Chapter 46: A Beauty in the Northern Lands
"Disciple Jiang, are you here to hand in another task?" A white-haired man asked as he looked at Jiang Yue.
The old man was one of the elders in charge of the inner sect mission hall.
"This disciple has completed the Free Valley task."
Jiang Yue waved his hand, and round objects flew from his storage bag.
The objects piled up on the ground in front of him, and the hall fell into silence.
"Thirteen heads. Are these the heads of the chief and deputies of the Free Valley gang?"
The hall elder looked at the heads and sighed in fascination.
All of them had their eyes open, and deep terror could be seen within the depths.
"Junior brother Jiang is as efficient as ever." An onlooker commented as he looked at Jiang Yue in admiration.
"I heard he beheaded the Blue Ridge rapist three weeks ago."
"He is on our sect’s top ten beauties’ list..."
"Shhhh! Don’t say it aloud. Senior brother Jiang beats everyone who dares to call him a beauty."
"His hair looks like moonlight. I wonder when I can have such hair..."
"Dreaming..."
Jiang Yue heard the murmurs, but couldn’t be bothered to care.
All he wanted was to collect his contribution points and leave the hall.
"Can I get the points?"
The elder took Jiang Yue’s identity jade and recorded ten thousand contribution points.
"Will disciple Jiang take another task right away?"
"Not this time."
The elder was shocked.
In the past three years, Jiang Yue would take a new task as soon as he handed in the completed one.
This was the first time he chose not to take a mission.
"Does the disciple plan to practice in seclusion?"
"No."
Jiang Yue saw that the elder wanted to continue questioning, and he interrupted.
"If there is nothing else, this disciple will leave."
He bowed to the elder and left the mission hall.
He made his way to the third mountain and climbed to the peak where his master’s courtyard was situated.
"Junior brother Jiang is back..." Cao Ya stated when she saw him.
"I am back. Is master here?"
Jiang Yue didn’t like Cao Ya, and he didn’t bother making small talk.
It was five years since Yang Mountain closed, and he hoped it would be open when he visited this time around.
Because of that, he wanted to quickly greet his master and head to Yang Mountain.
"Junior brother Jiang is just in time to attend master’s meeting."
Cao Ya clenched her hands in resentment as she looked at Jiang Yue.
For some reason, this junior brother did not like her.
At first, she thought it was because she inherited their master’s alchemy.
However, when she thought about it, she realised that his attitude started long before she inherited.
"Senior sister, is something going on?"
Jiang Yue was a little impatient when he heard that his master had called a meeting.
He didn’t dislike his fellow disciples, but they weren’t close.
After Yang Mountain closed, Jiang Yue practised on the third peak for two years.
When he felt confident about his strength, he began to take missions to consolidate his cultivation and earn contribution points.
Because of that, he didn’t have time to get along with his fellow disciples.
However, he didn’t mind this situation.
More than getting along, he wanted to earn contribution points to support Yu Nianzhen when he left seclusion.
During these years, Jiang Yue didn’t forget the terrifying tribulation.
He felt that they needed to prepare, but there was nothing he could do other than accumulate contribution points.
As he thought of this, he sighed and followed Cao Ya to their master’s courtyard.
"This disciple greets master and fellow disciples." Jiang Yue said as soon as he entered the room.
Several pairs of eyes turned to him, and he returned the stares confidently.
"Sit down."
Jiang Yue sat on an empty mat and waited for his master to speak.
"This year is the tenth year, and the sea beasts are about to riot. All disciples will soon be dispatched to resist the sea beasts." Elder Chen spoke.
"Master, I heard that resisting the sea beasts is also a competition between peaks?" A disciple asked.
The disciple was elder Chen’s third disciple called Xiao Jiuxiao.
He came from a famous family in a major city, and his talent in alchemy was only inferior to Cao Ya.
"Yes, killing sea beasts will earn contribution points. The seven peaks will be ranked according to the number of points."
"Grandma, what’s the prize?" This was asked by Wen Lan.
Elder Chen frowned and glared at the girl.
She had told the girl to observe formality whenever they weren’t alone, but this girl didn’t listen.
However, she couldn’t bear to be angry at her granddaughter.
Instead, she sighed helplessly and let the matter go.
In the end, everyone knew that Wen Lan was her granddaughter.
"Killing a class one beast will earn one contribution point. A class two beast is ten points, and a class three beast is one hundred points."
"What about a class four and class five beast?"
"A class four beast is equivalent to a core formation realm cultivator, and a class five is equivalent to a nascent soul. Such beasts are unlikely to appear, but if they do, it will not be your turn to intervene."
"Your senior brothers and sisters will deal with class two and class three beasts. You only need to care about the class one beasts."
"Yes, master." The disciples nodded and sighed in relief.
"Master, are there any other rewards except contribution points?"
Elder Chen remained silent for a second before her face turned solemn.
"This time, the ranking is very important..."
"The thousand herbs garden is about to open, and our Sea Cloud sect has fifty places. The ranking will determine how many places are allocated to each peak."
The disciples gasped in surprise when they heard their master’s words.
The thousand herbs garden was a secret realm that opened once in a hundred years.
It was said that rare herbs in the Cangxing world grew like weeds in the thousand herbs garden.
"Master, how will the places be allocated in the peak?" Jiang Yue asked.
’This disciple has a restless mind.’ Elder Chen thought when she heard Jiang Yue’s question.
If places were allocated equally among the seven peaks, each peak would receive seven places.
However, things were not so simple.
In terms of strength, their third peak could not compare to the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth peaks.
At best, the third peak would be ranked fifth during the sea beasts’ mission, and they would be lucky to receive five places.
Additionally, not all fifty places would be divided among the peaks.
Ten places would be reserved by the sect and issued to disciples who have accumulated merit or disciples with special circumstances.
Considering that, the number of places available to the seven peaks was only forty.
"The issuance of placings will depend on the number of placings allocated to our peak." Elder Chen didn’t want to commit to a definite answer.
"However, the thousand herbs garden is only open to origin forging realm cultivators. The disciple who has the highest kill points will have a place regardless of the number of places allocated to our peak."
Jiang Yue relaxed when he heard that.
He knew that his master valued him, but he was not as valued as the disciples who could do alchemy.
Although he shared an illusion origin with his master, elder Chen had a fire root while he had a water root.
Because of this, he could not do alchemy unless he contracted a yin fire that was compatible with his water root.
However, yin fires were rare, and Jiang Yue didn’t like alchemy.
The only reason he tried to find a yin fire was because alchemists could easily earn contribution points and spirit stones.
He felt that if he was rich enough, there would be a way to support Yu Nianzhen through the next tribulation.
’Everything is up to fate now.’ He thought and continued to listen to his master’s instructions.
After the meeting, Jiang Yue did not return to his courtyard.
Instead, he rode a small treasure boat across the inner sect to the core region.
The journey did not take too long, and when he saw Yang mountain, his heart skipped a beat.
For five years, the mountain was covered by a golden mist which showed that the mountain array was closed.
Now, the golden mist was no longer there.
Jiang Yue urged his treasure boat and landed in front of the mountain protection array.
He removed his entry token and placed it on the array. The array parted, and Jiang Yu rushed in.
He ran to the mountain peak and rushed past Yang Xu, who had just come out of his courtyard.
"Young people..." Yang Xu shook his head, but he had a smile on his face.
Jiang Yue quickly arrived in the west courtyard.
He took a moment to calm down, and when he was about to push the door open, the door opened from within.
Yu Nianzhen stood inside, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say when he saw Jiang Yue.
For the past five years, he had lived for the moment when he saw Jiang Yue again.
He had thought about the first words he would say.
Thought about what he would do.
Imagined how the other looked after five years.
However, when he saw Jiang Yue, none of what he imagined came to mind.
At that moment, his mind recalled a long-forgotten song he had read when he was still a student on earth:
’There is a beauty in the northern lands,
Who stands alone without peer.
One look from him and a city falls,
Another look and down crumbles an entire nation.
Care not whether cities fall,
Such beauty never comes around twice.’
