"Oh, the Sect had posted this mission before. How long ago was the first post?" Yoze asked.
"About a year ago. At that time, it was taken by an immortal cultivator with blue hair who was somewhat desperate for Sect Points, which is why I still remember it."
"After a week, that immortal cultivator returned with nothing but melancholy and turned in the mission. I had thought everything was over, but a well later, this exact mission was once again posted."
"This time, it flew below the radar, so it took nearly two months before a group of immortal cultivators accepted the mission. Just like the first immortal cultivator, they returned with no clues or signs of a demon."
"Just like the first time, a week later, the Sect posted this same mission. Unfortunately, most immortal cultivators were no longer interested in this mission, so many months had passed." Sami said with a serious face.
"A year has passed. Hmmm, I'll think about it. Tell me about the other two missions." Yoze said after some thought.
With the time frame that Sami had provided, the demon hidden in the cavern must have been at least a year old, possibly older. That meant that this mission had long since passed the threshold that immortal cultivators could reasonably beat a demon.
The Elephant demon that he had fought in the past was a good example of how quickly demons matured. In a short few months, it learned how to manipulate its spiritual energy to form armor and even use it to attack.
With such a level of control of its spiritual energy, even if it wasn't that good compared to older demons, it was more than enough to devour and destroy an immortal cultivator's spiritual energy without much effort. Only immortals could reasonably defeat such a demon, much less this mysterious demon that was much older.
"Why would the Sect keep posting this mission as a one star if they know that the demon would be impossible for immortal cultivators to defeat? There is something much deeper going on, but how much do I want to be involved?" Yoze thought to himself.
"Okay, the next mission is called the Golden Wheat Belt. This is very different from the first mission as this isn't about exploring but defending one of the Sect's food territories."
"At the Green Plain territory, the Sect has planted a large amount of Golden Wheat that has been attacked numerous times. The Sect has no idea what is attacking it and killing the mortals farming, so it has created this mission."
"What is strange is that there are already immortal cultivators defending the place, but they have been injured and need to return. Unfortunately, this is a critical time for the plants since they are maturing in two weeks."
"If they keep being attacked, the entire harvest will be ruined; thus, the Sect is planning on sending more immortal cultivators. Since whatever is attacked the place is strong, this mission has been classified as 1.5 stars." Sami said with some excitement in his voice.
Even though he wasn't able to convince Yoze to take the Dark Cavern mission, he felt that the chances that he would find the Golden Wheat Belt mission more acceptable was much higher.
"What is the reward?" Yoze asked.
"Of course, the reward for this mission is two Sect Points. This is the standard amount for a 1.5-star mission, but having to defend the farm for only a couple of weeks makes it a good mission." Sami said.
"None of the attackers noticed anything strange, unique, or specific to the attackers? Not a single clue after all this time?" Yoze asked.
"From the report, there was truly nothing that was reported. Besides the attackers attacking in the darkest periods of the night and at random times, nothing else was reported." Sami said.
"Very strange. Not having a single clue that could be used to identify the attackers puts suspicion on the defenders. It's too odd for a group of immortal cultivators not to gather a single clue about the attacker. Even if the attacker faked the clue, it was something."
"But for nothing to come out of it makes me suspect that there is a rat among the immortal cultivators. In that case, most of this mission's difficulty is finding a justification for killing those immortal cultivators." Yoze thought to himself
"This one is quite good, but I want to hear the last mission before I make my decision," Yoze said after some time.
"Of course, you need to be careful when accepting missions. As for the last one, I think this is the worst of the three." Sami said with a frown.
"Why is that?" Yoze asked with some interest.
"This mission is called the Deity Killer mission and is a 1.5-star mission. Even though it is a 1.5-star mission, it offers three Sect Points, which is much higher than normal."
"Unfortunately, this mission is about traveling to Gospel Peak in the Lizard Territory. It has been discovered that the natives of a hidden village in the mountain are worshiping a deity called the Eternal Justice and treat it as their god."
"The Sect is worried that this deity is actually a demon in disguise and feeding on the people's faith to grow stronger. The reason I say this is the worst mission is that it shouldn't be ranked so low."
"There are similar other missions about investigating and slaying demons disguised as gods and holy creatures, but they are ranked as three stars and above. Even though this mission is 1.5 stars, I believe it is the hardest mission by far." Sami said.
"Interesting, so it is common for demons to disguise themselves as gods and other creatures. Just like the stories I have heard, I should ask, how long has this village been worshiping this demon?" Yoze asked.
"I don't know." Sami shook his head.
"I just noticed this mission just recently. So it must have been here for quite some time."
"So the demon must be quite strong itself to be capable of surviving this long even though the Sect had known of its possible existence. Of course, there is a possibility that this is just a dud, and there is no demon at all. But the chances of that are slim." Sami explained.
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