[ Quest Na: Qian Yun’s Hunger: Act-I ]
[ Quest Description: There are two types of cultivators in the macrocosm of man; one who cultivates to protect what he has, and one who cultivates to devour what he has not. Qian Yun belongs to the latter lot. And what he wishes to devour is far beyond his current self. Join him if you wish to grab a handful of the bounty, and beware of the perils that follow all precious things. ]
[ Quest Difficulty: Very Hard ]
[ Quest Rewards: (1) 100 Survival Points; (2) An Orthodox Mystic Art; (3) Access to an artificial macrocosm ]
[ Warning: Host must actively look for opportunities to earn the 2nd and the 3rd reward. Success depends on your own efforts and wisdom. ]
[ Quest Progress: 10% ]
The quest progress bar left him flabbergasted. How and when did he help Qian Yun in ’satiating his hunger’, like the quest description claid? Not to ntion, he hadn’t managed to get any share of the so-called bounty either.
Unable to even guess what was going on, he gave up thinking about it and decided to move on.
Han Xuhan got up, cleaned his face, took the stack of papers Mu Ran had given him, and walked out of the hut with determined steps. On his way, he passed by Mu Ran’s hut and asked him to tag along to the archives to file their application. Mu Ran waved a hand at him, his face scrunched like he was suffering from constipation.
"I’m in the middle of an enlightennt, underling. I’ll go there once it’s finished. My vast experience tells that it should last for only half an hour more."
An enlightennt for half an hour?
Feeling a familiar stuffy sensation all over his heart, Han Xuhan quickly took his leave.
The sun had gone downward by a notch, signaling the approach of the evening. Disciples of two generations were crowding the pavilion. His emaciated figure drew quite a large amount of attention from them as he walked into the expansive building.
"Look, isn’t that Han Xuhan from the Stinky Fish mountain peak?"
"You’re retarded if you think the reputation of the Salted Fish Peak is going to stay the sa with a talent like sister Zhou and that weirdo Mu Ran representing it. Better stop with the na-calling before you get punched in the face."
"I rember Mu Ran and Han Xuhan went on a mission outside the sect. They were only gone for a couple of days. What happened in the anti? Look at his face!"
"Did he et one of those legendary succubi and give in to its seduction?"
"Yeah, now that you say it, it does look like he was sucked dry out of his yang essence."
"What is this ’yang essence’ thing, brother? Is it just a fancy way of saying cu-"
Han Xuhan’s eyelids twitched non-stop as fragnts of the discussions flowed into his ears.
eting a succubus and having his yang essence sucked out? These younglings sure could dream!
It was apparent that most of these fellow cultivators of his generation had never faced the real terrors hiding beyond mortal eyes. Once they began taking up problematic missions as well... hehehe.
Having endured far worse during his political campaigns in his previous life, Han Xuhan’s skin was thick enough to completely ignore such whispers. With an expressionless face, he searched for the senior disciple who was in charge of managing the archives.
It wasn’t difficult to find him. He was just hidden under a mountainous stack of docunts and leather scrolls, busy with work. Han Xuhan peeked through two stacks and greeted him with a smile.
"Good morning, senior brother. I’m here to file an application."
The senior disciple did not even spare him a second glance.
"No charity here, junior. The sect policy has no space for freebies."
Han Xuhan knew not to feel insulted, as he had faced many similar situations during his ti inside the sect because of his shady status.
"I’m not asking for freebies. I’m here to sell a cultivation technique to the archives."
The older disciple looked up, startled. Giving Han Xuhan an appraising look up and down, he seed to co to a realization.
"Ah, you look like you’ve been through so troubles, junior brother. Did you incur too much debt? Is it so high that you have to sell your family’s secret Mystic Art?"
"Well, I am indeed in so debt, but-"
"Tsk, tsk, brothelmongering at an age so young. Of course, you would be in debt. Even your body looks like it has given up." The senior disciple wore a very judgntal look on his face as he spoke.
"...."
Han Xuhan truly wished to spew a volley of insults ranging from a sophisticated litany of idioms to the classic ’your-mom’ card. But this was a senior disciple holding a good position in the sect’s managent field. It would be unwise to give in to his base temptations in a deal so crucial to his future.
"I have so connections in the upper ranks of the sect, senior. The manual I’m about to sell has been pre-endorsed by the sect master himself."
"Ah? The sect master?" This ti, the senior disciple’s face grew serious. He didn’t waste ti spouting unnecessary comnts.
"Call Senior Lin. For pre-endorsed manuals, we can skip over so formalities. But you better not be boasting, or I’ll know when the application is getting verified..."
With a rather fake smile, Senior Brother Lin handed a docunt and a scroll to him.
"Fill the form up. If you’ve got a copy of the cultivation manual with you, attach it to the scroll with the seal on the table. Once you’re done, I’ll send it to the Elder in charge to get it evaluated. You’ll have to wait for at least a week or so before it gets approved. After all, we can’t let any random technique be sold on our archives."
Han Xuhan nodded and carefully read the entire scroll full of questions, with blank spaces provided for the answers. There were lots of legal terms involved, as well as a bunch of contractual conditions...
His previous experience with such forms was not pleasant, to say the least. He started filling the blank spaces with answers as carefully as he could, making sure he didn’t miss any loopholes or traps.
In simple terms, Han Xuhan chose to sign an agreent between himself and the authorities of the archives to let his manual receive official endorsent and exposure through the Archives. The sect would pay him according to the potential of the cultivation technique recorded in the manual.
The rates were quite clear. For cultivation manuals that could only be displayed on the first floor, the maximum price was five thousand spirit stones.
For techniques worth displaying on the second floor, it was around eight thousand.
For the third floor, the price could easily go up to fifteen thousand. Rates mainly depended on the Elders’ evaluation of the technique, with little room for negotiations.
As for the floors above that, Han Xuhan’s application form did not provide any information other than stating that those had custom rates.
There was also a small amount of commission for the provider of the technique every ti it was sold.
Compared to the number of spirit stones he would receive for selling the technique to the sect, the commission was negligible. But Han Xuhan wasn’t so dumb as to ignore it or fall for a certain juicy offer that stated that if he handed over the rights to his commission and title of ownership, the sect would pay him double the price of his manual.
Long-term benefits were a much better option, especially considering how easy it was to get robbed of his wealth in this dog-eat-dog world.
Further down, he had to fill in the blanks with the background of the technique and the personal information of the seller of the manual, in other words, himself. And this was where Han Xuhan executed his next maneuver, filling the blank space with two nas rather than one. Now it read:
Provider(s) Of The Manual:
1. Han Xuhan
2. Mu Ran
With this added, it’d ensure that no greedy bastard would get away if they ssed with him over the money involved. Mu Ran, the protagonist, was not soone anybody could walk over, hehehe!
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