Chapter 134: Chapter 134: Accepting a Mission
Just then, the door to the examination room banged open again. Sui Yan frowned at the beautiful attendant. "Shi Yan, what nonsense are you spouting out here? This is the assessment form. Take this master to the Assessment Department to collect his First Grade Soul Refiner badge. From this day forward, he is a First Grade Soul Refiner of our Soul Master Tower."
"Ah!" Shi Yan’s words of comfort died in her throat. She took the assessment form, standing there dumbstruck.
"Master Ye, is there anything I can do for you?"
Coming out of the Assessment Department, Shi Yan watched as Ye Xuan calmly slipped the First Grade Soul Refiner badge into his pocket. Even now, she still found it hard to believe.
Soul Refiner was the most noble profession in the world, and also the one with the most difficult assessments to pass.
According to incomplete statistics, across the entire Liuyun Kingdom, the number of First Grade Alchemists who passed their assessment each year was only one percent of the number of Samurai who broke through to the Spirit Martial Realm. Meanwhile, the number of First Grade Soul Refiners who passed their assessment annually was merely one-tenth of the number of First Grade Alchemists.
In other words, out of every thousand newly advanced Martial Artists, only one might possibly become a Soul Refiner.
And as one’s strength increased, the difficulty for a Soul Refiner to advance was several times higher than that for a Martial Artist. At the higher echelons, this disparity would become even greater.
This was precisely why Soul Refiners were so noble: they were both powerful and rare.
But now, a mere fifteen-year-old boy had effortlessly passed the First Grade Soul Refiner assessment in just a quarter of an hour. If not for her faith in the integrity of Master Sui Yan and the others, Shi Yan would never have believed what she was seeing was real.
Ye Xuan, of course, had no idea what was going through Shi Yan’s mind. Now that he had his First Grade Soul Refiner badge, he could naturally proceed to the next step.
"Shi Yan, help me check if our Soul Master Tower has a Crystal of the Five Elements in its inventory."
"Yes!" Shi Yan nodded respectfully, then led Ye Xuan to the search system and began to look through it.
A few minutes later, Shi Yan suddenly said, "Master Ye, regarding the Crystal of the Five Elements you asked about, the Soul Master Tower happens to have one."
Ye Xuan’s eyes lit up, and a look of joy immediately appeared on his face.
’After searching for so long and spending so much energy, I’ve finally found a Crystal of the Five Elements.’
"Can you check what the requirements are to obtain the Crystal of the Five Elements?"
"Master Ye, the Crystal of the Five Elements is a Tier Five treasure, so the Soul Master Tower’s regulations are quite strict. According to the rules, Soul Refiners of the Third Grade or higher can withdraw it directly, while those of the Second Grade or higher can apply for it."
Ye Xuan frowned. ’It seems the difficulty is about the same as at the Alchemist Association. But at the Alchemist Association, I had Hua Luoxuan to help me. Here at the Soul Refiner Association, I don’t have any friends.’
Seeing Ye Xuan frown, Shi Yan immediately said, "Master Ye, if you need the Crystal of the Five Elements, I can help you get in touch with some people. I know a few Second Grade Soul Refiners. It shouldn’t be a problem to have them help you apply. It’s just that you’ll have to cover the purchase cost yourself."
Ye Xuan shook his head. Having just joined the Soul Master Tower, he was unwilling to casually owe someone a favor.
"If I remember correctly, the Soul Master Tower should have a Task Pavilion, right?"
The Task Pavilion was where the Soul Master Tower posted tasks. Many Soul Refiners who needed certain materials or had unsolvable problems would post tasks in the Task Pavilion.
Upon completion, one would receive a corresponding reward.
In fact, it wasn’t just the Soul Master Tower; the Soul Refiner Association and the Profound Hall also had similar places.
"Yes."
"Then take me to have a look."
Ye Xuan decided to go to the Task Pavilion first to see what tasks were available.
This was because many of the tasks inside, once completed, offered extremely generous rewards, and sometimes even special privileges.
Ye Xuan wanted to see if there was another way to get the Crystal of the Five Elements. If all else failed, his only option would be to ask another Second Grade Soul Refiner to help him apply.
In fact, with his current strength, Ye Xuan was fully capable of taking the Second Grade Soul Refiner assessment, and he was certain he would pass.
But he had no intention of doing so.
Soul Refiners were simply too conspicuous, even more so than Alchemists. For a fifteen-year-old boy like him to pass the First Grade Soul Refiner assessment was likely a first in the history of the Liuyun Kingdom’s Soul Master Tower.
If he even passed the Second Grade Soul Refiner assessment, it would absolutely shake the entire Soul Master Tower, and perhaps even the whole Liuyun Kingdom.
A tree that outgrows the forest is destined to be felled by the wind.
Before he had enough strength to back it up, Ye Xuan felt it was better to keep a low profile when it came to Soul Refining.
When they arrived at the Task Pavilion, the manager was also taken aback and full of praise upon hearing that Ye Xuan was already a First Grade Soul Refiner.
Learning that Ye Xuan was there to accept a task, he first recommended the basic tasks.
The so-called basic tasks mostly consisted of Awakening Souls for others or healing damaged Martial Souls. These tasks were issued by the Soul Master Tower itself, mainly to encourage the Soul Refiners to hold daily consultations within the tower.
The rewards for these tasks were actually quite generous, but that wasn’t why Ye Xuan had come. He had no intention of staying here to hold consultations.
Seeing that Ye Xuan wasn’t satisfied with the basic tasks, the manager recommended some ordinary tasks to him.
Ordinary tasks were usually posted by First or Second Grade Soul Refiners who had run into trouble during their cultivation, needed special materials, or had other similar requests.
Never mind whether Ye Xuan even found them worthy of his attention; the rewards alone were nowhere near enough to help him achieve his goal.
Seeing Ye Xuan reject the ordinary tasks without even a glance, the manager was puzzled. He smiled and said, "Brother Ye, it looks like you came here with a specific purpose. Go on, tell me what kind of task you’re looking for. I can give you some suggestions."
Ye Xuan stopped beating around the bush and got straight to the point. "Does the Task Pavilion have any tasks where the reward for completion is any Tier Five treasure, or something similar?"
Hearing this, the middle-aged manager was stunned for a moment, then he began to laugh. "Brother Ye, your standards are a bit too high, aren’t they? However, we do, of course, have tasks that reward Tier Five treasures. More than one, in fact. It’s just that I’m afraid none of them are very suitable for you."
His words were tactful, but the meaning was clear: ’The tasks exist, but you can’t complete them.’
Ye Xuan’s eyes lit up. "So there really are some. Let me see them."
The manager smiled slightly. "Since Brother Ye wants to see, I’ll bring a few out."
He said no more and directly pulled out several tasks from the high-grade section.
The Soul Master Tower’s tasks were public. Not only could the Soul Refiners inside accept them, but anyone from the outside with the ability could as well. There were no secrets to speak of, so the manager naturally didn’t mind letting Ye Xuan take a look.
Soon, several tasks were placed in front of Ye Xuan.
First task: Seeking one Tier Three Fire Luan Soul Crystal. Reward: Two million Profound Coins, or any Tier Five or lower treasure within the poster’s ability to provide.
"The one who posted this task is a high-ranking member of our Soul Master Tower," the manager said with a smile. "If you want an ordinary Tier Five treasure, he should be able to get it for you."
Ye Xuan shook his head. ’A Tier Three Fire Luan Soul Crystal? Where would I get one of those?’ Only powerful Martial Artists could complete such a task, and it was fraught with danger.
Second task: Seeking one Fourth Grade Breaking Profound Pill. Reward: A treasure of equivalent value, or a favor within the poster’s ability to grant.
"The person who posted this task is also a high-ranking member of our Soul Master Tower."
Ye Xuan shook his head. The refining process for a Fourth Grade Breaking Profound Pill was extremely complex; even typical Fourth Grade Alchemists would find it difficult to craft.
Of course, if Ye Xuan were willing, he could definitely rely on Hua Luoxuan to craft it with his help. The trouble was, one of the main ingredients for the Fourth Grade Breaking Profound Pill was extremely rare and had no substitute. Just finding this ingredient would take up a great deal of his time, making it not worth the effort at all.
Third task: Seeking an upper-tier Earth Grade Earth Element Cultivation Technique. It must have a certain degree of compatibility with an Earth Element Martial Soul. Reward...
Ye Xuan didn’t even look at the reward and just skipped past it.
After looking through a few tasks, he was speechless. These tasks were all basically about finding items no less valuable than a Tier Five treasure. ’If I had that kind of spare time, I would have gotten my hands on the Crystal of the Five Elements long ago. Why would I need to complete a task for someone else?’
What frustrated Ye Xuan, moreover, was that most of the tasks here had nothing to do with Soul Refiners.
But on second thought, it made sense. The people who posted tasks here were all Soul Refiners from the kingdom’s Soul Master Tower. If they truly encountered a problem related to the art of Soul Refining, they would most likely discuss it amongst themselves and would rarely post it as a public task.
After all, if even they couldn’t solve it, who else in the Royal City possibly could?
Furthermore, the rewards offered by low-grade Soul Refiners were not enough to attract high-grade ones. If they truly had a treasure to offer, it would be far more effective to take it directly to the tower’s higher-ups for help than to post a task here.
Seeing that Ye Xuan had been looking for a long time without picking a task, the middle-aged manager couldn’t help but laugh. "How about it, Brother Ye? I didn’t lie to you, did I? These tasks probably aren’t very suitable for you."
"Aren’t there any high-level tasks that require a bit more technical skill and a bit less time?" Ye Xuan mumbled, rubbing his nose.
The middle-aged manager was taken aback. He hadn’t expected the young man to hit a few walls and still not give up.
After a moment of thought, the middle-aged manager’s eyes suddenly lit up. "Brother Ye, now that you mention it, I really do have a task that requires a high level of technical skill. But it’s extremely difficult; the average Soul Refiner can’t solve it at all."
Ye Xuan said at once, "Bring it out and let me see."
The manager asked in surprise, "Are you sure you’re not joking?"
"Of course not."
This was exactly the kind of technically-demanding task Ye Xuan liked. With his knowledge, unless there was a problem with the task itself, there was generally nothing he couldn’t complete.
Moreover, these kinds of tasks were often straightforward, with quick results and short time commitments—precisely what Ye Xuan preferred.
The middle-aged manager sized Ye Xuan up for a moment. Seeing he wasn’t joking, he couldn’t help but shake his head. "Since you’re insisting, I’ll bring it out for you to see. But let me warn you first, this task is extremely difficult. It’s been posted here for quite some time, and many Soul Refiners have tried, but no one has been able to complete it yet."
