Chapter 40: Qualified or Not

He originally planned to leave using Sword Flight to continue leveling up, but after thinking for a moment, he sent a message to Bapi Choujin first and headed to the front mountain of Mount Qingcheng.

That guy Bapi Choujin had helped him several times, and truthfully, he owed him a big favor. Now that Bapi Choujin was stuck on the Initiation Task and couldn’t make progress, Ye Rong decided to go check on him and see if there was any way he could help.

Bapi Choujin was a university student in real life, so he had a lot of free time. He played Far Shore with a few classmates.

He was quite an experienced player. Although he hadn’t participated in the Far Shore Closed Beta, he managed to become one of the top-tier players thanks to good luck and skills, and he became a Registered Disciple early on.

However, his luck didn’t last. The Initiation Task completely stumped him. For days, he could only level up around Mount Qingcheng while slowly figuring out how to complete the task.

“Yijian, you’re here! What was your Initiation Task? Mine is awful—it requires me to bring back a pair of Golden Claws from the Eagle-Tribes. They drop from level 30 Elite Monsters, and those creatures have tons of underlings. How am I supposed to manage that?”

Bapi Choujin wore a bitter expression, and the excitement of becoming a Registered Disciple had almost faded away.

The Initiation Tasks for these Registered Disciples were mostly similar. To have the strength to complete one alone, a player would probably need to be around level 50. Even with a team, it would take more than ten players around levels 35–36 working together to have a chance.

Only now, after learning the details of others’ Initiation Tasks, did Ye Rong realize how lucky he had been to become a Formal Disciple and what a huge opportunity he had encountered. Otherwise, he would be just like them, sighing and worrying.

“Yijian, do you want to join us? Boss Dongliu is a strong player from the Closed Beta—one of the Seven Great Disciples of Qingcheng back then. Our team already has more than ten Registered Disciples. In about a month, we should be strong enough to tackle the Initiation Tasks together. Usually, we grind monsters or take on bosses as a group, which is way more efficient than solo. What do you think?”

Bapi Choujin pointed to the people behind him, indicating they were his team. It seemed this was the faction formed by the expert who had helped him complete his Trial Mission.

Hearing that this person was one of the Seven Great Disciples of Qingcheng during the Closed Beta piqued Ye Rong’s curiosity even more. That title wasn’t exactly glorious—there was a story about how they were easily defeated by a powerful figure from the Demon Race, who took down all seven single-handedly and swept through Qingcheng.

If he were still a Registered Disciple, he might have considered joining. But now that he was a Formal Disciple, he had no interest in mixing with a group of Registered Disciples. Still, since Bapi Choujin had invited him, Ye Rong felt a bit awkward about outright refusing.

However, the world never lacked “thoughtful” and “helpful” people, both in real life and in games.

“Bapi, who is this? Our team is meant to be Qingcheng’s top future faction. We can’t just let anyone join. Only those who pass Boss’s screening are qualified.”

Faced with this suddenly appearing pretty boy, Bapi Choujin made an apologetic expression and secretly sent Ye Rong a message. This guy, like him, was recently recruited by Dongliu Cangshui into the team. He loved showing off and was competing with Bapi Choujin for a main spot in the team.

The team Dongliu Cangshui formed consisted entirely of over a dozen Qingcheng Registered Disciples. If they established a Faction later, everyone would be fellow disciples, naturally boosting the Faction’s strength. More importantly, it would make it easier for the Faction leader to command members without issues of disobedience.

If half the Faction were Emei players and the other half Baiman Mountain players, that would be a real headache.

One side righteous, the other evil—if later, Sect NPC elders issued a mission to eliminate the other side, the Faction would erupt into chaos first.

In the long run, securing a main spot in the team now affected future power distribution and ranking within the Faction. More immediately, it also mattered who would get help with their Initiation Task first.

Almost everyone’s Initiation Task targets were different. Taking down a level 30+ Elite Monster once required more than ten players around level 30+ working together, and they would need days of planning and preparation—it wasn’t something they could just do casually.

Ye Rong had no interest in arguing with this pretty boy. Even if these people eventually joined the Sect, he would still be their senior.

The difference in seniority alone was enough to suppress these players within the Sect. Otherwise, if reported for disrespecting elders, this guy would surely regret it.

He directly opened his Sect information and set it to display. The words “Yijian Kurong, Qingcheng Third-Generation Disciple” floated prominently above Ye Rong’s head.

“You… you’re a Formal Disciple?”

The pretty boy stammered, rubbed his eyes in disbelief to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, and his face turned from white to red like a cooked crab. A Registered Disciple had actually questioned a Formal Disciple’s qualifications and ended up being publicly humiliated. He retreated, utterly ashamed.

“Wow, a Formal Disciple!”

Bapi Choujin’s mouth hung open wide enough to swallow an egg, and he exclaimed in disbelief.

“Yijian, how did you manage that?”

Ye Rong briefly explained how he was taken as a disciple by Demon-Subduing True Lord Jiang Shu. Bapi Choujin could only click his tongue in admiration at Ye Rong’s luck, with no other thoughts. This way of becoming a Formal Disciple wasn’t something one could learn—could you really go up to Jiang Shu and ask him to take you as a disciple?

Ordinary players had never even seen the Qingcheng Sect Leader once, let alone known where to find him.

So Ye Rong’s experience offered no help to Bapi Choujin and the others.

Ye Rong had openly revealed his Formal Disciple status so straightforwardly because he noticed people on the stone platform pointing and whispering behind his back, discussing something with strange looks. One of them was a player he had met that day in front of the White Cloud Temple.

Since his identity couldn’t stay hidden much longer, he might as well reveal it openly. Lying to Bapi Choujin didn’t suit Ye Rong’s personality anyway.

“Just let me know when you’re ready to tackle your Initiation Task. I’ll definitely come to help.”

Dealing with a level 30 Elite Monster was impossible for Ye Rong even if his current strength doubled.

However, with his help as a Formal Disciple, Bapi Choujin’s Initiation Task completion time could be shortened by at least a week.