Chapter 303: Chapter 303: The Mission to Kill Jintai
A stream of dark green power flowed from the two-meter-tall Iron Thread Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul Illusion, wrapping around Chu Qingyun’s left arm and hand.
As a cool, refreshing sensation spread, the wound on Chu Qingyun’s arm began to slowly heal.
This healing effect was certainly no match for a dedicated, healing-type auxiliary Soul Technique. However, it was more than enough to treat a minor injury like this. At the very least, it was much faster than slowly nourishing the wound with Primordial Power.
After the wound had fully healed, Chu Qingyun went to the post station ahead, only to find that everyone inside had fled. So, he simply took a horse and rode toward the County City.
Upon returning to the County City, Chu Qingyun didn’t go straight back to the Great Xia Dragon Guard, but went to the Assassin Alliance first.
The person at the reception desk was someone new.
He handed over the heads and his Token, completing the missions.
Four people, four missions. The total reward was 259 drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid and 5 Contribution Points.
The Primordial Spirit Liquid was given to Chu Qingyun in small, pre-counted vials. As for the Contribution Points, they were recorded in his skull-faced Token.
After settling the payment, Chu Qingyun purchased the Hidden Qi Technique Martial Spirit Chapter, which cost one Contribution Point, leaving him with four.
After a brief pause, Chu Qingyun said, "Can you help me look someone up? I want to see if there are any missions related to them. There’s someone I want to kill."
"Who are you looking for?"
The man asked, pulling the mission ledger in front of him without looking up.
They often got requests like this.
Most of the Alliance’s assassins had other identities. They also had enemies. When seeking revenge, it was only natural to check if there was a related mission, to earn a little extra on the side.
"The Jin Family’s Young Clan Leader, Jintai," Chu Qingyun said in a low voice, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
’I want to kill Jintai not just because he sent Elder Huai to ambush me. More importantly, I’m a First Layer Martial Spirit now. When Jintai realizes he has no chance of taking the Storage Ring from me, he’ll definitely tell others about it.’
’So, to ensure my own peace and avoid a lot of trouble, I have to kill Jintai to silence him.’
’Besides, I feel no pressure at all about killing someone like him.’
However, upon hearing Jintai’s name, the attendant abruptly looked up, staring at Chu Qingyun in disbelief.
"What? Are there no missions for him?" Chu Qingyun asked, puzzled.
"There are, but... forget it. See for yourself."
As he spoke, the man skillfully flipped to a page in the mission ledger, pushed it in front of Chu Qingyun, and pointed.
The Jin Family’s Young Clan Leader, Jintai. There were twelve separate bounties on him, for a total of... 384 drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid!
’Seeing that final number, Chu Qingyun almost thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. But after a closer look, it was indeed 384. 384 drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid!’
’That price is almost as high as a Third Layer Martial Spirit’s!’
"Surprised? It’s actually quite normal. Looking at these dates, people have probably been putting bounties on his head since he was a baby. But even now that he’s a Ninth Layer Martial Master, not a single person has ever accepted the mission."
"Because he’s the Young Clan Leader of the Jin Family, and his father is a supreme expert of the Martial King Realm."
"Killing Jintai is easy. But if you truly provoke the wrath of a King Realm Expert, they will use every resource at their disposal to investigate. Unless your work is exceptionally clean, once your identity is discovered, you probably won’t be able to stay in Lianshan County, or even in all of Great Xia."
"A King Realm Expert wouldn’t dare retaliate against the Assassin Alliance, but if they go after an individual assassin, the Alliance won’t interfere."
Perhaps because Chu Qingyun had asked about a mission that had been ignored for so long, the attendant was a bit more talkative than usual.
Chu Qingyun glanced past Jintai’s entry and saw that the two pages were filled with "untouchable" figures.
The Ye Family’s Eldest Young Master, Ye Wei; the grandson of the Ye Family’s Great Elder, Ye Junhao...
After casually glancing at a few names, Chu Qingyun was about to stop. But then, at the very bottom, he suddenly saw his own name!
Chu Qingyun, Captain Jin Xun of the Great Xia Dragon Guard. Suspected Half-Step Martial Spirit. Four bounties, 245 drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid.
’A bit less than Jintai...’
Chu Qingyun pointed at his own name and asked, "He’s just a Captain Jin Xun of the Great Xia Dragon Guard. What’s the big deal about killing him? Why is he on these two pages?"
"Hmph. Not all Captains of the Jin Xun rank are the same. That one saved the Celestial Wind Army’s reputation during the Four Races Martial Arts Competition. It’s said the Celestial Wind Army Master holds him in extremely high regard. Furthermore, according to our internal sources, the other Military Lords, and even the King Realm Lord Chief Managers of the Great Xia Dragon Guard, all know of him."
"Even if the bounty on someone like that was raised to five or six hundred, no one would take it."
"Just look at missions like these. The bounties are high, but you might earn the money and not live to spend it."
With that, the man took back the mission ledger.
However, Chu Qingyun said, "Accept the mission to kill Jintai for me."
’Even though Jintai hasn’t broken through to the Ninth Layer Martial Master realm and killing him won’t yield any Contribution Points, over three hundred drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid is money for the taking.’
’Besides, the Assassin Alliance doesn’t know my real identity. And the Alliance’s history is probably even longer than Great Xia’s; they would never do something like betray one of their own assassins.’
"Huh? Black Saber, are you crazy? You’re really taking it?"
"I’m warning you, you can’t just accept missions recklessly. Once you take this mission, no one else can. If you don’t complete it within half a year, you’ll have to pay a penalty of fifty percent of the bounty amount. Otherwise, your eligibility to accept missions will be frozen."
The attendant warned.
Chu Qingyun nodded indifferently. "I’ll take it."
Since he had said that, the man said no more and processed the mission acceptance for him.
After returning to the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s garrison, Chu Qingyun first went to the mission office to report the completion of his task.
Having already thrown the heads away at the Assassin Alliance, Chu Qingyun could only make up an excuse, saying they were a nuisance on the road, so he had tossed them.
The person at the mission office was helpless. Now, they would have to send someone to verify if Chu Qingyun had really killed Heaven-Reaching Clouds. Only after confirmation could they award the Military Merits to him.
Fortunately, many people had witnessed Chu Qingyun killing Heaven-Reaching Clouds, so it shouldn’t be difficult to verify.
’Chu Qingyun was unconcerned about this. A delay was just a delay. It was only a thousand-odd Military Merits anyway, nothing to get worked up about.’
After returning to his residence, Chu Qingyun spent about half an hour and finished cultivating the Martial Spirit Chapter of the Hidden Qi Technique.
All the Chapters of the Hidden Qi Technique shared common principles. With the foundation from the Martial Artist Chapter and the Martial Master Chapter, the later parts were easy to master.
After burning the scroll of the Secret Technique, Chu Qingyun closed his eyes to rest.
In the dead of night, Chu Qingyun opened his eyes.
