Violet and Lilies 1.17

The next morning I woke up late...

As I groggily stumbled towards the shower, I went through my morning preparations. Glimpsing out the window, I could see the sun already high in the sky.

I had a mission for the day - to search for the opportunity, [Crystal Lotus]. Yesterday's encounter with the second protagonist reminded me that the outer sect competition was about to begin and my current strength was far from enough.

Thus, I had no choice but to rely on my fragmented knowledge of the game.

With a heavy sigh, I donned the outer sect robe and headed out of my house. A quick glance at the neighboring house revealed that the two sisters were not in sight, most likely on a mission of their own.

My destination was Mission Hall.

...

The Mission Hall was as crowded as ever, but this time I headed towards Area B. The missions in Area A were currently too dangerous for me, while the missions in Area B were usually much simpler, such as retrieving herbs or fighting weaker monsters.

As I was about to choose a mission, a mocking voice echoed throughout the hall.

"A trash like you is accepting this mission? Do you wish to die?" It was one of the goons belonging to Xiao Han.

"Yeah. With his pitiful strength, it's just a suicide mission," another goon chimed in.

"I think he's just riding high after getting accepted into the sect," another added.

The target of their ridicule was the protagonist with a grandpa, Xiao Tian. It seemed that he was choosing a mission in Area B, and the goons of Xiao Han had found the perfect opportunity to mock him.

This was a classic cliche scenario where the protagonist takes on a mission beyond his abilities and surprises everyone by completing it.

I activated my Insight and glanced at the protagonist, noting that he was in the second stage of Qi Condensation. Although slow compared to me, it was already impressive for someone with a low-grade spiritual root to sense Qi within three months. And yet, he had already reached the second stage of Qi Condensation, a speed that rivals a high-grade spiritual root.

Although talent may seem like a chasm for others to cross, protagonists are beings beyond common sense, so it's not surprising.

I looked at the protagonist with my Insight, and noticed his clenched fist, even though he maintained a cool exterior. It seemed that he was getting angry with the frequent interruptions from his cousin. I silently prayed for the goons' safety, as they had angered the protagonist.

However, the commotion didn't last long. Xiao Tian took the mission and quickly left the hall. With Xiao Tian gone, the goons had no reason to stay, and they quickly left as well.

I scanned the various missions displayed on the projection stone before finally choosing one.

[Inner Sect Sister Liu is currently researching a pill and needs five poisonous lilies from the Hundred Snakes Valley.

Reward: 250 merit points.

*Beware of the poison in the herbs.]

The first thing I noticed about this mission was the task provider, Inner Sect Sister Liu. The very first mission I had come across was also issued by her and it was also related to herbs. Maybe she's an alchemist?

The real reason I accepted this mission was that it was simple. The Crystal Lotus I was seeking was also in the Hundred Snakes Valley, and the mission reward was quite high.

It might be because the task involved poisonous lilies. Although they're easy to handle with gloves, there could be unexpected attacks from the snakes in the valley. That's probably why no other disciples were willing to take on this mission.

I took the projection stone to the counter and registered for the mission.

...

My next stop was the Exchange Hall.

The Exchange Hall was bustling with activity as usual. This was the place where disciples could exchange their earned merit points for spirit stones, pills, talismans, and other materials.

I approached the counter and was greeted by a friendly senior sister with brown hair.

"Excuse me, may I see the exchange list?" I asked softly, trying to be heard over the noise of the crowd.

"Of course," the senior sister replied, taking out a projection stone and handing it to me.

I infused a small amount of Qi into the stone, and a lengthy list of items appeared before me. My eyes were immediately drawn to the high cost of spirit stones - 50 merit points each.

"Wow, I am broke," I thought to myself.

As I looked at the price of the spirit stone, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. As expected, other disciples had not lied to me - they only sold mid and high-grade spirit stones here. This meant that disciples needed to take various missions to earn low-grade spirit stones, either from the loot they gathered during the mission or by involving themselves in secondary professions. It was quite shrewd, I had to admit.

I continued to peruse the list, noticing a wide range of items available for exchange, from heaven and earth materials to various talismans, pills, and techniques.

"I would like to exchange four Qi Replenishing pills, two Detoxification pills, a tier one Thunder Wave Talisman, and five hundred silvers," I said to the senior sister.

"Certainly," she replied. "The four Qi Replenishing pills and two Detoxification pills will cost around 150 merit points. The Thunder Wave Talisman is 300 merit points, and the five hundred silvers will cost 50 merit points. Your total cost will be 500 merit points, Junior."

I handed her my identification jade and she quickly processed the exchange. She then returned my jade along with the requested items.

"Thank you, I will come back later," I said, tucking the talisman, pills, and mortal coins into my bag of holding.

"Have a good day," the senior sister called after me as I left the Exchange Hall, just much poorer and broke.

It seems I need to go monster hunting later...

...

A/N: Please support the cute author with a power stone~