Chapter 0024: No $tone, no go
At that moment, the system halted its cultivation.
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Lordi Payne ignored the prompt, flexing his limbs and giving the Blade of Life Hater a shake. He ran through the entire Blood Fiend Saber Art from start to finish right there, and was floored: his body now wielded the blade with uncanny familiarity, as if it were an extension of himself. Gripping the hilt, every reaction flowed instinctively, no need for conscious thought.
"Good job, system!" Lordi Payne exhaled, clutching the blade tighter as a flicker of confidence settled in. Then he gave the system a two-star negative review. Glancing around at the wreckage, he pondered how to clean up this mess.
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30,000 D$t—no, that wasn't right.
Lee Sagwon and his crew all had backers in the sect. The fine would likely hit the max:
Someone might even kill him outright and just pay the sect a penalty.
Thus, top priority: run out of the Abyss Pit Sect ASAP!
Otherwise, who knew when some rich relative of the trio might send him to his grave?
Problem was, Lordi Payne had just arrived at the sect, ferried in on the Bone Tomb Vessel straight to The Square of Eternal Severance. He had no idea how to even leave.
With that in mind, Lordi Payne pulled the outer sect disciple robes from his pouch—ones he hadn't had time to change into—and shed his blood-soaked clothes. He tore his inner robe into strips, using them to wrap the Blade of Life Hater completely, ensuring it wouldn't draw unwanted attention.
He gave the room a quick tidy, making sure nothing looked suspicious from outside the lodge. Then, he grabbed the trio's storage pouches and nameplates before heading out. After reactivating the lodge's defense ward, he trekked to the back mountain forest. Finding a secluded spot among the trees, he buried the loot under a thick bush, camouflaged it carefully, memorized the location, and set off to find Hugo Payne.
Following the directions from yesterday's farewell message, Lordi Payne arrived at Hugo Payne's dorm lodge.
However, it was clear that his clan brother was firmly under Sun Elaine's thumb. Hugo Payne refused to even open the door. "Didn't you hear what Elaine-chan said yesterday? Don't come to meet me anymore! She'll get mad if she sees you."
What a bootlicking clown... Lordi Payne was speechless but had no other options. "Clan brother, I was rash and rude yesterday. Thinking it over, this Senior Sister Sun might be my future sister-in-law—I shouldn't have treated her like that. The thing is, I just got to the Holy Sect and don't have a single penny to my name. I want to make it up to her, but it's tough to do that without money. How about you tell me how to get out of the sect? I'll go outside and find something girls like for Senior Sister Sun."
"Get out of the sect?" Hearing that Lordi Payne was trying to do this for Sun Elaine, Hugo Payne softened a bit. But after a pause, he shook his head. "No, you can't."
Lordi Payne's heart sank. "Why? I didn't see anything in the rules forbidding outer sect disciples from leaving."
"Of course, the sect doesn't restrict outer disciples from leaving. Otherwise, how could I have gone back to the Payne Clan before?" Hugo Payne explained. "However, the sect's territory is vast—beyond imagination. From Ghost Shade Peak to the sect's entrance gates, it's a thousand miles. Yesterday, we arrived aboard her highness's Bone Tomb vessel, covering that distance in moments. But now, you're on your own. To rent the cheapest transportation, the Corpse Cloud, costs ten D$t per trip. You've got no money—how are you going to manage to leave?"
Lordi Payne was almost mad. "So what do I do? Stay on Ghost Shade Peak forever?"
The slang "no dough, no go" was proving painfully literal. No $tone, no go.
"Why do you need to leave so badly?" Hugo Payne countered. "Plenty of outer disciples are broke—the sect's got that covered. The Task Division behind the Affairs Office posts jobs and tasks every day. Go check for something that fits and earn some money."
Lordi Payne probed, "Yeah, emm, Clan brother, can you lend me ten D$t? I'll definitely pay you back later."
Hugo Payne didn't even think before replying. "All my spirit stones go to Elaine-chan. Where would I get spares for you?"
"..." Lordi Payne gave up talking to this clown and stormed off.
He hurried to the Task Division—a sprawling hall resembling a vast square, filled with hundreds of booths and stands buzzing with activity. Even before entering, he heard a cacophony of shouts: Squads recruiting, disciples bragging about their skills and looking for tasks, folks seeking professionals for problems, people haggling—it was a chaotic marketplace.
Squeezing into the biggest crowd, he saw towering columns supporting the ceiling of the hall. No furnishings, just walls etched with array patterns. As he walked closer, he realized the columns were massive, like pale walls. Lordi Payne was shocked to realize these columns might be thigh bones from some unknown, vast beast. At waist height on the bone columns, countless small holes were carved around them.
After observing others, Lordi Payne followed their lead, slotting his nameplate into an empty hole.
Black mist swirled on the wall before him, forming lines of text:
[Task Name]: Cultivation of Ghost Face Grass
[Description]: Mighty Alchemist demands a fresh sprout of Ghost Face Grass, a spectral herb that blooms with petals resembling wailing visages under the moon's pallor. You'll need to plant its seeds in the shadowed loam of the Wraithwood Grove, water it with dew harvested from midnight fog, and guard it from the nibbling jaws of phantom hares. It's a finicky thing—three months of coaxing its eerie roots to take hold, whispering old chants to keep its spirit calm. Slack off, and it'll wither into ash by dawn.
[Term]: Three months.
[Note]: Don't stare too long at the blooms—rumor says they'll whisper your death date back if you do...
Well, Lordi Payne nixed it before finishing when he saw the three months term.
He pulled out of the nameplate and inserted it again in another hole.
[Task Name]: Courier of the Crimson Missive
[Description]: A sealed letter, bound in crimson silk and stamped with the sigil of Elder Huo, needs delivery to the Jade Whisper Outpost beyond the Mist-fang Peaks. No sect mounts provided—you'll have to whistle up your own beast, be it a windstep mare or a scruffy cloudskipper. The trail's a gauntlet of jagged cliffs and prowling sky vipers, so don't dawdle. One month to get it there, or the elder's wrath'll singe your sorry hide. Speed's your ally, but don't crack the seal—last fool who peeked got his soul hexed into a toad.
[Note]: Mount's on you—hope you've tamed something faster than a lame ox...
Lordi Payne: "No, thank you."
[Task Name]: Keeper of the Spirit Beasts' Mire
[Description]: The Beast Tamer Peak's spirit critters need tending—think jade-horned goats, ember-tailed foxes, and a grumpy mist boar that farts thunder. Your job? Shovel their steaming dung, scrub their pens, and dodge their tempers. One month knee-deep in stench, hauling excrement to the compost pits while they snap at your heels. It's grunt work—literally—but the pavilion's too cheap to hire proper hands. Finish without losing a finger, and you'll earn... something. They're still haggling over it.
[Reward]: The excrement and vomit from spirit critters.
[Note]: Wear boots you don't love—last tender quit after the boar painted him head to toe...
Lordi Payne: "Dude, gross... "
[Task Name]: Apprentice Forgehand
[Description]: We forge-seniors of EbonySmith Peak are sniffing for fresh blood—grunts to join their soot-stained ranks. They want the hardy sort: backs unbowed by toil, spirits unbroken by the clangor of hammer on anvil, and hides tough enough to shrug off sparks and sweat. Talent's a bonus—show a flicker of knack for molding Qi into steel, and they'll squint at you twice. Better yet, swagger in with a body honed by physical grind—muscles like forged iron win nods over frail scholar bones.
[Term]: Ongoing—endure 'til they kick you out or you collapse.
[Reward]: The rare chance to hover mere steps away, eyes narrowed to slits, as the forge seniors of Casting Peak hammer spirit weapons into being.
Lordi Payne: "Ugh... Come on... "
The rest of the tasks were more of the same. Lordi Payne's brows knitted tightly. He didn't know how popular Lee Sagwon's trio were or how long it would take for their deaths to be noticed, but with their powerful backers, every moment in the sect felt like torture for Lordi Payne.
If he had ten D$t, he'd have rented a Corpse Cloud and bolted already.
Then, one task caught his eye.
[Task Name]: Unravel the Hans Clan Estate's Grim Enigma
[Description]: Whispers swirl like vengeful wraiths around the Hans Clan Estate—a once-proud estate now a tomb of silence. A month past, every soul within—nobles, servants, even the guard hounds—dropped dead overnight, their faces frozen in rictus screams, eyes bled to black. The sect's elders want answers: was it a curse woven from spite, a rogue cultivator's qi-poison, or some eldritch beast's feast?
His heart leaped—he was ready to grab it blindly—until he caught the terms.
[Term]: One month. Open only to disciples at Qi Refinement Sixth Layer or above.
Checking other tasks, he found that all high-paying, out-of-sect tasks demanded at least sixth-layer Qi Refinement—or a squad with at least one sixth-layer member.
At that, Lordi Payne pulled out his nameplate from the column and started circling the hall, hunting for a team with an out-of-sect task.
Team quality didn't matter—the key was finding a team that was about to leave the sect, and fast!
With that in mind, he darted to a disciple loudly recruiting for a beast-clearing task, needing two more members to depart.
"Senior Brother, I want to join your squad!"