Chapter 86: Advancing to Black Rank, Risk and Opportunity (2)
Translator: Henyee Translations | Editor: Henyee Translations
It was a young man in his twenties. A talisman on his leg was slowly turning into ashes and dissipating.
"I came with Master Si's order!"
The young man shouted loudly, attracting everyone's attention.
"Lin Shen has performed exceptionally well and is overflowing with talent. From today onwards, he will be promoted to Black rank!"
The square suddenly fell silent.
Soon after.
The crowd instantly erupted.
"No way, a Black-rank disciple?"
"You're not kidding, are you?"
"Ridiculous! A new student advancing to a Black-rank disciple? I've never heard of it!"
"Did Master Si really say that?"
The crowd was in an uproar, and countless people shouted their doubts aloud.
This was especially true for the senior students, who couldn't believe their eyes.
It was no wonder that they were so agitated. This news was simply too shocking.
Since the establishment of the academy, there had never been a new student who became a Black-rank disciple as soon as he entered the academy!
Yes, Lin Shen was indeed powerful and had shocking talent, but he was only a new student after all.
There were many Yellow-rank disciples who were stronger than Lin Shen. It wasn't his turn to be promoted to a Black-rank disciple!
What about the Yellow-rank disciples?
"Silence!"
The young man suddenly shouted. His voice containing spiritual essence spread out like muffled thunder, instantly suppressing the commotion in the square.
He looked around with eyes as sharp as a bolt of lightning and said calmly, "This is Master Si's decision. If anyone has any objections, you can report it to Master Si!"
Everyone's expressions froze.
Who was he kidding?
With Master Si's authority, how could he have the time to deal with these Yellow-rank disciples?
After shocking everyone with his words, the young man no longer paid attention to them. He turned around and went up to Lin Shen. His indifferent expression changed, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.
"Junior Brother Lin, according to Master Ke's instructions, I'll be in charge of showing you around the academy."
Only then did Lin Shen recover from the shock of advancing to a Black-rank disciple. He glanced at Meng Dong when he heard this.
The latter immediately said, "This is Senior Brother Kou Ming, a Black-rank disciple!"
"Senior Brother Kou, Thank you!"
Kou Ming waved his hand amiably. "We're all Black-rank disciples.
Junior Brother Lin, you don't have to be so polite."
Meng Dong was speechless as he watched this.
He had met Senior Brother Kou Ming a few times before, and the latter was usually not so easy to talk to. But now, he was so kind to Lin Shen.
It seemed Master Si thought highly of Lin Shen.
Meng Dong was thinking about this when Lin Shen turned around and said,
"Senior Brother Meng, thank you for your help."
Meng Dong was shocked and hurriedly waved his hand.
"I'm not a Senior Brother. Senior Brother Lin, you can just call me Junior Brother or Meng Dong!"
Lin Shen was slightly stunned.
Kou Ming explained with a smile,
"Junior Brother Lin, the disciples of the same rank in the academy are ranked according to their age. The disciples of different ranks are ranked according to their ranks. You're already a Black-rank disciple now. According to the rules, Yellow-rank disciples should call you Senior Brother!"
Lin Shen was stunned. He didn't expect there to be such a rule.
However, on second thought, he realized this might be another interpretation of their strength.
Sighing to himself, Lin Shen turned around and waved at Yang Zhongyi and Su Nian before following Kou Ming out of the square.
The guided battle had already ended. Lin Shen didn't want to stay and be surrounded like last time, so he left with Kou Ming first.
With a Black-rank disciple like Kou Ming around, those disciples who wanted to build a good relationship with Lin Shen didn't dare to approach him. They could only watch helplessly as the two of them disappeared at the exit of the square.
It was not until the two of them left that the quiet square became noisy again.
"Is Lin Shen really a Black-rank disciple?"
"Senior Brother Kou is a Black-rank disciple. Even he personally came to welcome Lin Shen. Looks like it's true!"
"He became a Black-rank disciple as soon as he entered the academy.
This is like reaching the heavens in a single step. I'm so envious!"
Yang Zhongyi and Su Nian looked at each other, still in a daze.
How did Lin Shen suddenly become a Black-rank disciple?
What was going on?
On the other hand, Zhao Xueying, Xue Feng, and Chong Yanhe were deep in their thoughts.
Not long after.
Kou Ming brought Lin Shen to a large courtyard.
On the plaque at the entrance of the courtyard were the words "Merit Hall".
"Junior Brother Lin, this is the Merit Hall. This is the place where all the disciples who enter the academy will interact the most in the future!"
Lin Shen nodded slightly.
He had long learned from Yang Zhongyi that apart from the fixed resources that the academy's disciples were allocated according to their status and level every month if they wanted to obtain more cultivation resources, they had to complete the missions issued by the academy and obtain merit points to exchange for them.
Whether it was accepting missions or exchanging resources, they were all carried out in the Merit Hall in front of him.
The two of them walked side by side into the courtyard.
After passing through the courtyard, Lin Shen saw a long and spacious corridor.
Kou Ming pointed to the left and said, "Going in from here is the place to accept missions. Come. I'll show you."
The two of them then passed through the corridor and arrived at a hall filled with tall cabinets.
Looking over, the cabinets were neatly arranged. There were rows of horizontal logs on them, and every row was filled with dense wooden tablets.
If one took a closer look, one would notice the wooden tablets were filled with tiny words.
"These wooden tablets are all about the mission."
Kou Ming casually took off one and handed it to Lin Shen.
Lin Shen thanked him and took it to take a closer look.
"Ten-day shift in the spiritual mine outside the city. Requirement: Qi Transformation Stage. Reward: 30 merit points!"
He looked at the other wooden tablets.
"Assist in handling miscellaneous matters in the Alchemy Division for half a month. Requirement: Qi TransformationStage. Reward: 40 merit points!
"Collect five wood spirit herbs that are at least 30 years old. Reward: 80 Merit Points!
"Head to the Dragon Abyss Mountain Range to kill a white-eyed demonic spirit tiger. One needs to retrieve the tiger's spine as proof.
Requirement: Long Breath Stage. Reward: a minor merit!
"15 kilometers west of the city, there's a suspected appearance of a spiritual beast in the Jade Water Lake. Go and investigate. If you find a spiritual beast, you need to find detailed information about its strength. Requirement: Long Breath Stage. Reward: three minor merits!
The array of missions dazzled Lin Shen.
He looked around. There were at least 20 to 30 similar cabinets in the hall. If every wooden tablet on each cabinet represented a mission, the number of missions would be at least 1,000 to 2,000.
Nine Yang Academy had no more than 800 disciples, including this year's new students.
Would they be able to complete so many missions?
Seeing the change in Lin Shen's expression, Kou Ming thought for a moment and understood what he was puzzled about. He explained with a smile,
"Junior Brother Lin, although there are many missions here, more than half of them are collection missions, such as this."
Kou Ming pointed at the wooden tablet with the mission to collect wood spirit herbs.
"Most of these missions are issued by the Alchemy Division and the Artifact Pavilion. These two places require a large number of materials to refine various pills, weapons, and enchanted armaments all year round, so they often issue bounties for various materials in the hall.
These missions will be announced here almost around the year. Even if someone completes them, they won't take down the wooden token."
Lin Shen was enlightened. So these were all permanent missions.
Kou Ming smiled and continued, "Let me tell you in detail about the types of missions. The missions in the Merit Hall can roughly be divided into four types. The collection type I told you about just now is one of them. In addition, there is intelligence, crusade, and duty."
With Kou Ming's explanation, Lin Shen gradually gained a rough understanding of the missions.
The so-called intelligence mission was usually to investigate the situation inside and outside the city.
For example, whether there were spiritual beasts or unorthodox cultivators hiding.
Such missions are often subject to high levels of uncertainty.
Sometimes they were only false alarms, and sometimes they contained an unforeseen great danger.
Therefore, the disciples of the academy would be extremely cautious when accepting such missions, afraid that they would accidentally step into a trap.
Crusade-type missions, as the name suggested, were related to combat.
The content of such missions was often to exterminate spiritual beasts, demons, and all kinds of mutated creatures.
Because they needed to fight, it was more dangerous, but the rewards were often more generous.
As for the last type of duty mission, the content was usually to guard the various spirit mines and beast fields outside the city or to assist in the academy's Artifact Pavilion, Alchemy Division, and herb garden.
There was almost no danger in such missions, but in comparison, the reward was the lowest among the four types..