Chapter 157: Miaozhen Temple Disciple, Beneath the Merit Stele
Chapter 157: Miaozhen Temple Disciple, Beneath the Merit Stele
Just as Ye Rong was at a loss and in a dilemma, a loud rumbling sound came from above his head. It sounded like the sky was falling.
A beautiful young maiden flew down from the sky. She wore an ice-silk Daoist robe and had a delicate and stunning appearance, so beautiful it was almost unreal.
She let out a light shout, and two golden dragons flew out from her hands. They bit the Clam Spirit, and with a loud crack, the shell that Ye Rong had struggled so hard to break split into several pieces.
“I worked so hard and spent so much time grinding it down, and now someone snatches it away from me!”
Ye Rong’s eyes almost turned red with anger. He had no idea what kind of magic treasure this woman used, but its power was astonishing.
But she took the Chief’s Level 60 Elite Monster, then with a wave of her sleeve, she collected a few items into her own sleeve. That was something he couldn’t tolerate.
“Hey, do you understand first come, first served? How could you steal my monster!”
He knew it was those two golden dragons from earlier. From head to tail, they were hundreds of zhang long, and that was without fully extending. The impression they left was so deep that he couldn’t forget it.
Plus, the other party was a super beauty. If it were any ordinary player who dared to steal his monster, he would have already attacked with his sword.
But it seemed that the Qingcheng Top Disciple was, at heart, someone who bullies the weak and fears the strong.
“Hmph, this girl is ridiculously strong. Even the Long-Legged Lady isn’t this capable. If I take the initiative to attack her, I’d be like an old man eating arsenic—tired of living. This is almost as much pressure as what Senior Brother Chen Taizhen gave me. Could there really be a player this powerful?”
The young maiden in the ice-silk Daoist robe turned her head and glanced at Ye Rong. In her eyes, two golden dragons were swimming and dancing—real five-clawed golden dragons, divine and mighty. They were nothing like those Flood Dragons or other dragon-blooded monsters that only had a trace of dragon blood.
“What do you mean steal? I discovered this Clam Spirit three years ago. I purposely left it here to let it grow, and only today did I come to take its pearl.”
Oh no, he should have realized earlier that this beautiful maiden was likely an NPC. What player could be this strong at this stage?
She effortlessly killed a Level 60 Elite Monster in one move, making it look easier than him killing a Level 20 small monster. If there were really a player that powerful, Ye Rong would definitely go protest at the game company’s door tomorrow with a banner.
Qi Xia’er? Deng Ba Gu? Or Li Yingqiong?
Ye Rong’s thoughts raced, considering the famous powerful young maidens in Far Shore, guessing who the one before him might be.
Aside from those top-tier big shots, NPCs also needed time to grow. There couldn’t be many young female disciples with this level of strength in the short time since the game opened.
However, Qi Xia’er’s proud magic treasure was the ancient supreme treasure Yu Ding, Deng Ba Gu was known for her Flying Needles, and Li Yingqiong was represented by her Purple Ying Sword and Tushita Fire. None of them seemed to match.
“Are you a Qingcheng Disciple?”
The young maiden’s gaze was cold, her eyebrows raised. Clearly, she was someone decisive in killing.
“Yes, I am the Tianshu Hall Chief Disciple of Qingcheng. May I ask the fairy’s name?”
“Under the tutelage of Fairy Biwen of Miaozhen Temple, Jiang Xuejun.”
Hearing Ye Rong introduce himself as the Qingcheng Top Disciple, the young maiden’s expression softened a bit, and her killing intent receded.
“So you’re under Fairy Biwen! My apologies, my apologies!”
Ye Rong’s heart jumped violently. He hadn’t heard of Jiang Xuejun’s name, but he knew Fairy Biwen—wasn’t that another name for Yan Yingmu?
“I have a good friend named Graceful Dream Butterfly, also from Miaozhen Temple. Does Fairy Jiang know her?”
He quickly tried to establish a connection, bringing up the Long-Legged Lady. In terms of relationship, they should be martial sisters.
Both sides were from Righteous Factions, so he didn’t have to worry about Jiang Xuejun attacking him now. But with such a powerful NPC, it was definitely good to build a relationship, or at least get familiar. When he reached a higher level, he would find this very useful.
“Oh, so you know Junior Sister Dream Butterfly. My little junior sister just finished cultivating the first volume of the Celestial Chapter of the Great Mystery, so our master allowed her to leave the temple.”
Jiang Xuejun stretched out her slender hand, and countless thin white threads trapped the Clam Spirit. With a flick, it disappeared without a trace.
Ye Rong could only feel envy and jealousy upon hearing this. Just listen—what does she mean by ‘just finished cultivating the first volume’? Only the first volume and she already had such strength. Once she finished the later volumes, would there be any room for others?
Of course, he also knew that top-tier mental methods like the Celestial Chapter of the Great Mystery were extremely difficult to advance in. They couldn’t be compared to something like the Qingcheng Qi Refining Method or even the Purple Talisman Alchemy Scripture.
Not only did they require ten or a hundred times more Experience Points to level up, but each layer and volume also required specific opportunities or obtaining some rare treasure of heaven and earth to meet the requirements and proceed to the next stage of cultivation.
“Since you are an old acquaintance of Junior Sister Dream Butterfly, and we happened to meet here, it must be fate. I’ll give you what the Clam Spirit left behind.”
Jiang Xuejun flicked her fingers, and a ball of light flew over, landing in front of Ye Rong. She was then enveloped in a golden light, and with a loud boom, she burst through the water surface and flew away without a trace.
“That’s a true immortal, with the methods of an immortal! My Sword Flight Speed is like a turtle crawling compared to hers—not exciting or powerful at all!”
Ye Rong gazed in the direction Jiang Xuejun had left for a long time before sighing and coming back to his senses. He looked down to check what she had left him.
They were several lotus-leaf-like pages of a book. Abundant water essence flowed continuously on them, and bubbles rose one after another.
Water Lotus Scripture, Page Two. Water Element Dao Technique. After cultivation, one can walk unimpeded through rivers, lakes, and seas, becoming seamless with water.
Water Lotus Scripture, Page Three. Water Element Dao Technique. After cultivation, one can walk unimpeded through rivers, lakes, and seas, becoming seamless with water.
…
Ye Rong picked up two randomly and flipped through them, finding that they were all Dao Scrolls for cultivating the Water Lotus Scripture.
“This Clam Spirit is so stingy! Aside from the pearl, did it only drop a bunch of Dao Scrolls?”
He complained discontentedly. He didn’t think a high-level NPC like Jiang Xuejun would lie to him. Such things held little value in her eyes. Since she wanted to give it to him, there was no need for her to deceive him.
“But, why does this Water Lotus Scripture seem so familiar? Like I’ve seen it somewhere before.”
Ye Rong scratched his head and thought for a moment, then pulled out an identical Water Lotus Scripture Dao Scroll from his Universe Pouch—but it was the first page.
Putting them together, they actually formed a complete set of the Water Lotus Scripture Dao Scrolls, totaling eighteen pages.
“If a Rogue Cultivator player who hasn’t joined a sect got this, they might treat it as a treasure. But what use is it to me?”
When he placed all eighteen pages together, a layer of crystal-clear water light appeared, bright and dazzling, forming water lotuses—eighteen in total.
After the light faded, only one complete Water Lotus Scripture Dao Scroll remained in his hand, with all pages from one to eighteen complete.
“It’s better to keep this for now. If I try to sell it, I won’t get a good price. It’s better to keep it; maybe someone in my Faction will need it. It might still have some use.”
Ye Rong muttered to himself, then turned and headed deeper into the river to find other Aquatic Demonic Creatures to bother.
The Level 60 Elite Monster Jade Clam Spirit was gone, but it wasn’t something he could have dealt with anyway. Even if he had persisted for a few more hours, the result would have been the same. In a way, Jiang Xuejun’s appearance helped him solve a dilemma—continuing would waste time, but giving up was hard.
He guessed the main value of the Jade Clam Spirit was the pearl inside its body. Otherwise, Jiang Xuejun wouldn’t have remembered it and waited three years for it to grow before killing it to obtain the pearl.
A complete set of Water Lotus Scripture Dao Scrolls was an unexpected gain. More importantly, he had gotten familiar with Jiang Xuejun.
This way, he already knew two disciples from Miaozhen Temple. In the future, when he needed their help, the possibility would be much greater. Compared to other players, he would also have a better chance of accepting tasks publicly offered by Miaozhen Temple.
Freed from worrying about the Jade Clam Spirit, Ye Rong focused on killing monsters to grind Karma Points. After over an hour, he finally pushed his Karma Points past the 100,000 mark.
…
Qingcheng, Qixia Peak, a hundred zhang in front of the Ancestral Hall.
A towering stone stele, thousands of zhang high, reached into the clouds. It was extremely majestic, beyond description.
The stele emitted a feeling of desolation, fairness, cause and effect, retribution, and more. As soon as someone approached it, they couldn’t help but become solemn, not daring to have any disrespectful or irreverent thoughts.
Merit Stele!
The Sect Missions available after reaching over 100,000 Karma Points weren’t with Chen Taizhen or Ji Deng, nor with Demon-Subduing True Lord Jiang Shu or the two Sect Leaders, Short Elder Zhu Mei. Instead, they were before this thousands-of-zhang-high Merit Stele!
Ye Rong stepped forward one step at a time, his mind calm and free of distractions.
When he reached the front of the Merit Stele, he touched it with his forehead. A massive wave of consciousness was transmitted to him, filled with scenes of Qingcheng’s outstanding disciples bravely fighting and slaying evil demons.
After these scenes passed, a row of tasks appeared, no fewer than twenty or thirty.
However, more than half were grayed out and unavailable. They required Karma Points of 300,000, 500,000, or even a million. At his current stage, with 100,000 Karma Points, he could only accept four Sect Missions.
Four Merit Stele tasks, available for you to choose from, each with different requirements.
At a glance, Ye Rong was shocked and couldn’t believe it.
“Darn Kung Fu Panda! Is this messing with me, or did I grind Karma Points too fast and come to the Merit Stele too early! Each of these four tasks looks like something I can’t complete now. Maybe in another twenty or thirty levels!”