Chapter 15

"Elder Yu, why have you come?" The supervisor senior brother immediately put down the miscellaneous book titled "My Sword Spirit Wife" and looked at the old man with a nervous expression.

Lin Jing also looked over. If he remembered correctly, Elder Yu was the elder in charge of outer sect affairs; he was the boss of the outer sect.

"Ziran, what are you reading again?" Elder Yu frowned, reached out his hand, and the supervisor senior brother's book immediately flew into Elder Yu's hand.

"Elder! This book was written by Daoist Jian Qingfeng of the Heavenly Sword Sect; it contains the supreme principles of the Sword Dao, it is by no means a useless miscellaneous book..." Before the supervisor senior brother could finish, Elder Yu snorted coldly and put the book away.

"Reading miscellaneous books during work hours, I fine you half a month's spirit stones."

The supervisor senior brother wore an expression as if his pet beast had died.

"Squeak squeak squeak..." The Pine-Leaf Rat covered its mouth and giggled.

At this moment, Elder Yu's gaze turned toward the Pine-Leaf Rat... toward Lin Jing.

The Pine-Leaf Rat immediately restrained its smile, very afraid that the other party would fine it half a bag of leaves.

"Hmm?"

"Are you Lin Jing?" After a glance, Elder Yu suddenly spoke.

"Replying to Elder Yu, this disciple is indeed named Lin Jing." Lin Jing was not surprised that the outer sect elder knew him; Elder Mo had brought him back and placed him in the outer sect, so he must have greeted Elder Yu.

"Are you here to accept a mission?" Elder Yu asked.

Lin Jing nodded.

Elder Yu pondered for a moment, thought about it, and said: "It seems you haven't found a suitable one yet. So, do you want to accept a mission with spirit stones as a reward, or a mission with sect contribution points as a reward?"

Lin Jing was stunned. What did the outer sect elder mean...

Tailor-made?

"Replying to the Elder, this disciple wants both."

Elder Yu choked, and said: "I came here this time precisely to issue a mission."

"The Rising Dragon Festival is approaching. To manufacture mechanical beasts, a large amount of spiritual bamboo is needed. Outer sect disciples who possess wood-type pet beasts can take this mission and go to Golden Pearl Source to harvest spiritual bamboo in exchange for spirit stone rewards and sect contribution points. Limited to one person for now."

"I see you have contracted a Pine-Leaf Rat; are you willing to accept this mission?"

Ah?

The supervisor senior brother and the other four outer sect disciples were dumbfounded, looking at the unfamiliar Lin Jing, guessing his background in their hearts.

Elder Yu had practically written "backdoor," "special treatment," and "abuse of power" on the mission wall!

This person... what exactly is his identity!

"This disciple is willing!" Although Lin Jing still didn't understand what was going on, as an honest person, he couldn't refuse to give the elder this face.

"Ziran, record the mission. For every 10 bamboo stalks harvested, there is a reward of one spirit stone, plus 1 sect contribution point." Elder Yu said: "Leave it to this disciple to do."

After saying this, he flicked his large sleeves and left the Mission Hall.

After Elder Yu left, Senior Brother Ziran immediately looked at Lin Jing with admiration and said: "Junior Brother, congratulations. To be favored by Elder Yu, your future is immeasurable."

Lin Jing returned the courtesy: "Just good luck. I wonder, Senior Brother, what is this mission about? Can you tell me?"

Senior Brother Ziran had no book to read, so he had time to explain: "You should know about the Rising Dragon Festival, right?"

This is one of the traditional festivals of the Tianyuan Ancient Kingdom. It is rumored that the founder of the Tianyuan Ancient Kingdom, the first Ancient Emperor, once used the True Dragon Secret Art to enlighten the mountain range in the very center of the Tianyuan Continent. The mountain range rose up and transformed into a divine dragon, shouldering the responsibility of guarding the Tianyuan Ancient Kingdom.

This giant dragon is also the symbol of the Tianyuan Ancient Kingdom's destiny. It sleeps in the earth, turning into a destiny dragon vein, guarding the ancient kingdom for generations. Whenever a disaster that is difficult to resist occurs within the ancient kingdom, it will awaken to suppress the calamity.

Over time, to commemorate this giant dragon transformed from a mountain range, the day of the giant dragon's birth became a traditional festival, popular not only in the cultivation world but also celebrated by mortals.

Lin Jing didn't expect that the Beast Taming Sect would also specifically celebrate this festival.

"The Beast Taming Sect celebrates the Rising Dragon Festival every year. Of course, it's not a grand affair, just holding some small activities as usual."

"The day of the festival is also a good opportunity for inner and outer sect disciples to showcase themselves."

"And in our Beast Taming Sect, when celebrating the Rising Dragon Festival, there is a very special event, which is the 'Dragon-Beast Fight'."

"Disciples can send out their own pet beasts to challenge the 'Dragon'!"

"Of course, this dragon is not a real dragon. Our Beast Taming Sect doesn't have a real dragon yet. This dragon refers to a mechanical dragon made using 'mechanics'."

"When Elder Yu was young, he traveled the continent and learned the manufacture of mechanical beasts from the mechanics among the hundred arts of cultivation!"

"This skill is still very rare in our Beast Taming Sect."

"Because of this talent, Elder Yu is responsible for the sect's Rising Dragon Festival every year. Him issuing the mission to harvest spiritual bamboo must be because he intends to use the spiritual bamboo to manufacture a 'mechanical bamboo dragon'."

After the supervisor senior brother finished speaking, an outer sect disciple in the Mission Hall said excitedly: "A mechanical bamboo dragon, it seems this year it's a wood-attribute mechanical dragon. My pet beast is a Fire Spirit Sparrow, which has the advantage of attribute suppression."

"This is rare news. Now I can start researching how to deal with wood-phase beasts." Another outer sect disciple said.

"Over the years, defeating the mechanical dragon has always yielded generous rewards—spirit stones, elixirs, magic treasures, spells, everything you could want. So, both inner and outer sect disciples are eager to try." Senior Brother Ziran smiled: "However, the mechanical dragon... although it is at most equivalent to the Qi Refining cultivation, its combat power won't be too exaggerated, but after all, it comes from the hands of a Golden Core elder, so it's not that easy to defeat."

"So that's it." Lin Jing understood. He continued to ask: "May I ask, Senior Brother, is there anything specific to pay attention to when harvesting spiritual bamboo?"

Although he was working very hard to learn knowledge related to various spiritual plants, his learning time was, after all, not long.

"Golden Pearl Source is a valley located between two mountain peaks at the northern foot of the Beast Taming Sect. There is a bamboo sea there, rich in spiritual bamboo. If I remember correctly, this kind of spiritual bamboo must be cut with an axe containing wood-type properties so that it won't lose its characteristics."

"Oh, using wood-type spells should have the same effect, for example, the Pine-Leaf Rat's Flying Leaf Art. Elder Yu also said just now that he saw you had a Pine-Leaf Rat, which is why he gave you this mission." Senior Brother Ziran again showed an envious expression.

"The reward for this mission is quite generous; even among the missions that inner sect disciples can accept, I'm afraid there aren't many this generous."

"However..." He observed Lin Jing and the Pine-Leaf Rat.

"Your Pine-Leaf Rat, is it still at the third layer of Qi Refining? As far as I know, spiritual bamboo is incredibly tough. Even a Pine-Leaf Rat at the middle stage of Qi Refining using the Flying Leaf Art would probably need several attempts to cut down one spiritual bamboo; it's extremely laborious!"

"It probably won't be easy for it to cut down spiritual bamboo with the Flying Leaf Art."

The supervisor senior brother suddenly realized; he had been wondering why Elder Yu was so generous.

He had just been thinking that the reward was a bit too generous. It turned out Elder Yu was certain that this junior brother's strength was insufficient to harvest too much spiritual bamboo. If the main intention was to help the other party train their Flying Leaf Art, then it made sense.