In a high-level martial arts game, a wife is given to you at the start.

In the following days, Lin Qiye did not rush to take action.

He reassured Luo Sheng and the others to settle down in Qing Shi Lane and live a secluded life. Every morning, Man Ji chopped wood and boiled water, Luo Sheng aired out bedding in the courtyard, Shuang'er squatted by the courtyard watching ants move their nest, and Qing Yin quietly mended the worm-eaten furniture covers—this girl, whom they had picked up from the darkness, had become even more silent since joining them, mostly remaining silent and simply doing what chores she could manage. But the fear and numbness in her eyes were fading day by day, and occasionally she would even give Shuang'er a very faint smile.

Little Manniu is growing incredibly fast. Her developmental rate far exceeds that of normal children; after learning to walk, she grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, and now she can run around the yard on her short legs. What interests Lin Qiye even more is that the bloodline power within her is flowing autonomously in an incredible way—without any cultivation, without any guidance, purely out of instinct. The concentration of this child's bloodline seems to be even higher than he expected.

Lin Qiye himself, on the other hand, would casually stroll around the nearby streets every day.

He changed into an inconspicuous gray robe, concealing most of his aura, and blended into the bustling streets, looking like an ordinary low-level cultivator. He walked through the morning market, mingling among the old women buying vegetables, listening to their idle chatter about their daily lives; he passed through the half-closed curtains of the afternoon tavern, ordered a pot of the cheapest liquor, and sat in a corner listening to a few drunk hunters boast about their experiences in Black Wind Valley; he squatted in front of a secondhand stall in the corner of the market, rummaging through scraps, while listening to two vendors nearby discussing in hushed tones which martial arts school had recently lost someone; at dusk, he stood under the old locust tree at the alley entrance, watching the Holy City Guards change shifts pass by, counting the patrol shifts and their frequency.

In just three days, he had figured out every corner and shortcut of the six alleys and three main streets around him. He even knew what time the steamed bun shop at the street corner opened each day, when the blacksmith shop diagonally opposite was busiest, and when the underground casino two alleys away was most crowded.

The outer city is a chaotic melting pot. Behind the glamorous facades lie countless gray areas: shops, taverns, martial arts schools, markets, pawnshops, black markets, underground casinos, shady intelligence stations… all sorts of places are there. The Holy City Guard patrols very frequently, with a ten-man squad passing through the main street every half hour to maintain a semblance of order. But in the shadows, trade and fighting never truly cease. In just the last three days, he had personally witnessed three brawls in back alleys and one small-scale gang fight in broad daylight—the fight lasted less than a quarter of an hour, and before the guards even arrived, both sides quickly stopped and dispersed, clearly a familiar routine.

He pieced together several "pathways" to obtaining official status from these fragmented conversations on the streets.

The first path: Join an institution directly under or affiliated with the Temple. The city guard, various government offices, the guards or miscellaneous service offices surrounding the Temple have the strictest screening process, requiring verification of bloodline, origin, and cultivation level. However, once passed, one's identity is the most secure, and no one dares to question it.

The second route: being recruited by certain families, guilds, or sects within the inner city. This requires sufficient influence—either extremely high value or inside connections. The Blackrock Guild is merely an outer city guild; it can't even get close to the inner city, let alone pull strings.

The third way: Accumulate "contribution points". Complete certain tasks issued by the temple or the official authorities to accumulate enough "contribution points" and official records. As long as your reputation is high enough and you contribute enough, someone will eventually notice you.

The fourth method—which he gleaned from a one-eyed intelligence broker with a scar on his face—was through underground channels. This involved forging identity badges or purchasing the identities of deceased, officially registered residents from certain shady forces. This method was the fastest, but also the riskiest. If exposed, the consequences ranged from the loss of cultivation and demotion to slavery to execution, along with the implicating guarantor and their family.

Given Lin Qiye's current situation, the first option is impossible. He simply cannot pass the background check. The second option is also unfeasible in the short term—he has no roots, no connections, and no channels in the Holy City, and his unclear background would scare away any legitimate organization. The fourth option is something he will not consider unless absolutely necessary. Once he gets on that ship, others will have his most fatal weakness in his hands.

Only the third option remains.

Contribution points, task accumulation, a roundabout way to achieve our goal.

Early that morning, Lin Qiye walked along the main street in the center of the outer city for half an hour and arrived at the "Mission Square" in the central area of ​​the outer city.

The plaza was vast, with a circular area in the center paved with a single block of obsidian, gleaming warmly in the sunlight. Surrounding the plaza was a ring of twelve tall white jade tablets, each about three zhang high and nearly one zhang wide, displaying various mission information in a scrolling pattern of source energy. Different groups of people gathered before each tablet—some were crowded with burly mercenaries, others with well-dressed merchant guild representatives, and still others were deserted, with only one or two people looking at them, yet the rewards for those missions were shockingly high.

"Temple Mission Area! Three stones from the left for ranks C and below, two stones from the right for ranks B and above—" Looking for a guard to fill a 3-man group! Reward split 50/50—" Black Iron-rank escort mission! Depart immediately—"

A variety of shouts rose and fell, some people held up wooden signs with the required functions to attract team members, some squatted under the base of the monument to study the task details, occasionally a group of people could be seen pushing through the crowd to the pick-up point, and some people could be seen squeezing back with dust and dirt on their robes.

Lin Qiye strolled leisurely among the twelve jade tablets, his gaze sweeping over each one. There were official temple-issued cleanup missions, guard requests from various merchant guilds, a lost-and-found notice from an inner-city family, and several anonymously posted grey-market requests—the rewards were several times the amount of source crystals, but the details were vague, clearly not legitimate business.

His steps finally stopped in front of the third stele on the left in the official announcement area of ​​the temple.

Looking up, a quest line occupied the center of the monument, its light source deliberately rendered in a striking dark gold:

Investigate the source of the anomalies in Black Wind Valley. Recently, unusual fluctuations in Origin Qi have been observed from the direction of Black Wind Valley. Monitoring arrays have recorded energy disturbances of unknown levels, accompanied by the outward leakage of restless low-level beasts. You must delve into the core area of ​​the valley to identify the source of the disturbances and assess the threat level. Mission Rating: C. Reward: 200 Standard Origin Crystals, or equivalent Contribution Points, with possible increases depending on the thoroughness of the investigation results. Attachment: You can temporarily apply for a Detection Compass with this mission acceptance voucher.