Mortal's Purple Sky Cave Heaven

Chapter 449 Mission
“I don’t think so. Nie Zhaonan’s strength is so great that even we couldn’t compare to him back then. With such cultivation talent, once his realm is higher, receiving an invitation from the Holy Island shouldn’t be a problem.” Fairy Silverlight shook her head slightly, but had a different opinion.

"As the sacred land of our human and demon races, the Holy Island's location can shift at any time, making it extremely safe, even for us. It's naturally an excellent place to nurture future generations. But precisely because of this, the Holy Island is too comfortable. Those cultivation geniuses who are said to appear once every ten thousand or hundred thousand years rarely even leave the human realm, and how many have truly experienced life-or-death trials? Those who cultivate on the Holy Island can only reach the Integration stage at most. In the history of our two races, how many Mahayana stage predecessors came from the Holy Island? There are even fewer Mahayana stage predecessors from our Tianyuan City." A strange light flashed in the Taoist's eyes, but his words didn't show much praise for the Holy Island.

"It's already difficult enough for the Holy Island to produce a Nascent Soul cultivator. To cultivate a Mahayana cultivator, let alone the Holy Island, even if we combined all the resources of our human and demon races, we wouldn't have much hope. Which cultivator who successfully advances to the Mahayana stage doesn't possess extraordinary opportunities and good fortune?" Fairy Silverlight said leisurely, and finally sighed.

Generally speaking, having a Mahayana-stage being in charge is enough to ensure that a race can maintain its foothold in the spirit world.

It is easy to imagine how difficult it is to break through the bottleneck of the Mahayana stage.

Seeing the longing in the eyes of the Silver Fairy, the Taoist smiled nonchalantly, suddenly becoming devoid of both joy and sorrow:
"We have no hope of breaking through to the Mahayana stage. Reaching the late stage of the Integration stage in this life and surviving a few more great tribulations would be the best outcome."

"Tianluo Zhenren truly lives up to his reputation as a genius of Daoist arts; he has indeed transcended all limitations." Yinguang Fairy said with a smile, neither confirming nor denying.

"This old Taoist is simply self-aware. If there are other important matters, I will take my leave now." The Taoist smiled faintly and said his farewell.

"Please, sir."

The next moment, the Taoist priest stood up silently, and then a strange scene unfolded.

Before him, the void rippled, creating waves like water. The Taoist stepped forward and entered without any hindrance, disappearing without a trace.

As its figure disappeared, the ripples in the air suddenly stopped and then returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

Upon seeing this, the Silver Fairy's eyes flashed with an unusual light, and she seemed to be deep in thought, muttering to herself:

"Isn't he like Zen Master Jin Yue? True Person Tian Luo is also an elder of the ascended cultivator lineage. He usually takes good care of ascended cultivators. Why is he so hostile to Nie Zhaonan this time? However, this little guy has indeed gone too far. If you want to kill someone, you should do it secretly and not let anyone notice. He made no attempt to hide his killing intent in front of everyone. He really doesn't take the elders of Tianyuan City seriously."

Nie Zhaonan was naturally unaware that his actions would have such a twist, alarming two Nascent Soul stage elders, one of whom even wanted to punish him.

But even if he knew, he wouldn't care too much.

If his Daoist partner is harassed, would he still cower and try to avoid trouble?

What kind of immortality is this? How can one achieve true enlightenment?

Moreover, Nie Zhaonan is not a timid person; he will act decisively when necessary and will never hesitate.

As for the consequences, this place is neither the True Dragon Realm nor Dragon Island, so he can still handle some Nascent Soul cultivators.

They don't even need to use all their methods; the mature Gold-Eating Insects alone are enough to protect themselves.

Another five hundred years have passed, and the Gold-Eating Insects that were not originally mature in the cave have completely transformed into mature forms under the nourishment of the Spirit Beast Garden.

Mature Gold-Eating Insects are capable of devouring anything and have incredibly hard bodies, making them difficult to harm even with precious objects. While it's true that several thousand of them could be temporarily contained using wooden or jade treasures, this is not the case.

A swarm of 700,000 Gold-Eating Insects would be enough to make even Mahayana cultivators retreat.

At this time, Nie Zhaonan and his fellow Daoists had already settled down temporarily in a pavilion on the first floor.

Xiang Zhili, on the other hand, spoke slowly and deliberately:
“We first-generation ascended cultivators carry a very strong aura of another world on our bodies. Even if we take one Dust-Extinguishing Pill every year, it will take a full three hundred years to completely remove it.”

"If we want to obtain the Dust-Extinguishing Pill, the only way is to serve as a Tianyuan Guard in Tianyuan City and carry out the corresponding missions."

"This task is also divided into two types. One type involves completing your fixed shifts and patrols every certain period of time, and you can arrange your own time at other times. However, the spirit stones distributed for this type of task are fixed and not much each year, so you will naturally be short of money. But the advantage is that there is generally no danger."

"The other type is special missions issued by the Elders' Council. Each completed mission yields rewards including spirit stones, pills, or rare treasures. Of course, these special missions are extremely risky, and most are related to the barbaric world or alien races. The danger of death is immense, forcing one to think twice before acting. Moreover, these special missions are not always available. But each completed mission allows one to avoid performing any other tasks for decades, or even centuries, and to focus on cultivation."

"Of course, these two types of missions are not static. We, the Tianyuan Guards, can switch between them at any time according to our own circumstances."

“The rotating duties are too time-consuming. Could you two please keep an eye out for special missions for me?” Nie Zhaonan thought for a moment and then decided.

He had an abundance of various elixirs, so he naturally wouldn't waste his time on shifts or patrols.

"With Fellow Daoist Nie's supernatural abilities, as long as you are careful, there shouldn't be any problems taking on special missions." Old Monster Feng nodded slightly, looking very confident in his strength.

"We'll keep an eye on this matter and inform our junior brother as soon as we have any news," Xiang Zhili said with a chuckle.

"Thank you for your trouble," Nie Zhaonan said politely.

The two old men chuckled and waved their hands repeatedly. After chatting with Nie Zhaonan for a while, informing him of some situations in Tianyuan City, and leaving some jade slips behind, they tactfully got up to take their leave.

We slept together under the same quilt all night.

The next morning, Nie Zhaonan was talking with a group of Daoist partners in the living room.

After reading the contents of the jade slip left by the two old men yesterday, Nangong Wan smiled and said:

"It seems that staying in Tianyuan City is not entirely without benefit for us. Every ten years, we have the opportunity to listen to the Nascent Soul stage elders of the Elder Council explain the laws of heaven and earth, and we can ask them questions about our cultivation."

“There are indeed some benefits.” Nie Zhaonan nodded.

Unlike him, his two main cultivation techniques, Taiyi Divine Thunder Technique and Nine Revolutions True Dragon Technique, are inherited techniques with accompanying cultivation experience. His fellow Daoists, on the other hand, have to comprehend the incantations of these techniques on their own.

"Some elders are also skilled in talisman making." Having found something that interested her, Chen Qiaoqian smiled slightly.

“There are also elders who are proficient in the art of formations.” Xin Ruyin also showed great interest.

"Unfortunately, the foremost master of puppetry among the human race was the Heavenly Mystic Spirit Emperor."

"The size of Tianyuan City is beyond imagination. It seems to be only above, and not below, the three major human cities such as Tianyuan City."

The women continued their conversation, sharing information they had gleaned from the jade slip. Suddenly, the conversation abruptly stopped, and everyone's expression shifted as they looked towards the door.

Yuan Yao immediately moved and arrived in front of the gate. With a flick of the restriction token in her hand, the gate slowly opened.

Outside the door stood a white-robed monk, his expression indifferent.

"Greetings, Senior!" Yuan Yao bowed politely.

This man was none other than the pale-faced, beardless golden-armored guard who had spoken up in support of Zhao Wugui.

But now he had changed into a Confucian robe, and the murderous aura on his body had been greatly reduced, replaced by a more otherworldly air.

"As fellow ascended cultivators, there's no need for such formalities, fairy." This Zhao surnamed Void Refinement cultivator was noticeably more amiable, even when facing Yuan Yao, a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Yuan Yao was slightly taken aback, but then she understood. Her husband had displayed such strength yesterday, so it was normal for the senior in front of her to be polite to her.

He then led the other person into the house, where they sat down one after the other.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao," Nie Zhaonan greeted him with a smile, having roughly guessed his purpose.

"Fellow Daoist Nie." Zhao Wugui politely clasped his hands in greeting, then flipped his palm, and several jade pendants appeared.

They were all hazy, one piece was gold, and the rest were blue.

At the same time, he spoke up and explained:
"By now, you all should have a basic understanding of the situation in Tianyuan City. I won't waste any more time on this. The elders have already approved Fellow Daoist Nie's Golden Guard identity. Furthermore, the identities of you fairies as Azure Guards have also been applied for. You fairies are now Fellow Daoist Nie's subordinates, unlike other Nascent Soul cultivators who each lead their own Azure Guard squad. These are your identity tokens. Please keep them safe. When you need to carry out a mission, just go directly to the headquarters of Squad 96. By the way, the elders have specially approved that this squad consists of only the ten of you, with no other cultivators."

"I haven't had a chance to express my gratitude for your help yesterday, and now you've specially brought me this token. I'm truly grateful for your help." Hearing this, Nie Zhaonan nodded in satisfaction. This arrangement would save him a lot of trouble, and he thanked you a few times.

At the same time, he waved his hand, and the jade pendants scattered and fell into the hands of the women. He also casually glanced at the golden jade pendants.

One side of the jade pendant was inscribed with some silver characters, while the other side was engraved with several light gold characters, "Jia Jiu Shi Liu".

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Nie, there's no need to be so polite. To be honest, having the opportunity to get acquainted with a cultivator of such great power as yourself is something I'd be more than happy to do," Zhao Wugui said with a smile.

Seeing that everything was going smoothly, Zhao Wugui chatted with Nie Zhaonan for a few more minutes. Just as he was about to take his leave, he took out a white jade slip from his storage bracelet, handed it to Nie Zhaonan, and explained:
"Fellow Daoist Nie is now a Heavenly Guardian, so naturally you should have your own spiritual cave dwelling. You will know this when you go to the Jade Palace Pavilion. The jade slip contains a detailed map of this city, as well as the gathering place of some of my Void Refinement cultivators. Since you are all new to this city, there is no rush for you to take up your posts immediately. You have a month of rest."

After saying this, he did not linger and got up to take his leave.

Nie Zhaonan naturally thanked him again without any faults, and personally got up to see him off.

After browsing through the contents of the jade slip for a short while, Nie Zhaonan and his companions calmly left the house.

In any case, since we're already here, we might as well make the best of it and go to the Jade Palace Pavilion to settle down in our cave dwelling first.

More than ten streaks of light flashed across the sky, attracting the attention of many cultivators.

After flying for almost half an hour, and finally seeing a towering, enormous city wall in the distance, the group's escape light suddenly dipped, landing in front of a drab, three-story pavilion below.

Despite its small size and unassuming appearance, this pavilion sees quite a few cultivators coming and going.

Just as Nie Zhaonan and his group paused briefly to observe, seven or eight cultivators transformed into streaks of light and disappeared into the gate.

The plaque above the main gate of the pavilion prominently displays the three ancient Chinese characters "Jade Palace Pavilion" written in a vigorous and elegant style.

Without looking around, Nie Zhaonan slowly walked into the pavilion, and his fellow Daoists naturally followed.

The first floor of the pavilion was a large hall, several tens of feet high, where dozens of cultivators stood, gazing at a huge screen emitting a bluish light hanging at the far end of the hall.

Embroidered on the screen was a map that was two zhang high and more than ten zhang long, with blue lights dotting the surface, and silver numbers on it.

Clearly, the brighter the blue light, the more abundant the spiritual energy.

In front of the screen stood a middle-aged man with a long face and wearing a green robe, smiling.

Suddenly, the Nascent Soul cultivator seemed to sense something. He turned his head abruptly and looked over in confusion. When he felt the unfathomable aura emanating from Nie Zhaonan, he was slightly taken aback. But when he saw the group of beautiful fairies beside him out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to realize something and his expression changed drastically as he quickly walked over to greet them.

He didn't even bother to take the storage bracelet that a thin old man respectfully handed him.

"Greetings, Senior! This first floor is merely the residence for the Black Body Guards. As a Heavenly Guard, you should proceed to the third floor." The Nascent Soul cultivator in green robes bowed respectfully and explained slowly.

"Do you know me?" Nie Zhaonan asked calmly.

"Senior, you must be surnamed Nie. I'm afraid there are very few high-level cultivators in Tianyuan City who don't know your name." The green-robed cultivator was surprised, but still answered truthfully.

"Ah."

Sensing how quickly the news had spread, but without showing any unusual reaction, Nie Zhaonan nodded slightly and led the women up to the second-floor pavilion.

After the group of people had completely disappeared, the Nascent Soul cultivator in green robes finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as the rumors said, the help that Senior Nie had given him was truly immense.

He wanted to strike up a conversation, but he didn't dare to speak.

Then, the thin old man, holding the storage bracelet, walked over and asked curiously:

　Thank you all for your support with your collections, recommendations, and monthly tickets!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)