Chapter 211: Hamlet Chief’s Mission, Spider’s Growth

The Dry Flame Blazing Sword was a Sixth-Rank Divine Weapon. It had an attack power of 260-280, fire damage of 50-50, a flight speed of 500-540, and an attack speed of 300-350. It increased the Huashan Sword Art Form cap by +2 and boosted the power of all Huashan Dao Spells by ten percent.

This fire-type Flying Sword had extremely weak attributes in all aspects. Its attack power was so low that it could hardly be called a Sixth-Rank Flying Sword.

Even compared to some Fifth-Rank Flying Swords, it had no advantage at all.

However, from another perspective, it was the most suitable Flying Sword for Breeze Clear and Clouds Light himself. Its incredible flight speed was much higher than the two Sixth-Rank Flying Swords Ye Rong carried, the Taiyi Stellar Sand Sword and the Shangxuan Stellar Sand Sword.

Although it did not come with any attached spells, it increased the cap of his sect’s Sword Art Form and enhanced the power of his sect’s Dao Spells. In many ways, it seemed tailor-made for a Huashan disciple.

Breeze Clear and Clouds Light had mentioned that after completing the Sword Embryo mission, he could choose from three Dry Flame Blazing Swords. Though they shared the same name, their attributes were completely different. The other two were more like normal Flying Swords, with one focused purely on fire damage.

Since he did not rely on Flying Swords as his main attack method, he naturally liked this sword very much. If it were Ye Rong, however, he would not have been able to accept it.

“I have a map of an Ancient Immortal Abode in Jiangnan’s Tianmu Mountain. If you’re interested in joining me, I can call you along next time we go. I believe with our strength, we should make great gains.”

As he saw Breeze Clear and Clouds Light off, the latter was in a hurry to go to Chengdu to claim his rewards for the governor’s mission, which had already been delayed for several days. Before leaving, he took out a special map. The entire map was made of pinewood. It looked less like a map and more like a child’s messy scribble, giving off a faint scent of pine resin.

“Ancient Immortal Abode in Tianmu Mountain? Great! As long as I’m free then, I’ll definitely go with you!”

Although the Pinewood Map felt brittle and soft, as if it would break into pieces with a little force, it was clearly marked as an Ancient Immortal’s former residence. This meant it was no ordinary ruin or Immortal Manor. Not every ancient cultivator could be called an Ancient Immortal; one needed to at least have attained the Earth Immortal stage.

“Alright, I’ll contact you later!”

Breeze Clear and Clouds Light cupped his hands in a salute, transformed into a stream of crimson-gold flame, and whooshed up into the clouds.

“Wow, that speed must be at least three to four hundred faster than mine!”

Just from the speed at which the Sword Light vanished, Ye Rong could roughly estimate the gap in their flight speeds.

Although Breeze Clear and Clouds Light was a Player who pursued extreme speed, if Ye Rong did not get a new Flying Sword soon, his advantage in Sword Flight speed would disappear, and he would no longer be able to gain any benefits from it.

…

“What conditions are still missing to upgrade Linshui Village again?”

Accompanied by Jiafang Yifang, Ye Rong wandered around the village. It was said that upgrading to a town level would bring even more benefits.

“Going further would mean transforming into a town. The difference between a village and a town is not small. There are still too many conditions we don’t meet, like the number of special NPCs or the number of Special Structures…”

Jiafang Yifang counted on his fingers, listing more than ten missing items one by one.

It seemed that transitioning from a Level 1 village to a Level 3 town was not an easy step to take.

“Boss, can you give me one of the recommended spots for next month’s entry into Tianshu Hall? Let me enjoy being a Tianshu Hall disciple!”

Jiafang Yifang rubbed his hands together, speaking carefully while observing Ye Rong’s expression.

Although he had accumulated a lot of money and his Level wasn’t too low, it was all thanks to others carrying him in monster grinding. His actual skills were somewhat lacking. If he had to compete with others head-on, he definitely wouldn’t make it and had almost no hope of reaching the top sixteen in the Sect Minor Competition.

He spent all his energy on his Civil Engineer Life Profession. It was already an achievement to keep his Level from falling too far behind; how could he have spare energy to hone his techniques?

However, focusing on Civil Engineer did not mean Jiafang Yifang had no aspirations for his own strength development.

Once he raised his Life Profession to a certain level and hit a bottleneck, he wouldn’t need to spend as much time on it anymore.

“Jiafang, based on development potential, there are countless members in the alliance more qualified than you. If I recommend you, others might complain.”

“Next month, I’ll increase my share of the faction’s medicine sales profits by fifty percent. Then no one should have anything to say, right?”

“Alright, I’ll put your name forward in a couple of days.”

Ye Rong patted Jiafang Yifang’s shoulder firmly. Pecking Chicken had been complaining to him for a long time, always saying the faction’s public funds were running low. With this extra contribution from him, next month should be much easier.

The operation of the Green Emperor Alliance required a huge amount of funds. For example, the members on patrol duty weren’t just doing it for Gang Contribution Points. They were wasting a lot of their leveling and mission time, so they needed actual money to be willing to do their jobs properly.

“Thank you, boss!”

As the two walked, Jiafang Yifang suddenly froze and stopped in his tracks.

“What’s wrong?”

“Boss, the System sent a new mission. I’m qualified to issue one mission every day, but it usually follows a pattern of one big mission followed by six small ones, which are easier to complete. The completion rate of the missions I issue also affects my rating as the Hamlet Chief. If it’s too low, the village might lose its eligibility for upgrades.”

A flash of light appeared in his hand, and a piece of paper stamped with a large seal materialized out of nowhere. A few hastily written lines described the requirements of this Hamlet Chief mission. Whoever took this document would be accepting the mission.

Ye Rong glanced at it and felt a sudden stir in his heart—

The mission said that a Level 50 Elite Tier Five Poison Flower Spider had appeared in the marsh east of Linshui Village. It had already killed many passing commoners, and he was to quickly find an expert to eliminate it.

“Let me see—the mission reward is five hundred taels of silver and a Fourth-Tier Dao Scroll. Still so stingy!”

Jiafang Yifang muttered under his breath, complaining about the System Deity’s meanness. The rewards for missions issued through him were never very impressive. However, if such a Monster was encountered normally, the Green Emperor Alliance would still form a team to hunt it down.

Within his authority, he could tell his own people the names of the three Fourth-Tier Dao Scrolls available as rewards, so they could make a choice.

“Is this a big mission or a small one?”

“Of course, it’s a big mission! If small missions had this difficulty, the big mission System might as well spawn a Level 100 big monster right next to Linshui Village. The village would probably be destroyed!”

“If no one takes this mission, or if someone takes it but fails to complete it, will it affect the issuance of future missions?”

Ye Rong frowned. He suddenly thought of something from the target of this Hamlet Chief mission—a plan that had a high chance of being carried out.

“Of course not! There are still a few mission notices hanging in my village hall because no one wants to take them due to the trouble and low rewards.”

“That’s good! Hold off on issuing this Hamlet Chief mission. I want to wait until this Five Poison Flower Spider grows to Level 60 or above before eliminating it. Only then will it meet my requirements!”

Monsters could level up by killing Players, and they could also level up by killing each other. Elite Tier Monsters, in particular, leveled up much faster than normal ones.

Moreover, a suddenly spawned Five Poison Flower Spider like this would surely go on a violent killing spree against other Monsters around it that weren’t of its kind. Perhaps in less than six or seven days, it would reach Level 60.

“Alright, that’s easy. I’ll have someone keep an eye on this Five Poison Flower Spider and send a Flying Sword Message to inform you as soon as it hits Level 60.”

Jiafang Yifang wisely did not ask Ye Rong why he wanted to do this. Instead, he proactively took on these tasks that Ye Rong might overlook.

“To upgrade the Hundred Poison Cold Light Barrier to a Sixth-Tier Magic Treasure, I first need to collect the Essence Spirits of seven Level 60 or above Elite Tier poison-type Monsters. This Five Poison Flower Spider is my first target!”

Ye Rong went through all this trouble for his plan to upgrade the Hundred Poison Cold Light Barrier. Poison-type Monsters that met the requirements weren’t everywhere. He didn’t want to spend time searching for them slowly, so he couldn’t miss this opportunity right in front of him.

The Hundred Poison Cold Light Barrier, which could be upgraded all the way to a Ninth-Tier Magic Treasure, could accompany him into the late game. Although the path to refining and upgrading it wasn’t easy—it might even be as difficult as directly obtaining a Ninth-Tier Magic Treasure—the value of the Hundred Poison True Scripture was that it pointed out this clear path of advancement for him. Ninth-Tier Magic Treasures were precious precisely because no one knew how to obtain them. Currently, there was no visible way, but the Hundred Poison True Scripture showed him this clear route.

“That’s perfect! In the future, if you have any missions related to poison-type Monsters, you can let me know. Maybe we can hold them back for later.”

While Ye Rong was still instructing Jiafang Yifang, a familiar colorful butterfly suddenly flew over from the horizon and landed gracefully.

“I’m outside the Qingcheng Mountain Gate. Where are you?”

The handwriting was elegant and delicate, far surpassing his own, which he had long forgotten since his childhood calligraphy lessons.

He immediately recognized it as Long-Legged Lady’s usual Colorful Butterfly Flying Sword for messages, as well as her handwriting.

“She’s coming to find me now? Could it be that she’s already gotten her hands on a high-tier ship?”

Thinking of this, Ye Rong grew excited, his heart burning with anticipation.