Chapter 2193: Being Watched
When Zhao Hai woke up, he calculated the time and found that it should be daytime in the underground world. But it will be dark soon. He got up from his bed and said, “Open.” With his voice, the door of his chamber silently opened.
After walking out of his room, Zhao Hai walked along the route that the jade slip described. After going around a few corners, he finally came upon a huge chamber.
This chamber didn’t belong to anyone. Instead, it was the dining room for the Outer Disciples of the Battle Corpse Sect. Currently, there were a lot of Outer Disciples eating inside. Those who were familiar with each other joked around. The atmosphere in the chamber was very good.
Zhao Hai’s arrival didn’t attract any attention. Looking around, Zhao Hai went to a counter where a few cultivators were lining up. From the jade slip Zhao Hai found the customs of the sect. The cafeteria would provide you with food whenever you want to eat. However, each meal costs money. Newcomers would enjoy free food for the first month, but they would have to pay once that time was over.
In the Battle Corpse Sect, if you don’t have a way to make money, then you will starve. Nothing in the Battle Corpse Sect was free, except your room.
Cultivation methods cost money, artifacts cost money, pills cost money, and food costs money. Without money, n.o.body could survive in the Battle Corpse Sect.
The method of the Battle Corpse Sect made it seem like it was an old miser greedy for money. But Zhao Hai understood what was going on. The Battle Corpse Sect did this to motivate its disciples. They want their members to keep working hard for the Battle Corpse Sect.
Actually, it was very easy to earn money in the Battle Corpse Sect. You can take missions to earn money. There were a lot of missions available in the sect. As long as you complete one, the sect will give you money. As to what to do with the money you gained, that was up to you.
The more difficult the mission, the higher the reward. Only once you reach the Teleportation Stage would the sect’s resources be available for you for free.
Zhao Hai and the others’ free meal could be regarded as a reward for pa.s.sing the trial. All newcomers could eat food for free. This meant that they could use this month to acquaint themselves with the sect without worrying about missions. But if they still can’t earn money after a month, then they could only starve to death.
Zhao Hai arrived at the counter and then took out his ident.i.ty token. He looked at the person in charge and said, “Two small dishes and a pot of wine.”
The cultivator on the counter looked at Zhao Hai’s ident.i.ty token and couldn’t help but stare. Then he chuckled and said, “So it’s a rookie. The side dishes are free, but you need to pay for wine.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “That’s fine.”
Hearing Zhao Hai, the cultivator laughed and said, “Good. Interesting, very interesting. Wait a moment.” Then he turned around and went behind the counter. Before long he was back with a tray containing two small dishes, a pot of wine, a wine up, and a pair of chopsticks.
Zhao Hai could smell the fragrance of the two dishes as it got closer. Then the cultivator looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Five jade essences.” Zhao Hai took out five jade essences and then took the tray.
The cultivator received the jade essences and looked at Zhao Hai’s back. A smile appeared in his eyes. He was aware that it was time for the trials. But the majority of the time, the newcomers would be nervous and only eat the next day. Moreover, these newcomers would be injured, and it would take a few days for them to heal. There were hardly any newcomers who came to the cafeteria to eat on their first day.
Zhao Hai didn’t only eat in the cafeteria on his first day of joining the sect, he even ordered wine to drink. This was the first time the cultivator saw a cultivator like Zhao Hai in the many years he worked in the cafeteria. Therefore, he was curious about Zhao Hai.
In fact, the results of the trial have spread throughout the Battle Corpse Sect. Everyone knew that someone pa.s.sed the trial without any injuries. Although his means were a bit tricky, one has to admit that he has good skills.
After eating his meal, Zhao Hai returned to his room. From beginning to the end, Zhao Hai didn’t speak to anybody. However, there were already quite a number of people who were paying attention to him.
Zhao Hai didn’t look like a rookie at all. There were several cafeterias in the entire Battle Corpse Sect, but the people who ate there were old men of the Battle Corpse Sect. None of them had seen Zhao Hai before, so it wouldn’t be strange for them to be curious about him.
After Zhao Hai left, people began inquiring about his origin. Before long, they found out that Zhao Hai was a newcomer. This made them even more curious.
Zhao Hai didn’t care about these people. The next day, he went to see the elder of the Ghost Child Gang. Of the ten people from the gang, only Zhao Hai pa.s.sed the trial. Although only one person pa.s.sed the trial, the elder of the Ghost Child Gang wasn’t disappointed. In fact, he was very happy.
The elder gave a few words of advice to Zhao Hai. Then he told him the names of those from the Ghost Child Gang that joined the Battle Corpse Sect. Then he left.
When the elder left, Zhao Hai began to understand the Battle Corpse Sect. Naturally, he still didn’t know a lot about the sect. He just wanted to know his general position of the sect and what kind of people were living around him.
After five days, Zhao Hai finally figured out where he was living. He was living on the periphery of the huge mountain cemetery. This area was specifically prepared for Outer Disciples. There were twelve such places in the Battle Corpse Sect. He lived in area number 3. From the signs he saw, this area was a.s.signed the ‘blood’ character(血).
The 12 regions of Outer Disciples were each a.s.signed a character. These characters were mountain, corpse, blood, sea, powder, body, fragment, bones, battle, heaven, war, and earth. Zhao Hai was now living in the blood region.
Although the Blood Corpse Sect received 1000 new disciples, not all of them were a.s.signed to the blood region. Some were a.s.signed to live in other regions.
Zhao Hai was not in the mood to ask about the whereabouts of the others. It had been five days since he joined the sect, it was time for him to take a mission.
Although Zhao Hai didn’t need to earn money in his first month, he didn’t want people to look down on him. Therefore, he needs to take missions. It must be known that he was known as the mission maniac in the Ghost Child Gang. If he stopped doing missions after joining the Battle Corpse Sect, other people would cast doubts towards him.
On the sixth day, Zhao Hai went to the mission hall. There were a lot of people inside the hall. The mission hall doesn’t only issue missions, it also accepts missions from other people. This place was the main source of income for the Outer Disciples of the Battle Corpse Sect.
Zhao Hai looked around the mission hall. To be honest, the mission hall wasn’t any different from the mission hall of the Ghost Child Gang. The only difference was that the hall was larger. Everyone was looking for suitable missions, so n.o.body noticed Zhao Hai.
At this time, Zhao Hai heard someone say, “Advanced-level mission. I need five people. Is anyone willing to join me?”
Hearing this, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but stare. He didn’t expect that one could form teams. While Zhao Hai was in a daze, the person who made the announcement was immediately surrounded. Before long, six people left the mission hall.
Zhao Hai shook his head. He understood why n.o.body formed teams back in the Ghost Child Gang. Plotting among ghost cultivators was extremely common. Team missions in the Ghost Child Gang were generally issued by the gang itself. There were no individuals who took initiative to form a team on their own.
However, the Battle Corpse Sect was different. The disciples of the sect were stronger, so they were harder to plot against. Moreover, the Battle Corpse Sect gave more freedom to its members. This allowed the disciples to form their own teams. This wasn’t anything special either.
Zhao Hai turned his head to look for missions. To be honest, Zhao Hai was more interested in missions that someone would deem as chicken feed. Missions like looking for herbs were looked down on for having low pay despite being dangerous. Moreover, looking for herbs took a lot of time, which was why most cultivators were reluctant to accept them.
The reason Zhao Hai liked such missions was because they allowed more freedom. Generally, herb collection missions didn’t have a time limit. With this, Zhao Hai could handle other extra tasks while on a mission.
After looking for a while, Zhao Hai finally found a suitable mission. The mission wasn’t particularly hard. It was to look for a type of ore. Moreover, the location was already provided. As long as a piece of ore was found, the mission would be marked as completed. The reward for this mission was 100 jade essences. There was no time limit. It was perfect for Zhao Hai.
Such missions weren’t attractive to average cultivators. Since there was no time limit, it was a mission that might take a very long time to complete. Although cultivators have long lives, n.o.body would waste it for 100 jade essences. Therefore, this mission has been hanging there for many days without anyone taking it.
Since the mission fit him perfectly, Zhao Hai took the mission token and handed it over. The female cultivator looked at Zhao Hai as though he was an idiot.
After Zhao Hai left the mission hall, he returned to his room and tidied up. Then he left the Battle Corpse Sect and walked towards the direction of the ore.
When Zhao Hai left, Wei Tiande was speaking to another person in his room. It was a young cultivator. If Zhao Hai was present, he would immediately recognize him. This was one of the people in the hall who were staring at him.
Wei Tiande looked at the person and said, “You’re saying that Zhao Ling took the ore collection mission? Has he left the sect?”
The cultivator nodded and said, “Elder, he has left to do the ore collection mission. That mission has been in the mission hall for a month. Because of its small pay, n.o.body took it. Moreover, it has no time limit, so n.o.body dared to take it. Zhao Ling scanned through multiple missions in the hall before choosing it. This kid really doesn’t know what’s good for him.”
Wei Tiande knit his brows and said, “He shouldn’t be dumb. I heard that this kid is a mission maniac back in the Ghost Child Gang. It won’t be a problem for him to do three or four missions in a day. If he has such skills, why would he take that mission? Alright, head back fist. Report to me if anything else happens.” The cultivator complied and then left.
As he sat in his room, Wei Tiande showed a puzzled expression. He muttered, “What is this kid doing? Strange. It seems like I have to observe him more.”
Wei Tiande was observing Zhao Hai not because he was suspicious of him. On the contrary, he appreciated Zhao Hai’s talents. Zhao Hai’s calmness during the trial attracted his attention. Therefore, Wei Tiande chose to observe Zhao Hai. He wanted to know if Zhao Hai could inherit his legacy.
Zhao Hai’s conduct over the past five days looked normal to Wei Tiande. After all, Zhao Hai was in a new place. He needed to get used to his surroundings. Observing what’s around him before making a move was the correct decision.
However, Wei Tiande couldn’t understand why Zhao Hai took the ore collection mission. He heard about Zhao Hai being a mission maniac in the Ghost Child Gang. Moreover, he heard from the Ghost Child Gang elder that Zhao Hai wasn’t only quick to finish missions, his performance was also stellar. If Zhao Hai is like that, then why would he take a time-consuming mission? It was too strange.
Naturally, Wei Tiande wouldn’t think that Zhao Hai didn’t care about the mission’s reward. The main purpose that Zhao Hai went for the ore collection mission was to send the ore to the s.p.a.ce. After all, the more things were in the s.p.a.ce, the more complete it would be.