Eternal Life: Hundredfold Rewards-Chapter 34 - 33: Reunion with Qi Chan’Er

Chapter 34: Chapter 33: Reunion with Qi Chan’Er
Qi Chuan appeared at the entrance of the Task Hall, glanced up at the plaque with the words "Task Hall" inscribed on it, and then stepped inside.
Entering the Task Hall, it was exceptionally wide and bright. The floor here was like a bright mirror, and the various displays around were very eye-catching, much grander than the Qi Family’s Task Tower.
The surrounding walls had three large jade pendants that displayed numerous task details.
In the main hall, quite a few Inner Sect Disciples were looking up at these three jade pendants, their expressions very focused.
"Among these people, quite a few have cultivation levels in the Qi Refining Middle and Late Stages; even those in the Qi Refining Late Stage are not few."
Qi Chuan briefly scanned these Inner Sect Disciples, vaguely sensing their realm, not very precise, but enough to give a rough estimate.
Many among them were former Inner Sect Disciples, so there were quite a number at the Fifth and Sixth Layers of Qi Refining.
There were even some in the Qi Refining Late Stage; these were truly veteran disciples, mostly in their thirties or forties.
After a sweep of his eyes, Qi Chuan also turned his gaze to the three jade pendants on the wall, observing some of the tasks on them.
"True Disciple Liu Ying is recently delving into alchemy and needs two Inner Sect female disciples providing Fire Attribute Mana. Cultivation must be above Qi Refining Sixth Layer, preferably with Fireball Technique at the Minor Success Realm. One-month duration, reward of five sect contribution points."
"Five hundred miles away in Black Wind Valley, kill a Qi Refining Late Stage Black Spirit Blood Ape and retrieve the essence blood from its heart, reward of eight sect contribution points."
...
"Most of these tasks are not workable..."
Qi Chuan couldn’t help but shake his head slightly.
Whether it was the previous tasks within the Qi Family or the current sect tasks, they all shared a common flaw: they span a long time with little reward.
Being the Fire Supply Boy for True Disciple Liu Ying for a month for five sect contribution points was considered decent. In the Inner Sect, one sect contribution point roughly equated to ten Lower Grade Spirit Stones, which meant a reward equivalent to fifty Lower Grade Spirit Stones.
Qi Chuan’s Fireball Technique had reached the Great Success Level, surpassing the requirement of Minor Success, but unfortunately, he didn’t meet the cultivation requirement, and it required female disciples.
As for the task of killing in Black Wind Valley five hundred miles away, that place was a notoriously dangerous area, and Qi Chuan had no intention of provoking the Qi Refining Late Stage Black Spirit Blood Ape, as there was no need to risk it.
"Isn’t there a task that’s less demanding, time-efficient, safe, and yet offers a decent reward?"
Qi Chuan kept looking but couldn’t find one, and recalled his previous experiences taking tasks at the Qi Family, deciding to wait and see if better tasks would refresh.
So he waited for half an hour.
Around him, some Inner Sect Disciples shared the same thought, waiting there as well.
During this half hour, some tasks refreshed, caught the eyes of some Inner Sect Disciples, and were picked up, yet Qi Chuan didn’t make a move.
"...In the Cloud-Rising Mountain Range, kill a Water Cloud Crocodile, a set of fangs, reward of three sect contribution points."
At this moment, a new task refreshed and caught Qi Chuan’s attention.
"This task is quite decent."
After pondering for a moment, Qi Chuan finally took it.
The Cloud-Rising Mountain Range was quite near Wind Moon Lake. It was a long, narrow mountain range extending from the outer mountains of Wind Moon Lake.
Permanently shrouded in dense mist, hosting many demon beasts due to its connection with the outer mountains of Wind Moon Lake; in some sense, it could even be considered the "Inner Mountain" of the Wind Moon Sect, invisibly protected by the sect, hence relatively safe.
As for the Water Cloud Crocodile, it was a Tier One Middle Grade Demon Beast, with relatively weak power among Tier One Middle Class demon beasts, comparable to a human cultivator at about the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining.
Though the Water Cloud Crocodile prefers to live in groups, its attributes render it weak against Fire Attribute Power. With Qi Chuan’s Great Success Level Fireball Technique, as long as he was cautious, it should be fairly manageable.
Overall, this task should proceed smoothly.
Moreover, this task’s reward was also reasonable: a set of Water Cloud Crocodile fangs for three sect contribution points, equivalent to thirty Lower Grade Spirit Stones. Killing a few more would suffice for him to obtain Gathering Essence Pills for quite a while.
Thus, Qi Chuan held the Wind Moon Sect Inner Sect Disciple Token, injected mana, and pointed it at one of the jade pendants. A beam of light shot out, hit the task, and he took it.
Then, he walked to a nearby counter and registered the task information with a Sect Steward.
After completing the formalities, he left the Task Hall and headed to the Cloud-Rising Mountain Range.
Since it was close by, Qi Chuan arrived shortly.
"So, this is the Cloud-Rising Mountain Range?"
Qi Chuan looked up to see the dense, gray mist enveloping nearly the entire Cloud-Rising Mountain Range, giving it a rather eerie and terrifying appearance. However, it was, compared to other dangerous spots, considered safer.
Hence, Qi Chuan delved into it, cautiously threading through a forest of towering trees.
All around, the sounds of various howls echoed, with occasional swift-moving creatures darting past in the distance.
Sometime later, Qi Chuan came across an expansive black swamp filled with foul-smelling black mud, unknown worms writhing within, with occasional bubbles bursting to release waves of foul odors.
This was the swamp mentioned in the task, where the Water Cloud Crocodile resided.
"But why can’t I see the Water Cloud Crocodile?" Qi Chuan glanced around but didn’t spot any Water Cloud Crocodiles.
Thinking for a moment, Qi Chuan formed a seal with his hands, recited an incantation, and used the Floating Technique to hover in the air. Then, he flew briefly, heading deeper into the Black Swamp.
After a while, he finally saw what looked like a small piece of black wood floating on the surface of the liquid-like black mud.
"Finally spotted one."
Seeing this, Qi Chuan smiled.
Though it was well hidden, Qi Chuan knew that this "black wood" was merely the nose of a Water Cloud Crocodile emerging from the water.
Immediately, Qi Chuan formed a seal with one hand, mouthed a few words casually, and with a wave of his hand, a crimson fireball larger than a fist flew out, entwined with clusters of dim flames that burned intensely, scorching the void. It fell into the Black Swamp, directly hitting the "black wood."
The process was swift; the "black wood" had just started to react when the crimson fireball was upon it.
"Squeak!" A piercing sound rang out.
In an instant, the black mud exploded, splattering foul water, and crimson flames spread, enveloping a demon corpse about a zhang in length, hovering on the water’s surface.
With a wave of his hand, Qi Chuan dispersed the crimson flames, revealing a charred demon corpse shaped like a crocodile, with bone-like horns on its head and covered with menacing scales, quite intimidating.
This was the Water Cloud Crocodile.
In terms of strength, it was only a weak Tier One Middle Grade Demon Beast, equivalent to a human cultivator at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, while Qi Chuan’s Fireball Technique restrained it and had reached the Great Success Level. Even among those at the Qi Refining Late Stage, its power was not weak.
Therefore, it was killed in one strike, and this was with Qi Chuan holding back, as he intended to collect a set of its fangs. Otherwise, the entire demon corpse would have been incinerated by the Fireball Technique.
"Let’s collect the fangs first."
Then, Qi Chuan used the Floating Technique to bring the Water Cloud Crocodile’s demon corpse before him. The Upper Grade Magical Artifact "Flying Ash" dagger turned into a gray shadow and flew out, slicing a few times at its head to remove fang after fang, stained with fresh blood.
After collecting these fangs, the Floating Technique was withdrawn, and the corpse fell directly into the Black Swamp with a splash, mud splattering.
The entire value of the Water Cloud Crocodile lay mainly in its fangs; the rest was of relatively low value. Qi Chuan didn’t have a storage bag, so he couldn’t take it with him.
As for the Demon Beast Core, there was only a chance of it being generated in a Tier One Upper Grade Demon Beast, which this Water Cloud Crocodile certainly couldn’t have.
"Three Sect Contribution points in hand, equivalent to thirty Lower Grade Spirit Stones, three Gathering Essence Pills, enough for three months of cultivation... I’ll go further to see if there are any more Water Cloud Crocodiles."
Having killed one Water Cloud Crocodile and collected a set of fangs, Qi Chuan smiled slightly and continued using the Floating Technique to delve deeper into the Black Swamp.
In the following time, Qi Chuan discovered two more Water Cloud Crocodiles, killed them, and collected two more sets of fangs.
"Equivalent to ninety pieces of Lower Grade income, not bad, but aren’t there too few Water Cloud Crocodiles? Isn’t it said that Water Cloud Crocodiles live in groups?"
In the Black Swamp, on a Little Stone Island, Qi Chuan sat cross-legged on a black stone, holding a piece of Lower Grade Spirit Stone, activating the Evergreen Technique to absorb its Spiritual Qi and restore Mana, furrowing his brows, a bit puzzled.
"Let’s look some more. If nothing is found, it might be time to head back."
Once his Mana was partially restored, Qi Chuan employed the Floating Technique to continue searching in other directions for Water Cloud Crocodiles.
Unfortunately, after searching for a while, Qi Chuan didn’t find any traces of the Water Cloud Crocodile.
"Forget it, let’s head back."
With this, Qi Chuan prepared to return to the sect.
Bang bang!
However, just at this moment, Qi Chuan suddenly heard some commotion coming from ahead, mixed with several roars of Water Cloud Crocodiles, and even a clear, naive girl’s muffled hum.
"Is someone battling the Water Cloud Crocodiles? And there are quite a few..." Qi Chuan listened carefully for a while, surprised.
No wonder he hadn’t encountered many Water Cloud Crocodiles before; perhaps some were attracted by this person?
"Moreover, how come this person’s voice sounds so much like..."
Qi Chuan’s expression turned strange.
After a moment of thought, he used the Floating Technique and went towards the direction of the magical combat commotion.
Soon after, he saw on a Little Stone Island, four Water Cloud Crocodiles besieging a young girl in red. The latter’s lips were oozing with scarlet blood, seemingly unable to hold on.
"So it’s her..."
Qi Chuan shook his head slightly.
The girl in red was none other than Qi Chan’Er, who had parted ways with him a few months ago to join the Outer Sect of the Wind Moon Sect.
Unexpectedly, she also came to this Black Swamp, whether to hunt Water Cloud Crocodiles or for some other task.
But how did she end up being besieged by four Water Cloud Crocodiles? That was a bit careless.