brother, what do you do?"

Zhang Qing chuckled and reached out to pat his head: "I'm looking for your village chief."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of brittle.

The boy's eyes lit up immediately, and he eagerly took the document: "You're looking for Grandpa Village Chief? I'll take you there right now!"

The other children were extremely envious when they saw this.

I regretted being too timid and missing the chance to eat candy; I could only follow behind the little boy and watch the fun together.

Led by the little boy, Zhang Qing arrived at a house located in the middle of the village.

The door was open, and the boy rushed in, shouting, "Grandpa Village Chief, someone's looking for you!"

Zhang Qing followed and stepped inside, immediately spotting two cultivators sitting in the main room.

One of them was an old man with white hair, while the other was very young and was wearing the dark blue robes of a disciple of the Xuanming Lower Academy!

When Zhang Qing entered, the two men stood up at the same time and looked at him.

Zhang Qing stopped in his tracks, bowed, and said, "Zhang Qing, a newly promoted disciple of the Xuanming Lower Academy, greets seniors and senior brothers!"